Production Lazer3D LZ7 - Quiet Gaming Cube PC Case

[Phuncz]

@K888D did his homework and this post plus his website gives you a lot of info. I can't say I've found anything to contradict his claims, there is plenty of airflow possible with the abundance of openings. Noise will typically be generated from the fans and the conditions are good for them to run well ! But be sure to read up on the different types of fan grills to be sure to choose the right noise-performance tradeoff.

 

[K888D]

How's the noise level on this little case? I actually just ordered an Ncase M1 few weeks ago (on its for shipping) with the intention of making a water cooled build small enough for travel. Might get this case & make this one as my travel gaming rig instead if it's sturdy enough & quiet enough as my wife has sensitive ears.

I think I would stick with the M1 if you will be doing a lot of travelling with the case. Although the LZ7 case is sturdy, it will not be as durable as the M1 which will be better suited for frequent travelling, I would think.

In terms of noise levels, its a tough question to answer, its completely dependent on what components you use and how you configure them!

The LZ7 is certainly capable of being very quiet, it has good airflow and is designed to push any waste heat straight out the case to give your components the best chance of staying cool and therefore quiet.

But bear in mind that the open style vents of this case mean that the case itself does not provide much noise insulation, leaving you at the mercy of how 'quiet' your chosen components are even in ideal or open conditions.

For instance, if you pick a quiet CPU cooler such as the Noctua NH-L9i, a GPU which is renowned for being quiet such as the EVGA 1060 (with SC cooler), a quiet PSU such as the Corsair SF450, and a quiet 140mm fan such as the Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 14 then you will end up with a near inaudible PC.

One last thing to bear in mind is that the CPU cooler is limited in height, so you are limited on cooler choice. I wouldn't really recommend putting anything above a 65W TDP CPU inside this case if you want it to stay 'very quiet' during load. This case is not built for overclocking a CPU + staying quiet at the same time!

I have found that the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 works really well, but the included fan it comes with is audible even at idle speeds, so I swapped it for an Akasa FN078 which gave a pretty much silent combo. It managed to keep an i5-6500 under 50C during Prime95 + Unigine Valley testing with just a fan speed of just 900rpm.

 

[Brokoii]

I read that you were thinking of adding support for a slim rad on the side. I had a design in mind (for about as long as i have been on this forum but i struggled with designing one) with basically your config only with a slim rad+ 25mm fan in front and an ssd below the PSU/above the mobo. Maybe if you switch fan and drives, you could put the rad in front which would automatically allow for a longer gpu. The io would also need to change maybe, I didn't draw this out.

 

[K888D]

I like this pattern a lot.

A couple of you suggested a vent pattern similar to what can be found on some power supply fan vents, here are a few renders of what it could look like in various panel colours. If I went ahead with this I think it would be called the Radial Vent style. I expect this vent pattern would be fairly quiet similar to the Cyclone vent pattern, but it would need testing to confirm.

There are also a few different button designs, please let me know what you think, they are just concepts and all feedback good or bad is welcome!

Black case with Radial Vent and vertical power/reset rocker button:

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White case with Radial vent and large flush power/reset buttons:

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Matte grey side panel with Radial vent and angled power/reset buttons:

 

[cmyk78]

I like the large flush power buttons. I think that the angles make it blend into the case very nicely.

 

[Brokoii]

I like #3 the best

 

[BlackRogue]

Great work on the renders, glad to see all the designs have a reset button of some kind (ALL HAIL THE RESET BUTTON), I personally like the IO of number one, but the colours of three. The radial vent design is great too

 

[ricochet]

Concur, number 3!

 

[Ceros_X]

I like the IO layout of #2 best (by far), but I am always a fan of all black as for coloring.

 

[bait]

Number three looks great.

On another note, I was wondering if you could have the various vent patterns cut from a separate piece of acrylic that would be attached similar to the filter option. That way you could offer a single standard side panel with add on vent or filter configurations.

 

[Ralphort]

Edited...

 

[Phuncz]

I like the buttons on the #2 and #3 render a lot, though I don't see use for a reset button in the 21st century. But maybe this can be used as a switch for LED lighting or a fan controller, depending on the whim of the user.

 

[ricochet]

Down with the reset! Down with the reset!

 

[iFreilicht]

#1 option looks the best in my opinion, but I think it would look even better without the reset switch in place. Just a simple "keycap" for the power button, that seems like the most understated option in my eyes. I think you'll have to make a poll

 

[K888D]

I sold the motherboard and processor of my main gaming PC last month and didn't want to upgrade until AMD put their cards on table, but my hand has been forced as I need to build up a new 'showcase' system for a meeting I have next week.

The timing isn't great with Ryzen on the horizon, but I wanted to build a system that provides the best compromise between performance and noise. I chose the Intel i7-7700 which is currently the fastest gaming CPU with a TDP up to 65W, an MSI B250i Gaming Pro was picked as overclocking is not required to keep heat down, the MSI board is one of the cheapest 200 series boards currently available but has a nice set of features.

