Alternative for Antec NSK 3480/ 4482 ?

[ChicaneBT]

I'm checking out some possibilities for a cheap but silent case and PSU combination. Cases like the Silencio and Design R3, Design mini, P183 v2 fall outside this budget.

Via the Antec NSK-3480 (90 euro) on the best silent cases list (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article763-page1.html) I found the NSK 4482 - EC (92 euro) which has a better PSU (80 Bronze) and isn't limited to uATX motherboard sizes. On Newegg they say the EarthWatts 380D Green is (very) quiet.

Edit: Yesterday I read several (user)reviews and the overall feeling about these cases dropped cause of some disadvantages pointed out. Therefore I reconsidered the Cooler Master Sileo 500 and saw it has dropped in price since the introduction of the Silencio 550. The Sileo can be bought for 60 euro and the PSU (a be Quiet 300w) for 35 euro.

Looking at the review on this site, I think the Sileo 500 is the best buy for this budget. Don't you think? Other ideas are always welcome .

FYI: It will be housing an Intel i3/i5 Sandy Bridge IGP system.

[Dr. Jim Pomatter]

FYI: It will be housing an Intel i3/i5 Sandy Bridge IGP system.

Can you tell us more about your system?

Will you use a 65 watt or a 95 watt Sandy Bridge processor?
Do you plan on overclocking?

How many hard drives do you need?
Do you plan on using any 7200 RPM hard drives?
Will you use a SSD?

Do you ever think you will want the option to fit & power a discreet graphics card?

[Pappnaas]

Hi there,

i personally build a low-cost system a few month ago, based on this case:

http://www.aerocool.com.tw/index.php/pr ... q/31-qs200

It retails in Germany about 50 Euro incl. tax and p&p. Fits only mATX, but has sufficient space for 2 HHDs, mounted with some kind of dampening washers made of rubber.

Regarding a PSU, i'd suggest you look in the 400W range of PSUs, should be more than enough for i3/i5 IGP. Even adding a middle class VGA-Card shouldn't really exceed 400W. There a a few reasonable PSUs in the 400W range, check the corresponding sections in here.

Fitting all parts in can be a little tricky, but is no big deal. The included fans were not really silent at 12V, if i was to keep this little case for my own use, i'd swap those fans.

They might be ok at 5V or 7V, but i didn't check.

[alexo]

I reconsidered the Cooler Master Sileo 500 and saw it has dropped in price since the introduction of the Silencio 550. The Sileo can be bought for 60 euro and the PSU (a be Quiet 300w) for 35 euro.

Looking at the review on this site, I think the Sileo 500 is the best buy for this budget. Don't you think? Other ideas are always welcome

The review of the Silencio 550 on this site is less than enthusiastic. Is the older Sileo 500 objectively better?

[ChicaneBT]

FYI: It will be housing an Intel i3/i5 Sandy Bridge IGP system.

Can you tell us more about your system?

Will you use a 65 watt or a 95 watt Sandy Bridge processor?
Do you plan on overclocking?

How many hard drives do you need?
Do you plan on using any 7200 RPM hard drives?
Will you use a SSD?

Do you ever think you will want the option to fit & power a discreet graphics card?

Don't know the TDP of the processor yet. Both the i3 (65w) as well as the i5 2400 (95w) are an option.
HDD: One - 7200rpm model. I know from an silencing view the 5400rpm models are better, but this will be the bootup drive as well so speed is of an essence.
GPU: No discrete GPU needed.

I reconsidered the Cooler Master Sileo 500 and saw it has dropped in price since the introduction of the Silencio 550. The Sileo can be bought for 60 euro and the PSU (a be Quiet 300w) for 35 euro.

Looking at the review on this site, I think the Sileo 500 is the best buy for this budget. Don't you think? Other ideas are always welcome

The review of the Silencio 550 on this site is less than enthusiastic. Is the older Sileo 500 objectively better?

I think it performed well: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article946-page7.html Yes there are better cases, but the price is an big consideration in this build. Compared to the Antec P183 it did very well sound wise, the CPU temps are a little bit (4 degrees) higher but on an IGP only system that isn't a big deal. And the temps are well within boundaries of acceptable for the processor.