OK - I'm doing some testing. I originally started testing with the PSU pushed into the case (psu case extender had not arrived yet), but I noticed if I pulled the PSU out the temperature got cooler. More space for air from above to get 'down' and cool the heatsink. Interesting. Only in this particul...

I'm going to put in the Noctua ULNA and see what the sound level is like. I'm also going to put in a Zalman fan mate to reduce the fan speed of the top fan. A good discussion on fans http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=65032&start=30 Top case fan, Gentle Typhoon on fanmate down ...

The P8Z77-I has 2 fan headers. I need 2 case fans and a cpu fan. After looking at the PSU - I decide I don't want a molex power cable coming out of the PSU just to have a converter to power the case fan. The solution is to use a case fan splitter supplied by Noctua to power 2 fans, and the third fan...

Great - Just after I buy the LZP-550 another silent cooler comes on the market. http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1306-page5.html In the hotbox it is better than the LZP-550 at 400W. So, I can't use the TY150 as a cooler fan. I could use it as a chassis fan. OK - The TY150 has a very strange moun...

Snag with the NH-C14 and the DVD drive. OK - It won't fit with the ASUS drive, it hits the top of the NH-C14 OK - If I remove the 'stealth part' front panel, I can move a dvd drive forward and make it flush with the front of the case. Luckily the DVD drive is 'black' matching the Lian Li case - Phew...

Some reviews of the Lian Li PC-Q08 and the installation procedure http://lanoc.org/review/hardware/cases/4739-lian-li-mini-q-pc-q08 Motherboard - cpu, ram, heatsink. Install hard drives Hook up front panel Secure psu then pulled it partway out to get access Video card is last part to install With th...

After I installed the NH-C14, I went to connect the fan power. Very tight squeeze, note to self, next time connect the fan power before connecting the heatsink, it makes life easier. Hmmm … that chassis fan connector also looks like a very difficult fitting. The chassis fan connector is to the left ...

Ok - parts start arriving. I looked at the King Mod foam insulation - light foam - I don't think it will do the job. So I've decided to return it and order something from the car audio store. PC-Q08 Lovely case. Everything fits with precision. But that case feels like it will scratch sooo easily. Ha...

DVD Drive I was going for a Samsung SH-222BB SATA DVD Write Optical Drive, but based on reviews from newegg I decided to go for Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWrite which had 5 stars out of 3605 reviews rather than 4 stars out of 266 reviews. For ages I have been spreading the heatsink compound a...

Fans - a big headache For the front panel - I decided from this review http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=62830 Noctua NF-P14 FLX 140mm Fan, 750-1200rpm For the top blow hole, I decided from this review http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1266-page7.html I decided to get the S...

What about sound proofing? From here http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=60780&f=13 I thought it was really interesting having some sound dampening inside the Q08 case. He uses butyl foam sound deadener. The temperatures he gets are quite good. I was going use AcoustiPack™ as review...

Graphics card cooler? From here http://www.silentpcreview.com/article979-page6.html The Scythe Musashi basically more or less keeps pace with the well known Acclero S1 This cooler was used to good effect in the SFF Gaming build on silentpcreview http://www.silentpcreview.com/Silent_Gaming_System_Bui...

Which graphics card? This is a continually changing field. I started out wanting a 6850, back in Dec 2010, then prices dropped and 6870 came into range without too much extra over a 6850. I was going to go for a 6870 as on Hexus, that gave really good bang-per-buck http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/grap...

Onto memory chips. From reading here http://forums.tweaktown.com/memory/48445-does-ddr3-memory-speed-really-matter-ivy-bridge-sandy-bridge.html http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6 It doesn't look like anything much above 1333 or 1600 does very much...

So what heatsink compound? After years of using the original Artic Silver 1 (I still haven't finished the 6.5g tube!) I thought it would be worth looking around to see if things have improved. From an 80 way shootout http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62...

So which cooler is going to fit inside a Lian Li PC Q08? A big headache here. Basically a Scythe Samurai is one option that will fit. Also a thermalright AXP140 will also fit. But the performance winner is the Noctua NH-C14. http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1138-page6.html With a decent bottom f...

So which PSU? Now the problem with a Q08 case is that you need to fit a short PSU in it. Preferably 140mm one. See the following review http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2010/07/20/lian-li-pc-q08-review/2 However, there is a get out clause. Lian Li do a PSU extender so you can fit a longer psu ...

What size of PSU should I get? From here http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/msi_radeon_hd_7850_power_edition_oc_review,6.html They use an i7 965 TDP of 130W (overclocked from 3.2GHz to 3.75GHz) with a HD 7850 - the graphics card I'm considering. The 3570K has TDP of 77W The system load was 254W, t...

So which motherboard? I decided to go with the ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe. In this review, the P8Z77-I came out better than the Asrock Z77E-ITX http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/09/05/mini-itx-shootout/8 There are some forums posts where the Asrock comes out faster than the Asus. One big consideration ...

What CPU to go into it? When I decided to go ahead with the build as of September 2012, the best cpu for me is the 3570K A normal expected overclock is from 3.4GHz to 4.5GHz (+32%) Not as good as a Sandy Bridge but it makes up for it by using less power. You can reduce temperatures by 'deliding' it ...

So what case should I have? A standard shuttle will hold a DVD drive and 2 3.5 inch hard disks in a large shoe box size. I liked the small size. But they are not the quietest computers, especially when sitting next to them. Also, you are pretty much stuck with what you get. Not much chance to upgrad...

Hi, I've been reading about quiet computers for a while but now it has come for the time to build one. As with most people I have done a lot of research but some questions cannot be answered on a forum because I found that people hadn't done it before. Or if they have, they haven't written about it....

Christer & Theolos:

Did any of you two manage to fit the seasonic x400 into the PC-Q08 and use the 4 hdd hard disk cage as well?

Thanks
Alan

Hi, The review claims that the clearance is approximately 110mm, but Scythe Samurai ZZ's height is according to both SPCR's review and product's homepage 122mm including the fan? This seems like a a great case, but that was an error(?) that I spotted in the review, can someone confirm? Anyone wants ...

Hi,

Thanks for doing the analysis.

It was very interesting for me. I hadn't considered soft mounting in front of the cage.

Thanks
Alan

Hi Falcon,

falcon26 wrote:... The card is quiet but its not as quiet as say a 6870 fitted with an artic cooling twin turbo pro. ...

That's really useful to know. Thanks

Hi, Any comments on the Nexus' finish? I was looking into this. xbits state starting voltage was 9.9V whereas spcr has it at 5.5V. I checked the models and found this http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/120-140-fans-roundup_12.html#sect0 - the 'basic' fan without LEDS, for the similar s...

Hi, Thanks for posting the pictures. They have been really helpful. Q1 - Can you let me know how much clearance there is above and below the Thermalright AXP-140 (depth 145mm) so I can work out if the Noctua NH-C14 (depth 166mm) will fit? Between the top of the fan and the base of the PSU there's 18...

Hi, Thanks for your reply with practical experience. I'm still playing with my PC-Q08 build, but what I've done is use the Intel DH57JG mobo with a Core i5 750. The PSU is a Seasonic X460, the CPU cooler a Thermalright AXP-140 (the new one, not the old one!). I've mounted the fan on this so that it ...

Hi, Thanks for a really good guide. I was really interested in the Gamer Build V2 and recent reviews on SPCR has thrown up some questions about the Lian Li PC-Q08 case. I was thinking of putting my next system together based on the the guide. CPU : Intel i5-2500K Board : probably Zotac H67-ITX Wifi ...