SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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davemuk
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by davemuk » Thu Jul 04, 2019 2:49 am

Old thread but has anyone used the drive caddy to suspend their HDD's?

Out of all the current cases available to buy, the KL07 drive caddy looks big enough to suspend 2 drives with bungee to totally silence any vibrations. *Can the Define C hold 2 suspended HDDs? doesn't look big enough to me.

Also, the PSU shroud doesn't have any vents above it to allow heat to escape so I'm worried my Superflower Golden Silent 500W fanless PSU will only allow heat to escape through the side vents. If there's room for a 120mm fan below the 2 140mm front intake fans, would the air pressure (from a slow rpm fan) be enough to push air the entire length of the shroud?

I'm coming from an Antec Solo II with elastic suspended drives, 2 120mm Nexus front fans and 1 Nexus 120mm rear all on temperature controlled motherboard set fan curves for lowest rpm.

SST Guy
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by SST Guy » Mon Jul 08, 2019 5:54 pm

davemuk wrote:Also, the PSU shroud doesn't have any vents above it to allow heat to escape so I'm worried my Superflower Golden Silent 500W fanless PSU will only allow heat to escape through the side vents. If there's room for a 120mm fan below the 2 140mm front intake fans, would the air pressure (from a slow rpm fan) be enough to push air the entire length of the shroud?
You can fit another 140mm fan below the two included front intake fans. Since there is a drive cage in the way, you probably need to seal off any gaps and hole on the PSU shroud to make sure all the air can push through.

lindstroem
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Fri Jul 26, 2019 4:13 am

Ah finally a place where the KL07 is discussed!

I also cannot really comprehend how the KL07 does not get more attention? Gamer Nexus did a thorough review of the Fractal Design Define R6 in which they do a full comparison which i summarize below for KL07,DefineR6 and Quiet Base 700 (source link below). In the comparative data the KL07 is a budget beast that beats R6 in GPU thermals with 5,3C while equal in both CPU and db-levels?? I was for the R6 but the KL07 seems like the better purchase?

Are there any KL07 owners out there that have tried fractal design R5/R6 that can compare? Or just KL07 owners.. I am planning on a 3600, 2070 Super with only a m2 harddrive. I will overclock the GPU so GPU temp is more important for me as I will probably not OC the 3600 and will have a 212 Black Edition CPU Cooler to aid it.

1) Sound and 2) comparatively good airflow is all I care about. Build quality does not really matter as long as it does not affect sounds.

Do the KL07 produce other noices that the R5/R6 avoids/blocks that isnt really coming through these results? cant understand why KL07 isnt praised better!

CPU STRESS TEST (above ambient temp) - Winner R6 & KL07 (only 0,3C apart)
56,3C KL07
56,0C R6
60,6C BASE 700

GPU STRESS TEST (above ambient temp) - Winner KL07
51,1C KL07
56,4C R6
52,3C BASE 700

3D MARK STRESS TEST (CPU / GPU above ambient temp) - Winner KL07 with lowest combined temp
30,8C / 55,3C KL07
29,4C / 59,5C R6
35,0C / 54,6C BASE 700

NOISE (db) - Winner R6 med 33,8db, but KL07 is only 0,4db higher (dont believe thats registrable?)
34,2db KL07
33,8db R6
36,2db BASE 700

Link to gamer nexus reviews below:
https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/2 ... ase-review
https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3 ... -mid-tower

I most humbly await your thoughts!

teodoro
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by teodoro » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:55 pm

I actually hadn't seen that case before. it looks like a sort of middleground between the fractal define C and define r6. I would be cautious about reading too much into GN's thermal/noise numbers due to their methodology. they run case fans at 100% in the stock configuration (at least for the comparison charts), which means cases might look a lot worse (because of fan count/placement) or better (due to super high fan speed) than they could be otherwise.

the kl07 has a very restricted power supply shroud/basement, meaning that the stock lower 140mm front intake blasts its air directly at the gpu. the define r6 also comes with two 140mm front intakes and they run at a similar rpm to the kl07's fans. the r6 has a significant cut out at the front of the psu shroud, though, which opens the case up a fair bit and that lower 140's air will not be as concentrated on the gpu. the trade-off is that the r6 has a lot of flexibility in the front of the case: tons of drive mounting options, as well as room to mount 2x 140mm or 2x 120mm fans as bottom intakes. I think these additional fan slots can get you just as much (or more) airflow onto the gpu as the kl07, but obviously then you'd have to purchase fans to populate them. I think you could also pretty easily throw in some cardboard to achieve the same direct airflow as the kl07. the kl07 does look like it would have better 'passive' exhaust for a positive pressure setup, while the r6 is a bit more sealed (probably marginally better for temperature and noise levels, respectively).

