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H50 or new case?

S

StewieTheGreat

Gawd
Joined
Apr 12, 2010
Messages
571
So I have a raidmax smilodon case its small and cramped and I really just dont like it anymore,its from my first build and was decent back then,but now just seems dated and I really cant stand the sound of 110cfm fans running at full blast anymore just to keep internal temps where I am comfortable. I have installed 3 silverstone fans in it to keep the motherboard cool and to feed my card and proc some air,It helped and temps are ok but I am really not liking the 55C-59C load temps on my proc depending on the temp of my room considering the max is just 63C,its still on stock cooling and I know that I need to get that changed if I want to lower the temps.

So my question is,should I change my case first,would the increased more efficient air flow of a bigger case like the CM HAF 932 lower my proc temps,or should i just stick with the smilodon case and shove a H50 in there?would it even fit? or would it just make things more complicated considering the small size and crappy airflow of the case?






edit* sorry if this is the wrong section I didnt know where I should put it,this seemed like the most logical place,but my logic is not the same as most.
 
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just from a quick look up on the case, airflow looks like it would be a bit on the low side for an enthusiast class case, but running at more normal speeds it should be perfectly fine. have you tried running with the door off to see if temps are any better?

have you done any overclocking on the cpu? because stock coolers really aren't meant to be able to handle much above a low overclock (what kind of load are you putting on the cpu to get those temps? normal use, benchmark, stress test).

a bigger case won't necessarily be better, you have to take in consideration fan size and placement to get an idea of the case's potential airflow as well as other possible factors like psu, drive cage placement or even if the case has modular compartments (though the HAF 932 is great for airflow, lol).
 
I had that case back in the day (~07); it was good for its time but with the latest-gen it may not be adequate. I have a Cooler Master 690 II basic, and love it. Good temps and WC support.
 
Try the 800D and I would spend the extra for the H50 too. Just my 2c.
 
the 800D is a pretty terrible case concerning airflow and I wouldn't really recommend it unless you're going with a custom water-cooled setup (that smilodon you have has better flow). I mean it's a nice looking case and all, but for less than half the price you can get a case with similar features and 100x better airflow.
 
I have an external WC solution that will work way better then the H50 and you won't have to change the case..I can even do it cheaper then a H50..PM me for details..
 
Skull_Angel said:
the 800D is a pretty terrible case concerning airflow...
Click to expand...

I disagree. I admit it should have come with 3 fans on top for the price and is not great without them, but it's not bad either. I added 3 GTs (@ 50%) to the top of mine and there is no issue with airflow!

My OC'd 5870 dumps the air straight into the case. Even when it was 30C+ up here the GPU never went over 50C while gaming. I have tried the H50 on the back as both an intake and currently as an exhaust, with no change in temps. Even though it should be sucking warmer air from inside the case, it seems not to be. The GTs are pulling it out fast enough.
 
800D seems pretty expensive for what you get, to me.

I bought a HAF922 for $60 last December on sale. Great airflow, looks OK. Some people would say its very ugly though. I'm sure you could find other cases with good airflow for a lot less than the 800D. And since he is asking new case or H50, I'm guessing that he doesn't have an unlimited budget.
 
The 800D is nice,but a little on the expensive side.

I would like to upgrade both the stock cooler and the case,but I can only get one or the other right now.So what would be the safest bet atm,I am leaning towards a case just so I dont run into motherboard temp problems by removing the airflow from the stock heat sink.

what do you guys think,this is only my second build so I am really new to this.

@ccityinstaller: I would really like a internal set up like the H50 because its easy and I have 2 crazy cats that like to run over top of everything,thanks for the offer though
 
there's a lot of nicer cases popping up at the sub-$100 USD price range. one of the cases I'm currently glued to is the coolermaster cm-690 ii, you can find the basic version for $70 USD on newegg.
 
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Get the H50 and a cheaper case like others are suggesting. I don't know about the States, but the Azza Solano 1000 can be had with rebate for around $65 CDN.
 
If you can only afford to pick one though, get the case. I've seen massive improvements in component temperatures just from swapping into cases that have better airflow. The H50 holds its own against air coolers but it is not a magical solution to an entire computer running warm.
 
Yeah after having built a system in a 690 II Advanced the other day, I'd be hard pressed to recommend another case under $100. For $80, I don't know what more you could ask for in terms of options. Great cable mgmt, black interior, lots of room, quiet, tons of addon fan options, etc
 
That CM is a nice case for the money.

I am the cheapest bastid in the world however and since I am constantly in my case for one reason or another I like your current case - alot. However it has some issues that I would rectify.

