Hello,
I had plans on making this awesome i7 build in a P183 with the new CP-850 PSU. After writing a few posts on this other forum about upgrading I realised Im not going to need all that stuff.
So now Im getting a M-atx board instead, the Asus Rampage Gene. Now Im in unknown territory cause I don't know crap about M-atx, good chassis etc.
What I need from you guys are tips on a good Case, a PSU and cpu-cooling that will fit.
The components will be:
i7 920, Rampage Gene, 6gb memory, X25-m, 1 GP drive, one optical and most likely a gtx285.
I have some Wiltec foam at home I was going to use on the P183, I dont mind doing some dampening on the chassi.
Case, PSU and CPU-cooling
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
The Antec NSK3480 seems to be popular around here. (SPCR has reviewed the case as well, so be sure to check out the review in the main section of the site).
The included 380W power supply that comes with the NSK3480 might not be enough to power your system (at least at quiet noise levels) so maybe sell that and replace it with something more powerful.
The Antec Signature 650 might be a good choice for this case, as it keeps the rear 80mm design which is probably better for this case, as otherwise you would have to turn a traditional PSU with a down facing 120mm fan upside down and use the grill area on the top of the 3480 as an intake area, thus providing a direct path for the fan noise to escape.
With your build, I would recommend suspending the GP drive in the top area of the case under the optical drive and installing the X25-M in the bottom of the case area.
If you are up for it, you could also look into doing some case mods to the NSK3480 to allow you to route cables behind the motherboard, in a similar fashion to the P18x series. If you do a forum search for '3480' restricted to the General Gallery section of the forum, you'll probably find some people that have done similar mods.
You could also consider modifying the front intake fan area to replace the 2 x 92mm fans with a single larger fan.
Some damping foam, with quiet intake and exhaust fans and an aftermarket CPU cooler (like the Noctua NH-U12P 1366 or Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 1366 + a quiet fan) and you'd have a fairly quiet system (depending on how noisy the GTX285 is). You can always try messing with the fan speed of your stock cooler via RivaTuner or look into getting an aftermarket heatsink for your graphics card as well.
Sounds like you could have a nice little system in the making there. Best of luck with your build, whatever case etc you choose!
The included 380W power supply that comes with the NSK3480 might not be enough to power your system (at least at quiet noise levels) so maybe sell that and replace it with something more powerful.
The Antec Signature 650 might be a good choice for this case, as it keeps the rear 80mm design which is probably better for this case, as otherwise you would have to turn a traditional PSU with a down facing 120mm fan upside down and use the grill area on the top of the 3480 as an intake area, thus providing a direct path for the fan noise to escape.
With your build, I would recommend suspending the GP drive in the top area of the case under the optical drive and installing the X25-M in the bottom of the case area.
If you are up for it, you could also look into doing some case mods to the NSK3480 to allow you to route cables behind the motherboard, in a similar fashion to the P18x series. If you do a forum search for '3480' restricted to the General Gallery section of the forum, you'll probably find some people that have done similar mods.
You could also consider modifying the front intake fan area to replace the 2 x 92mm fans with a single larger fan.
Some damping foam, with quiet intake and exhaust fans and an aftermarket CPU cooler (like the Noctua NH-U12P 1366 or Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 1366 + a quiet fan) and you'd have a fairly quiet system (depending on how noisy the GTX285 is). You can always try messing with the fan speed of your stock cooler via RivaTuner or look into getting an aftermarket heatsink for your graphics card as well.
Sounds like you could have a nice little system in the making there. Best of luck with your build, whatever case etc you choose!
I appreciate your point about the fully modular PSU. I know the Signature 650 is only partially modular.loimlo wrote:If I were to purchase the PSU in NSK3480, I'd definitely get something modular design such as Corsair HX520, Seasonic M12-II 500W, or Enermax Modu525W since cable mess is a concern in the mATX case.
However, the reasonably powerful system the OP has planned will require most of the cables that are connected to the Signature 650 by default to be used. You're not going to get neat cable management in a small case like the 3480 unless you do some mods to run cables down the back of the motherboard tray. Some zip-ties and cable hooks could help though.
That being said, I still think that the 80mm pull-through design of the Signature 650 will be superior in this case in terms of noise. Antec's NeoPower range also feature the 80mm pull through design and are fully modular as far as I can tell, so the 550W or 650W version may suit the OP as well. I don't think they are as quiet as the Signature 650 though.
Alternatively, if the OP wants an mATX case that would work with a downward facing 120mm fan, there is the Silverstone TJ-08 (again reviewed by SPCR, and there is also at least one system in the General Gallery using this case). However, I don't this case is as easy to quiet as the NSK3480.
I'm planning a new I7 build in this case as well. So in your opinion what is the best power supply replacement for the stock PS. The signature Series from Antec seems too long to also fit the DVD ROM and a HD in the upper case area. Is there another power supply that you guys can think of which is only 5.5" deep and has a reasonably quiet 80 mm pull though fan?
The Antec NeoPower series I mentioned features a 80mm pull through design and is 5.9" long according to Antec's website. Could be cutting it a little close.
Maybe you might want to look at the Silverstone TJ-08 that was recently reviewed by SPCR as part of the Single Moving Part PC review. There is also a rig in the General Gallery that uses this case, which is linked to from the review article from memory.
Maybe you might want to look at the Silverstone TJ-08 that was recently reviewed by SPCR as part of the Single Moving Part PC review. There is also a rig in the General Gallery that uses this case, which is linked to from the review article from memory.