Silverstone LC02 Clone (ebay deal) discussion

So, I've got the new case up and running and something I haven't heard anyone comment on is how loud this thing is. It's almost unusable as a HTPC at the moment, because I hear more fan noise than media.
 
What are you hearing? It must be your CPU fan. The case only has the PSU fan, and I wouldn't call it loud. It's not silent, but it's not loud.
 
I'm thinking it has to be the stock CPU heatsink and fan. Time for a better one, I guess. Any suggestions on a good quite low profile cooler?
 
jebo_4jc said:
fyi, since I don't think anybody has said it, i confirmed last night that a full ATX mobo does fit in this case just fine.

However, I don't have mine up and running since I don't have a spare mobo with integrated video, and I don't have any pci-e standoffs.
Click to expand...

It will hold a full size ATX board for sure? Wanted one know I have to get one. I have a msi 939 ATX board that needs a home.
 
So I've tried three small height coolers, and none of them fit. Any advice on an AM3 cooler that will fit in this case?
 
no. i've stuck to stock coolers so far. but I have a stock cooler from the 1055T on its way, which should be an upgrade from the aluminum brick I'm currently using.

Which coolers have you tried?
 
Stock AM3 cooler for the Athlon X3 440 that has served me well in a full size case. Cooler Master Vortex Plus (Just a hair too tall without the fan, impossible with the fan.) I confused myself into thinking there was a third, but just the two so far. Unfortunately, that Cooler Master is the lowest one I could find at Fry's. I'm going to check Microcenter this week, but I might have to order something.

Can that Cooler Master (or other heat pipe style work without a fan?

EDIT! Looks like this will fit, anybody use it before? I think I"m going to be the guinea pig for this case.

ScytheSCBSK1_fd.jpg
 
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I was looking at that one at microcenter. Let us know how it goes.
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This thread got bumped just in time! I've been looking for a HTPC case that's not too tall nor too deep for an acceptable cost. Dreaded having to spend $230 on a Moneual case, so this case is a no-brainer. Cooling could be a challenge, but I may be able to get away with leaving the top off. We'll see.

Does anyone have any links for reasonably priced PCI-E risers from a domestic source? I've found a couple on Ebay, but don't want to wait the month to get them from China.

A double height one like this would be ideal

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-PCI-Express..._EN_Networking_Components&hash=item5192380c95


Hope to get some photos up when the build is complete.
 
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FYI, the case did come with a double height PCI riser and two extensions. Not very useful for my needs, but they were free.
 
I'm gonna need a x1 PCIe ribbon cable for my tuner card. Might just whip out the dremel if I can't find one <$10 by Thursday.
 
Case was delivered last night. I'm gonna have to dremel the DVD/HDD tray slightly to make room for my heatsink and I'm still looking for a decent deal on a PCIe 1x riser ribbon cable.

I've decided to ditch the internal Enhance PSU that came with the unit and run an "external" ATX PSU in its place. Should still look classy, we'll see.

Hope to put together a build pictorial when all is said and done.
 
I'm curious to see how your external psu turns out.
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Ehren8879 said:
Case was delivered last night. I'm gonna have to dremel the DVD/HDD tray slightly to make room for my heatsink and I'm still looking for a decent deal on a PCIe 1x riser ribbon cable.

I've decided to ditch the internal Enhance PSU that came with the unit and run an "external" ATX PSU in its place. Should still look classy, we'll see.

Hope to put together a build pictorial when all is said and done.
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Just out of curiosity but is there any particular reason you're ditching the included psu?

Making more space? power hungry components? or both?

Would definitely like to see some pics, good luck either way though.
 
In my situation I want to swap the psu because it is the loudest component by far. The pc is in my bedroom and in a bedroom, the psu fan is noticeable.
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Okay, just got my new Scythe Big Shuriken cooler in. First of all, it's wider than I thought, but it's exactly as tall as the stock AMD cooler.

IMG_0666.jpg


It's so wide that it barely fits next to the PSU. I really thought it wouldn't clear the PSU or the memory, but....

IMG_0662.jpg


It just barely clears my cheap G.SKILL memory. If I had high end memory with real coolers it would probably be a problem.

IMG_0663.jpg


The copper tips are what really barely clear.

IMG_0664.jpg


Here's the upper tray on. If heat is still a problem, I'm going to cut the tray to clear the heatsink fan.Right now, some of it is blocked.

