Recommendation for best heatsink+fan for this case?

If using a full optical drive, I guess a Scythe Big Shuriken like in the review?

How about with a slim drive? hedgehog.se talks about a Ninja Mini. Is that the way to go? (And how would I mount the slim drive? Will it just fit in the bracket?)

And finally: What is the best choice for running with an external optical drive, like MikeC talks about?

The cooling system needs to cool a Core2 E6600, which will mostly be idling. I'm looking to get it just about as quiet as possible.

I purchased this case a while ago. its great. more pics here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vi ... hp?t=58029

The easiest way to mount a slim optical drive in a 5.25'' drive bay is to use an adapter

The idea of using a slim optical drive in the GD05 would work pretty well, we even made an adapter ourselves:



http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=TS03&area=

Hi SST Guy,

What is the cooler in the case picture?

I am also looking for a good cooler for my new, very nice Grandia 05.

I am not using a CD/DVD drive in the case so I can get a taller CPU cooler as an alternative.

Currently I am using the stock cooler and fan that came with the i3 530. While this cooler is pretty quiet, it has a high pitched whine I find quite annoying.

SST Guy,

Not sure how much influence you have on the marketing research guys, but one thing that has been keeping me from using a Silverstone case for my HTPC has been the lack of ATX cases that fit a tower style heatsink like the Noctua NH-D14. I originally had a LC-10M, which I replaced several years ago).

While the CW02 is close to what I am looking for, with only 1 exhaust fan, the box gets way too toasty to use a fanless GPU. There just isn't enough air flow. I would love to see a side-to-side air flow like the GD05 in a case that is as tall as the CW02, possibly even use 140mm fans on the sides so that they can be slower spinning... I would be all over a case like that.

Looks like a NT06

Hey..

I am about to do a build with the older version of this case (the GD04). Actually I think new front fascia is a little more friendly. I would get it except for the fact I have an aversion to plastic fascia. When I hear plastic front - I just cannot buy it. Lian Li needs to rip off this case design..as its a superior design but I like their quality better.

Anyway my question is about HD cooling. Okay now if you look at the design the front hard drives would be cooled okay but the one over the power supply would get hot. Looking at the design I see that you could easily have a hot spot there. Should I turn the power supply upside down? This is what one newegg reviewer said. But this will make my PS run noiser? Is that the issue?

I know hard drives are actually quite effected by heat - (the failure rates skyrocket and I using this as a DVR (with a ceton card that should hopefully come soon) So I am going to be really adding alot of Hard drives. I am going to do three (SSD and 2x2TB green).

Basically what I am asking is do Power Supplies REALLY need cool outside air? I know this is a case design trend but how useful is it. I don't think any of my old cases use it - that's why I ask.

BTW Everyone is talking about the heatsink/cpu fan issue however if you use notebook drive and a bay adapter (that puts the slim drive on top) I think this issue would be solved. What Silverstone should do is ship it with a slim drive adapter for both cases, IMHO. (Or at least make one for the two cases). If you move it to the other side you will be cutting in on hard drive space so it would take a more significant case redesign as you would have to add in a new spot for HDs that doesn't impede the CPU cooler heights.

To solve this issue I am going with a slim (but nice looking) external drive (as I don't use it as much)..This way I can use a GeminIIS which is a much higher rated cooler then the either the nexus low or the big shuriken.. (Also far less painful install then the big shuriken which seems designed for guys with tiny hands).

Also if you do that you can put a VFD in the GD05 is thats your thing.. I heard it distracts you while watching TV though..

Hi,

Will this fit a PSU with a 14cm fan? Specifically the Thermaltake TR2 RX 450W (can't post links, but if you google it shows up under thermaltake dot com)

It claims "Dimension: 150mm(W)x86mm(H)x160mm(D)" but the manual for the case is a bit confusing, giving me the impression it will only take 12cm fan PSUs.

Any ideas?

Cheers

I decided to take the plunge and open the box, and it fits just fine, with 1.5-2cm free room between the PSU and the left fan.

I'm impressed by this box, and especially the hard drive organization (1 ssd + 1 hdd). I'm coming from a Antec Fusion Remote Micro 350, and taking out the drives to place them in the GD05 reminded me what a pain it had been installing them and managing the cables.

The GD05's only weak spot is the tight fit of the ATI 5770 that takes up 2 PCI-E slots, with only 1.5cm left between that and the (admittedly big) PSU. I'm afraid it doesn't get cooled sufficiently, although I don't really do any gaming on it. I'm expecting the BDROM to fit in just fine when it arrives, as I've left the stock E5200 cooler installed, and there aren't many cables in the optical drive place.

How sturdy is the top of this case?

Would it be a problem to place a monitor on it? Of course it should be stable

Not a good idea. Few cube cases would be good for this.

Just wondering what the color of the power LED on the GD04 case is, and if it's just on, or blinking for HDD/ODD drive activity?

