New Case / Fans needed !

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I am in dire need of a new case and some cooling and my knowledge is very limited in this area. my PC is for gaming @ 1920x1080 and i can barely run games like tf2 on high settings for longer than 20 minutes without dropping below 25fps

My current specs:
HD 4870 1GB
Q6700 Quad core Processor 2.66ghz
4gb Ram
22" Samsung
Res: 1920x1080
Vista 32-bit
Case : Unknown, overlooked it when i bought components and regret it.

My budget for Case + Cooling is about £120 because im tired of soaring temperatures within 10 minutes of gaming.

Thanks guys for whatever you can help with.

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Last December Tom's Hardware published a technical review of four gaming cases. The review included results for thermal performance. Here's a link to the review:

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2105.html

I have the Coolermaster HAF 932. Ventilation, airflow, and cooling are outstanding.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119160

The Antec Twelve Hundred is another excellent case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129043

I don't know what prices might be like in your part of the world.

Reply to JohnnyLucky

How big a case?

Antec 300 is pretty good for a small one, Antec 902 is great, Antec 1200 is probably too big.

The HAF 922 and 932 are good too but not to my style, the CM Storm Sniper and Storm Scouts are also good.

You also have the Lancool Dragon Lord (it's still Lian Li but steel not alu to save some cash).

Reply to LePhuronn

i've heard good things bout the Antec 300, i don't require alot of bays for hard disks etc so i think the HAF 932 and Antec 1200 are too big for me.
The 902 looks like a decent option as well.

Say if i bought the Antec 902 assuming my hardware wouldnt have any problems.
Fans included: Rear : 1 x 12 cm - ( 1 installed) Top : 1 x 20 cm - ( 1 installed) Front : 2 x 12 cm - ( 2 installed) Side : 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed) 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed)

what other fans would i need to buy for this and can anyone link me any good fans ?

Since i can snap up an Antec 902 for about £80-90 i have about £20-30 to buy any additional fans .

Is a stock heatsink on a Q6700 alright as well for gaming?

I am a complete noob in building PC's and thank you for your input so far !
:)

Reply to psyklone2k7

I would go for the Antec 1200 as the cooling set up is near perfect using the provided fans on low setting. Yes its a big case, but then that helps cooling anyway because of the larger free space inside.

Reply to ulysses35

The Antec Three Hundred is a very popular case with gamers on a tight budget.

Reply to JohnnyLucky

I own the 902. It's good. But the CM Storm Sniper is the best!
If you look for fans with a decent CFM/dBA ratio , I recommend scythe fans. I suggest you visit their website and determine which one best fits your need.

------------------------------ Antec 902--ASUS P5KSE, thermaltake extreme spirit II--FSP 500w--E6750 @ 3.6 Ghz, Zalman CNPS 9500--OCZ reaper HPC 4 Gb @ 1081 mhz--GF 8800GT @ 700,1700,920, Zalman alcu700--WD caviar Green 1TB--Maxtor 160 Gb--BenQ T2200 HD--Benq FP72E--7RC ultimate 64bit
Reply to avatar_raq
- 0 +

Hmmm.. What I think (strictly an opinion!)

The Antec 902/1200 is best for air cooling. You can control the speed of the fans without additional hardware, great cable management, good aesthetics...

I have a 1200 myself and could not be more happy.

The HAF 932 is another great case, but I think it would be a better choice for water cooling than the 1200, and the 1200 is a better choice for air.

You should also check out the CM Stacker 830/832. That's a huge case, but very user-friendly and has great airflow.

I also have nothing against the Antec 300, but in that price range, you have to go for the original: The CM RC-690.

SO...

Full towers:

1200/902 for air.

HAF Series for Water cooling.

Stacker 830 for all that fancy pants motherboard tray, fan tray, and hdd tray stuff :)

Midtowers:

CM RC690 - best bang/buck case all around.
Antec 300 - second best bang/buck case all around.

---------------

BTW, the 902 includes all the fans you could ever want except the side window fan (great cooling comes with great noise) and the INTERNAL HDD rack fan.

I wouldn't really get another fan. It has enough.

------------------------------ http://www.speedtest.net/result/594200256.pnghttp://www.pingtest.net/result/3492303.png
Reply to zinosys
- 0 +

psyklone2k7 wrote :

i've heard good things bout the Antec 300, i don't require alot of bays for hard disks etc so i think the HAF 932 and Antec 1200 are too big for me.
The 902 looks like a decent option as well.

Say if i bought the Antec 902 assuming my hardware wouldnt have any problems.
Fans included: Rear : 1 x 12 cm - ( 1 installed) Top : 1 x 20 cm - ( 1 installed) Front : 2 x 12 cm - ( 2 installed) Side : 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed) 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed)

what other fans would i need to buy for this and can anyone link me any good fans ?

Since i can snap up an Antec 902 for about £80-90 i have about £20-30 to buy any additional fans .