I like my r6 a lot and I'm very pleased with all the fractal design products I've had. it's super flexible at the expense of being pretty darn large. the front panel can open if you need it to breathe more. it's built like a tank so I expect it to last a decade. it has a a tempered glass option, which I don't think will sacrifice much for noise as the mounting system is good. the bottom intake filter comes out from the front. assuming your budget is not super strict, between the kl07/r6/db 700 I would choose whichever is most aesthetically pleasing to you and the hardware compatibility you desire. buy a good quality gpu cooler (the msi gaming trio would be my choice), and if you don't already own the 212 cpu cooler consider upgrading to a scythe mugen 5 ($8 more in the US, totally worth it). otherwise I'm confident you can get good enough noise levels with appropriate fan curves.

lindstroem
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:59 pm

teodoro wrote:I actually hadn't seen that case before. it looks like a sort of middleground between the fractal define C and define r6. I would be cautious about reading too much into GN's thermal/noise numbers due to their methodology. they run case fans at 100% in the stock configuration (at least for the comparison charts), which means cases might look a lot worse (because of fan count/placement) or better (due to super high fan speed) than they could be otherwise.

the kl07 has a very restricted power supply shroud/basement, meaning that the stock lower 140mm front intake blasts its air directly at the gpu. the define r6 also comes with two 140mm front intakes and they run at a similar rpm to the kl07's fans. the r6 has a significant cut out at the front of the psu shroud, though, which opens the case up a fair bit and that lower 140's air will not be as concentrated on the gpu. the trade-off is that the r6 has a lot of flexibility in the front of the case: tons of drive mounting options, as well as room to mount 2x 140mm or 2x 120mm fans as bottom intakes. I think these additional fan slots can get you just as much (or more) airflow onto the gpu as the kl07, but obviously then you'd have to purchase fans to populate them. I think you could also pretty easily throw in some cardboard to achieve the same direct airflow as the kl07. the kl07 does look like it would have better 'passive' exhaust for a positive pressure setup, while the r6 is a bit more sealed (probably marginally better for temperature and noise levels, respectively).

I like my r6 a lot and I'm very pleased with all the fractal design products I've had. it's super flexible at the expense of being pretty darn large. the front panel can open if you need it to breathe more. it's built like a tank so I expect it to last a decade. it has a a tempered glass option, which I don't think will sacrifice much for noise as the mounting system is good. the bottom intake filter comes out from the front. assuming your budget is not super strict, between the kl07/r6/db 700 I would choose whichever is most aesthetically pleasing to you and the hardware compatibility you desire. buy a good quality gpu cooler (the msi gaming trio would be my choice), and if you don't already own the 212 cpu cooler consider upgrading to a scythe mugen 5 ($8 more in the US, totally worth it). otherwise I'm confident you can get good enough noise levels with appropriate fan curves.
Hi and thanks for the response! As for fans running at 100%, the KL07 only has one mode which is 950RPM so that is a accurate real world test, but as you say the R6 was at 33.8db which 100% fan speed, and that is not an accurate situation in most cases, thanks for that! I hadnt really noted that difference. Im not sure how the PWM-hub works on the R6 but I assume that is fairly easy to get a grasp on and running them sub 100% would defidently impact the sound favourably. However seeing as the GPU temp increase through this I would believe they would need to reach 100% during active gameplay. But going for a 2070 Super Palit Jetstream (kinda like MSI gaming trio x as you mention) or equivalent 5700 XT, so that should perhaps be sufficient to keep the temps down anyway. What are your thougts and how do you do it?

The KL07 goes for 90 EUR but from Amazon in Germany, seeing as fractal design is from Sweden (where i live) I can get it for around 110 EUR, so no real difference in pricing. Which graphics card do you have any what is your experience?

