please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar

Post Reply
Mhelkir
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:34 pm

please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by Mhelkir » Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:54 pm

Argh :/ whole topic erased casue of php session end... and logon screen :/

Ok, so back and shortly:

I would like to build a new rig, quite rig, and I would like ask you for help in choosing a chassis.
I thing even to wait for haswell, but case is something that can be bought before.

1. DualGPU onboard, a noise thing, and hot, passive cooling is not an option,
Side panel fan is equal to side panel holes and noise from gpu outside, so should I have one? It's good to lower temps on such gpu, other option to do this is something like silverstone raven or lian li tyr x2000f (an intake fan in front of gpu, without hdd in a path of airflow)
2. I would like to have hotswap outside case to not remove panel to add/remove disks, but it's not mandatory
3. I would stay with Air Cooling, maybe in a long future buy something like H60 for cpu (is this more silent than good air fans? )
4. Dust filters are a must have, I have now HAF922, nice rig but to much holes in it, and to much dust inside
6. EATX format would be a plus, no matter what I will put inside I like bigger cases more - easier installation, more room inside, more options
7. I would need space for no more than 3 disks. I hope I will build NAS in a future, and I can buy encloser with hotswap if I ever consider it is something needed.
8. Is Lian Li X2000F worth so much money?

THX for reply
Best regards
Mhelkir

Das_Saunamies
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2000
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 1:39 am
Location: Finland

Re: please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by Das_Saunamies » Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:35 am

I've helped part-pick research workstations with double and triple GPU setups. The case chosen was the Fractal Design XL. The guy who put it together and works with them says it performs well.

So my recommendation is: http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... =2&prod=69

It's not terribly expensive, you can choose if you want the side vent open or not, and it's got a closed top for extra protection from dust or any other material that might fall in. It does not feature a hot-swap bay, but if you seriously need one, I'm sure there are aftermarket solutions.

1. More holes means more noise escaping. With the XL, you can first try with no hole and see if that's enough. If you have no choice but to have the hole, then it's a moot point. The XL has an okay air path if you remove the top HDD cage.
2. No hotswap bay built in, but since the case is not that expensive, relatively speaking, an aftermarket solution would surely be affordable.
3. Water cooling has noisy parts like pumps that you'd have to modify to get silence. The prebuilt kits are also not that powerful. To quote an SPCR review: "The Kühler H20 620/920, even though they have quieter pumps than the H50, are still handicapped by the additional noise source of the pump, making them impossible to succeed as super-quiet CPU coolers. [...] For performance oriented silencers, stick to tried and true air coolers. They are both cheaper and more effective."
4. XL has intake filters.
5. ?
6. XL supports E-ATX.
7. There is a lower cage that can fit up to 6 drives. With 3 you can have sufficient space between drives for effortless cooling.
8. I haven't seen a Lian Li I thought was worth the asking price. Only if you absolutely must have some feature or design should you pay their level of premiums.

I have seen one case where a user complained of vibration issues, but they had a 7200 RPM WD Black to begin with. With the right parts I'm sure there's no problem, as I've seen more satisfied cases and only one with any sort of complaint.

crashed
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:29 pm

Re: please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by crashed » Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:02 am

I have recently built myself a single gpu gaming rig with a Define XL and can nitpick it for you if you're interested.

AckeDman
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:20 am
Location: Sweden

Re: please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by AckeDman » Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:09 am

Mhelkir wrote:Argh :/ whole topic erased casue of php session end... and logon screen :/

Ok, so back and shortly:

I would like to build a new rig, quite rig, and I would like ask you for help in choosing a chassis.
I thing even to wait for haswell, but case is something that can be bought before.

1. DualGPU onboard, a noise thing, and hot, passive cooling is not an option,
Side panel fan is equal to side panel holes and noise from gpu outside, so should I have one? It's good to lower temps on such gpu, other option to do this is something like silverstone raven or lian li tyr x2000f (an intake fan in front of gpu, without hdd in a path of airflow)
2. I would like to have hotswap outside case to not remove panel to add/remove disks, but it's not mandatory
3. I would stay with Air Cooling, maybe in a long future buy something like H60 for cpu (is this more silent than good air fans? )
4. Dust filters are a must have, I have now HAF922, nice rig but to much holes in it, and to much dust inside
6. EATX format would be a plus, no matter what I will put inside I like bigger cases more - easier installation, more room inside, more options
7. I would need space for no more than 3 disks. I hope I will build NAS in a future, and I can buy encloser with hotswap if I ever consider it is something needed.
8. Is Lian Li X2000F worth so much money?

THX for reply
Best regards
Mhelkir

My recommendation is the Nzxt H2. Its not eATX format but it has what you are looking for. Room for 2 GPUs, how swap HDD bay and dust filters that are easy to clean. They fixed the airflow issue it had at the front for the newer revisions.

Das_Saunamies
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2000
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 1:39 am
Location: Finland

Re: please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by Das_Saunamies » Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:25 am

What did they change in the front of the H2? The gallery page doesn't seem to feature more holes in the sides at least.

tim851
Posts: 543
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
Location: 128.0.0.1

Re: please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by tim851 » Fri Aug 10, 2012 1:37 pm

Mhelkir wrote:I thing even to wait for haswell, but case is something that can be bought before.
Haswell is gonna be out between March and June 2013, I'd calculate with June to be sure. That's a looong time. Even if cases don't go bad, there's a good chance that by that time a few new spiffy ones will be around. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't buy the case ahead of time.

AckeDman
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:20 am
Location: Sweden

Re: please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by AckeDman » Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:29 am

Das_Saunamies wrote:What did they change in the front of the H2? The gallery page doesn't seem to feature more holes in the sides at least.
The problem was that Nzxt problably thought it was best not to advertise their initial misstake and has shipped out the new revision H2s without a model name change as far as i can see. But if you want to know where i came to the conclusion its twofold.

1.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1274-page2.html
Read first paragraph and you will notice SPCR aknowledges that better intake.

2.
When i first read the review of the H2 i decided i wanted to see if it could be right. I closed and opened my H2 too see if there was any temp change and there wasnt any. However the review was about 1 year old from when i bought my previous H2 case and therefore i just figured the fixed it. The above article proved it.

I am a little dissapointed that SPCR has'nt done a post script on the original review thou. Considering it was one of the bigger pet peeves of the review.

If you really want hot swap bay its probably the best case for you. I would rather choose the new Fractal Design R4 if i would go that big and just buy a external HDD hot swap.

Das_Saunamies
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 2000
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 1:39 am
Location: Finland

Re: please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by Das_Saunamies » Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:34 am

Alright. I looked for an addendum to the original review too. Good to know H2 has been improved, even if it's been done in a sneaky fashion.

Mhelkir
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:34 pm

Re: please help choose case for dualgpu rig

Post by Mhelkir » Sat Aug 18, 2012 5:02 pm

Thx for help,
I will search this two, also I will look at Antec (love dust filters everywhere, and P193 can handle very long gpu)

Few things changed, as far as I try to work with CAD 3D programs it looks like they don't like dualgpu at all (don't use second core), so I will need change to single strong gpu, so maybe antec p280 will come into game it's longer (xl-atx) so it can be nice with gpu that takes 3 slots,

anyway, onecore gpu is less warm, less need of cooling, more space for quite.
I will tell you (when I decide) which one I taken, once again thx for help.

Post Reply