Best type of case for airflow?

[Thauner]

Hello guys, I need your expertise!

I'm going to upgrade from my streacom f1c evo to something bigger, simply because I want to put in an sfx or atx psu and my new graphics card.

I've been looking at the jonsbo/cooltek design because of the aluminum frame.

- u2
- umx1

Wich one will be the best for airflow?
Any other recommendations in the same size area?

 

[Smanci]

Hardware?

 

[Thauner]

Hardware?

Asus rog strix z370 itx
I7 8700 (non-k)
16 GB vengeance ram
Pico psu 160w

For the upgrade I just bought:
Gtx 1060 6gb mini

And then I Need a case and then I will buy sfx or atx psu depending on wich?!

 

[Smanci]

If you are willing to order from China and deal with customs, dual top vent/solid side panel SKTC Q1 would be really good. By that I mean probably the best because just 13L and you've got room for high end air cooling there as well as some flow, too. SFX psu goes with that, maybe. Up to you - short cards fit both.

U2? Owner of one for precisely five years now. It's housed a 3770, 1230v3 and 8400 all easily cooled by TR Macho without a fan so cannot complain. Also 750Ti, 960, 970 and 1070. Two former with AC Mono Plus because I can't stand any kind of whiny noise be it organic or not. 970 ran cooler than any massive 3rd party design and next week I know how the 1070 fares.

ATX PSU stays passive up top because rear TY-147, running <750RPM, pulls air through it. I also like the absence of fan grilles for that minimum noise and max flow. However, bottom is quite restrictive and like with ncase, extra centimeter or two under feet drops 2-3C, but it's not quite as stupid as PSU shrouds. Any bottom-mounted drives also hamper ventilation so need to place them in the front bracket.

Umx1 is beautiful but that's all, I think. Gpu clearance not much use in your setup.

 

[Thauner]

U2? Owner of one for precisely five years now. It's housed a 3770, 1230v3 and 8400 all easily cooled by TR Macho without a fan so cannot complain. Also 750Ti, 960, 970 and 1070. Two former with AC Mono Plus because I can't stand any kind of whiny noise be it organic or not. 970 ran cooler than any massive 3rd party design and next week I know how the 1070 fares.

ATX PSU stays passive up top because rear TY-147, running <750RPM, pulls air through it. I also like the absence of fan grilles for that minimum noise and max flow. However, bottom is quite restrictive and like with ncase, extra centimeter or two under feet drops 2-3C, but it's not quite as stupid as PSU shrouds. Any bottom-mounted drives also hamper ventilation so need to place them in the front bracket.

Nice to have a good idea of what it actually can handle! That's the case I'm hottest for.
Do you think my cpu can stay in good temps without the fan from a big tower cooler aslo - 8700 runs hot!?

Havent heard about psu staying passive before, but one of the reasons why I'm looking for atx instead of sfx is price per watt.

Regarding the bottom, both of my drives is mounted on the mobo, 870 and 970 evo nvme.

Do you only use a in the rear of the case? Any idea in in mounting a fan in the bottom under the gfx?

I'm ordering the case now, one left on Amazon and the price dropped alot

 

[Smanci]

No idea how warm an 8700 runs. It's not overly common. I might be able to provide some ΔT to your inbox if you spec some relevant test programs.

Yes one case fan, the one bundled with this heatsink. Gfx has its own 120mm slim that spins at similar speeds. There's also a small drop in gfx temperatures once 140mm hits ~650RPM because of the suction it creates.

Dual slot cards must have their fans/shroud removed if you want to install 25mm height fans on the floor. 1070 Aero Itx does not allow that because the heatsink itself is partially two slots high. As I mentioned, AC Mono Plus fits with some reservations, and is really good. Using one with 1070 and some other cards requires slightly slimmer fan, which I will get in my hands next week.

The case has its quirks and could be improved with a certain modification, but will do good out of the box with the right parts. I like it's just 60€ but sturdier and more functional than Lian Li equivalents. Judging by your previous work, you're likely not afraid to execute that mod and cut the floor a bit to get maximum ventilation area. Haven't done it myself as it's not really needed.

 

[rfarmer]

This is my U2 build from several years ago. Intake was from the rear and the front mounted fan helps exhaust the air out of the front vents. A bottom fan would definitely help with GPU temps. This was back when I had a H87 mobo, pre M.2 so the 2.5 drives were necessary.

 

[Thauner]

No idea how warm an 8700 runs. It's not overly common. I might be able to provide some ΔT to your inbox if you spec some relevant test programs.

Yes one case fan, the one bundled with this heatsink. Gfx has its own 120mm slim that spins at similar speeds. There's also a small drop in gfx temperatures once 140mm hits ~650RPM because of the suction it creates.

Dual slot cards must have their fans/shroud removed if you want to install 25mm height fans on the floor. 1070 Aero Itx does not allow that because the heatsink itself is partially two slots high. As I mentioned, AC Mono Plus fits with some reservations, and is really good. Using one with 1070 and some other cards requires slightly slimmer fan, which I will get in my hands next week.