Thanks again for your response! Very appriciated :D

teodoro
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by teodoro » Sat Jul 27, 2019 2:36 pm

in my r6 I have a 2600x cooled by a mugen 5 rev b with a noctua a12x25 fan, an msi trio 2080 (not super), an a12x25 as rear exhaust, three more a12x25 as intake (two bottom, one front lower), and one of the r6's included 140mm fans as front intake in line with the cpu cooler. I love those noctua fans and I absolutely think they're worth the premium--at <1k rpm they're ridiculously quiet. that said, my bottom/front intakes are absolutely unnecessary. I've been running concurrent furmark and prime95 and while those extra intakes do help my cpu temperatures (about 3 degrees, which nets ~50MHz on my core clocks), gpu isn't impacted much. in this thermally soak scenario, they let my gpu fans spin a whole 1-2% slower (from 33% to 31%). in a gpu bound gaming scenario, my gpu fan continues to sit <35% speed with temperatures ~51C (worst case) over ambient and my cpu fan sits <900 rpm to hold ~36C over ambient. in other words, I have tons of thermal head room in my real world usages--both gpu and cpu coolers have a few hundred rpm's before they would become too loud for my tastes. I do have my gpu undervolted, which for nvidia cards is rather easy to do. I'm also not sacrificing performance vs. stock--I get the same core clock (1920) just at a lower voltage. I am sacrificing performance vs. overclock (~100MHz) but I'm also saving 50W+ of power consumption. cpu does not have pbo enabled.

if you're the type of person who is fine with adjusting fan curves, will not freak out about above average (but still perfectly safe and not performance inhibiting) temperatures, and have a reasonable ambient temperature, I'm confident you can achieve acceptable noise levels and similar outcomes in either case. I can't comment on how the kl07's stock fans sound, but I'm sure they're 3 pin (like the r6's). most motherboards these days can control 3 pin fan speeds, and some can also turn them off for low loads. the r6's included fan hub attaches to your motherboard via a 4-pin header, and can then control the speed of any fan attached to the hub (up to six 3-pin and three pwm). you can't control any hub-attached fan independently, and can't go below 30% speed (so they'll always be on unless you plug them into your mobo directly). in hindsight, I could use only the stock r6 fans and still be content with my setup. looking at a few more photos/reviews it seems like the fractal build quality is a bit nicer but not by an enormous margin. my advice is to take another look at the hardware compatibility of each and see if anything stands out as something you'd (ever) want. if not, pick whichever you find prettier. I will say that fractal's support was great for the one time I made a ticket--one of my fans from a meshify c had a little bearing noise at low rpm and they sent me a replacement no questions asked.

edit: a few of my numbers were from old notes which were written as absolute rather than relative temperatures. I started playing the same game yesterday and noticed my higher summer ambient has a small impact (~2C, 5% fan speed, ~30MHz) on my gpu. not a huge discrepancy but still a bit less rosy.
Last edited by teodoro on Mon Jul 29, 2019 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

lindstroem
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Mon Jul 29, 2019 12:18 am

teodoro wrote:in my r6 I have a 2600x cooled by a mugen 5 rev b with a noctua a12x25 fan, an msi trio 2080 (not super), an a12x25 as rear exhaust, three more a12x25 as intake (two bottom, one lower bottom), and one of the r6's included 140mm fans as front intake in line with the gpu cooler. I love those noctua fans and I absolutely think they're worth the premium--at <1k rpm they're ridiculously quiet. that said, my bottom/front intakes are absolutely unnecessary. I've been running concurrent furmark and prime95 and while those extra intakes do help my cpu temperatures (about 3 degrees, which nets ~50MHz on my core clocks), gpu isn't impacted much. in this thermally soak scenario, they let my gpu fans spin a whole 1-2% slower (from 33% to 31%). in a gpu bound gaming scenario, my gpu fan continues to sit <30% speed with temperatures ~49C (worst case) over ambient and my cpu fan sits <900 rpm to hold ~36C over ambient. in other words, I have tons of thermal head room in my real world usages--both gpu and cpu coolers have a few hundred rpm's before they would become too loud for my tastes. I do have my gpu undervolted, which for nvidia cards is rather easy to do. I'm also not sacrificing performance vs. stock--I get the same core clock (1950) just at a lower voltage. I am sacrificing performance vs. overclock (~100MHz) but I'm also saving 50W+ of power consumption. cpu does not have pbo enabled.

if you're the type of person who is fine with adjusting fan curves, will not freak out about above average (but still perfectly safe and not performance inhibiting) temperatures, and have a reasonable ambient temperature, I'm confident you can achieve acceptable noise levels and similar outcomes in either case. I can't comment on how the kl07's stock fans sound, but I'm sure they're 3 pin (like the r6's). most motherboards these days can control 3 pin fan speeds, and some can also turn them off for low loads. the r6's included fan hub attaches to your motherboard via a 4-pin header, and can then control the speed of any fan attached to the hub (up to six 3-pin and three pwm). you can't control any hub-attached fan independently, and can't go below 30% speed (so they'll always be on unless you plug them into your mobo directly). in hindsight, I could use only the stock r6 fans and still be content with my setup. looking at a few more photos/reviews it seems like the fractal build quality is a bit nicer but not by an enormous margin. my advice is to take another look at the hardware compatibility of each and see if anything stands out as something you'd (ever) want. if not, pick whichever you find prettier. I will say that fractal's support was great for the one time I made a ticket--one of my fans from a meshify c had a little bearing noise at low rpm and they sent me a replacement no questions asked.
Thank you very much for your detailed input! I will got for an R6!
Also for CPU cooler Im deciding between a Mugen 5 Rev B or a Thermalright Macho RT (Macho RT is suppose to have Noctua D15-cooling ability but with lower noise for around 80 EUR).

