I am building a i5-2400 system with a fanless Radeon HD 5750 GPU. The PSU is also fanless.
Which case should I buy?

Welcome to SPCR,

Just to clarify, will the CPU heatsink have a fan, or not?

Consider the following setup

1. Lian Li Q-07 case modified with a 120mm front fan hole with a 500 rpm 120mm fan covered with a 120mm Modright Filterright fan filter.

2. PSU Option 1: a regular size ATX PSU with a Scythe Big Shurekin cpu heatsink.

3. PSU Option 2: cover the PSU hole with a plate, see Lian Li PSU covers:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=21099
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=21100
Use a Pico PSU power supply
Use the extra space for a Thermalright HR-1 or HR-2 cpu heat sink running without a fan, but connected to the front fan with a thermalright fan duct. See
http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/ ... _duct.html
If using an HR-01, use the longer blue duct. If using the HR-02, use the shorter red duct.

4. Consider using the 2105 Sandy Bridge with the high end integrated 3000 video graphics and doing without the video card.

5. Double check the dimensions before making your final decision. My memory tells me that you should be able to find an HD 5750 GPU that will fit into the Lian Li Q-07 case modified as per the above, but I am not certain.

Thanks guys for your input,
To clarify my configuration:
- CPU i5-2400 --> stock cooling for now, I'll change it later
- GPU Radeon HD 5770 fanless (Gigabyte or Asus)
- PSU Seasonic X-460W fanless
- probably a tower case, HTPC case are too expensive.
My concerns for buying the case are:
- where to put the fanless PSU: on top or at the bottom ?
- is one exhaust fan at the back enough ?

Typical one fan solution: A case with space for a 120mm fan in the back. A fat wide-space fins cooler on the CPU, an Accelero S1 or similar beefy cooler with the fins parallel to the graphics card and a few PCI slot covers removed under the card. Temperature controlled 120mm fan (I like the Slipstreams myself) in the back of the case. You may want to tape up some holes in the case to optimize airflow. Done.

The LIAN LI PC-Q07 Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case is $69.95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 7&Tpk=q-07

It has great construction quality and also is unbelievably feather light (made of aluminum). It accepts a standard ATX PSU.

The Gigabyte 5770 (renamed 6770) fanless is huge. You need some airflow to keep it cool.
I don't see the point in using the stock CPU cooler when everything else is fanless. you should replace it asap, a Gigabyte 212 isn't too expensive.
A good and small case for a fanless card is the Silverstone TJ08-E. It has a 18cm fan in the front and a 12cm fan in the back. These should provide enough airflow for your system. If you get a good tower cooler you can try running only these two fans.

I finally bought a P183 and a Noctua NH-U12P.
I took out the case top fan and mounted it at the uper front intake. Both Tricool fans are set in low.
As for the CPU cooling, the Noctua is mounted with only one push fan with ULNA, in the horizontal direction, i.e. toward the rear case fan.
I don't know if I have to add a fan at the lower chamber for the fanless PSU, if need be I'll use the spare Noctua fan.

My system is not silent, I still hear a humming sound.

Is it possible to use the Noctua NH-U12P fanless on a Core i5-2400 ?
The CPU max TPD is 95W.

If I want to use only one case fan, which one should I keep, the front intake or the back ?

It could be your hard drive or your PSU.

Put both fans on their slowest speed (using the Noctua cables). That will be more than enough cooling... and it will make no discernible noise.

My hard drive is a SSD and the PSU is fanless, it's definitely a fan noise.


There is currently one fan at its lowest speed.

The CPU temp is about 37°C, the Northbridge about 39°C.
Being under OS X, I can't have GPU temp.

I'm going to try to shut off one case fan.