Best case ever Gigabyte 3D Aurora? Not many agree!

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:22 am

I just discovered the Gigabyte 3D Aurora case on the net.

My reaction is: why didn't I know about this sooner!
A video on YouTube demonstrated the screwless PCI slots, so I googled up this review and found out more!

http://www.trustedreviews.com/periphera ... AN-Case/p1

What a cool case! I can't beleive more people don't use/ talk about it.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:36 am

Nice little plastic box for the screws.....

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:40 am

Check out these pics from an old thread!

viewtopic.php?t=28831

Shaman · Post by **Shaman** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:44 am

Are you saying it's the best case ever because of the looks? If it's for the looks, I would say it's the worst case ever.

If it's for quietness, this case doesn't have much going for it. It's mostly made of aluminum, 2x 120mm fans at the back is overkill, a large vent on the side panel that lets noise escape, hard drives hard-mounted on rails etc...

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:53 am

Shaman wrote:Are you saying it's the best case ever because of the looks? If it's for the looks, I would say it's the worst case ever.

There's no accounting for taste, as they say! I think it looks stunning.

If it's for quietness, this case doesn't have much going for it. It's mostly made of aluminum, 2x 120mm fans at the back is overkill, a large vent on the side panel that lets noise escape, hard drives hard-mounted on rails etc...

Aluminium - nice and light, makes moving the case to mod it much easier than on your typical 300-ton Antec. However if you like your case made from cheap metal, they do a steel version too (according to the review).

2 fans at the back - perfect, you can volt them right down and have more air moving with less noise.

Large vent - is ideal. The noise on my Solo actually went up after I had the GPU temp sorted. Because it requires more fan effort to keep it cool, due to the lack of vent. This case has a big vent which a fanless VGA cooler will love!

HDD mounting - ditch the rails and tie some Â£0.75 elastic through the holes. Takes 10 minutes. Sorted!

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:48 pm

williamn6133 wrote:
Aluminium - nice and light, makes moving the case to mod it much easier than on your typical 300-ton Antec. However if you like your case made from cheap metal, they do a steel version too (according to the review).

Quite honestly it makes me worry about what we're feeding our kids on these days, when one of the most common complaints I see on tech forums about Antec cases is their weight. I get this picture in my head of pencil-thin geeks, wailing "but it's so heavy...!!!," their lower lips quivering as they struggle in vain to move the colossal 40lb+ mass of a fully-loaded P182, their pipe-cleaner arms trembling under the strain.

I can see if you're constantly carting your PC around to LAN parties or whatever, light weight is obviously a bonus, but otherwise IMHO the more mass the better - stiffer/less resonant panels, better for damping out noise, harder wearing, the high inertia gives better protection against HDD head crashes in the event of an accidental knock, less likely to be tipped over by kids/dogs and so on.

Really, if anyone over the age of 12 or so (barring physical handicaps) finds the weight of *any* current consumer PC case to be a dealbreaker, perhaps they ought to consider getting away from their keyboard for a while and enrolling at a local gym...

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:09 pm

Ok, ok, ok! I got it! You're all boring old gits.

It's cool!

It's alright, I'm sure you can find some tweed somewhere to funk up your cases with. Or maybe we should all just go back to dirty beige? That would look stunning.

walle · Post by **walle** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:14 pm

Woow, that was a bit of a cheap shot there nick, and you darn well know it.

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:24 pm

walle wrote:Woow, that was a bit of a cheap shot there nick, and you darn well know it.

It's fine, I can play the bigger man.

Conversation over.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:38 pm

walle wrote:Woow, that was a bit of a cheap shot there nick, and you darn well know it.

willamn6133 wrote:It's fine, I can play the bigger man.

Conversation over.

sigh... it was meant tongue-in-cheek (well, mostly), and not having a pop at anyone in particular. I guess I should have known better.

seraphyn · Post by **seraphyn** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:01 pm

You took a swing and hit too close to home i guess

Anywho, too... spacious a case to me. I only have like 2 harddrives at max in any case i build and 1 DVD-rom. This case would leave me with giant holes of nothing on the inside. Not something i like.
As for it being out of aluminium, if properly constructed it'll do. Not my preference though, i like my case heavy, solid and silent.

On the looks, not my cup of tea.

It'll probably make a great case for heavy modding or water cooled setups though.

