Antec Skeleton and CPU Coolers

Caemdare

Caemdare

Caemdare

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18 Jun 2009
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17
I'm putting together the parts for a computer for my girlfriend, aiming at a 920 with a bit of an overlock similar to mine. She has rather decided she wants a Skeleton as her case; and odd choice, but fair enough. However, I was wondering what of the 1366 CPU coolers,

1) Fit under the large fan without any case mods,
2) Fit under the large fan with a reasonable clearance without any case mods.
 
The max height of cooler that can be installed is 156mm however this is only if you cut a section from the rear of the top fan cowling (the big flangy bit). Other than that any low profile cooler will fit. I've had a Zalman CNPS9500 in with plenty of clearance. To be honest though, having used "low end" stock and "high end" coolers with this case I can honestly say that due to it's open nature high end cooling is not really that necessary, and probably nothing more than stock even with a hefty overclock.
There's a lot of crap talked about this case by people who've no experience of it. the biggest myth is that there's a dust problem. There just isn't, in fact less dust in this case as no dead spots for it to collect and what ever settles overnight gets blown away the momnent you turn it on.
 
I'm also looking to join the Skeleton crew with my next build as I think its an awesome looking case and I like what you've done with the yellow and black colour scheme for the braiding and anti kink coil combo, G-Dubs - I'm thinking along the same lines with green and black instead.

I think I've found a good cpu cooler in the shape of the Thermalright AXP-140 which unfortunately is not for sale on OCUK. I'll need a Thermalright LGA1366 Bolt-Thru-Kit to fit it as its an I7 I'm going to be using.

Few questions - will I also need a fan with this arrangement as I'm looking to overclock? If so, what direction should it be installed in, down or up? Bearing in mind the large overhead fan blows air downwards.

Also, G-Dubs (OT I know) - do you also use a UV light to light up the braiding and coils?
 
No worries on the Questions Sk3lph always happy to help out if I can.

Also glad to hear you're going for the Skeleton. It's a great case in it's stock form and really fun to mod and fiddle with, plus there's no better way of showcasing all that expensive new kit.

The heat sink looks good, it's not one I'm familiar with so I can't comment on it's capabilities. What I will say is it might be worth seeing how you get on with the stock cooler. I've used various different ones along the way and although my current set up is better than stock, it's only by 2-3 degrees. I'm about to do a new build mod of this case involving the use of the mesh kit, and plan to look at the figs for the various cooling options. i.e stock, low profile and high end air.

I would say yes do use a fan with with your CPU cooler. it might not need it, but best to be safe. It should as you correctly point out be pointing down towards the heat sink

I have placed UV CCFLs in the case, there are plenty of little hide-holes for them to go into, a good place is up inside the cowling for one of the short ones, you'll need a few cable ties and nimble fingers to get it secured though, and don't be tempted to trust the adhesive pads that come with them as they're just not to be trusted.

I'll keep an eye on this thread so if you need more advice let me know.
 
Thanks for the response G-Dubs - one final question with regard to the mesh kit - one of the critisisms of the case is the cables for the front panel buttons are a bit short and they need to be unplugged in order to slide the motherboard tray out - doesn't the mesh make it difficult to reach the plugs or do any work while the tray is fully in?
 
you can slide the lower section 3/4 out with all the connections attached, which is far enough to be able to reach them in order to detach them. Which is pretty much how I do it even when the mesh kit isn't used

If you decide to go for the skeleton and would like it modding let me know, I have a few ideas for the more feminine palate.
 
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My new build is finished with the Skeleton case and I've shamelessly copied G-Dubs with the anti-kink coils and I think it looks pretty good.

Some pics below.

P030110_1519.jpg


P030110_151901.jpg


P030110_1520.jpg
 
Looking really nice sk3lph

The green and UV work well together.

Hope you're going to post on the new cases gallery.

Love to see some more photos, especially detail re how and where you mounted the SSDs.

Which cooler did you go for in the end, and did you have to cut the cowling?
 
G-Dubs said:
Looking really nice sk3lph

The green and UV work well together.

Hope you're going to post on the new cases gallery.

Love to see some more photos, especially detail re how and where you mounted the SSDs.

Which cooler did you go for in the end, and did you have to cut the cowling?
Click to expand...

Cheers G-Dubs

I put the SSD in the 3.5" Bay on the right hand side using an Akasa mounting module and I've got 2 SATA drives in the build too, one on the right and another on the left using a 3.5" to 5.25" Caddy - which allows for easy swapping of hard drives if needs be.