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by SST Guy » Mon Jul 29, 2019 1:29 am

Wow, what happened here? Gamers Nexus's test number clearly shows when comparing apple to apple, the KL07 has the edge in thermal efficiency. Sure you can add more fans or tweak to improve GPU cooling in the R6, but that will also make it louder than the stock KL07 (then you are back to where you started trying to quiet it down).

The KL07 is a hidden gem that was perhaps released too early so it didn't get the praise it deserves. As a result, not as many people bought the case to help share with others. teodoro, you should give KL07 a try too!

lindstroem
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Mon Jul 29, 2019 5:45 am

SST Guy wrote:Wow, what happened here? Gamers Nexus's test number clearly shows when comparing apple to apple, the KL07 has the edge in thermal efficiency. Sure you can add more fans or tweak to improve GPU cooling in the R6, but that will also make it louder than the stock KL07 (then you are back to where you started trying to quiet it down).

The KL07 is a hidden gem that was perhaps released too early so it didn't get the praise it deserves. As a result, not as many people bought the case to help share with others. teodoro, you should give KL07 a try too!
Build quality and the massive R6-fanbase makes the case. As you say, Gamers Nexus show that KL07 win, but thats just one test where they themselves come to a "meh"-conclusion (reached out to them to get a comment but alas no response). As db/C-values are very relative compared to actual people using the cases, the R6 have a hugely larger ambassadorial base.

Do you have KL07? Have you tried any Fractal Design Define chassis or any other to compare them to? Would love for a sales pitch :)

lodestar
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lodestar » Mon Jul 29, 2019 12:07 pm

It might be worth adding that Silverstone produce two variants of the KL07 (same chassis). These are the RL07 and the PM02. The RL07's main features are a single 140mm PWM exhaust fan rather than the three three-pin fans of the KL07, a tempered glass side panel and a solid front with side intake vents. The PM02 has a perforated front, the tempered glass side panel and four 140mm PWM fans. In the UK the prices of these cases, from my local PC hardware supplier, are KL07 : £80 , RL07 : £70 and PM02 : £80 (Black) or £85 (White) . The PM02 on the basis could be a better buy than the KL07. Neither the RL07 nor the PM02 have any sound deadening foam of course and if the KL07 is relatively unknown then the PM02 is positively obscure. A potential issue is that none of the reviewers of the PM02 that I have found so far say much about the 140mm PWM fans. The top speed apparently is 1200 rpm but I have no information about the lowest speed.

Incidentally to put the prices quoted above in context the same supplier is asking £120 for the Fractal Design R6 (solid panel) and £130 for the tempered glass version.

Silverstone's KL07 page is here, this is the page for the RL07 and the PM02 page is here.

teodoro
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by teodoro » Mon Jul 29, 2019 1:56 pm

SST Guy wrote:Wow, what happened here? Gamers Nexus's test number clearly shows when comparing apple to apple, the KL07 has the edge in thermal efficiency. Sure you can add more fans or tweak to improve GPU cooling in the R6, but that will also make it louder than the stock KL07 (then you are back to where you started trying to quiet it down).

The KL07 is a hidden gem that was perhaps released too early so it didn't get the praise it deserves. As a result, not as many people bought the case to help share with others. teodoro, you should give KL07 a try too!
send me a case and I'll be happy to build in it! :lol:

no doubt, the kl07 wins as the value option with regard to thermal performance because it's cheaper. I definitely would choose the kl07 over the r6 at a £40 discrepancy, at a €20 difference I'd only favor the r6 if I were interested in the extra features it offers or I strongly preferred the looks. with quality cpu/gpu coolers, I'm sure the noise difference between them won't be noticeable.

lindstroem
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:34 pm

Yes Silverstone seriously needs to throw some money around to get people to review their chassis it properly.

