After modding my previous rig about as far as I was interested, I wanted a new challenge.

Enter the Silverstone SG07, in a build that is about as small as you can get using [mostly] full-sized components suited to near silent PCs (eg. tower CPU heatsink, regular 140mm deep ATX PSU, dual-slot and up to ~305mm/12" long video card, 120mm case fan/s, and 3.5" HDD silencing enclosure).

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Specs:

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 (3.3GHz, 4C/8T, 69W) @ 0.992v
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe (bloody expensive, but the only suitable board with ideal CPU socket placement)
RAM: G.Skill Ares 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1600 (10-10-10-30 1T)
SSD: Samsung 830 Series 256GB
HDD: WD Caviar Green 2TB (WD20EARX)
GPU: Gigabyte 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX670 OC (auto fan speed 24-45% -- inaudible to very quiet, and max 70°C )
Case: Silverstone SG07B w/ USB3
PSU: Seasonic S12II 520W (the stock PSU had an electrical ticking noise )
ODD: Pioneer BDR-TD204
CPU Heatsink: Thermalright HR-02
System Fans: 2x Scythe Slipstream 120mm PWM (set to 500-900RPM @ idle/load) (1x CPU heatsink, 1x rear exhaust)
HDD Muffling: GUP Smart Drive 2002C

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Mods/changes to this point:

• Removed the stock PSU/HDD mounting bracket, replaced it with a custom L-bracket made from the PSU platform from a P182 -- the PSU is held in place by the grip/friction of the bracket and supporting blu-tack (highly effective at preventing the PSU from slipping), as well as the weight of the components putting pressure on it from above
• The custom PSU bracket allowed just enough space for the Smart Drive enclosure
• Cut a hole in the rear panel to mount a 120mm case fan -- externally here, as there is only 15~20mm of space between the HR-02 and rear panel
• Removed the stock 180mm intake fan to allow room for the Thermalright HR-02
• Full 4mm Acoustipack treatment

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Photos (full sized photos below):

• Front view
• The money shot! And yes, those heatpipes are sticking out the top of the case
• Other angle
• Top view
• Ventilation for CPU fan
• Left side panel
• Right side panel
• Rear panel - the fan is attached using silicone grommets
• Acoustipack - makes for an extremely snug fit
• Video card
• Everything else
• Innards
• Just enough room between the CPU fan and HDD silencer, intake air comes from small portions of the top and side vents

EDIT: Upgraded from the 1GB HD6950 to a GTX670, and it shaved off 100RPM from the CPU fan speed.

Lots of stuff in there !! Nice build

Are you sure your heatsink is seated properly? It sure seems like it's sitting on the mobo at an angle.

That's the way it's designed. It seems that Thermalright "straightened it out" with the HR-02 Macho, but the original HR-02 did have that slight angle, as seen here:

I'm really impressed. I think I'm going to have to make something very similar to that too.

One thing that works well with the Growup Japan hard drive enclosures is to get some cheap thermal paste and put a layer of thermal paste between the metal hard drive shell and the copper plates inside the enclosure for improved heat transfer. I put thermal paste on the sides and top of the hard drive (leaving the breather hole clear) but not on the underside where the PCB is. Because there's such a large surface area to cover it would use several tubes of expensive Arctic Silver. It's a good way of using up any spare thermal paste that came with heatsinks and is lying around spare.

What temps are you seeing at idle and gaming?

Thanks. Nice idea, might try that in the future. My SSD got up to 38°C in testing, while the HDD crept up to 49°C (after the Unigine test). Usually only goes up to 40°C in TF2 though.


Ambient temp: ~28c

Idle:

CPU: 44°C (600RPM)
GPU: 48°C (27%)

Gaming (TF2):

CPU: 63°C (750RPM)
GPU: 73°C (27%)

Unigine Heaven:

CPU: 65°C (800RPM)
GPU: 86°C (40%)

Prime 95 (small FFTs):

CPU: 72°C (950RPM)
GPU: 48°C (27%)

nice

Thermal paste on the hard drive made little/no difference (48°C instead of 49°C).

There's a tiny gap between the surface of the drive and the copper plates, so I had to use quite a bit of thermal paste. That, plus the drive is in the main hotspot in the case. Was worth a try though.

My current PC has a Samsung HD103SJ hard drive in a Growup Japan enclosure. I have it sitting behind the case on a block of foam, connected to an internal SATA header. It's been like that since 2009. After running all day the hard drive is at 26c according to the SMART monitoring. If you don't need to move the computer around much it's one way of getting a heat source out of the case.



Considering that it's winter here in the UK the ambient temperature is much lower than it will be in Australia however, meaning it isn't really a fair comparison. It might be worth trying your drive externally also to see if the drive temperatures drop much.

Another option to consider would be a Western Digital 2TB Green 2.5" hard drive internally. It's much smaller so would take up less space in the case which could help airflow. The 2.5" Western Digital drive might lose some performance compared to the 3.5" drive though. Apparently the 3.5" Western Digital Green drive is a 5,400rpm drive so it could be fairly close in performance to the 2.5" version?

Very nice! I was thinking of that board in a silverstone case, the SG 08 I think it is. Xeon CPU is interesting. It fits a "real" ATX PSU, super! I happen to have a very nice spare PSU.

I do not put CDrom's in anymore so that would be good for airflow I think. I also would only have a single SSD in it. And I wold move over my core i7 as well.

I am getting close. Thanks for the post!

It looks like you really squeezed the hardware in
Did you know it was going to fit before buying things?

That's a nice solution. I like having all the goodies inside the case though, for easy transport in one go. But it'll be something to try if/when I need more storage. Can run the SATA cables out the gap on the rear of the case, on top of the video card.


Mmm, one day... Shame about its price at the moment, over twice as much as its 3.5" counterpart.


Thanks. 140mm max depth PSU, and non-modular only, otherwise the cables would faceplant into the video card.


It's an airflow dead zone in the front of the case -- just the PSU at the bottom-front, and above that, all the drives. No vents near the drives. The main airflow happens in the rear section.

You're welcome.


Yep, very tight fit. Took a few goes to get it right. On my first go with the SATA cable right in front of the CPU fan, it would touch the fan blades if I screwed the case cover on too tight (since the heatpipes of the HR-02 stick up through the vents, and putting the cover on drags the HR-02 and its fan forward slightly). Not a problem now that I adjusted the position of the Smart Drive enclosure and put more tension on the SATA cable.


Sort of. I don't think anyone has done what I did before, so I looked for as many photos and user opinions as possible, and then tried judging whether parts would fit. Here are my early drafts, it goes over the page too.