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Update on my CPU cooler woes... The Scythe Choten fits however it blocks the 120/140mm fan slot with my Aorus B450 I, I didn't check clearances with my MSI B450I. Right now I'm eyeing the Thermalright Silver Arrow 130 because I really don't want to use the U9S since it's so commonly used in the M1. The airflow pattern seemed a bit more efficient with a traditional tower cooler than with something top down as well. As for the Choten, the build quality was obviously better on the Noctua and the heft of it just gave me more confidence in it's abilities. I try to give other manufacturers a chance because I've used Noctua products since I got in to PC's but anytime I stray I'm reminded why I buy Noctua. The U9S is installed right now and the temperatures and performance are right where they should be.
Imgur won't work with me right now so I can't post pictures of the completed build. As for the case I do prefer a layout like this. The stand is awesome for reducing the footprint and hiding cables, just know that some might require an adapter to fit. The panels fit together about as good as I would expect from a case built like this, not seamless but no easily noticable gaps or anything from afar. Overall I still prefer a metal case but I do appreciate the weight reduction and "softer" appearance. I didn't have any real hiccups during the build to speak of. My only recommendation is to make sure you're convinced in your PSU orientation and where you're feeding the cable through before securing it.
Imgur won't work with me right now so I can't post pictures of the completed build. As for the case I do prefer a layout like this. The stand is awesome for reducing the footprint and hiding cables, just know that some might require an adapter to fit. The panels fit together about as good as I would expect from a case built like this, not seamless but no easily noticable gaps or anything from afar. Overall I still prefer a metal case but I do appreciate the weight reduction and "softer" appearance. I didn't have any real hiccups during the build to speak of. My only recommendation is to make sure you're convinced in your PSU orientation and where you're feeding the cable through before securing it.
Did you consider the Noctura C14S?
Provided the clearances are there, there should be enough space for a 140 mm slim fan above it and the 2 fans on the side panels.
You can have the side panels fans acting as intake and the 2 fans on the/above the cooler as outtake.
Or vice versa.
Just an idea..
Here they are, NH-U9S in the first picture and the Scythe Choten in the second. I caved and bought a Silver Arrow 130 from FrozenCPU... They don't stock any so I'm expecting a long wait time. I'm seeing temps around 80C with my 3600 and U9S so I'm hoping the larger cooler new cooler will improve on that.
See my previous post, it's almost entirely about the fitment of the C14S.
See my previous post, it's almost entirely about the fitment of the C14S.
I have a 3700X with the U9S in my XTD and it only reaches a very reasonable 70 C, and that only after sustained load. I think you may need to consider to re-apply your thermal paste.
Guys, what are you experiences with the Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex? Is it just me or is it really supposed to be this loud? Looking at the spec sheet, I think it really should be the quietest slim fan out there, but IMO it's really annoying. Is it worth to check out the Cryorig and Noctua slim fans in the hopes that those might be better?
The Noctua slim fan will definitely be quieter, but it’s smaller and will push less air. IIRC the suggestion for the prolimatech is to set a custom fan curve, trying to keep it below 600rpm or so, at least most of the time.
Yes, if you keep the fan below 600 or even 500 rpm it will be nearly silent and still push a good amount of air.
Thanks for the suggestion and not to derail the thread but my issues run deeper than thermal paste application. I should've also mentioned that I have PBO enabled and my chip just runs hot. I still need to try a updating my BIOS and changing some settings. From my understanding of Ryzen CPU's your 3700x is a better binned chip than my 3600 and should run cooler at similar clocks despite having more active cores.
I can't speak on the sound or airflow but I would go for the Cryorig XT140 or whatever the slim model is called just based on the fact that you can see the frame on a 120mm fan in the 120/140 slot. With that said, I did choose a slim 120mm noctua fan for my build.
I set the Ultra Sleek Vortex to the lowest setting where the fan would actually start, and it's still WAY louder than the two 92mm Noctua fans inside the case.
It can vary from board to board with how the control fans, sometimes you get a better result with PWM and sometimes with DC control. It should be possible to get the Vortex fan to run near silent, if you are unable to with your motherboard then you may either have a faulty fan or the motherboard is not allowing your fan to go down to low enough RPMs.
Would this RX 570 card be compatible with this case? It seems to be too wide for the specs (255mm*137mm*47mm), but looking at the photos it seems the added width is towards the CPU:
www.powercolor.com
Got a pretty sweet deal on this one at the moment, that is why I am asking.
PowerColor Red Dragon Radeon™ RX 570 8GB GDDR5 - PowerColor
Got a pretty sweet deal on this one at the moment, that is why I am asking.
Not sure if I can explain. There is this hissing-like, whiny sound that is hell annoying.
So I messed around with my build some more.
I realized that the whiny noise disappears when I remove the fan grill from the side panel. I decided to just live without the grill for now. Not sure if I should look for a different grill or just leave it open on the long term.