IMG_0665.jpg


Here's a side shot of the cooler and fan with the tray. It barely clears, but there is no touching or rubbing. I did have to play with the IDE cable I'm using fr the DVD drive to make it work.

IMG_0667.jpg


And here's the case in it's home.

I added another slim line fan on the lid as an exhaust fan, and two intake fans on the side. As of now, it's pretty quiet, but I will be paying attention to it over the next few days. You use to be able to hear it in the nest room at idle, right now it's whisper quiet. Going to go watch a movie, then report back.
 
I would reverse all those case fans if I were you.
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But thanks for the info. I'll probably buy one.
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jebo_4jc said:
I would reverse all those case fans if I were you.
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Pretty sure he arranged fans the standard way, it's not like there's much height to the case but normally you'd want thermal convection working in your favor. This doesn't take case layout nor air pressure into account so, for all i know, your idea may work better.

I think positive air pressure is probably more important than anything else. You want more air pumping into the case than exhausting, especially if dust is a concern, keeps dust out of all of the little cracks. Not a concern for everyone though.
 
You're right and I didn't totally mean what i said. :)

What i really am concerned about is the heatsink fan and the fan above it blowing in opposite directions, fighting for air.

Reverse that one so it blows down on the cpu.

Also, make the fan on the left of the case an intake. On the right, exhaust.

That config solves all issues
 
jebo_4jc said:
You're right and I didn't totally mean what i said. :)

What i really am concerned about is the heatsink fan and the fan above it blowing in opposite directions, fighting for air.

Reverse that one so it blows down on the cpu.

Also, make the fan on the left of the case an intake. On the right, exhaust.

That config solves all issues
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Good ideas imho, and good point about the top case fan and Cpu fan competing for air.

Placing fans close together can do strange things, even if setup the way you proposed, sometimes one fan blowing into another can create additional fan whirring noises.

Estrada can try both methods and pick the config that "sounds" or cools the best, i have a hunch that your config would work the best though.
 
i have a (normal thickness) 80mm fan on the top right now. if i get the hadouken, er shiruken, i might use only that one, and forgo the scythe fan altogether.
 
So after a good old fashioned movie night, it is still super quiet. I will try flipping the top fan in the morning, and report back. However, right now, it's very quiet and staying very cool. I don't have hard numbers, but the case used to get fairly hot and it is noticeably cooler to the touch now.

I really think this cooler was made for this case. The magic number for overall height (heatsink and fan) is 58mm. Anything taller, and it won't clear the under tray.
 
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SJetski71 said:
Just out of curiosity but is there any particular reason you're ditching the included psu?

Making more space? power hungry components? or both?

Would definitely like to see some pics, good luck either way though.
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The included PSU is suppose to run hot and I'd like to keep as much heat out of the case as I can. Besides the external PSU should also aid in exhausting heat out of the media console compartment. I'll show you what I mean when I get the hardware swapped over. Might be week or so, I reckon.

Update: Going with the included PSU afterall. External PSU is a nice idea but just isn't clean looking enough.
 
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I went ahead and picked up one of these units. Just FYI the price with the dvd rw is up to $54 shipped. Still a steal imo.

It is confirmed that it does support ATX? Not just mATX?
 
Just an update.

I flipped both side fans, and removed the top fan. I figured the CPU fan is close enough to that vent to draw air in and I was right. I've had it running almost 24/7 since last Friday and it's been super quite, relatively cool, and very good looking.
 
EdGaRRRRR said:
Will it fit a xp90c heatsink?
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You've got about 58mm of clearance between the motherboard and disk tray. The xp90c without a fan if 75mm tall, so it won't fit without some modding. You'll have to also take into consideration the fan dimensions as well if you plan to mod. I'm using a Zalman CNPS7000-cu that exceeds the height and will be doing some cutting today to accommodate it.
 
I don't want to mod but I want a nice presentable case to cram my current setup in it. My CPU would be a 3800+ x2. Could I use some cheapo heatsink to keep it cool?
 
There aren't many coolers under 58mm. The Scythe Big Shuriken I used, and the stock AMD cooler are about it. I wouldn't recommend the stock one though. It can't keep up with the lack of airflow in this case.
 