There's 1 thing that annoys us more than fan noise while watching movies, and that's one of those bright blue (blinking) LEDs near the screen.
(I could off coarse choose not to connect the cable )

Could someone with a GD04/05 please measure the front to back distance between the feet for me? I know the case is 323mm deep, but my shelf is only 285mm deep. I've got overhand space in front and back so that isn't a problem, but I'm wondering if the feet are within 285mm.

Thank you.

[quote="Freeco"]Just wondering what the color of the power LED on the GD04 case is, and if it's just on, or blinking for HDD/ODD drive activity?

There's 1 thing that annoys us more than fan noise while watching movies, and that's one of those bright blue (blinking) LEDs near the screen.
(I could off coarse choose not to connect the cable :wink:)[/quote]
BTW: the LED is blue, but it's rather small and not that bright. It's on when the HTPC is running, and is blinking when there's disc activity. But it's not annoying at all!
Very happy with the case!

hi all,

is it possible to install optic drive and internal IR receiver to GD04/05?

Regards,
U. Sertac BIRCAN

Hello all,

I am looking at building a system with the GD05, but I have a quick question about clearance over the memory slots. It looks like a tight fit with the Scythe Big Shuriken and optical drive above the memory slots. Anybody know if sticks with extended heatspreaders like these will fit in the GD05 with a Shuriken and optical drive?

I can't tell from all the pictures you guys have posted... thanks for any help!

I'm still hoping that someone can measure the front-to-back distance between the feet on the GD05 for me. Anyone?

Thank you.

if you only plan on put 2 DIMMs then it won't be a problem. The Big Shuriken does not overhang the primary dual channel mem slots. I'm not completely sure if you'd put 4 DIMMs.
You can see it with some effort on this pic (it's low-profile DIMMs, but all the same)


But why use that kind of dimms? Do you plan on overclock the memory? If not, just use plain ValueRam from Kingston. Works guaranteed!

you're in luck: for the feet to be fully on the shelf you need 282mm. The back feet are really small, but the front two are big enough for some overhanging too. Less dampening of vibrations though, if you need it.
Keep in mind you'll need some extra room for cabling at the back. An HDMI cable for example won't be happy if you bend it too much.

How large is the clearance below a standard optical drive? Would a Noctua NH-C12P fit in there without the fan, or is it too high?

if I remember correctly the heatsink/fan should be max 70mm high if you mount an ODD.
Don't know how tall that Noctua is, but you'll find that in it's specs.

Thanks for the info. Too bad the Noctua won't fit--it's 90 mm high.

Hi guys,

I'm going to be purchasing this case as I got a new slimline TV stand at xmas and its a lot shallower than my current HTPC (which was cheap and cheerful but loud as hell) and the GD05 will fit perfectly, I've also ordered a Zalman VNF100 for my 8800GT that looks like it will be a beautiful fit ( http://images0.hiboox.com/images/5008/a ... 815cab.jpg ). I currently use a Ninja Mini and I have a spare slimline DVD drive, so I'm hoping that I can use the nija mini in conjunction with the silverstone ts03 as the guy mentioned earlier ( http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/ ... =TS03&area ) does anyone happen to know if this will work or will it be a case of having to cut the actual drive tray. Would make my life a whole lot easier if it can be done, but otherwise I'll just take the tray out and use the 5.25 bay for a fan controller or something lol.

i see that we can fit a heatsink with fan of a max height of 120mm without installing the optical drive. Does anyone have any good sugguestions for this? I'm open to either blow down or tower style.

As someone mentioned I'm also interested in the NT01, I just bought the GD04 and a scythe Big shuriken but haven't installed the big shuriken yet.

I have a granda kama cross in another case and even that interferes with the RAM a bit making it a pain - not only that, but top-down fans really do generate higher levels of turbulence, reducing cooling efficiency in the overall case by disrupting airflow and providing resistance to incoming and outgoing air (and also directing airflow away from the turbulent, higher resistance regions, a bad situation when those are the regions you want to cool). It has the advantage of giving you great airflow directly on the CPU, and the turbulence will actually improve flow to MoBo components which otherwise would largely be limited by static regions near the surface (which is mitigated anyway though by convection if the flow through the case and hence case temps are low enough) - but when I'm thinking about throwing a passively cooled or stock cooled VGA card in there the airflow worries me, especially after experience with other cases with top-down CPU coolers that really do interrupt airflow.

The NT01 then seems like, in theory, a very elegant solution (especially with the shroud removed). Not only does it cut down on noise (assuming you can still keep the case fans down), but it works nicely with the airflow, taking advantage of the 120mm inlet right there and, if you need more airflow, a good quiet-as-possible 80mm pair of fans on the MoBo outlet. This is in theory however, it relies on not only a well-polished surface on the baseplate and well-designed copper piping and internal interfacing, but well-designed copper fans (the devil's in the details).