Looking at the photos it is no wider than the bracket toward the side panel, so you will be fine on that side, but if the specs are correct and it is 47mm then that must mean it has a pretty thick backplate which may interfere with the corner bracket on the CPU side. There is a total of 44mm GPU thickness clearance in the LZ7/XTD.
Thanks for the answer. Sounds like a risky proposition then, I think I will go for the 580 or 590 instead of the same brand.
Hi everyone! Let me preface this by saying that I've been out of pc building game for a while now so bear with me. I'm planing on giving my pc to my nephew as a Christmas gift and getting myself the LZ7 xtd to house my new components. Seeing how this is the only forum that I've found that discuss this case, I was wondering if I could get some suggestions on components?
I have a gtx 1070ti strix card, which I'll be using until the new rtx cards drop next year, but I'd really like to get into more serious pc gaming. As I mentioned, I've been out the loop when it comes to pc for a while so I'm a bit rusty when it comes to picking out parts (amd vs intel, ram memory etc).
I'm looking to spend $1400 on cpu, ram, psu, cpu cooler & potentially M.2 ssd. Any suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated?.
. I'm planing on giving my pc to my nephew as a Christmas gift and getting myself the LZ7 xtd to house my new components. Seeing how this is the only forum that I've found that discuss this case, I was wondering if I could get some suggestions on components?I have a gtx 1070ti strix card, which I'll be using until the new rtx cards drop next year, but I'd really like to get into more serious pc gaming. As I mentioned, I've been out the loop when it comes to pc for a while so I'm a bit rusty when it comes to picking out parts (amd vs intel, ram memory etc).
I'm looking to spend $1400 on cpu, ram, psu, cpu cooler & potentially M.2 ssd. Any suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated?.
Hi everyone! Let me preface this by saying that I've been out of pc building game for a while now so bear with me
I have a gtx 1070ti strix card, which I'll be using until the new rtx cards drop next year, but I'd really like to get into more serious pc gaming. As I mentioned, I've been out the loop when it comes to pc for a while so I'm a bit rusty when it comes to picking out parts (amd vs intel, ram memory etc).
I'm looking to spend $1400 on cpu, ram, psu, cpu cooler & potentially M.2 ssd. Any suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated?.
First off: Where is your screen at? It's pretty pointless to build a 1440p@300FPS monster if all you can output is a mere 1080p@60Hz. This is the single most important factor today - which resolution and refresh rate are you targeting? If you have no plans on getting a 1440p@144Hz soon, then your GPU will be fine for a few more years.
Second, upgrade curve? When will you swap components, will it be in two years, five years, ten years? It could be worth it to buy a cheaper CPU now and upgrade it later.
Third, for gaming, AMD is where it's at. We know both PS4 and XBox will carry AMD GPUs, which means most games will be heavily optimized for Navi cards (e.g. 5700 XT) in the future. Right now AMD is also creaming Intel in pretty much every price segment, and Intel is getting hammered. I would not lock in an RTX 3070 before AMD release their top-of-the-line cards for next generation, and decide by then.
With that in mind, I will assume you really want to invest in a system that lasts at least 5 years, then something like this:
Component | General recommendation | Specific recommendation | Comments |
| CPU | 8 core SMT CPU | Ryzen 3700X | Most games today can't max more than 8 threads, this has twice that |
| Motherboard | X570 mini-ITX | Asus ROG Strix X570-I | This is one of the best available motherboards for AMD mITX |
| Memory | 2x16GB DDR4 3600 MHz | Corsair, Kingston or G.Skill | Possible to also use 3200 MHz |
| Storage | 1TB m.2 PCIe 4.0 | Kingston A2000 1TB | Good price, even though a Samsung Evo drive performs even better |
| CPU Cooler | Air cooling | Stock cooler, BeQuiet!, Noctua | AMD stock coolers are a bit noisy, but performs really well. If you want something more quiet, get anything with a 120mm fan and 105W TDP. |
| Extra case fans | One 15x140mm fan One 15x92mm fan | Noctua or BeQuiet! | Will be all you need for this case |
| Power Supply | 650W SFX 80+ Gold certified or better | EVGA, Corsair, BeQuiet, others | Any brand works here, really. Take the cheapest one. |
Also put together a quick example over at pcpartpicker, if you want to go into real specifics. $950 leaves you quite a few dollars to spare for aesthetics and bling. Wait until next generation GPU, the 1070 is good enough right now. With the Radeon RX 5700 XT successor this system should last you at the very least the next five years, and the 3700X should be able to handle that GPU without bottlenecks.
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Just a few comments:
* CPU cooler: "anything with a 120mm fan" won't work, since the LZ7 XTD has a maximum height restriction. I'd recommend the Noctua U9S.
* Case fan: the 92mm exhaust fan doesn't need to be 15mm thin, actually a standard one fits too.
* PSU: I think a 600W or even 450W unit should work well enough, considering the components you suggested.
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