Is a stock heatsink on a Q6700 alright as well for gaming?

I am a complete noob in building PC's and thank you for your input so far !
:)



Instead of buying case fans (which you probably won't need as the 902 is very well equipped already), go for a CPU Heatsink/Fan.

Good luck with your computer-building endeavors! :)

------------------------------ http://www.speedtest.net/result/594200256.pnghttp://www.pingtest.net/result/3492303.png
Reply to zinosys

Another cheap, but good option is the NZXT m59.

------------------------------ Antec 902--ASUS P5KSE, thermaltake extreme spirit II--FSP 500w--E6750 @ 3.6 Ghz, Zalman CNPS 9500--OCZ reaper HPC 4 Gb @ 1081 mhz--GF 8800GT @ 700,1700,920, Zalman alcu700--WD caviar Green 1TB--Maxtor 160 Gb--BenQ T2200 HD--Benq FP72E--7RC ultimate 64bit
Reply to avatar_raq

The NZXT Blackline, while being a bit bling for some people, has pretty good airflow when setup properly (but the fans which come with it, while dead silent, move bugger all air). Pretty decent cable management etc as well.
Although that's rather biased due to owning one and being a fan of it's big black shinyness.

Reply to FlamingGerbil

a cheap case i use (waayy too big, i regret buying it actually) that is PACKED with fans is the Sunbeam Transformer case. this will cool just about any rig. i HIGHLY recomend a fan speed controller though cause its louder than a jet engine

------------------------------ http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/642034.png
Reply to rambo117

I just picked up a CoolerMaster Storm Scout. I am very happy with it. One note you will need to mount any tower cooler with a 120mm fan to vent up. No room for it to vent out the back .

Reply to TheOnion
- 0 +

Mmm. True. NZXT and The CM Storm series will not disappoint.


Message edited by zinosys on 11-09-2009 at 05:44:16 PM
------------------------------ http://www.speedtest.net/result/594200256.pnghttp://www.pingtest.net/result/3492303.png
Reply to zinosys
- 0 +

For serious overclocking, you cannot use the stock fans.

Here are two popular under $50 choices:
Sunbeam
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835207004
Xigmatec Dark Knight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233029

The HDT style HSF's require a different approach to applying thermal compound.
Suggestions for applying thermal compound:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index. [...] mitstart=5

And get a utility like RealTemp that will monitor both CPU and GPU temperatures.

(To everyone that wants to write to tell me that CoreTemp is better, I know. But CoreTemp does not look at GPU temps.)

Reply to jsc
- 0 +

I think the Scythe Mugen II has a 775 bracket. That's a great cooler, and for the price too.

Just make sure your memory modules don't have huge heatsinks!

------------------------------ http://www.speedtest.net/result/594200256.pnghttp://www.pingtest.net/result/3492303.png
Reply to zinosys

I have the Xigmatec Dark Knight Cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Installing the fan was a pain in the ass but it cools like a champ. Highly Recommended.

It is compatible with 775 and 1366 CPUs.




Message edited by TheOnion on 11-09-2009 at 07:45:26 PM
Reply to TheOnion
- 0 +

The MUGEN II is a very good one, but is HUGE. The AC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 is also a great cooler.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by zinosys on 11-10-2009 at 08:46:09 PM
------------------------------ http://www.speedtest.net/result/594200256.pnghttp://www.pingtest.net/result/3492303.png
Reply to zinosys

zinosys wrote :

Pssh. The Hyper 212 Plus isn't really a good cooler...

The MUGEN II is a very good one, but is HUGE. The AC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 is also a great cooler.



I had the AC Freezer Pro before my Xigmatec Dark Knight. It still is an amazing cooler if you do not need 1366 or 1156 compatibility. It's been around forever and still cools as well as new coolers. The only reason I replaced it is one of the platic clips on the mounts broke. Even mounted with 3 clips it still kept my CPU cool.

It has something like 2000+ 5 Egg reviews on newegg.

Reply to TheOnion

^5 +1 what obsidian86 said.

I did a case mod last year. Intsalled the original Hyper 212 in a modified HAF 932. The results were outstanding.

Reply to JohnnyLucky
- 0 +

TheOnion wrote :

I had the AC Freezer Pro before my Xigmatec Dark Knight. It still is an amazing cooler if you do not need 1366 or 1156 compatibility. It's been around forever and still cools as well as new coolers. The only reason I replaced it is one of the platic clips on the mounts broke. Even mounted with 3 clips it still kept my CPU cool.

It has something like 2000+ 5 Egg reviews on newegg.




The AC Freezer 7 Pro's second revision has 1366 and 1156 clips...

And fine, obsidian and Johnny. I didn't do my research. Sue me :(

------------------------------ http://www.speedtest.net/result/594200256.pnghttp://www.pingtest.net/result/3492303.png
Reply to zinosys
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