07-06-2004, 05:04 AM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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Water-Cooled Small Form Factor PC
Yes, you read that correctly! I've been wanting a Small Form Factor case for awhile now, but I've always held off for several reasons. First is the noise factor. While I've been known to stand a box fan next to an open case containing an overclocked chip, I find that I'm less tolerant of constant noise now than I was 5 years ago. I've also not been very impressed with the AMD-friendly MBs the SFF manufacturers are putting out, AND it annoys me that in most cases, you're tied to the MB they give you.
That said, I bought an Antec Aria SFF case, popped in my own Biostar Micro ATX MB, a nice processor (AMD, of course), 1 gig of paired Corsair RAM, an ATI 9700 Pro and a combo DVD/CD-R burner. The case is quite nice, especially for a Pocket PC person, as it comes with a built-in 8-in-1 card reader. Very handy.
Unfortunately, it was too loud with the HSF combo I had, and it was running too hot, forcing me to take the sides and top off of the case to keep it stable. So I decided to take the plunge (ha ha!) and go with a water cooler. I decided on the GlobalWin SilentStream. After several hours of meticulous labor (and you can BET I read the manual cover to cover for once), I very nervously closed everything up, plugged everything in, and switched it on. It's been very quiet and quite stable for the last week with no exceptions. This is WITHOUT overclocking, mind you. I may try upping the voltage a bit later just to see what I can get away with. :mrgreen:
Has anyone else here messed about with SFF cases or water cooling?
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