Changing the Obsidian 550D to a SFF case...

yannis76 · 22 Sep 2013 at 20:08

Hello,

As I grow older and play less and also upgrade less, I am thinking of changing my wonderful 550D case with a nice SFF case. The main reason is I want to take the case out of my feet (under the desk) and put is on a drawer next to printer.

The components, apart from the mb which will be changed to mini/micro atx are the following:

1) Intel 3570K
2) 8GB DDR3
3) ATI 7970 DC2
4) 2 ssd + 1 hdd
5) 1 dvdwr

Apart from the volume reduction what are the advantages/disadvantages of such move? Noise? Heat?

thx

Something Else · 22 Sep 2013 at 21:40

550D is supposed to be a silence orientated case though?

to get any serious size reduction then mini itx is the way to go. Micro atx is not a lot smaller than a normal sized atx case.

A good micro atx case is this for size

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-077-SV&groupid=2362&catid=1092

Ripjaw · 23 Sep 2013 at 07:32

^^ I agree, i moved to mATX to save some space but erm didnt really save any lol mini itx would be a good move you can get all you need in one of them, will likely be my next build tbh. Love that case too something else.

Doomedspeed · 23 Sep 2013 at 07:43

The TJ08-E is a wonderful case though not as silent as the 550D..

The 180mm fan it comes with as stock is silent as anything but in fast mode (it has two modes controlled by a switch on the side) the sound of the air its moving is pretty loud.

What CPU cooler do you have?

yannis76 · 23 Sep 2013 at 14:05

Searching the internet, I found as best looking the Silverstone SG08 and SG10 and Lian-Li PCV353. My concern is compared to 550D how much louder would these cases be? Bear in mind that the next case will be placed upon a drawer next to the desk...

Doomedspeed · 23 Sep 2013 at 15:32

yannis76 said:
My concern is compared to 550D how much louder would these cases be? Bear in mind that the next case will be placed upon a drawer next to the desk...

Thats a hard question, it depends on what is making noise now.. You could do a test.. Move PC ontop of your desk, remove both the side panels and see what you can hear.. Then replace the side pannels are evalute what the difference is..

The sound dampening material built into the 550D will keep it nice and quiet whereas these cases will not (as standard anyway)...

The noise will come from your fans, so if you have fast noisey fans replace them with slower silent fans (also reducing the amount of fans will help too)

HDD's can be quite noisy, so SSD's are good for storage but expensive..

Like i say its not all down to the case..

yannis76 · 23 Sep 2013 at 16:12

7970 dc2 and Intel 3570k are the most loud components at load of course.
otherwise the fans of the box also produce noise...

Doomedspeed · 23 Sep 2013 at 17:31

yannis76 said:
7970 dc2 and Intel 3570k are the most loud components at load of course.

Are you using the stock cooler on your 3570k? or an aftermarket one?

yannis76 said:
otherwise the fans of the box also produce noise...

Your case fans? Getting silent case fans would be a good way of cutting down on noise

Getting a silent SSF is pretty hard indeed. Unless you get a case and use soundproofing material yourself.

yannis76 · 23 Sep 2013 at 17:57

Doomedspeed said:
Are you using the stock cooler on your 3570k? or an aftermarket one?

Alternative, Noctua U12p I think

Your case fans? Getting silent case fans would be a good way of cutting down on noise

Getting a silent SSF is pretty hard indeed. Unless you get a case and use soundproofing material yourself.

In the case of PC-V353 maybe I dont need to use the fans...