Full System Spec:

• Intel i7-7700, 3.6Ghz Quad Core (65W TDP)
• Gigabyte GTX 1070 8Gb OC ITX
• Noctua NH-L12 Bottom fan only, down draft (66mm Height)
• MSI B250i Gaming Pro AC
• 8Gb DDR4 2400Mhz Dual Channel RAM
• Samsung PM951 M.2 NVMe SSD
• 500Gb 2.5" HDD
• Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 14 System Fan
• LZ7 Case with Cyclone Vent Panels

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For CPU cooling I would have liked to have gone with the Scythe Big Shuriken 2 again, with its 10 heat pipes and 120mm cooling fan, but it was out of stock at my local shop! They did however have a Noctua NH-L12 which is renowned for being an excellent and quiet LP cooler.

Removing the top fan of the Noctua NH-L12 results in a cooler height of 66mm, 3mm shy of the LZ7's maximum CPU clearance. Online reviews show that even with just the bottom fan this is quite a capable cooler and exceptionally quiet, so I thought I'd give it shot, especially considering that low noise is a primary objective.

Unfortunately I was not able to install the cooler with the fins running perpendicular to the side fan which I was hoping to do, the 92mm fan mounted under the heatsink fouls on the RAM modules. This only leaves 1 possible orientation to install the cooler without it overhanging the motherboard edge:

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The heatsink clears the Corsair Vengeance LPX RAM with a bit of room to spare, the fan is set to pull air through the heatsink (default orientation):

Motherboard installed into the case, looking good:​

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GTX 1070 installed, you can start to see all the clearances, it's going to be a tight:

I felt that the NH-L12 heat pipes were sticking out a little too close for comfort to the backside of the GPU, the gap was about 2mm. I slipped this ram module packaging tray over the end of the heatsink to provide a shield, it fit perfectly:​

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Power supply installed, not much wasted space in this build! The free space in front of the PSU is essential for cable routing with this modular SF450:

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A small rubber pad was forced under the PSU to help keep that 3 - 4mm gap, a secondary benefit of doing this is the PSU sag is eliminated:

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Thats all the photos I have for now, I will follow this up with more photos and detailed temperature results.

MSI's BIOS handles fan control very well, I was able to set both the CPU and System fans to run at less than 500 RPM when idle, which was practically silent. This is the first motherboard I've used where the fans keep turning when set below 30% power, in fact I was able to get the Prolimatech fan down to 350rpm at around 20% power!

So far it looks promising from the limited testing carried out, CPU temps are a little higher than I was hoping for, but it runs really quiet so I'm happy. I like running low fan RPMs so this isn't surprising!

Running Prime95 across 8 threads resulted in a max core temp of 80C after about an hour of testing, the system was fairly quiet, the most audible part of the system was the Prolimatech 140mm system fan.

Running Unigine Valley the system ran quieter than running Prime95, with the GPU being the only audible component in the system, running at around 77C with a fan speed of 1530 RPM. Unigine Valley was using about 40% CPU, the CPU temps during this test settled around 58C with system and CPU fan speeds of roughly 650 RPM each.

I want to test out some actual games and do some more detailed noise/temp tests, I'll report back with more photos.

 

[Phuncz]

Nice build ! I still have an NH-L12 lying around here, but the 92mm fan is used in another build. On the other hand, I do have a Scythe slim 100mm fan sitting around waiting to be used. I'd have to check if it can fit in the same orientation as you though, those tolerances are tight !

The combination of that board, the GPU and the case is very pleasing to the eyes !

 

[iFreilicht]

The NH-L12 seems like the perfect cooler for this case! It wouldn't fit when turned 180° around, would it?

 

[K888D]

I do have a Scythe slim 100mm fan sitting around waiting to be used. I'd have to check if it can fit in the same orientation as you though, those tolerances are tight !

I guess it depends on your motherboard layout, I don't think a 100mm fan would fit with this MSI B250i, it may do with yours.

The NH-L12 seems like the perfect cooler for this case! It wouldn't fit when turned 180° around, would it?

It does have a very satisfying fit!

I don't think it provides quite as much cooling performance as the Big Shuriken 2, but it does run very quiet.

It wouldn't fit flipped 180 as the heatsink would stick through the side fan.

 

[strayan]

I've got a bunch of those Prolimatech slim fans sitting around (the same ones you're using) and have my eye on Palit's passively cooled 1050Ti. Would there be enough space to mount one of the Prolimatech's between the heatsink and the inside of the case?

 

[K888D]

I've got a bunch of those Prolimatech slim fans sitting around (the same ones you're using) and have my eye on Palit's passively cooled 1050Ti. Would there be enough space to mount one of the Prolimatech's between the heatsink and the inside of the case?

Unfortunately not, there is enough width for a dual slot card with about 2 - 3mm gap to the side panel.

Looking at those photos on Palit's product page it also looks like the card would be too tall for the case.

If it did fit though, what you might find is that if you tape up the rear case vents and bottom case vents then all the airflow from the system fan would have to travel around the GPU to exit the case, this may be enough airflow for the card to work with.