The RL07 was interesting and was almost comparable to the R6 but was beaten in thermal performance while just beating it regarding noise (0,4db), but still came in a few degrees lower in the GPU side (planning to use NH-D15 so CPU is covered regardless)
https://pcper.com/2018/06/silverstone-r ... -review/3/

What I would pay for a renewed KL07 review going head to thead with R6 and the like regarding pure cooling/noise performance regardless of other options. I will install my equipment once, not move the case around and do not care of build quality as long it does not affect cooling/noise. I wont use radiators and will have 0 SATA-SSDs or other harddrives, so basically motherboard with m2-card, GPU and a wireless PCI-card.

The question regarding noise is relative so would really like a reflection on the experienced noise-levels or mic-recording of the same system in R6 vs KL07... The factor mentioned above is the fact that the tests I have seen where R6 juuust bet KL07 in noice (0,4db) is where the R6 goes at 100% rpm, and seeing as it comes with a PWM-hub, I would assume that the case will be significantly(?) quieter when not pushing the hardware, whereas the KL07 will remain at their higher RPM/noise-level constantly. This was something that made me look at R6 much more favourably.

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by SST Guy » Mon Jul 29, 2019 7:32 pm

lindstroem wrote:Build quality and the massive R6-fanbase makes the case. As you say, Gamers Nexus show that KL07 win, but thats just one test where they themselves come to a "meh"-conclusion (reached out to them to get a comment but alas no response). As db/C-values are very relative compared to actual people using the cases, the R6 have a hugely larger ambassadorial base.
If we could do it again, we probably should have held the KL07 back until Gamers Nexus reviews the R6 and the BeQuiet cases first. Without other similar "silent" cases to compare to, their initial KL07 verdict only OK, which was expected. Having a large fanbase is just that, more people sharing their experience using that particular case, but it doesn't discredit Gamers Nexus's findings, which they painstakingly control so that results can be compared directly between cases they review. Check out their methodology if you haven't already:
https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2320 ... -a-chamber
lodestar wrote:It might be worth adding that Silverstone produce two variants of the KL07 (same chassis). These are the RL07 and the PM02. The RL07's main features are a single 140mm PWM exhaust fan rather than the three three-pin fans of the KL07, a tempered glass side panel and a solid front with side intake vents. The PM02 has a perforated front, the tempered glass side panel and four 140mm PWM fans. In the UK the prices of these cases, from my local PC hardware supplier, are KL07 : £80 , RL07 : £70 and PM02 : £80 (Black) or £85 (White) . The PM02 on the basis could be a better buy than the KL07. Neither the RL07 nor the PM02 have any sound deadening foam of course and if the KL07 is relatively unknown then the PM02 is positively obscure. A potential issue is that none of the reviewers of the PM02 that I have found so far say much about the 140mm PWM fans. The top speed apparently is 1200 rpm but I have no information about the lowest speed.
Thanks for the input lodestar, you know your cases!
teodoro wrote:no doubt, the kl07 wins as the value option with regard to thermal performance because it's cheaper. I definitely would choose the kl07 over the r6 at a £40 discrepancy, at a €20 difference I'd only favor the r6 if I were interested in the extra features it offers or I strongly preferred the looks. with quality cpu/gpu coolers, I'm sure the noise difference between them won't be noticeable.
We designed the KL07 to compete in a lower price bracket than the R6 so there is definitely a features deficit. But for pure thermal efficiency, the KL07 still wins. Meaning you can tune the fans down (under-volt them) for quieter performance if needed as well.
lindstroem wrote:The question regarding noise is relative so would really like a reflection on the experienced noise-levels or mic-recording of the same system in R6 vs KL07... The factor mentioned above is the fact that the tests I have seen where R6 juuust bet KL07 in noice (0,4db) is where the R6 goes at 100% rpm, and seeing as it comes with a PWM-hub, I would assume that the case will be significantly(?) quieter when not pushing the hardware, whereas the KL07 will remain at their higher RPM/noise-level constantly. This was something that made me look at R6 much more favourably.
Most motherboards can adjust fan speeds via PWM or voltage so KL07's fans can definitely be lowered just as easily.

lindstroem
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Tue Jul 30, 2019 12:40 am

SST Guy wrote: If we could do it again, we probably should have held the KL07 back until Gamers Nexus reviews the R6 and the BeQuiet cases first. Without other similar "silent" cases to compare to, their initial KL07 verdict only OK, which was expected. Having a large fanbase is just that, more people sharing their experience using that particular case, but it doesn't discredit Gamers Nexus's findings, which they painstakingly control so that results can be compared directly between cases they review.
Ah only now realized that you are representing Silverstone, Glad to see you in the forum! :D
Couldn't you send someone a demo and ask them to review the chassis against say Silent Base 600 and R6 with renewed findings, with focus on thermal/noice-performance to raise the awareness? As I wont use any HDDs, no radiators and only care about thermal performance and noise levels, all other "bling" are of no interest to me and I would imagine that many go on pure performance rather than estethics.

