Quiet gaming slim mini-ITX challenges.

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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The Internal
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Quiet gaming slim mini-ITX challenges.

Post by The Internal » Thu May 26, 2016 9:20 pm

Howdy all.

I've been researching options for a possible small form factor build for a slim gaming rig... if I can cram everything in it while keeping it quiet. I've been taking a hard look at Silverstone's RVZ02B and similar cases due to their slim form factor. I prefer the aesthetics of Fractal's Node 202, but it's poor thermal and acoustic properties cited in the SPCR review make me reluctant to go that route.

I already have the Core i7 6700k and Samsung 950 Pro M.2 512 GB SSD on order and am still trying to finalize all other component selections.

I'm currently leaning towards the ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 as the motherboard to go with since the high-end Asus didn't include M.2 and every search I've done about U.2 shows products being a much higher price without a clearly better speed.

I'd like to include a high-end GPU (such as a Geforce 1080 or 1070), a secondary storage drive (3.5" large capacity preferred, though my backup plan would be a Samsung spinpoint 2TB 2.5" if forced into that form factor), and a good quiet PSU (I'm okay with a SLX PSU if it supports the new 8-pin connector for the new Geforce cards, but am more accustomed to ATX PSUs). I plan on going air cooling since the liquid cooling options I read about continue to sound far to loud compared to a good fan. I've been reading quite a few good things about Reeven, Raijintek, and Be Quiet! brands in addition to my traditionally preferred Scythe.

Have folks had luck keeping acoustics down at full louds on these slim cases? I'm accustomed to my dual Gigabyte Windforce 670 GTX cards in 2-way SLI being inaudible at idle, and no louder than a quiet oscillating fan at full tilt. Is it possible to achieve that with a slim mini-ITX build?

CA_Steve
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Re: Quiet gaming slim mini-ITX challenges.

Post by CA_Steve » Fri May 27, 2016 8:23 am

Are you looking for a small footprint gaming build for portability or lack of space or ?

As far as SPCR reviewed cases, the Lian Li PC-Q10 is the quietest, but not the smallest footprint at 19L. There's also the NCASE M1at 12.6L. Forum member edh has a nice Raijintek Metis build here.

Stuff you don't want to hear, but I'll tell you anyway: :)
- SSD: No gaming benefit to the 950 Pro...might consider canceling the order/returning it and getting the cheaper and just as fast for gaming 850 Evo. Also, no gaming benefit for M.2 vs SATA.
- CPU: Only a few games benefit with the i7 over an i5. Most use 2-4 cores, few use hyperthreading, fewer use more than 2 hyperthreads. DX12 will probably bump up i5 over i7 more. What do you play?

Also, consider waiting on your case decision until the GTX1070 and GTX1080 aftermarket parts are out and reviewed to be sure of gfx card physical size/compatibility.

The Internal
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:53 pm

Re: Quiet gaming slim mini-ITX challenges.

Post by The Internal » Fri May 27, 2016 10:56 am

Looking for a slim case that's moderately portable / looks more like a console than a PC. Been eyeballing cases like the Silverstone RVZ01, RVz02, ML08, etc. and Lian-Li 05. Would be thrilled if I could find something like the Lian-Li PC-Q19 but long enough to support a full length GPU. That's probably the prettiest I've found thus far.

I'm aware that the 950 Pro doesn't enhance gaming at all, apart from load screens going a bit faster. Since I do a fair bit with the Adobe CS and other media creation, I figured I'd get a few small gains from the i7 to justify the $20 difference.

Mostly doing Heroes of the Storm, Fallout 4 / Skyrim with heavy mods, and possibly Paragon or No Man's Sky in the near future. I have like 200 friggin' steam games though. :P

CA_Steve
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Re: Quiet gaming slim mini-ITX challenges.

Post by CA_Steve » Fri May 27, 2016 1:09 pm

$20 difference! Don't know your country, but Amazon.com shows the 950 Pro 512GB M.2 for $315, the 850 Evo 500GB M.2 for S175 and the 2.5" SATA version for $150.

The PC-Q19 is comparible in volume to the Ncase M1 and the Raijintek Metis. Note that most of these cases with gaming builds fail badly for thermal/noise when placed horizontally rather than vertically.

Games and CPU: Yep, i5 will do for that list. I understand the benefit of i7 for media creation, though.

What's your monitor resolution?

quest_for_silence
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Re: Quiet gaming slim mini-ITX challenges.

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri May 27, 2016 11:02 pm

The Internal wrote:Would be thrilled if I could find something like the Lian-Li PC-Q19 but long enough to support a full length GPU.

What about the Lian-Li PC-05SX/SW?

atmartens
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Re: Quiet gaming slim mini-ITX challenges.

Post by atmartens » Mon May 30, 2016 4:23 pm

How about the Dan A4 SFX https://www.dan-cases.com/?

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