So what I'm wondering is does anyone have experience with the NT01 in this case? I've seen people with 45W TDP processors in there, but I'm planning on building it with an i3-2100, which is a revolution as far as I can tell in performance:power ratio, but I don't know if the NT01 can handle it.

I suspect that in this case it could, again you have the 120mm fan blowing right on it, a virtually total lack of turbulence (nice design Silverstone! Also anyone thinking about removing the optical drive should remember that that drive nicely funnels airflow right onto the MoBo deck, giving you higher flow with the confinement, although that would make the fan work harder), and if you need it 80mm fans pulling right out from it. It seems like the big limitation however is getting that heat from the CPU up to those fins - unlike most full-size heatsinks there are only three tubes and the are quite protruded vertically before they reach airflow fins/airflow (but I don't have it in hand, it might actually not be as bad as it could look).

So does anyone have experience with the NT01 in this case with an i3-2100 or similar temperature chip? (like The Athlon X2 II or something?). SST Guy, do you have any numbers for that type of setup?

my GD04 just arrived. I don't have the components to build into it yet but I have to echo what the reviewers have already said: this is a very well-built case, it really amazes me that they brought it in at $100. My Antec P193 had similar build quality at $200 (albeit about twice the size, but I don't think it really scales like that; the P193 had more plastic, but also had better sound insulation on all of the sides, something the GD04 lacks although the SECC siding is probably better for cooling). Also, you know its small but its always a surprise when you get in there and it really is minimalist!

I'll post build pics, but some initial impressions on the case:
Pros:
- very well built, everything is flush nothing misaligned, brushed the wrong way, or otherwise cheapened through manufacturing inaccuracy. None of the component feel cheap yet (haven't built yet).
- Very well designed, looking at it you can really see how air will flow and how advantageous it is. There are really two ways things can play out that I see:

1) you have a VGA card, this effectively separates the case into two chambers (there won't be much airflow past the VGA card unless it is very short)
one on the side with 2 intake fans, which will blow onto the components and CPU respectively before being funneled out of the back of the case (the two 80mm spots), and
the second further subdivided: The single intake fan channeling in three directions, one out the back of the PSU, helped a bit by the PSU intake below the case, the other ancillary flow past the HDD out the vent above the PSU (may not be much flow here, no fan to direct it, but given the low heating requirements of HDDs and the PSU supplying much of its own airflow, it shouldn't be too much of an issue, we'll see), and the final one getting pulled into the VGA card (if it has a fan) or otherwise going out the PCI vents naturally. This seems like an excellent situation as if the VGA card has its own fan it will get a solid supply from the single intake which doesn't have to do much contorting depending on how long the card is (a long card with a rear intake might have trouble getting fed, but most of these cards seem to have an intake along the side of the PCB), or if you have a passively cooled card (anyone see the report on passively cooled GPUs at computech? http://www.anandtech.com/show/4429/computex-2011-silent-and-single-slot-gpus) it looks like you'll be in luck as it should get a healthy supply.

2) you don't have a VGA card, in which case the situation is very similar but most of the intake from the PSU side (single intake) will go out the PCI vents, not too useful although that might help keep that chipset (and HD2000) cool.

I feel good about how the NT01-E will perform in this environment, my biggest concern being that the optical drive will block airflow to it, but I'm hoping that will be compensated for by updraft of air from the CPU heat toward the back of the case, helped by the I/O shielding that may force current up.

Anyway, I'll let you know when I get down and dirty with it but so far I'm impressed with what silverstone's done so far. It's an impressive design that seems hard to improve upon, and in the GD06 I think that they may have sacrificed some cooling performance for the VGA card for the sake of features with the hot-swap bays. With the bays installed, notice how hard it will be to feed a graphics card. I haven't seen quantitative reviews out yet, but I'd bet you'll see a performance drop with those bays in block that crucial intake.

So looking at it it seems that NT01-E will work nicely with the GD04/05 EXCEPT:

I just installed in the heatsink on the board, and the PCI-E slot is entirely blocked by the heatsink. What's more, unless you remove the optical drive no other configuration will work in the case, and this isn't just for my motherboard - looking at all the other MoBos I considered on newegg, all of them would have the PCIe x16 slot blocked.

On top of that, no matter what way I cut it a Big Shuriken will block my RAM.

So.... yeah. Not sure what I'll do yet.

Also, the polish on the base of the NT01-E isn't great.

I have this case - and I have decided to dump it and just use a regular tower case on the floor next to my entertainment rack. After building so many tower computers these SFF cases seem like torture - and don't cool things as well as you might expect from the fans they have. There is no way to really keep the cables clean like you can in a bigger tower case plus it doesn't hold that many HDs.

I can see why the industry for desktop PCs move almost exclusively to tower designs. Desktop cases just aren't as good.