Hey guys!
So I've been deliberating over cases etc to house my HD7990 and none have really sufficed. My 600T seemed to not be up to par cooling wise despite it having plenty of intake, my precision was too slim meaning the side quickly became too hot and then my Sugo...which cooled the card best couldn't cope with an overclocked i7.
What did I decide to do? Well I've picked up one of the Aero Cool "Dead Silence" Cases in the fantastic Red colour as a compromise between the size/cooling issue and things are certainly looking up.
First off the spec:
Intel i7 3770k @ 4.4Ghz
Sniper M3 Motherboard (only part I'm not happy about, you'll see why)
16GB Corsair Ram
HD7990 6GB Dual GPU
2xSSD 60GB + 120GB
1x1TB HDD
Corsair H80i + 4xCorsair SP120 fans + 200mm Cooler Master.
First Impressions:
Well as you can see below it certainly is a BOLD choice in colour but fits into the theme with the fans and the GPU. While the Sniper doesn't quite work with things it's a top quality board and I just couldn't justify the extra expenditure.
The Case has a lovely matte finish with no shine on the front material and a nice rubberised touch. I did try a Blu-Ray Drive in the bay however it just didn't look right, will possibly give it a go with the Bit Fenix Fan Controller but time will tell on that one.
A nice window on the side also which unlike the Xigmatic cases which have just been released stops just shy of the PSU compartment which in my eyes, is, a good thing! Focal point is clearly on the GPU and none better than an HD7990 or MSI themed cooler to do the job.
Construction.
Well the packaged instructions were fairly basic and really not at all useful, only really describing how to remove both the 5.25 and 3.5 bays as worthwhile. As you can see it holds a similar interior layout to the Prodigy keeping the hard drives and PSU below with some holes for cable routing.
Everything does however come labelled which makes a good bit of difference during the build.
I was particularly impressed with the hard drive bays, both supplied with one section for standard HDD's and then another for the slimmer SSD's.
At the top there is an interchangable grill for if you want Silence or Cooling...since the HD7990 is a hungry beast in this department I opted for some additional cooling with the SP120's pulling down more cool air into the chassis straight to the HD7990 and H80. It did however get a little tight with the H80 housed in the exhaust bay so something to bear in mind.
The instructions advice to hold a 240mm radiatior in the top secition underneath the grill with the fans inside the case, this seems an odd design choice since you may want your cool air coming directly over the rad, however it could be mounted either way if required.
As you can see plenty of space for housing the cables underneath the motherboard tray keeping things as neat and tidy as can be expected.
Finished Look:
...and now for some 'Glamour Shots' of the full build.
With Blu Ray Drive installed
Without
...and additionally with an LED installed under the window panel to highlight things.
Conclusion:
Well I'm impressed, not only with the looks and the ease of installation but the quality of the Case for the price. I paid just a smidge over £70 for it and the fact it comes with a side window which is usually at premium, the difference here was a couple of quid.
Performance wise the temps overall have dropped for both the CPU and GPU 10 and 5 Degrees respectively and the case can be kept as quiet as you want.
I may install my BitFenix Fan Controller a little later but happy with the way things are right now.
AeroCool in my eyes have just never had an appealing option for me in the case front however that's certainly changed with the Dead Silence.
Pro's
+Superior build quality and choice of Materials
+Intelligent Layout of internals
+Unique Looks
+Plenty of Space to Work With
+Very good price @ approx £70-75
+Choice of Colours
Con's
-Supplied 200mm + 120mm Fans not up to much
-No Air Filter Supplied for the front fan
-LEDs shine through the front facing
So I've been deliberating over cases etc to house my HD7990 and none have really sufficed. My 600T seemed to not be up to par cooling wise despite it having plenty of intake, my precision was too slim meaning the side quickly became too hot and then my Sugo...which cooled the card best couldn't cope with an overclocked i7.
What did I decide to do? Well I've picked up one of the Aero Cool "Dead Silence" Cases in the fantastic Red colour as a compromise between the size/cooling issue and things are certainly looking up.
First off the spec:
Intel i7 3770k @ 4.4Ghz
Sniper M3 Motherboard (only part I'm not happy about, you'll see why)
16GB Corsair Ram
HD7990 6GB Dual GPU
2xSSD 60GB + 120GB
1x1TB HDD
Corsair H80i + 4xCorsair SP120 fans + 200mm Cooler Master.
First Impressions:
Well as you can see below it certainly is a BOLD choice in colour but fits into the theme with the fans and the GPU. While the Sniper doesn't quite work with things it's a top quality board and I just couldn't justify the extra expenditure.
The Case has a lovely matte finish with no shine on the front material and a nice rubberised touch. I did try a Blu-Ray Drive in the bay however it just didn't look right, will possibly give it a go with the Bit Fenix Fan Controller but time will tell on that one.
A nice window on the side also which unlike the Xigmatic cases which have just been released stops just shy of the PSU compartment which in my eyes, is, a good thing! Focal point is clearly on the GPU and none better than an HD7990 or MSI themed cooler to do the job.
Construction.
Well the packaged instructions were fairly basic and really not at all useful, only really describing how to remove both the 5.25 and 3.5 bays as worthwhile. As you can see it holds a similar interior layout to the Prodigy keeping the hard drives and PSU below with some holes for cable routing.
Everything does however come labelled which makes a good bit of difference during the build.
I was particularly impressed with the hard drive bays, both supplied with one section for standard HDD's and then another for the slimmer SSD's.
At the top there is an interchangable grill for if you want Silence or Cooling...since the HD7990 is a hungry beast in this department I opted for some additional cooling with the SP120's pulling down more cool air into the chassis straight to the HD7990 and H80. It did however get a little tight with the H80 housed in the exhaust bay so something to bear in mind.
The instructions advice to hold a 240mm radiatior in the top secition underneath the grill with the fans inside the case, this seems an odd design choice since you may want your cool air coming directly over the rad, however it could be mounted either way if required.
As you can see plenty of space for housing the cables underneath the motherboard tray keeping things as neat and tidy as can be expected.
Finished Look:
...and now for some 'Glamour Shots' of the full build.
With Blu Ray Drive installed
Without
...and additionally with an LED installed under the window panel to highlight things.
Conclusion:
Well I'm impressed, not only with the looks and the ease of installation but the quality of the Case for the price. I paid just a smidge over £70 for it and the fact it comes with a side window which is usually at premium, the difference here was a couple of quid.
Performance wise the temps overall have dropped for both the CPU and GPU 10 and 5 Degrees respectively and the case can be kept as quiet as you want.
I may install my BitFenix Fan Controller a little later but happy with the way things are right now.
AeroCool in my eyes have just never had an appealing option for me in the case front however that's certainly changed with the Dead Silence.
Pro's
+Superior build quality and choice of Materials
+Intelligent Layout of internals
+Unique Looks
+Plenty of Space to Work With
+Very good price @ approx £70-75
+Choice of Colours
Con's
-Supplied 200mm + 120mm Fans not up to much
-No Air Filter Supplied for the front fan
-LEDs shine through the front facing
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However it may be replaced to take advantage of the current prices they go for.
