SFF.Network [SFF Network] In-Win Chopin Review – A Concerto in Black
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It's a solid little unit. Under full load the PSU can get a little loud but thats par for the course
Thank you for the review. I have one question, with an i7 6700 (no OC) under heavy load is the CPU cooler enough?
I'm also thinking in buying some dust filters, do you think is a good idea for this case? is strange because it doesn't have any well defined intake
I'm also thinking in buying some dust filters, do you think is a good idea for this case? is strange because it doesn't have any well defined intake
The whole top cover of the Chopin is a large intake mesh, the mesh would also arguably act as a dust filter.
No, the top cover is located just above where your CPU cooler would fit, the CPU fan draws cool air through the top cover mesh. its a really good setup and helps keep the CPU fan RPM's down. An added benefit of the cover being a mesh rather than holes patterns or slots is that the CPU fan is quieter when pulling air through the cover due to reduced turbulence compared to traditional venting.
Ok, thanks for the info so do you recommend to put a filter in the upper mesh? In the side one I suppose its not necessary.
You can do, although there isn't really anything to mount it to as its just a flat mesh panel, unless a magnetic one stick to it but I'm not sure.
The mesh itself is quite fine so it will do 'some' dust filtering. Also if you added a dust filter the CPU cooler performance would be reduced slightly with increased airflow resistance.
Personally I wouldn't add a dust filter, but if dust is a real problem for you then it should still be ok.
The mesh itself is quite fine so it will do 'some' dust filtering. Also if you added a dust filter the CPU cooler performance would be reduced slightly with increased airflow resistance.
Personally I wouldn't add a dust filter, but if dust is a real problem for you then it should still be ok.
Unfortunately not, there isn't the thickness clearance in the hard drive half of the case under the motherboard.
Not bad really! Almost thought I could stop making cases. How about some Prime95 torture test results? 
I'm running an A10-7860K, overclocked to 4.2ghz CPU, 866mhz GPU in this.. I think a 6700 will be fine!
Regarding dust filters, interesting idea, as I'm brushing dust off the side panel every second day (construction site next door -_-). The top however, is not collecting any dust so it must be acting as an exhaust with my board layout and cooler choice.
You've got a maximum of 20mm in that side of the case if you remove the optical tray. If your 3.5" drive is thinner than that, it's workable. If not, well not so lucky. I have a 3.5" 1tb WD black here, it's 25mm thick.
Mine arrived today, after about 4 hours trying to find the optimal cable routing, I got it running. Although I don't have a CPU cooler that fits inside yet.
All pics in black and white, I did it with the first picture to remove some unwanted rainbow effect and I'm trying to be artsy:
Removing the front stick-on lettering with a sharp blade with a minor inclination.
All that's left is the glue, somehow heavily emphasised in the photo. I used some nail polish remover to get rid of it, see next pic.
Clean. And pretty.
Halfway through stuffing. I've basically switched some cable routing that go through the holes on the left, center and right. PSU cables through center (only large hole), USB 3.0 header and SATA through left hole and audio + I/O button through the right hole. In the end I stuffed the 24-pin's cable through the hole where the ODD could have been (if it was that version of the case)
As clean as I could make it without doing custom cabling. I did have to remove two pins of the 4+4 EPS cable, it was woven in the 24-pin bundle, making it a tug of war at that spot.
Next to an Ncase M1, alligned the rear I/O shields.
So if you don't need a GPU, this is a nice and complete case with an internal PSU, aluminium wrap-around bezet and tight dimensions.
I'm loving it, it's a nice case. And I noticed in the back there is room for a single-slot PCIe card, if you remove the PCIe bracket from the card, cut up or drill some of the rear and middle frame of the case and use a PCIe extender. I have that itch again...
One minus: the LED is one of those bat-signal types that blind your neighbours.
EDIT: I've ordered the Alpenföhn Silvretta (45mm) for this case. I don't see it reviewed often (or compared) but it seems to have the right characteristics and then I can offer insights on that cooler's performance for the rest of the SFF community
All pics in black and white, I did it with the first picture to remove some unwanted rainbow effect and I'm trying to be artsy:
Removing the front stick-on lettering with a sharp blade with a minor inclination.
All that's left is the glue, somehow heavily emphasised in the photo. I used some nail polish remover to get rid of it, see next pic.
Clean. And pretty.
Halfway through stuffing. I've basically switched some cable routing that go through the holes on the left, center and right. PSU cables through center (only large hole), USB 3.0 header and SATA through left hole and audio + I/O button through the right hole. In the end I stuffed the 24-pin's cable through the hole where the ODD could have been (if it was that version of the case)
As clean as I could make it without doing custom cabling. I did have to remove two pins of the 4+4 EPS cable, it was woven in the 24-pin bundle, making it a tug of war at that spot.
Next to an Ncase M1, alligned the rear I/O shields.
So if you don't need a GPU, this is a nice and complete case with an internal PSU, aluminium wrap-around bezet and tight dimensions.
I'm loving it, it's a nice case. And I noticed in the back there is room for a single-slot PCIe card, if you remove the PCIe bracket from the card, cut up or drill some of the rear and middle frame of the case and use a PCIe extender. I have that itch again...
One minus: the LED is one of those bat-signal types that blind your neighbours.
EDIT: I've ordered the Alpenföhn Silvretta (45mm) for this case. I don't see it reviewed often (or compared) but it seems to have the right characteristics and then I can offer insights on that cooler's performance for the rest of the SFF community
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Excellent. I'm really loving the case, and with the IGP of the Godaveri APU, I think I'm happy dGPU-less for now
I do plan on getting back into it tomorrow and re-doing the cable routing like you did - never did that for the review!
I do plan on getting back into it tomorrow and re-doing the cable routing like you did - never did that for the review!
I'm hoping to have a Zen APU in there early 2017 for LAN-party gaming, come on AMD, I need them stuffs soon !Excellent. I'm really loving the case, and with the IGP of the Godaveri APU, I think I'm happy dGPU-less for now
I do plan on getting back into it tomorrow and re-doing the cable routing like you did - never did that for the review!
I don't know if your motherboard layout could be done much better like you've already done, because some of your headers are on top, while mine are mostly on the front.
I'm thinking about a dual or quad-port network card. This is supposed to be a game and file server for our small LAN party.Hmmm... ideas... uhoh
The Silvretta isn't good for higher performance CPUs, my OC'ed G3258 (1.2V instead of 1.0V, about 62W) being abused by Prime95 reaches 85°C (almost thermal shutdown) within 2 minutes, that's with the fan at max which is loud.EDIT: I've ordered the Alpenföhn Silvretta (45mm) for this case. I don't see it reviewed often (or compared) but it seems to have the right characteristics and then I can offer insights on that cooler's performance for the rest of the SFF community
I'm testing AIDA64's built-in System Stability Test to see if it at least survives that for an hour or two, but after two minutes it's already at 75°C, again at max fan speed.
So Core i5-xx00K and i7-xx00K are completely out of the question with this heatsink. I would have expected a 65W TDP (they claim 95W TDP compatible) to be realistic but considering my G3258 (54W TDP default, OC: ~65W TDP) already can trip it's thermal shutdown within 2 minutes of Prime95, my hopes for quiet operation with anything above 45W TDP during load are very very low.
More info and lots of pics will follow. Time to look at some alternatives.
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