On a side note, do you know if a Noctua NH-D15 fit in the KL07-chassis? I read in the comment section in hardwarecannucs youtube-channel that it will juust fit and that the foam will hit the cooler? Is that correct? The specs seems to support 163mm cpu cooler height while the NH-D15 is 165mm? A bit worried in terms of risk of resonance or decreased cooler performance. The case is however listed on Noctuas site https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15/ccomp
SST Guy wrote: We designed the KL07 to compete in a lower price bracket than the R6 so there is definitely a features deficit. But for pure thermal efficiency, the KL07 still wins. Meaning you can tune the fans down (under-volt them) for quieter performance if needed as well. Most motherboards can adjust fan speeds via PWM or voltage so KL07's fans can definitely be lowered just as easily.
Can the fans be controlled via PWM? I thought that the edge for R6 was that they had a PWM-hub that can be connected to the motherboard to generate a chassis fan curve. Im planning on using a B450 Tomahawk. If the KL07 case fans can be controlled via the motherboard thats great.

teodoro
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by teodoro » Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:41 am

lindstroem wrote:I will install my equipment once, not move the case around and do not care of build quality as long it does not affect cooling/noise. I wont use radiators and will have 0 SATA-SSDs or other harddrives, so basically motherboard with m2-card, GPU and a wireless PCI-card.
then the r6's features don't add a lot of value for you. the only two things I'll call out are that you can remove the top panel completely (nice for access to the top of the motherboard while a giant cpu cooler is installed) and that you can open the front panel door for easy, convenient access to air. it seems the cpu cares more about that than the gpu, though. see below.

lindstroem wrote:Can the fans be controlled via PWM? I thought that the edge for R6 was that they had a PWM-hub that can be connected to the motherboard to generate a chassis fan curve. Im planning on using a B450 Tomahawk. If the KL07 case fans can be controlled via the motherboard thats great.
the b450 has a total of 6 fan headers. the manual is a little unclear, but at least 4 (and possibly all 6) support DC fan control. this means that instead of using a speed signal (i.e. the fourth pin on a 4-pin fan), the motherboard changes the voltage output for those headers (so lower voltage -> lower fan speed). as the end user, you won't really notice a difference once configured. you can consider the r6's fan hub as a cable management feature more than anything else.

I was curious if the r6's thermal deficit could be remedied by an easy fix: covering up the psu basement and closing off the gap to behind the motherboard. so I cut up some cardboard and shoved it into my case and ran a few tests of heaven 4.0 loops + 3 thread small fft prime95 for ~30 minutes in each configuration. ~24C ambient, as measured by the wall so at least a couple degrees margin of error. my gpu at 32% rpm is ~1100rpm, and +25 rpm/1%. I left my fan curves in place, and I would be satisfied with the gpu temperatures/noise for any of these setups. in games my cpu fan stays <1k, so the cpu temp data is rather academic.
  1. no side-panel: 68-69C gpu @ 30-31% pwm / 71C cpu @ 1300rpm
  2. 800rpm bottom/bottom front intakes: 72-73C gpu @ 32-33% pwm / 74C cpu @ 1400rpm
  3. 'stock' (no bottom fans): 76C gpu @ 37% pwm / 75C cpu @ 1600rpm
  4. 'stock' + psu shroud cover: 73-74C gpu @ 33-34% pwm / 74C cpu @ 1450rpm
  5. 'stock + psu shroud cover + front door open: 72-73C gpu @ 32-33% / 73C cpu @ 1350rpm
tl;dr a cereal box was within 1 degree/50rpm of $60 worth of fans :lol:

lindstroem
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Tue Jul 30, 2019 1:27 pm

teodoro wrote:
lindstroem wrote:I will install my equipment once, not move the case around and do not care of build quality as long it does not affect cooling/noise. I wont use radiators and will have 0 SATA-SSDs or other harddrives, so basically motherboard with m2-card, GPU and a wireless PCI-card.
then the r6's features don't add a lot of value for you. the only two things I'll call out are that you can remove the top panel completely (nice for access to the top of the motherboard while a giant cpu cooler is installed) and that you can open the front panel door for easy, convenient access to air. it seems the cpu cares more about that than the gpu, though. see below.

lindstroem wrote:Can the fans be controlled via PWM? I thought that the edge for R6 was that they had a PWM-hub that can be connected to the motherboard to generate a chassis fan curve. Im planning on using a B450 Tomahawk. If the KL07 case fans can be controlled via the motherboard thats great.
the b450 has a total of 6 fan headers. the manual is a little unclear, but at least 4 (and possibly all 6) support DC fan control. this means that instead of using a speed signal (i.e. the fourth pin on a 4-pin fan), the motherboard changes the voltage output for those headers (so lower voltage -> lower fan speed). as the end user, you won't really notice a difference once configured. you can consider the r6's fan hub as a cable management feature more than anything else.

