Hi,

I'm looking to put together a small, powerful yet quiet gaming PC.
I have an available space (WxDxH) of 526x441x182(mm) or 20x17x7(inches) although of course I'd like as much space for airflow as possible, the only suitable case I can find is the SILVERSTONE Sugo SST-SG06B which looks pretty good although the PSU noise is a potential concern.
A lower, wider case would be great but I haven't found one so far.

My initial component ideas are as follows :

Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-H67N
CPU INTEL Core i3-2120
RAM Corsair DDR3 1333MHz 8GB XMS
HDD SAMSUNG Spinpoint M8
GPU Possibly MSI HD 6870 TwinFrozr II

Cooling is my biggest problem, I'm not really sure which quiet coolers for the GPU ad CPU will fit in the case.
What about water cooling, would that be an option at all in such a small case?
I'd ideally like to have a machine that's quieter than my game consoles.

I appreciate any advice you can offer, I'm new to the forum and to assembling PCs from scratch.
I live in Europe btw.

Cheers,
Denis

How about Antec Fusion case?
Or you can look at Lian Li C series (HTPC) cases.
There are many m-ATX cases that would fit you. They would have more room and better cooling.

I would look at bumping CPU to i5, but in either case you might want to look at going aftermaket CPU and GPU coolers if noise is major concern.

I have i5 760 + HD6870 in Lian Li PC-Q08 and for me I believe CPU cooler is the loudest even under small load. Compleat idle is OK, but CPU cooler rumps up even under smallest load. Though the noise is dependant relative to my position to case. It seems louder from the sides.

The space you describe should fit a bigger case than the SG06, with a desktop (HTPC) case you heve a lot more options:
ANTEC FUSION REMOTE MAX 19.05cm(H) x 44.45cm(W) x 45.21cm(D) if you remove the case's feet it might fit, but I'm not 100% positive. This is the biggest case that might fit, full ATX, which gives you lots of options.
SilverStone Lascala LC17 425 mm (W) x 170 mm (H) x 425 mm (D). Not as quiet as the Antec or as big, still plenty of room, full ATX, too. The front is aluminum, like the Antec, but it is available in silver, too.
SilverStone Grandia GD05 ,440 mm (W) x 150 mm (H) x 325 mm (D), quite favorably reviewed here. Limits CPU cooler height to Big Shuriken, or Prolimatech Samuel 17 and fits mini ATX boards. GD04 is the Silver Version.
Lian Li PC-C50 ,(W) 445mm x (H) 167mm x (D) 325mm, quite similar to the GD05/04, accepts mini ATX boards. Does not limit CPU cooler height as much, a Scythe Kama Cross without the top fan fits, the side fan blowing on the heatsink for cooling. Full aluminum construction, available in silver and black, light weight but expensive.

All of these cases accept a standard ATX PSU, which is the main reason to recommend them over the SG06. It comes with a mini ATX (SFX) PSU which isn't bad, but not great either in terms of noise.
I would use the Lian Li C50 and the system in the link for Scythe Kama Cross, just add the video card of your choice.
beQuiet! PSUs are not available everywhere, you can use an Enermax Modu 87+ 500W or Seasonic X-560, both are very good, get whichever is cheaper. Whatever you do, make shure to buy a modular PSU for use in a smaller case.

Don't worry overmuch about CPU cooler height. An i3 2120 shouldn't need a lot of cooling.

Any mATX case gives you four slots' worth of space for a GPU cooler which is more of an issue for a quiet gaming PC. I just happened to read a review of the Deepcool Dracula which should work nicely. An Accelero Xtreme Plus would work as well.

For the space you have, the 441mm depth is a problem for most full ATX cases since you need a few cm for cables. The Lian Li PC-C50 or Silverstone's Grandia series is probably your best bet.

Welcome to SPCR.

Just to be clear, is this open shelf space or are you cramming this into a cabinet without ventilation, etc..

Thanks guys,

The space is in this unit :




It looks as if I could just squeeze in one of these :

http://www.kitguru.net/components/cases/zardon/lian-li-pc-c60-chassis-review/3/

I could then have a full size motherboard, more space in general and also use 140mm case fans.
Any problems with this case?
As the fans are at the side of teh case where there is space and it'll be kept open when used then there should be sufficient airflow, no?

I think I'm likely to go for an i5-2400S for better emulation (Dolphin) capabilities.
What do I need to look out for when choosing a motherboard?
As noise levels are so important I guess I need to be able to control the fans from the Motherboard, any suggestions?

I can't tell from your diagram - is the interior width 468mm or 526mm per side?

If the former: that only gives you 1cm clearance on ea side of the Lian Li case. Consider that this case is meant to have airflow go in one side and out the other and not front to back...I think you might have significant thermal rise and some noise issues.

If the latter: It'll be much better than the above..but you'll still be dealing with heat rise due to the constricted nature of the cabinet.

Another thing to look out for/you might have to deal with: coupled vibration/resonance between the PC case and your cabinet. If your cabinet is built solidly and has a fair bit of mass, then it probably won't be a problem.

I like Asus Mobos for socket 1155. Good fan control and decent UEFI. Find one with the feature set you want/need.

You have an interesting problem: put the pc in a small case with maybe some thermal issues and have lots of room to breathe in the cabinet, or, put the pc in a large case with plenty of cooling but then restrict it's breath by squeezing into a small space.