Eagle156 · Post by **Eagle156** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:17 pm

nick705 wrote:
williamn6133 wrote:
Aluminium - nice and light, makes moving the case to mod it much easier than on your typical 300-ton Antec. However if you like your case made from cheap metal, they do a steel version too (according to the review).
Quite honestly it makes me worry about what we're feeding our kids on these days, when one of the most common complaints I see on tech forums about Antec cases is their weight. I get this picture in my head of pencil-thin geeks, wailing "but it's so heavy...!!!," their lower lips quivering as they struggle in vain to move the colossal 40lb+ mass of a fully-loaded P182, their pipe-cleaner arms trembling under the strain.

I can see if you're constantly carting your PC around to LAN parties or whatever, light weight is obviously a bonus, but otherwise IMHO the more mass the better - stiffer/less resonant panels, better for damping out noise, harder wearing, the high inertia gives better protection against HDD head crashes in the event of an accidental knock, less likely to be tipped over by kids/dogs and so on.

Really, if anyone over the age of 12 or so (barring physical handicaps) finds the weight of *any* current consumer PC case to be a dealbreaker, perhaps they ought to consider getting away from their keyboard for a while and enrolling at a local gym...

I don't see how weight is a problem either. I have a P182 and it's easy as pie to drag it out to work on it or something. I don't see why you'd need to pick it up often.

walle · Post by **walle** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:27 pm

My impression was that the pros (or possibilities) with the chassis was brought up, just as to give us Solo and P180 users some hints that it actually is possible to make an aluminium chassis work, albeit not as good as a steel ditto. And although this particular one isnâ€™t my cup of tea either, I could still see why someone would go with it.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:15 pm

nick705 wrote:
williamn6133 wrote:
Quite honestly it makes me worry about what we're feeding our kids on these days, when one of the most common complaints I see on tech forums about Antec cases is their weight. I get this picture in my head of pencil-thin geeks, wailing "but it's so heavy...!!!," their lower lips quivering as they struggle in vain to move the colossal 40lb+ mass of a fully-loaded P182, their pipe-cleaner arms trembling under the strain.

Heh, that made my laugh, yeah, my P182B is heavy like sin when fully loaded but I don't own pipe-cleaner arms. One and perhaps only (besides that I wasn't actually mind getting such dirty job) reason I was made medic was because I could carry 90 KG man + 20 KG gears besides my own weight and 20 KG's of my own gears. And I still think P-182B is heavy.

But still Aurora seems nice. Its bit sad to see that dual 120mm back exhausts are so rare. Only other case i know to have such thing is still unreleased Antec Twelve hundred. However I think front intake looks restricted like it was in Sonata's.

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:13 pm

seraphyn wrote: Anywho, too... spacious a case to me. I only have like 2 harddrives at max in any case i build and 1 DVD-rom. This case would leave me with giant holes of nothing on the inside. Not something i like.

Same here. If it wasn't so big, I would use it for my next build.

The P180 is oversized too though, maybe not as much. The Gigabyte just has looks which I love, unlike Antec cases. And that's coming from a proud Solo owner. They make great cases, just a bit too bland for my taste.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:44 pm

Hello,

The biggest issue with the Gigabyte case for me, is the hard drive frame -- it is very obstructive to air flow.

Shadowmeph · Post by **Shadowmeph** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:03 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,

The biggest issue with the Gigabyte case for me, is the hard drive frame -- it is very obstructive to air flow.

Hello everone I am a total Noob here I would like to say that I am glad I found this site it has some Info also its Canadian

ok I have this case and am building a new system ( my first) I didn't know about the Noise issue with Aluminum until I read it hear, I bought this case just so that when I goto water cooling I could fit most of it inside the case. as for the "hard drive frame" I just slapped some velcro sticks and put a 120mm yatellom in front and mounted my Harddrive in the above area, removed that silly little screw box out of there.
On a different note since my Computer is in my Bedroom I want it to be quiet ( how I found this site) . I am wondering how many other people are using this case and how they have there case set up for silence?

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:48 pm

Shadowmeph wrote: I am wondering how many other people are using this case and how they have there case set up for silence?

No matter what case you are using the basics of a quiet computer are the same. Larger fans push more air at slower speeds. The higher quality the fan the quieter it will be, and the slower the fan spins, the quieter it will be.

The biggest sources of noise in most commercial PC's are
1) The power supply fan
2) The CPU heatsink fan
3) The case fan(s) if there are any
4) The Graphics card fan.