Right. The stock Amd heatsink can handle the heat, but it will burst your ear drums in the process.
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I highly recommend the scythe hs along with three low noise fans.
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Bump,

The seller dropped the Case/Drive combo price back down to $49 shipped due to my request and linking him to all of the forum discussions ;)

He said the price drop was very temporary so get your orders in if you're interested.


And yes i finally bought one :)

Not 100% sure what hardware i'm throwing in there, still in the middle of some minor hardware swaps and upgrades, but i think due to temp concerns i'm going to use that cheap 45w AMD X2 210e processor undervolted and onboard video graphics. I will try using a better stock AMD heatsink, and maybe purchase a slim case fan for the top vent, i'll try a few different cooling configs though till i find the right combo. Hoping CPU temps won't force the cpu fan to run full speed.
 
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My heatsink experience trying to keep an Athlon II X4 635 (2.9ghz) cool in this case:

Cliffs notes: buy the Scythe Shuriken.

I added three silent fans: two silent 60mm fans on the sides of the case. The one on the left (near the pci slots) blows into the case, the one on the right (near the PSU) blows out of the case. I also added a silent 80mm fan to the lid blowing down onto the CPU area.

Here are the settings at which I am satisfied with both the noise level and the stability of the system. If you want more details just ask:

Stock AMD heatsink (aluminum block edition): I removed the CPU fan because it is way too LOUD. So, the only fans in the case are the three case fans and the PSU fan. It was silent and stable, but I had to undervolt to 1.0v, disable two of the cores, and underclock to 1800mhz to stay under 80c CPU temps during 100% load.

Stock AMD heatsink (heatpipe edition): Again, removed CPU fan. Temps are better. I was able to run with three cores enabled, at 1900mhz, still at 1.0v. Temps right at 80c.

Scythe Shuriken: no CPU fan. Running at 2ghz, 1.0v, all four cores enabled, at 60c. I love this heatsink. The 80mm lid case fan blows right down into it, so the CPU fan isn't necessary.

Unfortunately, the PSU fan is now terribly noticeable. I think I am going to pull the PSU apart and see if I can mod my own fan in there.
 
jebo_4jc said:
My heatsink experience trying to keep an Athlon II X4 635 (2.9ghz) cool in this case:

Cliffs notes: buy the Scythe Shuriken.
Click to expand...
Ya, unless you get a good low profile heatsink then a quad-core CPU isn't the best fit for this case. Another problem is that it drives costs up further, but i guess HTPC enthusiasts are used to buying silent after-market parts so it's probably par for the course.

I still haven't figured out all of my hardware swaps and upgrades yet, but it looks like the X2 210e 45w processor would be a wise decision especially if i want to use a stock AMD heatsink (the good 4 heatpipe version btw). I won't do anything but play movies on this rig so it should hold me over a couple of years, the internet content (1080P flash etc) may get complicated however.

With the limited space for hard drives, this case seems like the perfect candidate to run an SSD drive for the OS and a jumbo hard drive for locally stored content. I plan on scooping up a newer/faster SSD 60gb drive on Black Friday. The 30gb Vertex drive i have sucks for win 7, not enough space...

You mentioned opening up the PSU to modify/swap the fan, that may not be a bad idea. Can't remember the details but I remember reading some possible caveats about swapping PSU fans though, so research it beforehand to make sure you're doing it the right way. I think it had something to do with the replacement fan's power draw or something. Curious to hear how the mod turns out.
 
I would most likely power the new fan via a traditional molex or 3 pin connector rather than try to use the existing fan's power source.

I did it once before in my first HTPC in my first SFF case - a shuttle-sized Biostar IDEQ socket A that I loved.
 
Just got my case today, and it has the Silverstone branded powersupply.

BUT guess what ? I don't have a top vent on my case to place a fan, just a solid case cover, yes you read that right. I guess i really am going to have to run cooler components in this thing. It may be a challenge but i'm not too worried about it, I may use a reverse slot cooler that intakes air as opposed to exhausts. Of course i'd have to undervolt it and fashion a filter on it's intake. I may run one or two side fans to aid with exhaust, going to monitor temps before adding possibly unnecessary fans though.

Oh, and going by the posted dimensions, i knew the case was small, but i didn't think it would be this small, it's depth is pretty shallow, not a bad thing when you need space for cables in an entertainment center. The case seems solid but not heavy at the same time.

So far i'm extremely happy with my purchase, i'm so tempted to purchase another one because i know could find some excuse to use it somehow...
 
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