Max height of HSF in NSK1300/Aria?

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:20 am

Calling NSK1300/Aria owners !

Im probably gonna build a HTPC in a NSK1300 soon and id like to know the max possible height of the HSF with the PSU removed. How many cm's are there from the CPU socket to the 5,25" drive? I must overhang to CPU socket atleast a bit.

Some pics would also be nice

Delta_42 · Post by **Delta_42** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:46 am

It may depend on your board, but from what I remember from my Aria (which is in bits in the attic), the PSU is more likely to overhang the cpu fan, hence the strange shape of the PSU.

I think 65-70mm is about as tall as will fit.

gudmann · Post by **gudmann** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 2:23 am

I have a Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H motherboard in the NSK 1300 running rather hot and loud. I'm thinking about removing the PSU and going for an external one.

viewtopic.php?p=370591#370591 for more details.

I would also welcome it if other 1300 owners would share their experience in fitting a cpu cooler.

thanks
Gudmann Birgisson
Iceland

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:43 am

A friend of mine had a lot of trouble with his Aria and a stock HSF on A64 3000 (Skt 754).
I suggested to replace it with the Zalman 7000Cu, which he did, and he's now happy with sound levels (using CnQ).
Since the HSF sits on the CPU in a horizontal position, the weight of the 7000Cu is not an issue.
But his standards are lower than SPCR's. Still, if your CPU isn't too hot it should run quiet enough.
PS. if your mobo has an odd CPU placement, even the 7000Cu might be difficult if not impossible to install.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:25 am

Use an external optical drive (honestly how often do you really need it anyhow) and you can put a ninja in one easy. Then all you gotta do is find a clever way to mount your HD in the front region of the case, its not impossible, just takes a little thinking and some effort.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:25 am

Aris wrote:Use an external optical drive (honestly how often do you really need it anyhow) and you can put a ninja in one easy. Then all you gotta do is find a clever way to mount your HD in the front region of the case, its not impossible, just takes a little thinking and some effort.

Yeah your right about that. I hardly never use an optical drive. Thanks.

mx-5 · Post by **mx-5** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:04 am

I have a Zalman 7000 with the S775 adapter on a Asrock Conroe945G-DVI mb in my Aria. Tight fit.

gudmann, what's your case temp? My Aria case is about 43C idle, CPU is about 50 at core using the Zalman 7000. I think the lack of airflow in the case is the reason the case and CPU stays hot. I'm with you, the pico psu will help.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:09 am

I wont be using the ARIA/NSK1300 PSU but a PICO so the PSU wont be a height restriction.

Anyone have a suggestion for external DVD-drive?

Im thinking Samsung SE-S184M but dont know how much difference there is between external drives. I definitely dont want something to noisy.

gudmann · Post by **gudmann** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:58 am

I'm going for the most simple to use for the wife and children and hadn't thought about the external DVD possibilty.

DVD is a must and will be much used...

There are some 16 - 17 cm to work with with that bracket gone..

Then there could be a way to suspend the HDD on elastic cords near the front. Defintely vertically, flat side against the front panel, but possibly horizontal, connectors facing the back.

Horizontal, connectors facing a side would work too.

Some solid HDD heatsinks could fit as well I think.

One issue about USB external DVD

Quoting eitheita from post viewtopic.php?t=38787 :
Aside: The adapter's PCB ground plane is then directly connected to the earth pin of the AC mains connector. Thus the 142 mV 'ground' on my mobo could create issues if I had an external (e.g. USB) peripheral that powered by a power adapter with three-wire mains that was similarly connected. I could wind up dumping quite a lot of current through the shield on a USB cable. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised to see this, in cost-sensitive consumer commodity designs (i.e. a Dell laptop), but it's something to keep in mind when using this type of setup.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:02 am

Yes theres alot of possible ways to suspend HDDs in that case with the bracket removed.

gudmann · Post by **gudmann** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:14 am

One more thing for me...

I took the temps with the case standing free on the floor. Tiles, not carpet.

I'm going to shut it in a wooden cabinet that hangs from the TV room wall.

I've built a duct that will fit in the back and suck air from a hole in the cabinet floor behind the case, similar to bluefronts totally positive aria
viewtopic.php?t=30625/
but the duct reaches below the case.

Then I hope the volume in the cabinet and the space between the cabinet doors and walls will be enough to breathe the positive pressure and heat out.

If not, I guess I'll have to punch more holes

Out of sight is the WAF (Wife Approcal Factor) on this project

So the brick for the PW-200-V is going to be fastened to the bottom of the cabinet, so it wont add to the heat inside.

RAPWare · Post by **RAPWare** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:49 pm

The height is indeed limited because of the PSU.
With the Antec PSU installed you can't go heigher than 65mm.

If you are going to use an external CD/DVD/HDDVD and an external PSU there is more than enough space for almost any CPU cooler.

I am using the Antec NSK with an external DVD player and the orignal PSU. To get my temps within acceptable range I installed a very slow spinning, inaudible, top fan.

Here are some pictures of my case:

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Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 2:33 am

That Aria case is the perfect candidate for laptop drives and a PICO power supply. If I had it to do over, I'd for sure use a laptop optical drive, along with a laptop HD. Remove the OEM drive cage completely....just gets in the way of everything. Making a new/slim cage for those laptop pieces is no big deal. You could mount them both in the former optical drive space......and still have enough room to install a tall heatsink.

The stock vents in my original Aria were way too small for good airflow.....that's why I made a custom top. Again.....an easy mod.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 2:33 am

I'll be using a PICO psu and an external drive. Nice pictures.

Edit: A slim drive sounds great. How would you make the front bezel fit the slim drive?

gudmann · Post by **gudmann** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 3:16 am

Well the parts are sourced... almost..

I've bought a Scythe Ninja, the full size, not mini. It's 15cm high, there should be almost 17cm clearance to the top of the case so it should fit..

Should and will are not the same though ( measure twice, cut once... hehe )

The PW-200-V is in my hands... with the P4 ATX cord.

I'm going away for the weekend... so the evenings for next week are booked. Just need to get a thermal compound and a 24 - 20 pin ATX converter cable. And the elastic cord for the HDD. I might try find aluminium rails to use for heatsinks on its sides....

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 3:32 am

Here's a Sythe panel that goes into the optical bay.....the bottom section detaches, and it comes with the hardware to hold a laptop optical drive.

Actually....if you get a Pansonic drive with a slot opening, all you need do is cut a small rectangle opening in the blank bay cover and construct some sort of small bracket to hold the drive. Those things are very light.....you can make the necessary bracket out of foam.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 3:54 am

2 good options Bluefront. I'll let em bounce around in my head for a while.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:14 am

I refuse to use tray loading optical drives anymore, and i can only find slot loading slim notebook optical drives. Plus ive found notebook opticals to be a lot quieter than standard optical drives.

Theres many options available for external slim optical drive enclosures. Notebook users utilize this option a lot.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:24 pm

AuraAllan: A slim slot DVD may still fit inside the case, just remember to get the right kind of cable, or an adapter.

Aris: Plextor makes slot loading DVD drives, well at least they used to do.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:31 am

Mats wrote:AuraAllan: A slim slot DVD may still fit inside the case, just remember to get the right kind of cable, or an adapter.

Yeah I know. That is the exact drive im considering but id really love to have a SATA one. Too bad those apparently dont exist.

Edit:I must have a slim drive cable adapter somewhere from one of my EPIA cards.

gudmann · Post by **gudmann** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 2:10 am

The Ninja in an NSK1300

http://litbolti.arnaras.net/myndir/HTPC-Case-mod

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:24 pm

that is a thing of beauty gudmann.

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