The case has its quirks and could be improved with a certain modification, but will do good out of the box with the right parts. I like it's just 60€ but sturdier and more functional than Lian Li equivalents. Judging by your previous work, you're likely not afraid to execute that mod and cut the floor a bit to get maximum ventilation area. Haven't done it myself as it's not really needed.

THANK you for the pics, looks great!
I don't know about the temps in bigger cases, I just tasted the heat in my micro build. Guess I'm better of with a tower cooler in the new case. But I would like to try the big heatsink without a fan when my hardware arrives.
My first plan was to have a tower cpu and keep the fan on, and then an outtake fan in the rear. Don't like the idea of that ekstra fan in the front.

But if my gfx runs to hot in the bottom of the case, then I could place a fan down there, with modifications. But would that have to outtake or intake if I do? ?
I don't want to chance the fan on my gpu since I haven't tried it before.

Any idea how much watt do I need for psu? I found a good one, but it's only 400. What I could find from google, people have used from 350 to 1200 watts in similar builds?!

 

[Thauner]

his is my U2 build from several years ago. Intake was from the rear and the front mounted fan helps exhaust the air out of the front vents. A bottom fan would definitely help with GPU temps. This was back when I had a H87 mobo, pre M.2 so the 2.5 drives were necessary.

Thanks for sharing!! Appreciate it alot!

Did you ever try without the fan in the front to see if it made any difference for the temps?

 

[rfarmer]

Thanks for sharing!! Appreciate it alot!

Did you ever try without the fan in the front to see if it made any difference for the temps?

I didn't but there used to be a n U2 thread on [H]ard and it was recommended by several users that tried both.

 

[Smanci]

THANK you for the pics, looks great!
I don't know about the temps in bigger cases, I just tasted the heat in my micro build. Guess I'm better of with a tower cooler in the new case. But I would like to try the big heatsink without a fan when my hardware arrives.
My first plan was to have a tower cpu and keep the fan on, and then an outtake fan in the rear. Don't like the idea of that ekstra fan in the front.

But if my gfx runs to hot in the bottom of the case, then I could place a fan down there, with modifications. But would that have to outtake or intake if I do? ?
I don't want to chance the fan on my gpu since I haven't tried it before.

Any idea how much watt do I need for psu? I found a good one, but it's only 400. What I could find from google, people have used from 350 to 1200 watts in similar builds?!

Install your HW first following that stock config and see what happens. It brings most cool air to the GPU. Remember you can always undervolt and it is more effective than fans, as most mini cards have pretty bad heatsinks. On locked chips there's no downside to it and on Pascal cards you can shave even tens of watts off without any negative effects on performance.

Measured total consumption from the wall (8400 + 970/1070) has been approx. from ~28W (idle) to ~220W (P95 + Superposition). 1060 sips less but 8700 more so they should be close to that. ~450W is optimal but model is more important than wattage. I've had 450 and 650. Don't want to go far longer than 160mm if modular cables are stiff (= not flat).

True Spirit 120i at low RPM (500-600ish) I had performed practically the same as passive Macho B. Front intake didn't have an obvious effect on cooling but mileage may vary? Most notable was swapping rear 120mm to 140mm; less noise and higher flow. Also make sure to throw that supplied fan filter out of a window asap. Placing it AFTER an exhaust fan indicates a high chance of stoned engineers.

Ditching the front bracket, too, makes any installations more pleasant. Connect most wiring and RAM to the motherboard before just planting it into the case. Then install the rear fan and secure CPU cooler with two screws. PSU goes in last. Should be relatively easy.

 

[Thauner]

Install your HW first following that stock config and see what happens. It brings most cool air to the GPU. Remember you can always undervolt and it is more effective than fans, as most mini cards have pretty bad heatsinks. On locked chips there's no downside to it and on Pascal cards you can shave even tens of watts off without any negative effects on performance.

Measured total consumption from the wall (8400 + 970/1070) has been approx. from ~28W (idle) to ~220W (P95 + Superposition). 1060 sips less but 8700 more so they should be close to that. ~450W is optimal but model is more important than wattage. I've had 450 and 650. Don't want to go far longer than 160mm if modular cables are stiff (= not flat).

True Spirit 120i at low RPM (500-600ish) I had performed practically the same as passive Macho B. Front intake didn't have an obvious effect on cooling but mileage may vary? Most notable was swapping rear 120mm to 140mm; less noise and higher flow. Also make sure to throw that supplied fan filter out of a window asap. Placing it AFTER an exhaust fan indicates a high chance of stoned engineers.

Ditching the front bracket, too, makes any installations more pleasant. Connect most wiring and RAM to the motherboard before just planting it into the case. Then install the rear fan and secure CPU cooler with two screws. PSU goes in last. Should be relatively easy.

I see, I got the 8700 delidded because of the build its in now. So that should be cool in the new and bigger case. Guess I'll just have to see about that gfx mini I bought while gaming. Then take action after!

Thanks for the build tip!! Also about that fan filter. Will toss it out asap

I have only looked at 80 plus bronze psu's, mainly corsair, be quiet and xfx. 400-500 watt.