I was curious if the r6's thermal deficit could be remedied by an easy fix: covering up the psu basement and closing off the gap to behind the motherboard. so I cut up some cardboard and shoved it into my case and ran a few tests of heaven 4.0 loops + 3 thread small fft prime95 for ~30 minutes in each configuration. ~24C ambient, as measured by the wall so at least a couple degrees margin of error. my gpu at 32% rpm is ~1100rpm, and +25 rpm/1%. I left my fan curves in place, and I would be satisfied with the gpu temperatures/noise for any of these setups. in games my cpu fan stays <1k, so the cpu temp data is rather academic.
  1. no side-panel: 68-69C gpu @ 30-31% pwm / 71C cpu @ 1300rpm
  2. 800rpm bottom/bottom front intakes: 72-73C gpu @ 32-33% pwm / 74C cpu @ 1400rpm
  3. 'stock' (no bottom fans): 76C gpu @ 37% pwm / 75C cpu @ 1600rpm
  4. 'stock' + psu shroud cover: 73-74C gpu @ 33-34% pwm / 74C cpu @ 1450rpm
  5. 'stock + psu shroud cover + front door open: 72-73C gpu @ 32-33% / 73C cpu @ 1350rpm
tl;dr a cereal box was within 1 degree/50rpm of $60 worth of fans :lol:
Haha nice experiment and interesting outcome! Can u attach a photo of how you placed the cardboard? Not quite sure how it was placed based on your explanation :)
What is your gear? CPU/CPU Cooler/GPU? Also, Have you tried to adjust the placement of the bottom front intake fan? Seems like there is a bracket where u can slide it down? I'm thinking that directing it precisely at the GPU might improve the temp somewhat as well?

Thanks for the explanation regarding DC-fan controlling on the B450 Tomahawk mobo :)

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by SST Guy » Sun Aug 04, 2019 11:53 pm

lindstroem wrote:Can the fans be controlled via PWM? I thought that the edge for R6 was that they had a PWM-hub that can be connected to the motherboard to generate a chassis fan curve. Im planning on using a B450 Tomahawk. If the KL07 case fans can be controlled via the motherboard thats great.
As teodoro pointed out already, your B450 Tomahawk motherboard has fan headers capable of voltage control (DC mode) so yeah, the KL07's fans can be easily controlled by your motherboard as well.

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lodestar » Mon Aug 05, 2019 3:18 am

SST Guy Can you confirm what the rpm range is of the fan fitted to the KL07.

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by teodoro » Mon Aug 05, 2019 1:23 pm

The fan was pointed fairly directly at the graphics card, though a 140mm would do a bit better to hit both sides of the card. In the process of trying different setups, I was reminded again that fan speed matters more than case construction/noise dampening (within reason)—having the side panel on vs off was noticeable, but an extra 100-300rpm on the gpu fans is far more obvious.
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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Tue Aug 06, 2019 5:05 am

teodoro wrote:The fan was pointed fairly directly at the graphics card, though a 140mm would do a bit better to hit both sides of the card. In the process of trying different setups, I was reminded again that fan speed matters more than case construction/noise dampening (within reason)—having the side panel on vs off was noticeable, but an extra 100-300rpm on the gpu fans is far more obvious.
Thanks!
Im not quite cure I really understand the cardboard placement though, isnt the PSU-shrowd covering the area you have covered with cardboard? Also doesnt that restrict airflow from the bottom?

Have you tried adding a bottom intake fan? That should improve GPU thermals somewhat seing as that would blow in the very near vincinity of the GPU radiators (if the fan is placed directly after the PSU?

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by teodoro » Tue Aug 06, 2019 7:23 am

The r6’s shroud is perforated throughout. The cardboard seals off those openings, effectively removing the basement area from the volume of air that case fans have to move (and making the layout more similar to the kl07), and better directs the lower front fan’s air toward the gpu.

Without the cardboard I had been running two bottom mounted fans (config #2 of previous testing) in addition to the front fans visible in the cardboard photos. These do help gpu thermals a little bit even when I run them at a low speed (800rpm, below my noise floor) for added cost/fiddling.

