My nsk3480 gaming build

Show off your quiet rig.

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redironman
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 3:47 am
Location: Poynton, UK

My nsk3480 gaming build

Post by redironman » Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:38 am

Hi all,

I have eventually plucked up the courage to post my fairly quiet system.

This has been a work in progress and to a greater extent still is...

I started off with the idea that I wanted a small(ish) pc which I could take with me when I travel to let me do gaming, video editing and internet/email.

This led me (with a lot of lurking around this forum - thanks guys) to the following specifications. It has taken about 2 years and the kids' pc's have been upgraded as I've progressed too.


Specification

Case:- Antec nsk 3480 (now very ruffly modded :oops: )
PSU:- Antec TruePower Trio 550
MB:- GigaByte G33m-DS2R
CPU:- Intel core 2 duo 8400 (now running nicely at 4.05GHz and 1.247v)
RAM:- 4Gb Corsair Dominator PC2-8500 C5 (at 1080MHz)
GPU:- XFX GTX 260 Black Edition (GPU 680/Mem 1000/Shaders 1466)
HD:- 500Gb Seagate ST3500320AS
Optical:- Samsung SH203B DVD-RW
Cooling:- Xigmatek HDT-S1283 with Crossbow ACK-I7361 backplate
1 x 120mm Noctua NF-S12-1200 on S1283 on MB header
1 x 120mm Xilence Redwing on MB header - exhaust
2 x 120mm Xilence Redwing @7v - inlet

Now you may be wondering how 2x 120mm fans can be the inlet in a 3480? Well this is how I did it...

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af59 ... e_0071.jpg
http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af59 ... e_0081.jpg

I only seem to have a small amount of time for each step in this process so please excuse the woeful cablegami!

I decided that the hottish components which were going to be housed deserved a decent amount of air and after auditioning a few fans the aural quality of the redwings at less than 1100rpm was nice and smooth and not really noticeable over background noise. i'd really like to run them at about 9 or 10v as the noise increase is minimal and the increase in airflow would be useful.

To try and get more air flowing I decided to take my big wire cutters to the front of the case (so embarrassing in the company of so many professional mods.. :oops:). Here is the result...

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af59 ... me_005.jpg

I didn't even cut myself more than a couple of times :wink:

I thought about cutting out the grille from the exhaust but with adding the GTX260 the system has got a bit more sound volume and I feel this would not affect the acoustics/airflow significantly.

The Xigmatek is a great cooler - even with the noctua at less than 1000rpm the 8400 never gets above 62 degrees load. The backplate has helped in a huge way over the original intel clips.

The TriPower is actually nice and quiet, runs the system well and the fan never climbs above idle speed.

The biggest noisemaker - but only when gaming, which I can cope with as I have headphones on - is the GTX260. This case is a bit too small for a passive solution and I only have just under 11" to fit graphics cooling in.

I did have an 8800GT with an Accelero S1 rev 2 but I wanted a bit more oomph! so went for the GTx260 which I bought cheaper than the 8800GT was - Go Figure!

Next steps -

cut-outs for cabling a la krick,
tidy up and improve the front ruffness
cut-out exhaust honeycomb
tidy the cables for heaven's sake!

Thanks to all who have inspired me with this including krick, c. zoui, zenphic, swed, c_g_f and all the 3480 faithful.

Thanks for this wonderful, inspiring and informative site guys - keep it up!!!

JamieG
Posts: 822
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:31 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by JamieG » Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:00 pm

Very cool! I love that you have been able to fit in 2 x 120mm front fans, even if it is roughly modded at the moment. Given what you're working with, the cable management isn't so bad, but the behind the motherboard mods you're looking at doing will surely improve things like the ATX power cable and fan cables. The PCI-E cables look alright where they are at the moment though. The front does need a little bit of work but at least it's hidden away behind the front case panel.

Do you have the PSU's 120mm fan facing up towards the top vents in that case? Have you thought about a fan swap for that PSU?

redironman
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 3:47 am
Location: Poynton, UK

Post by redironman » Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:21 am

JamieG wrote:Given what you're working with, the cable management isn't so bad, but the behind the motherboard mods you're looking at doing will surely improve things like the ATX power cable and fan cables.
Yeah I did my best to get the cables out of the airflow. There isn't a lot of "tuck away" space...
I'm now the proud owner of a Dremel and some reinforced cutoff wheels. So when i have some time to dismantle everything I'll get some holes cut and route round the back.
JamieG wrote: The front does need a little bit of work but at least it's hidden away behind the front case panel.
See note above re:- Dremel :)
JamieG wrote:Do you have the PSU's 120mm fan facing up towards the top vents in that case? Have you thought about a fan swap for that PSU?
Yep, I fitted it pointing up. The fan runs at about 500 rpm and doesn't ramp up at all. The contrast between the cool air coming out the back of the PSU and the hot air from the exhaust and GPU exhaust is very noticable.
Max system power at wall is about 290w running orthos and furmark. The GTX260 gets a little warm...max 83C (it is oclocked as bought) but at idle/2D the noise is within the envelope of the rest of the system.

I do fold on this machine intermittently and the GTX gets just above the noise envelope at about 72C.

I might use a fanmate or two for the intakes as the redwings are comfortable up to about 10v.

I'm also considering moving the HD into the bay below the optical drive but will have to wait til I can move the bunch of cables which are hiding there to behind the mboard.

c_g_f
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 6:29 am
Location: Switzerland

Post by c_g_f » Sun Oct 25, 2009 4:06 pm

Hey Redironman.. I've just seen your thread today.. This case is symply the best isn't it?..

A couple of things:

you may consider the noctua NF-P12 as your processor heatsink fan (static pressure)

And for fan speed control you might want this:

http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/pc ... on-35.html

I simply love it.. my exhaust and gpu fan are controlled this way..

ntavlas
Posts: 811
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:35 pm
Location: Greece
Contact:

Post by ntavlas » Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:14 pm

You`ve got cables out of the way of airflow, this is pretty good cable management to me. The interior looks very clean and with lots of airflow.

redironman
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 3:47 am
Location: Poynton, UK

Post by redironman » Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:26 am

Yep the p12 is definately to be considered.
I might look at sharkoon silent eagles instead of the redwings although even now the majority noise is a slight rumble underneath the rushing air.

I was thinking a controller could be good but i've taken out the 3.5" bay to increase airflow and make room for the 120mm's. So it would have to be a shallow 5.25" bay controller, any suggestions?

Thanks for comment about cabling, i guess i want to make it really neat and the behind the mboard mod would be perfect...

I also know i can clean up the intake area too. Thing is i don't even want to have the machine out of action to put pukka win 7 on so the otger mods will have to wait...

Watch this space though :)

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