Switch from a 650D to a Fractal R3

[Lsv]

Hey all,

I've just switched to a Fractal R3 from a Corsair 650D, I have to say it's a very nice case.

The R3 is smaller than the 650D yet much much quieter, however, it was harder to work with due to space constraints. Some things I don't like are the standoffs being like .5mm off and some of the screw points for my new PSU were a bit off as well. Nothing really bad but I think Fractal should consider making a slightly more expensive R3 variant for the $150 price point and it would totally destroy. Also the top cable routing grommet for 8pin mobo power was very hard to make use of.

All in all I'm very happy with the switch, my PC is used in a home studio and the silence + cooling offered is superb.

I currently have 3x Noctua S12B's as intake and one S12B as exhaust.

CPU HSF is a Noctua NH-D14 with the ULNA and my mobo set to silent, it doesn't start the 120mm fan until it's needed and the 140mm is running at 600rpm. It's barely audible. I may test not running the bottom 120mm to further reduce noise.

I've also put an Asus 6950 DC II in it and it just barely fit, I had to tilt it during installation to fit.

Temps (rig in sig) - 40c idle CPU, 65c prime95 for an hour.
6950 is at 45c idle and got to 82c with furmark for an hour. I ran prime95+Furmark for that hour to get my temps. Very impressive.

I only have a few pics but here you go!

[kuzzia]

Nice built.
It looks very silent and the temps look very safe. Nice indeed.

You could also try to remove one of the front fans to reduce noise a bit. The bottom fan might aid GPU temps more than the front fan.

What would you say makes most noise in your system? Vibration, case fans, CPU fans or GPU perhaps?

[Lsv]

Nice built.
It looks very silent and the temps look very safe. Nice indeed.

You could also try to remove one of the front fans to reduce noise a bit. The bottom fan might aid GPU temps more than the front fan.

What would you say makes most noise in your system? Vibration, case fans, CPU fans or GPU perhaps?

Right now the loudest thing in there are the HDs, I can hear them move when I run large operations, such as back up my SSD or back up my work projects (which is a ton of tiny Ableton/WAV files). I cannot hear the system at all from under my desk when not doing anything intensive, it's pushed back far enough to the wall that the front door can open but also makes it further away and dampened by my desk surface.

I'll try remove a front fan and rerun my Furmark+Prime temperature test, I won't remove the bottom fan as its blowing fresh air to the GPU so maybe I'll try it out by removing the lower front fan and see what my temperatures are.

I jimmy rigged and hid the R3's fan controller to control the 3 intake fans (which are all using the ULNA Noctua provides) and have them as low as possible, I essentially unplugged all the fans from the controller, set the controller to minimum, plugged in the fans and raised the voltage until the fans started, then i went 5% higher to handle any start problems as the fans age and the start voltage increases.

All in all I'm very impressed with this case, all my future cases will be Fractal's with Noctua fans and Seasonic PSUs. Expensive yes, but my PCs are for work and play. In my eyes the ability to run computers 24/7 in my bedroom is a worthwhile investment.