I would like to build a small, quiet, cheap for general purpose usage. (No gaming but will do the occasional cpu intensive transcoding and audio processing).

In a perfect world, I would VESA mount the system to the back of my monitor to save space and block the last remnants of noise.

My first cut at such a system is (prices from NCIX here in Vancouver):

Antec ISK110 $78
Intel G530 $40
Asus P8H77-I $99 (cheapest I could find with SATA3)
Crucial M4 128GB SSD $122
Scythe Kozuti cooler $28
G.Skill Ripjaws X 8 GB $50

Total = $417


How quiet would this be?

Is there a better case/cooler solution for noise that is also VESA mountable?

Will the ISK110 adequately cool my SSD? I have had problems with drives overheating in past tiny systems. I'd really like to keep my SSD temp down 35* or lower this time.

Thanks for any help.

SSDs overheating? That's a new one on me Over hard drives overheating?

I've built a couple of systems based on the ISK110s brother the ISK100, and had decent success in cooling the CPU by dremelling the fan off the stock cooler and gluing a quiet 80x25mm fan either on top of the heatsink, or to the roof of the case at the appropriate location. It's cheap and you get to choose from a larger selection of fans (I use Arctic Cooling F-series) than 15mm fans or relying on those that come with after-market HSFs.

I'm sure a spinning hard drive would have cooked much earlier. I've had 4 SSDs flake out on me over the past 5 years. I'm sure the temps are a problem. Speedfan is giving me a consistent 47* for my current 0 dB setup with no air blowing n the drive.

Is there any way to get air onto the hard drive in the ISK110? It appears that it is mounted behind the motherboard, on the side of the VESA mount. Is the mesh side enough to cool it. What drive temps do you get?

Thanks a lot for your help.

A lot of SSD's lack a temperature sensor or have one that is not actually used(stuck) or not configured to be used(stuck and/or silly values). For instance if the drive reports 47 right after a cold boot and the exact same number after an hour then it's another non working sensor you've got there. SSD's tend to have a wider range of operational temperature allowance specs than harddrives, which makes the sensor much less useful for anything. If an SSD overheats behind a motherboard, the moterboard itself will have problems before that.

The mesh would easily be enough, yes. Just don't use the VESA mount to mount it to something running hot, like a big plasma TV or so.

OK. Thanks. I think this is what I will go with. The back of my monitor is cool, so it shouldn't add to the problem. Right after boot, by HDD temp shows ambient temps. It ratchets up to 47* over about 35 minutes.

Would a modern SSD, such as a Micron C4 or a Samsung 830 be 'safe' to operate at 45* indefinitely? Or should I target closer to 35*?

I am thinking that the mesh ventilation alone should keep it cooler than the coffin my current system is enclosed in.

Thanks for your help.

The M4 is rated to 70 C and the Samsung 830 is rated to 60 C. I don't think either would have an issue with 45 C.