PSU can be swapped for a silent model (or you can change the fan inside it).
CPU heatsink+fan can be swapped.
Case fans should definitely be silent models. RedWing and Noctua provide the best for airflow per decibel. Red wings may need to have a voltage limiter fitted though.
The graphics card can have a fanless cooler, or a good quiet fan based one. Zalman make good VGA coolers.

Find out what the loudest fans are on your system, by stopping each of them in turn with a pencil, then replace them in order, loudest first.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:55 pm

RedWing and Noctua provide the best for airflow per decibel.

if you are talking about the Xilence RedWing, I have not found them to be very quiet (at any voltage). the Noctua "best CFM/dB" label is debatable. Scythe Slipstream strong contender.

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:59 pm

I have two 92mm Xilence RedWing and then run beautifully at 5 volts. I have one of them fitted at the moment and it makes no audible noise, at all. And my PC is very, very quiet.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:07 pm

Welcome to SPCR!

To add to William's list:

Hard drives also make noise, especially if they vibrate, and then more so in aluminum cases or undamped steel. If you end up with this, very often suspending the hard drive is the best answer.

If you choose wisely (grasshopper

), you can have a silent video card, and silent CPU cooling. Instead of water cooling, you can often have just two slow and very quiet (120mm) fans in a system: one in the power supply, and one as the case exhaust. These can be run 400-800RPM -- and sometimes the case fan may not be running (assuming it is thermally controlled by the motherboard).

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:11 pm

I have two 92mm Xilence RedWing and then run beautifully at 5 volts.

most fans that will start at 5V will be inaudible, purely due to the low speed, unless the bearings are absolutely terrible.

And my PC is very, very quiet.

still using 3.5" HDDs?

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:21 pm

jaganath wrote:
I have two 92mm Xilence RedWing and then run beautifully at 5 volts.
most fans that will start at 5V will be inaudible, purely due to the low speed, unless the bearings are absolutely terrible.

And my PC is very, very quiet.
still using 3.5" HDDs?

Still got an attitude?

kkk.

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:24 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote:Welcome to SPCR!

To add to William's list:

Hard drives also make noise, especially if they vibrate, and then more so in aluminum cases or undamped steel. If you end up with this, very often suspending the hard drive is the best answer.

If you choose wisely (grasshopper ), you can have a silent video card, and silent CPU cooling. Instead of water cooling, you can often have just two slow and very quiet (120mm) fans in a system: one in the power supply, and one as the case exhaust.

Excellent advice. I just wanted to keep it as simple as possible as the OP didn't sound experienced and there is a lot to take in when you are new to all this!!!

Luminair · Post by **Luminair** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:50 pm

williamn6133 wrote:I just discovered the Gigabyte 3D Aurora case on the net.

You might be taking some of the antec amenities for granted. Without dampened side panels, they are more likely to rattle. Without less obstructed air flow (like by the hdd cage), stuff gets noisy or hot. Without easy to clean air filters, stuff gets dirty and fans break and lose effectiveness quicker. Without space behind the motherboard tray to route cables, case airflow is obstructed.

The P182 definitely lacks the neat screwless card and drive mounts of newer cases. I'm not a big fan of the antec drive rail system either. But what it lacks there it makes up for in the stuff that counts.

williamn6133 · Post by **williamn6133** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:53 pm

Want an ugly case? THIS is ugly!

JaYp146 · Post by **JaYp146** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:38 am

williamn6133 wrote:Want an ugly case? THIS is ugly!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:23 am

Form follows function = beauty.

How does it work?

LBadvance · Post by **LBadvance** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:27 am

JaYp146 wrote: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder

Those 2 cases are fugly, fridge like P182 all the way

sheninat0r · Post by **sheninat0r** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:53 pm

I think that this case is ugly as ballz... just like the Nine Hundred. I also don't like the inside design, and the beige plastic - beige makes me cringe.

Two exhausts are also present in other cases, like the Lian-Li PC-A7x. Also, I don't think having so many exhausts really helps, unless you want to make a nice negative pressure system.

Best case ever Gigabyte 3D Aurora? Not many agree!

Best case ever Gigabyte 3D Aurora? Not many agree!

Re: Best case ever Gigabyte 3D Aurora? Not many agree!

Re: Best case ever Gigabyte 3D Aurora? Not many agree!

Re: Best case ever Gigabyte 3D Aurora? Not many agree!

Re: Best case ever Gigabyte 3D Aurora? Not many agree!