mATX queries

seth · 14 Jul 2008 at 07:23

Hi, so I want to down-size to micro atx and I was unsure about a couple of things. I'm currently running a 4800+ am2, on an Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX, 4gb geil ram. Taking the opportunity to swap over to core2.

So heres the spec.

Lian-Li V350B Aluminium Mini-Tower - Black
instead of my thermaltake shark

Asus P5E-VM HDMI Intel G35 Micro-ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 2.40GHz Guaranteed to run at 3.00GHZ (1333FSB) - Retail
to replace my am2 components

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - Retail (ST310005N1D1AS-RK)
to use as my storage drive, swapping out my current 250gb C drive and using my 500gb drive as my boot drive instead

using my current 4gb of GeIL PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency
my hiper psu
and my 8800GTS (until I have the funds to upgrade)

My main questions are, does this spec look ok?
Whats that case like for space and airflow, without watercooling is it likely to get stuffy in there?
Can anyone recommend a cpu cooler thats quiet and will fit in there?
Will my hiper ATX psu fit alright, just a double check. It does say on the spec it fits ATX psu's.

Don't think I missed anything. Might have, its early after all

Psypher5 · 14 Jul 2008 at 08:52

v350 black.

maybe look at diff mobo, up to you though with specs etc.
Quad, yes.

hard drive, mmm youd pay a premium for it being new. Sammy f1 is under 100, silent etc.. Ive not looked at the new seagates though.

ram will be fine, as to the psu.

If you want silence, get some noctua fans, a decent low profile cpu cooler and airflow will be perfectly fine. IMO its MORE stuffy with water.

scythe mine mini? is it.. or something along those lines?

seth · 14 Jul 2008 at 09:31

Which matx mobo is best for OC'ing, I only picked the asus because it had all the spec I wanted, but its quite expensive.
Suppose I should have put this in the small form factor forum but I thought it was a bit of a general spec me thread.

seth · 15 Jul 2008 at 01:51

Ok so,

Do retail cpu's come with the heatpad stuck to them, I cant remember. Is it better to use the pad, or remove it and use some good old actic silver.

Tute · 15 Jul 2008 at 10:08

Use Arctic Silver IMO, the stuff with the CPU will be nasty and cheap.

Also you don't need to buy SATA cables, plenty will come with the board.

And if you want a motherboard, which, IMO, is better, then try the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R.

CaDLoN · 15 Jul 2008 at 14:43

There's not too much wrong with that Mobo

the Fan headers are in dumb places though!
Got my Q6600 clocked to 3.6Ghz (400x9) no probs

I've got the older V300 with 2 x 80mm Ambers on the fron,t it's a bit warm in there but nothing to worry about (if i remeber to keep the filters & HS clean lol)
running the Zalman CNPS8700LED which fits in nicely & does a good job too

oh the 6 p0xy little screws that holds the side panels on are a pain in the ar$e, i replaced them with thumb screws... soooo much easier

oh oh, a note on the Hyper i had a 580 Type-R and it DOESNT fit in the V300 the screw in modular bits are too long & foul on *** drive cage!
...and i had to dremmel the drive cage to fit in a 8800GTS320!!!

think thats it for now

seth · 15 Jul 2008 at 15:40

Thats the v300 though its slightly smaller isnt it? Thanks for the heads up though.

CaDLoN · 15 Jul 2008 at 15:54

ah yea, just noticed the v350 is about 20mm deeper... i might have to upgrade

Thanks for that

seth · 20 Jul 2008 at 01:18

Put the whole thing together, just throwing vista on it now. Had a real headache getting the board to boot with my ram, until finally it decided to boot with one configuration.
The scythe mini ninja is a nuisance as well! It's JUST too big to be able to slide the mobo tray in and out and clamping down the 775 bracket is as fiddly as anything.
All in all, I love the case so far, build quality is great.

Tute · 20 Jul 2008 at 02:27

Am I the only one who slid the motherboard tray in with the heatsink attached?

It wasn't close to catching on the case.

V|per · 22 Jul 2008 at 13:09

Tute said:
Am I the only one who slid the motherboard tray in with the heatsink attached?

It wasn't close to catching on the case.

Yes, haven't managed to get the mini ninja in and then slide the tray in, and neither has anyone else i know.

The zlaman 8700 (which i used when testing on air) slides in fine on the gigabyte g33, and fine on the p5k-vm, but not a chance on the p5e-vm hdmi (which i have now, and is the best of those 3 imo) the cpu socket is nearer the edgo of the case on the p5e, and thus the cooler cant slide past the edge of the case, adn yes, they are damned tricky to get on when the motherboard tray is installed in the case =\

I wouldn't have payed the premium for a quad that''s guaranteed to do 3ghz, i have yet to see one that doesn't do 3ghz...