Thinking about a small WC setup

onering

onering

onering

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I've been away from the PC/overclocking scene since approx 2006 so please bear with me! (Have been Mac exclusive for the last 6 years!)

Wanted to build a new gaming rig as D3 is coming out soon, and there is no hope for a decently powered Mac coming.

It'll be pretty simple build:
a new i5 or i7 Ivy Bridge when it comes out,
Z77 mobo in mATX or mITX
either an ATI 7850/7870 or nV 660/670 if they get released in time.
one SSD and up to two 3.5" HDD max

Now I have become addicted to silence (or near silence) and want to build a watercooled rig. Also it's going on the desk so something small and compact preferably.

My first question is what case? I have whittled it down to a few candidates but can't decide.

First consideration is noise so I want to watercool both the CPU and GPU. I will try some minor overclocking as tolerated but silence is the most important factor. Also won't be running SLI, and will probs have one SSD and a 3.5" HDD only.

I've not made a WC rig before, (my last PC build was in 2006!). However I guess I would need either a 360mm rad or at least 2x240mm if I want to cool CPU and GPU?

Recommendations on the best case for the job?

Xigmatek Gigas
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Lian Li PC-V354
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Fractal Design Arc Mini
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Fractal Design Array R2
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SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E
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Or the as yet unreleased Bitfenix Prodigy
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Personally i would opt for the silversone TJ08E since you can stick a 180mm rad at the front(more surface area than a 240 rad) and larger fans are able to run at lower speeds reducing the total noise in your build.
With a 7870 + ivy bridge you could get away with running a fanless psu see the Seasonic SS-400FL X-Series 400W
To reduce noise even further you could opt for a Swiftech MCP35X, they are virtually silent once you get down to 20% and you could set up a fan curve for it to increase the speed when needed.
 
mjones1 said:
Personally i would opt for the silversone TJ08E since you can stick a 180mm rad at the front(more surface area than a 240 rad) and larger fans are able to run at lower speeds reducing the total noise in your build.
With a 7870 + ivy bridge you could get away with running a fanless psu see the Seasonic SS-400FL X-Series 400W
To reduce noise even further you could opt for a Swiftech MCP35X, they are virtually silent once you get down to 20% and you could set up a fan curve for it to increase the speed when needed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. Are there many 180mm rads? My understanding is the majority were multiples of 120mm, with the occasional 140?
 
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