some recommendations for CPU cooling

[dodecahedron]

OK but i haven't seen any indications of malfunction of the graphics card.
at the time when the fan died (and the GPU overheated) i would see various artefacts on the screen (diagonal lines). however i think it was the monitor's fault
(as it were, i actually thought the monitor was at fault and ordered the service from the company, only when the tech came i noticed that the fan on the card had crapped out. so they took the compuer, did to the card what you saw and did some "adjusting" to the screen, the diagonal lines were gone. i still think it was the monitor.)

my point - i would've imagined that if the GPU is getting too hot i'd see some visual indications of that before a computer crash! and there have been no such.

incidentally, i'm in trouble! i've more or less made up my mind to buy the P160, and today discovered that there's a P180 about to be released in the very near future! now i need to wait and see what it's like when it comes, reviews etc. <sigh>
(BTW this : is literally my wife's response when i had told her of this "new compication" )

[LoneWolf]

I made sure I upgraded my PC just before we combined our finances. (actually, she knew about completely, between selling some computer parts and doing a few freelance jobs I paid for my whole upgrade).

The P180 looks like a great case, though I'm not a big fan of front doors on cases (and the front plastics inside the door look slightly cheap to me). The interior design is great, I'd like to see them do a P-160II case, externals of the P160, internals of the P180. The only thing I really want to do with my P160 is quiet it a little, and that's the fault of a 2-fan power supply more than anything else (one of these days I need to open it and replace the fans with low-noise Panaflos).

[dodecahedron]

LOL but you misunderstood - my wife has been the one pushing me to go and buy the damn case. i'm the one hesitating (for financial reasons).
now that i've more or less made up my mind to spend that dough, and i come and tell her no i'm not getting it there's a newer one coming out soon....her (literal) reaction: LOL

The P180 looks like a great case, though I'm not a big fan of front doors on cases (and the front plastics inside the door look slightly cheap to me). The interior design is great, I'd like to see them do a P-160II case, externals of the P160, internals of the P180.

great minds think alike
i too hate doors.
i too think the plastic behind it looks cheap.
i too would love to see a 160 II with the outer looks of the 160 but with the innards of the 180 (well at least the implementation of the same concepts).
the 160 look is a hate it or love it. i guess i love it. only sad thing it's a plastic and not aluminum front faceplate.
unfortunately, i think the 180 (all door considerations aside) looks ugly! terribly so.

i'm starting to think maybe i should get a cheapo case until the 180 comes out and perhaps also 160 II ? (no word of such but then there's a Sonata II) and possibly other models too? 170 or 200?

BTW i'm now reading a long topic at SPCR and lots of discussion there of using a fanless PSU in the 180. have you considered going for a fanless PS?

[LoneWolf]

I haven't considered going fanless for the reason that the fanless PSU I want isn't out yet and will probably be insanely expensive when available.

The Antec Phantom 500. 500 watts of ultra-efficient fanless power. Their 350-watt model has been rated as incredibly efficient, and probably would power my system, but I like having a bit of overhead for that next upgrade. The Phantom 350 costs more than the Antec Neo 480w.

I like the compromise some companies have made by just using a single 120mm fan. The Fortron Blue Storm AX500 has gotten rave reviews, is already sleeved, has all the connectors one needs (and the 5.25" Molex connectors are the EZ-Grip easy-to-remove kind) all for about $90. If you aren't running an SLI system, it appears to be one of the best choices for the money.

My Enermax is a great PSU...it's just not the quietest (plus there's 3 other 120mm fans in the case). You always balance noise with airflow. If I wanted uber-quiet, I could switch the fans out for Coolermasters ultra-quiet 120mm models, or Vantec Stealth, but I'd get less airflow. Then again, the three fans plus the power supply allow pretty good airflow in my case, so it might be worth considering.

I currently have a huge Panaflo 120mm low-noise in the custom blowhole on top of the case, and standard Antec 120mm's front and rear (medium noise, medium airflow. The Panaflos are great, but they're 38mm deep, so they don't fit everywhere (in my case, it fits the blowhole and would fit the back fan mount, but not the front) unlike most fans that are only 25mm deep.

I still think the Chenbro Gaming Bomb II is a great case as well. It's just too doggone expensive. I'm glad I didn't wait to buy it, I would have been driven away by the cost. The Firewire/USB/Audio ports should be mounted on the top front rather than the bottom, too.

[dodecahedron]

I haven't considered going fanless for the reason that the fanless PSU I want isn't out yet and will probably be insanely expensive when available.

The Antec Phantom 500. 500 watts of ultra-efficient fanless power. Their 350-watt model has been rated as incredibly efficient, and probably would power my system, but I like having a bit of overhead for that next upgrade. The Phantom 350 costs more than the Antec Neo 480w.

I like the compromise some companies have made by just using a single 120mm fan. The Fortron Blue Storm AX500 has gotten rave reviews, is already sleeved, has all the connectors one needs (and the 5.25" Molex connectors are the EZ-Grip easy-to-remove kind) all for about $90. If you aren't running an SLI system, it appears to be one of the best choices for the money.

My Enermax is a great PSU...it's just not the quietest (plus there's 3 other 120mm fans in the case). You always balance noise with airflow. If I wanted uber-quiet, I could switch the fans out for Coolermasters ultra-quiet 120mm models, or Vantec Stealth, but I'd get less airflow. Then again, the three fans plus the power supply allow pretty good airflow in my case, so it might be worth considering.

seeing as i've been reading some at SPCR the last few days, i know that it's already out:
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=24500
insanely expensive is the word - $200 at Antec's website
BTW it's not 100% fanless - there's a fan that kicks in only at very high loads.

I still think the Chenbro Gaming Bomb II is a great case as well. It's just too doggone expensive. I'm glad I didn't wait to buy it, I would have been driven away by the cost. The Firewire/USB/Audio ports should be mounted on the top front rather than the bottom, too.

while the GB II is a great looking case, i'm not so sure it's so great.
construction quality is great but then so are Lian-Li and the P160.
its unique features - the "cabling" technology (forget their trademark name) is just hype IMO. the drive bay with multiple possible mounting (FlexiBay ?) - that's nice.
but did you read AnandTech's review of it?
http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/sh ... spx?i=2298
the cooling performance, is more or less the same as the P160.
the acoustic performance is poor.

[LoneWolf]

Acoustic performance is poor at least in part because Chenbro made dumb choices when putting fans in the case. No manufacturer seems to go with great fans (Vantec Stealth, Panaflo, Papst), at best you can usually expect medium noise Sunons, at worst, no-name loud crap.

If I were using the Chenbro, I'd change out the fans, and use either rubber washers or Vantec's gel fan vibration dampeners, or both. I'm using the dampers on the fans in my case, and I'd be using their PSU vibration damper too except it won't fit properly. It's also possible to use a material like Acoustipack to dampen noise further (I have PaxMate in my case for this purpose, but it's not quite as good).

[dodecahedron]

OK just in case anyone following this topic is interested:
the Antec P180 is out.
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81800
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article249-page1.html