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by lindstroem » Wed Aug 07, 2019 2:18 am

teodoro wrote:The r6’s shroud is perforated throughout. The cardboard seals off those openings, effectively removing the basement area from the volume of air that case fans have to move (and making the layout more similar to the kl07), and better directs the lower front fan’s air toward the gpu.

Without the cardboard I had been running two bottom mounted fans (config #2 of previous testing) in addition to the front fans visible in the cardboard photos. These do help gpu thermals a little bit even when I run them at a low speed (800rpm, below my noise floor) for added cost/fiddling.
Ah sorry you had already done a great test of that! I went ahead and ordered the R6 seeing as Im using the NH-D15 and that might be a few mm so high for the KL07. I will try your cardboard approach (covering up the bottom intake along side the PSU ceiling). If that is insufficient I will try to move the back exhaust and turn it in to a bottom intake fan instead (as the NH-D15 might generate enough airflow to exhaust the warm air). If that does not yield better results I will then go ahead and purchase 1 bottom intake fan (and cover up the remaining bottom shroud with cardboard) and atlast 2 bottom intake fans if thats needed :)

Thanks for the good tests :) And sorry for going off topic of the KL07. I have however recommended that case to a friend who will build a computer and whom will use another air cooler.

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by SST Guy » Mon Aug 12, 2019 12:33 am

lodestar wrote:SST Guy Can you confirm what the rpm range is of the fan fitted to the KL07.
KL07's included fans can be undervolted to around 6V, at which point they can spin down to around 425rpm. At full power (12V), the fan is rated to 900rpm (+/-100rpm).

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by SST Guy » Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:18 am

lindstroem wrote:Ah sorry you had already done a great test of that! I went ahead and ordered the R6 seeing as Im using the NH-D15 and that might be a few mm so high for the KL07. I will try your cardboard approach (covering up the bottom intake along side the PSU ceiling). If that is insufficient I will try to move the back exhaust and turn it in to a bottom intake fan instead (as the NH-D15 might generate enough airflow to exhaust the warm air). If that does not yield better results I will then go ahead and purchase 1 bottom intake fan (and cover up the remaining bottom shroud with cardboard) and atlast 2 bottom intake fans if thats needed :)

Thanks for the good tests :) And sorry for going off topic of the KL07. I have however recommended that case to a friend who will build a computer and whom will use another air cooler.
Sorry for missing your previous question on the NH-D15! We have that cooler and it fits in the KL07 just fine. We are very conservative with our CPU cooler height limit specification for the KL07 so 163mm limit refers to "definitely not" touching the sound dampening foam on KL07's side panel. Noctua's quoted height for their cooler must be a bit conservative too because their fan mounting system is somewhat flexible so the fan position can be adjusted slightly as well to make the entire cooler close to 160mm tall.

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by MoJo » Sat Aug 24, 2019 6:59 am

I'm wondering if that foam will get full of dust and be a pain to clean after a while. It's not like metal or plastic where you can just wipe it down.

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by SST Guy » Mon Aug 26, 2019 2:22 am

MoJo wrote:I'm wondering if that foam will get full of dust and be a pain to clean after a while. It's not like metal or plastic where you can just wipe it down.
If you keep the factory airflow configuration intact as positive pressure and make sure to use all included filters, then you won't have dust issues. Many people who've used negative pressure configured cases all their lives are shocked using SilverStone case for the first time when they open the case to clean it after a few weeks / months. The interior of your case will look like it was built a couple days ago!

If for some strange reason, your foam is full of dust, just vacuum it with soft brush tool.

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by MikeC » Tue Dec 10, 2019 11:18 pm

If you wait long enough, most foam ends up falling apart. Literally, into fine particles. When's it's in that end-of-life state, touch it and it can smear greasily on your fingers. It is a petrochemical product, and it seems to fall back into its original state... You see that in foam roll surrounds on old loudspeaker cones... and foam damping that I applied on the inside of computer case panels 15+ years ago. Of course, if your PC is 15 yrs old, you've got other issues. :lol:

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Re: SilverStone KL07: Perfect case?

Post by SST Guy » Tue Dec 10, 2019 11:44 pm

MikeC wrote:If you wait long enough, most foam ends up falling apart. Literally, into fine particles. When's it's in that end-of-life state, touch it and it can smear greasily on your fingers. It is a petrochemical product, and it seems to fall back into its original state... You see that in foam roll surrounds on old loudspeaker cones... and foam damping that I applied on the inside of computer case panels 15+ years ago. Of course, if your PC is 15 yrs old, you've got other issues. :lol:
Welcome back Mike!

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