CA_Steve wrote:Or, just get an eSATA bracket and use that instead of the hot swap bay.

True. The board comes with two eSATA ports actually. Although the rear of the case will be inaccessible, I suppose I could use an extender cable. I don't have any eSATA drives or enclosures though...

Update, one item which has been bought now is the motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 . It was on sale for a crazy deal - not much more than the board I posted above. Lots more expandability. From a cooling/silence perspective, it's the same. It's the same 4 fan headers - CPU, SYS1, SYS2 and PWR. CP...

flemeister wrote:How about one of these hotswap bays, where the 3.5" drive is kept flush with the front of the case?

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=305

Very nice...flush front, drive access light, no gaping hole, filtered air intake...thank you for the suggestion.

Thank you! I'll be changing my motherboard - mostly for other reasons, but it looks like the one I want to change it to has 4X4-pin PWM fan headers - one for the CPU fan and 3 for case fans. Just be careful into what motherboard you chose, most motherboards only have one true 4pin PWM fan header, m...

If it's behind the R4's door, I don't you'll notice it. However, when in use, you'd have to keep the door open as a 2.5" HDD will stick out a bit. That'll be noisy. Go to ~ 5:30 in this video . I wouldn't mind keeping the door open and the temporary noise - it would be for weekly backups and only f...

I'm considering one of these: http://store.antec.com/Product/accessories-other/EasySwap-USM/0-761345-30752-9.aspx I'm sure putting an open hole in the front of a case would have an impact on sound though! It would also let in dust. The sound effect might be mitigated somewhat with a closed, dampened...

As specified, the PSU is overkill for your system draw. Figure 95W for the CPU and 50W for motherboard, fans, drives (unless you have tons of HDDs). Drop to the 550W. Still won't have fan ramp unless you add a graphics card of note. I would go lower if I could but the RM550s seem to be hard to find...

I've had it with the noise from my system, I will be reusing: AMD Phenom II X3 RAM ASUS GT640-DCSL-2GD3 (passively cooled NVIDIA GT640, 65W TDP) SSD: 64 GB Crucial M4 HDD: 500 GB Western Digital Caviar Black Front runners: Case: Fractal Design Define R4 CPU heatsink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo (opt...

Thank you! I'll be changing my motherboard - mostly for other reasons, but it looks like the one I want to change it to has 4X4-pin PWM fan headers - one for the CPU fan and 3 for case fans. Which brings up another question about 3-pin DC fans in 4-pin PWM headers, but that's a question for another ...

Every single motherboard made has a fan controller of some sort built into the bios or as a s/w utility, if you want automated control. To control multiple case fans, do you use a splitter connected to the system fan header? They don't seem too common. The only one I can find is this one: http://ww...

Hello: Are the be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 series power supplies the only ones available with integrated fan controllers? I have an old Antec 400 W power supply that came with my Sonata II case that had a rudimentary fan controller - it consisted of a single Molex marked "FAN ONLY". It was quite eff...

Thanks for the response! Good point about just trying the stock fan first. :wink: It should be better than my Zalman CNPS5X which uses a non-replaceable 92 mm fan - I'd think that a competently-designed 120 mm fan should always be quieter than a 92 mm fan. I think the worst thing about this HS is th...

Hello, new member here. I've been reading quite a few reviews and technical articles here on SPCR. I've (tentatively) decided on the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo for several reasons: - good efficiency - 120 mm fan for low noise - reasonable weight and size - fairly low cost I'm more interested in sil...