Antec Solo build with Noctua heatsink

Ayatolla · Post by **Ayatolla** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 2:52 pm

Hi,

I am looking to build a new i7 rig around the antec solo.

I was looking at the Noctua NH-D14 heatsink for cooling the cpu, it is huge though.

I was wondering if it would fit in the solo with the "strut" of the case.

Dimensions of the fan are:

Height (with fan) 160 mm
Width (with fan) 140 mm
Depth (with fan) 158 mm

The motherboard i am considering is the ASUS P7P55D Premium Motherboard. The other issue i am likely to come across is whether it will impinge on the ram slots. Luck of the draw i suppose.

The rest of the build is:

CPU: i7 850 2.8 GHz
Ram: TBC
HDD: 2.5" suspended drive for primary (not SSD, too early for me to jump on that bandwagon)
1Tb HDD for storage
graphics: An old ATi graphics card with accelero cooling (undervolted).
optical drive:LG GGW-H20L blue ray
Cooling: rear noctua 120mm fan undervolted
2x nexus 92mm front fans undervolted.
PSU: Corsair 620w.

I was also thinking about throwing in an old scythe kama bay although that may be overkill.

I would appreciate any help.

thanks

_MarcoM_ · Post by **_MarcoM_** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:16 am

IMO, 2 front fan are unnecessary. The noctua on the back is enough, negative pressure would be nice.

I'm worried about the duration of 2.5 disk compared to a 3.5 one in a desktop system, but I could be wrong: 2.5 today are good piece of hardware, cool and silent

Ayatolla · Post by **Ayatolla** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:27 am

I am in two minds about the 2 front fans. With the intention of suspending the boot disk i thought it helpful to have some cool air running over it as they tend to run warmer without the heatsink effect of the case when screwed into the case.

I had decided on the WD Scorpio Blue 500Gb 2.5". I hadn't really thought about the lifetime of the HDD, however i have run through a couple of 3.5" HDD on my desktop in the same period of time that i have been on one 2.5" on my laptop. Not particularly scientific i know.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 9:51 am

you'll take a performance hit with a 2.5" hdd, no matter what the rotational speed is... they just can't stack up against a 3.5" drive in either price, performance, or reliability... although they may be quieter??

karkee · Post by **karkee** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 10:38 am

Does 5870 fit in solo? I think it didnt?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:13 pm

Does the 5870 you are considering stick out beyond the motherboard?

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:47 pm

Personally I like using two undervolted 92mm fans in the front of the Solo. I figure around the time I switch my last hard drive out for an SSD I'll remove the front fans.

Given the rate of progress on SSDs that should be well before the bearings wear out on the fans. Heck it might even be this year for all I know.

_MarcoM_ · Post by **_MarcoM_** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 4:02 pm

dhanson865 wrote:Personally I like using two undervolted 92mm fans in the front of the Solo.

I'm curious, your experience may be interesting. Which fans? With or without front-filter? Last but not least, which hard drive?

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:12 pm

_MarcoM_ wrote:
dhanson865 wrote:Personally I like using two undervolted 92mm fans in the front of the Solo.
I'm curious, your experience may be interesting. Which fans? With or without front-filter? Last but not least, which hard drive?

It's been quite a while since I've opened the case. I have a vague memory of 92mm Scythe sleeve bearings bought from Jab-tech (DFS922512L bought in 2006). Running at 5v hard wired with the filter in place. You can't buy them anymore. Of course you can probably get better now with the slipstreams and similar designs out that didn't exist back then.

The last change put a WD6400AAKS in there just before they changed the label to make that the Blue 640GB drive. It is suspended and I don't mind any noise it makes. If I had waited 3 more months it would have been a WD6401AAKS Black instead. I've bought those for work and haven't heard anything out of them that I would find objectionable. If I had waited even longer it would have been the Samsung 500GB reviewed on SPCR just because WD doesn't make it possible to tell which of their drives have 500GB platters before the sale.

I fully expect to buy a SSD and move the 640GB into another system in the near future. At that point I might bother to remove one or both of the 92mm fans but honestly I can't hear them over the 120mm yate loon at 7v in the rear and I can't hear any of it at true idle from my normal sitting position.

I'm sure I'll notice the lack of the WD 7200RPM drive more than any fan change I would make short of the PSU.

I have a Seasonic S12 PSU (pre 80 plus) in there that wouldn't be as quiet at idle as any number of more modern PSUs.

I'm planning on replacing it with a 80 Plus Gold PSU just before or just after the SSD change. I'm kind of waiting on Seasonic to release the SS-550LT (whatever they call the retail version) so I can decide between it and the X-650.

I'm assuming but not sure that the 550 will be fanless at idle just like the 650 but cheaper since it is 100 watts less and doesn't have modular cables.

If it makes it on both counts (being as good as it's big brother on efficiency and noise) and is noticeably cheaper than the 650 I'm in on the cheap one. If I have any doubts I go 650 or wimp out and get a bronze or silver unit that is noticeably cheaper.

As you can see a proper build is a moving target. You'll always find better parts down the road. You just have to pick some and pull the trigger.

Rucker · Post by **Rucker** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:00 am

_MarcoM_ wrote:
dhanson865 wrote:Personally I like using two undervolted 92mm fans in the front of the Solo.
I'm curious, your experience may be interesting. Which fans? With or without front-filter? Last but not least, which hard drive?

I've got a Solo with a Scythe Slipstream 1200rpm exhaust, one on the Megahalems HS, two 92mm Nexus fans up front and a Scythe Master Ace to control all the fans. With an i860 and passive 4670 GPU, I run just the two Scythes at 700rpm. CPU cores are under 30C, GPU is at 40C and the SSD and WD Scorpio HDD are both below 30C. Unless I was cranking the GPU for any reason, I don't see any reason to even run the 92mm intake fans.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 6:08 am

Redundancy. Simplicity by way of overkill.

What if the starting voltage for the rear fan is closer to the voltage you wired it for than you thought?

What if the fan header for the rear fan dies?

What if the bearing in the rear fan dies?

What if there are dead spots in airflow near the suspended hard drive?

What if there are dead spots in airflow near the chipset on the motherboard?

What if...

You don't have to run extra fans but if they don't add significantly to the noise level or power draw then to me its a no brainer. Run the extra fans at 5v and be glad for the insurance.

I mean this is a solo with 3 fan mounts not a gamers case with 8 fan mounts. You really can't go gonzo overboard on the number of fans in a solo without modding the case.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:56 am

I have one 92mm in front running at ~500rpm just to provide a little bit of active airflow to my HDD and keep it's temp in the 30's. The rear 120mm also runs at ~500rpm. My CPU fan idles at ~360rpm and ramps to maybe 700rpm when crunching small fft's in Prime95. Temps are low and the only sound I hear* is the PSU fan (I predict a fan swap...). I'd rather have a few low rpm/silent fans running and use an extra watt or 3 than deal with higher temps and/or a catastrophic problem down the road if something fails.

* currently have a 5770 video card with the egg cooler and fan is set at 20% via Catalyst control center. Can't hear it over the PSU.

Ayatolla · Post by **Ayatolla** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:15 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote:Does the 5870 you are considering stick out beyond the motherboard?

It is flush with the existing motherboard it is in.

Some interesting points being raised.

I do have a lian li case at the moment which is a full tower but i was thinking of starting over with the smaller antec case.

In terms of hdd after consideration i will swap it out with a 7200 1Tb WD drive. The one i am using at the moment is not particularly noisy.