Now I have no idea if you have the tools, skill etc. and if you are truely tired of it then just get another case but IMO with some mods there is nothing at all that cannot be fixed with your current case a few fixes cannot overcome. And BTW your temps are fine and maybe too fine, Anything under 80C is ok and with that stock cooler I suspect you are running your fans at 100% so its no wonder you are tired of the noise. So just a decent cooler that allows you to run EIST and C1E and also keep temps in line would solve most of your issue.

So an H50 or H70 is not a bad idea but with the way your motherboard tray unfolds, that feature would be lost (not a huge deal) with standard mounting on the rear exhaust as the tubing would not allow the left side to fold down like it does now.

regardless, snipping out the rear fan grill would be my first move. The way your case unfolds would make it easy it file or grind the edges nice and even without getting metal filings on the motherboard etc. Care would still be needed and stripping the case would be a better way to go so you could do all the mods at once and maybe even paint the interior. Ditto the lower front fan, a little more tricky but get rid of the stamped grill and use a wire one. You can get edge grommet if you want to really make it look nice and hide any minor imprefections of the job.

If you run only one CD/DVD drive a bay cooler would put another 120mm fan in the upper front and shoot cool air directly at the cpu area. With an H50/70 mounted in the recommended way (blowing into the case) you would want that bay cooler to exhaust, sucking air out of the case.

If you video card exhausts air out the back slots the postion of the lower side fan is useless. If you card exhausts air right there, make sure that fan is set as exhaust. If rear slot exhaust an advanced mod would be to relocate that lower side fan so it lines up with your video card fan intake. This would require both modding that cross bar and drilling vent holes in the side panel. Not hard but care would be needed to make it look well done.

Anyway, I see nothing about that case such that it needs to be trashed unless you are just tired of it. Its your stock cooler and frankly, unreasonalble temp expectations that are the main issue.

However you did not mention if you are OCed or not, are those core temps ? etc.

With a jigsaw and metal cutting blade and 2 hours I could make that case as good as anything out there.


You need a better cooler is all. But if you are tired of it (cramped, lol, it fucking unfolds, with some possible lengthing of cables it should be a dream to work in. ) get rid of it but whatever case you do get is not going to impress you until you get rid of the stock cooler and/or let EIST run your fans and trade off another 10C for reduced noise.
 
To be honest I never really thought about modding the case,but I have already added a 120mm fan to the drive bays that are not being used and I really like the idea of removing the the stamped fan grills.

When I said the case is cramped I meant there is no cable management cut outs what so ever and I have a lot of wires to deal with,right now I have them shoved in the corner next to the optical drive and its just really ugly and annoying that they are just shoved there.I love the fold out MB tray,that was one of the main reasons I got the case in the first place.

My proc is stock because I didn't want to OC it on the stock cooler and yes those are core temps,I thought that 63C was the max for a Phenom II chip?

yea, the reason It just now started to get irritated with the sound(I have had this rig for about a year)is I just started folding,CPU and GPU clients and like others have said,it really put your system through the paces and finds weaknesses that you didnt know were there and once my GPU temps started nearing 95C I knew I needed to do something,but that is another story and is under control for now.

I am gonna give modding a try and grab an H50/70 and see how that works out,if I dont like it I can always get another case then,I dont think my temp expectations are unreasonable since I thought/think the load temps are only 7C-4C lower then the recommended max operating temps of the chip,correct me if I am wrong though.

What kind of paint would you use on the inside?
 
No matter what you use ( I recommend matte/satin black - flat looks crappy and gloss is too shiny) you will get a scratch or two in it installing stuff. Last time I did one I just got a can of inexpensive spray paint. The key is thin coats, the first coat will not even cover completely. I use 3 coats. Set in dircect sun for a couple of hours between 2nd and 3rd coat and after 3rd coat to bake it good and dry. Use a Sharpie marker to touch up any small scratches when/after installing stuff. 2 cans more than enough.

You will want to use small flat washers under the drive mounting screws, see if you can find some black colored ones, a good hardware store should have some, its a special finish I cant think of the name at the momemt but usually in the speciality hardware drawers you can find black washers and even screws. Motherboard mounting screws and other standard case screws are #6-32 size. Cant remember drive screws off top of head.

Might want to drop a post in the Case Modding forum. Those are the experts down there. Other than my hatred for fan grills and love of hacking holes for new fans I am not a expert on mods. They might have some good tips and tricks.
 
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I used to have a smilodon before I got my ft02. It was a fun case. I added a scythe kama bay to mine and it helped temps a lot. The lower front fan I put a scythe gt1850rpm and in the kama bay and exhaust I had a gt1450. The lower fan mesh is easy to pop out. As for the door, you can get enough airflow even with it closed. It might be a fun mod to replace it though. I second cutting out the rear honeycomb grill. For cable management I was able to hide all my wires behind the 5.25" drive bays. Unfortunately I couldn't really use the fold out mobo feature because my cogage true spirit was too tall and hit the psu.
 
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