Hi guys, I just thought I’d give an update here since it’s been awhile. I have ordered all my parts and have built this whole rig completely out. Unfortunately, I have run into a somewhat-common R4 problem whereby the “door clips” on the case require replacement. In short the ones that shipped with my case simply don’t allow the front fan “door” to latch. Fractal is shipping me a new pair and I’ll have to replace them using
this video as a guide.
It was kind of a bummer to get everything inside the case only to realize the fan door can’t latch closed. I thought I would have to send the whole case back to Fractal so I completely disassembled everything. I won’t be able to work on the rig until this weekend but I was able to install Windows and test everything out. I was also able to address most of my sizing/fitment concerns as well.
For my final build, I decided to go with the i5 4690 instead of the 4460 for a little extra headroom. I also dropped my RAM down from 16GB to 8GB and put the savings toward the MSI 770. The Samsung SSD is a dream. It’s quite amazing to restart the machine and see the desktop in less than ten seconds. I haven’t had a chance to get any serious gaming done but I’m thrilled with how everything runs so far. Here’s the full run-down of what I went with for my final build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/hikeskool/saved/9gkj4D
The original memory I had selected, the Corsair Vengeance Pro works with the Kotetsu and the Z97-A, but just barely. I have attached a couple of pictures of the clearance provided by the included 120mm Scythe fan. From my measurements there is approximately 3mm of clearance from the top of this RAM to the bottom of the Scythe fan as it is positioned. Of course the fan can be adjusted up or down (to some extent) to accommodate different-sized RAM if desired. You may also notice that the RAM directly under the fan is positioned in the RAM slot nearest the CPU. If one wanted to use just two slots for dual channel mode (or the three farthest from the CPU) any size RAM would work; everything "south" of the first RAM slot completely clears the stock Scythe fan on this motherboard.
Another worry of mine was whether I could fit the Kingwin PSU (20mm longer than “standard” PSUs, remember) and also fit a 140mm fan on the case bottom. Well, a 140mm fan will fit, using this PSU, with a fairly large caveat. I am unable to use the bottom row of PSU connectors (as shown
here) because they are blocked by the 140mm fan. This isn’t too much of an issue for me, however. One of the “negatives” found in
the SPCR review of this PSU is that there are too many attached cables. For my purposes this is actually very positive. Having the main mobo connector, the CPU power connector and 2 PCI-E connectors permanently attached means I don’t have to use more of the “optional” connectors on stuff I believe most enthusiasts that would buy this PSU would be using. I will only be using two (maybe only one, we’ll see) of the connectors for drives so I should be able to run the bottom intake 140mm fan and also be able to have all my power needs taken care of with at least one additional plug available. It’s not the best situation as ideally I would have access to all the power connectors I paid for but it’s not a deal-breaker for me personally, at least right now.
A smaller issue regarding the particular 140mm Antec True Quiet fans with this case is the mounting “hardware” included. My versions of the fan come with the long, stick-like rubber mounts used with the left fan seen
here. These are kind of difficult to install and require some patience, especially when mounting them in tight quarters, like near the longer Kingwin PSU I used for this build. Another smaller problem is that the removable bottom dust filter is somewhat obstructed by the “head” of each mount. The filter can be massaged in and out somewhat easily, it just takes a little more care than just ramming it in and yanking it out.
I will try to do a full thread in the “General Gallery” section with some pictures and temp figures once everything gets settled. My initial impressions are very positive. I am simply blown away by how quiet this rig is. I have yet to do any stress testing and messing with Asus’s FanXpert 3 control scheme (which looks VERY robust) but I think this setup will certainly fulfill my needs even if it’s not 100%-silent at one or two feet.
Thanks so much for all the contributions! This has been a fun and rewarding experience, thanks largely to everyone’s ideas and suggestions. More to come!