I went for the Thermalright AXP-140 and it fits perfectly into the case with plenty of clearance, even with the green LED fan fitted - I had to get the LGA1366 Bolt-Thru-Kit as discussed above and it went on without any problems - so no cutting was needed.

I'll get some better pics for the cases gallery.
 
G-Dubs said:
Cheers sk3lph

What sort of temps are you getting at idle and load?
Click to expand...

I'm getting about 40-45 at idle and high 60's at full load using prime 95 - this is with a CPU voltage of 1.35. I found disabling HT made a big difference in temperatures.

What temps ard settings did you use for your 4.2? Been thinking about trying to drop the voltage a bit to see if that improves temps.
 
Skeleton Build

Hi Guys,

My good friend Sk3lph may have converted me to your way of thinking on the case front for my planned new build. :)

The plan i'm not ashamed to say would be something similar to Mr. Sk3lph, but with me being a big AMD/ATI fan to do the cabling in red/orange.

With regards to an AMD build, i'm struggling to find a suitable cooler for the CPU myself. As you may know the cooler market for Socket AM3 is already pretty limited, then add the size constraint of this case! The only one i've found that appears to be suitable is called the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro v2. Also the Alpenföhn Panorama 'Low Profile' CPU Cooler 'looks' like it might do the job, but apparantly it's for media PC's?

Any ideas or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks Guys,
Bing.
 
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Alpenföhn Panorama looks similar to the Thermalright one I went for so I'd go for that one and stick a nice LED fan on top of it.
 
You planning on cutting the cowling or leave it intact?

Been a fan of this case and had one for over a year now, and have modded with it quite a bit. It's a great case to work with and to tinker with and has fantastic performance

I'm actually about to commence a second build/mod of this case incorporating the mesh kit Antec produce. I have an idea you might be interested in so could you e-mail me through Trust.

Also, have a look at these threads

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18059119

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18078955
 
Hopefully not going to be cutting anything, fingers crossed the cooler I found is up to the task of providing adequate cooling, and not fouling anywhere.

Thanks for the info, your posts were very informative about the case itself. The plan at the moment is to keep the case standard, but to shamelessly copy both yourself and Sk3lph with the braiding in red and orange, to express my passion for AMD/ATI. :D

Thanks again for the reply, and I shall keep you updated when the parts arrive! (hopefully Friday :) )

Thanks much,
Bing.
 
Hi G-Dubs,

Appreciate we're probably going off topic but I'd be very interested in your answer to the questions I posed above re temps and settings.
 
@4.2 i'm using vcore of 1.35
temp wise using real temp (speed fan temps were for some reason 5-6 degrees lower than these) I'm getting

Idle 36-39
load (prime) 70-85 probably a bit on the high side but the only time they get that high is when I bench which isn't often.
gaming temps (MWF2) my temps hit about 60.

The more I get to know this case the more convinced I am that a large "high end cooler is not needed, in fact the best cooler to have with it is either an axial flow type such as yours, or one of the radial multi finned type such as the Zalman I used with my Q6600 build. The reason for this I thing is that they make best use of the large volume of air coming down from the top fan, whereas coolers like the fenrir such as I have with their linear flow cooling and flat tops block off the effect of this flow of air.

I'd really like to see your temps at 4.2, happy to share my figs if you need them
 
I bet you've got those high load temps because you've got Hyperthreading turned on - I found that turning HT off caused a drop of about 10 degrees in load temps.

With regard to your comments on coolers thats exactly why I went for the one I've got as the fin position is consistent with the airflow direction that the case provides and its a bit like a tower cooler on its side - and of course I didn't need to do any cutting either. Plus I've had experience of the zalman coolers and found that after upgrading to a Thermalright cooler the cpu temps dropped considerably.

I'll maybe push it up to 4.2 but my overall target was 4 and it does fly at that speed - I'll let you know if I notch it up a bit more.
 
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The build is complete!

Pictures will be posted at some point soon, along with some of the niggles.

Unfortunately, the red braiding I bought turned out to be orange, so currently the cabling doesn't look half as good as I'd like! Planning to sort it out sometime in the near future.
 
Looking forward to seeing it.

Know what you mean about the orange braiding, Saw a thread on here a while back with a great link to some really blood read braiding, but not UV though
 
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