Here is a pic of my sweet backup server. Only has 1 fan in it on the top that it does not run very often.
Its not super fast but its super low power. Its running one of the AMD APU processors, the E-350. Its also got one of the Antec Green power supplies. Right now its just set up with one 1tb backup drive but there is enough space for 4 more. For now it works out well for what I use it for. It mostly just sits there pulling data off my desktop with Crashplan.
Core i5 2500
Corsair XMS3 12GB
Asus P8H67-M
Sapphire Radeon HD6870 1GB
250GB/1TB/500GB SATA drives, the latter two to be replaced soon by a 2TB SATA 6.0 7200 drive
Corsair CX500 PSU
NZXT Phantom (white/red) case with in-built fan controller
That's about as clean as I'm willing to make it. I would only ever spend ten minutes on something like this. As long as the airflow in the case is good, that's all I need. Though there is something to be said for really tidy systems like Alecthar's, I don't care enough to spend the time making it look that good - and I wouldn't know how, anyway! Look at my PCI-EX cables, as an example. They stick up out of the graphics card like sore thumbs, and I can't see a way around making them otherwise.
...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
This thread reminds me I need a new case. My Antec 1200 is just getting really long in the tooth, and the cable management is just not up to modern standards. Plus I'd like to go a tad bit smaller, since most modern mid-towers are long enough to fit the massive video cards we have these days.
Core i5 2500
Corsair XMS3 12GB
Asus P8H67-M
Sapphire Radeon HD6870 1GB
250GB/1TB/500GB SATA drives, the latter two to be replaced soon by a 2TB SATA 6.0 7200 drive
Corsair CX500 PSU
NZXT Phantom (white/red) case with in-built fan controller
That's about as clean as I'm willing to make it. I would only ever spend ten minutes on something like this. As long as the airflow in the case is good, that's all I need. Though there is something to be said for really tidy systems like Alecthar's, I don't care enough to spend the time making it look that good - and I wouldn't know how, anyway! Look at my PCI-EX cables, as an example. They stick up out of the graphics card like sore thumbs, and I can't see a way around making them otherwise.
Core i5 2500
Corsair XMS3 12GB
Asus P8H67-M
Sapphire Radeon HD6870 1GB
250GB/1TB/500GB SATA drives, the latter two to be replaced soon by a 2TB SATA 6.0 7200 drive
Corsair CX500 PSU
NZXT Phantom (white/red) case with in-built fan controller
That's about as clean as I'm willing to make it. I would only ever spend ten minutes on something like this. As long as the airflow in the case is good, that's all I need. Though there is something to be said for really tidy systems like Alecthar's, I don't care enough to spend the time making it look that good - and I wouldn't know how, anyway! Look at my PCI-EX cables, as an example. They stick up out of the graphics card like sore thumbs, and I can't see a way around making them otherwise.
That's huge case for such a teeny motherboard.
It is, I know. Though I had originally an ATX in mind, I chose an M-ATX board just to keep costs down, but I didn't realise the case would be as big as it is. It's freaking huge, which along with the water cooling holes does allow for easier cable management. But the system works well. The airflow is good and doesn't output a lot of heat - the graphics card sits idle at around 30-32c, running up to twice that under full load. General temperature inside the case is very low.
It's also really quiet, which is nice.
Rohan on
...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.
@rohan did you have a problem with the paint cracking on the phantom? A guy I know from another forum was complaining that he bent one of his side panels and the paint started cracking along the bend. He says it was a particularly violent bend (he was just taking the side off) and didn't leave any bends or creases on the metal itself but the paint just started cracking off.
I floated the idea that there might just be a manufacturing problem associated with that particular batch. It strikes me as a pretty crazy manufacturing flaw if the all the phantom cases use similar paint
@rohan did you have a problem with the paint cracking on the phantom? A guy I know from another forum was complaining that he bent one of his side panels and the paint started cracking along the bend. He says it was a particularly violent bend (he was just taking the side off) and didn't leave any bends or creases on the metal itself but the paint just started cracking off.
I floated the idea that there might just be a manufacturing problem associated with that particular batch. It strikes me as a pretty crazy manufacturing flaw if the all the phantom cases use similar paint
I remember reading somewhere about issues with the paint, but that's not been my experience. The closest thing I have is tiny little flecks of paint were removed if something brushed up against it - my screwdriver hitting the edge of the case mistakenly, for example, but they're so small that you have to look for them. Overall I love the case, but the size really surprised me at first. I've been through several NZXT cases before (Nemesis Elite silver, Lexa Blackline red), and pc's I've built for friends have them, too (Lexa, Lexa S) and all of them are typical mid-tower height.
The Phantom is bigger than all of them, and though I only really complain about a case when they're something like Advance's small little things, or some proprietary Dell or Packard Bell piece of shit design, I would never have thought that working with a case the Phantom's size is so much more pleasant than working on the normal size tower. I've been singing NZXT's praises for a while now, with thoughtful design touches such as holes for your screwdriver on the back plate so that you're not angling yourself when you're screwing something in, or the hard drive/optical drive bracket system, but the Phantom is the best thought-out case I've worked with so far. They've improved on the drive bracketing system, so that you now no longer have to keep a box full of differently-sized brackets hanging around. You can now easily remove the back cover, which combined with the pre-drilled holes makes for a really good cable management system (they include cable ties in the box).
About the only thing that I don't like is that the motherboard plate isn't removable, but that's a minor issue. This case is awesome to look at and even more awesome to work with.
...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.
Posts
Its not super fast but its super low power. Its running one of the AMD APU processors, the E-350. Its also got one of the Antec Green power supplies. Right now its just set up with one 1tb backup drive but there is enough space for 4 more. For now it works out well for what I use it for. It mostly just sits there pulling data off my desktop with Crashplan.
Core i5 2500
Corsair XMS3 12GB
Asus P8H67-M
Sapphire Radeon HD6870 1GB
250GB/1TB/500GB SATA drives, the latter two to be replaced soon by a 2TB SATA 6.0 7200 drive
Corsair CX500 PSU
NZXT Phantom (white/red) case with in-built fan controller
That's about as clean as I'm willing to make it. I would only ever spend ten minutes on something like this. As long as the airflow in the case is good, that's all I need. Though there is something to be said for really tidy systems like Alecthar's, I don't care enough to spend the time making it look that good - and I wouldn't know how, anyway! Look at my PCI-EX cables, as an example. They stick up out of the graphics card like sore thumbs, and I can't see a way around making them otherwise.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
That's huge case for such a teeny motherboard.
It is, I know. Though I had originally an ATX in mind, I chose an M-ATX board just to keep costs down, but I didn't realise the case would be as big as it is. It's freaking huge, which along with the water cooling holes does allow for easier cable management. But the system works well. The airflow is good and doesn't output a lot of heat - the graphics card sits idle at around 30-32c, running up to twice that under full load. General temperature inside the case is very low.
It's also really quiet, which is nice.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
I floated the idea that there might just be a manufacturing problem associated with that particular batch. It strikes me as a pretty crazy manufacturing flaw if the all the phantom cases use similar paint
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
bit.ly/2XQM1ke
I remember reading somewhere about issues with the paint, but that's not been my experience. The closest thing I have is tiny little flecks of paint were removed if something brushed up against it - my screwdriver hitting the edge of the case mistakenly, for example, but they're so small that you have to look for them. Overall I love the case, but the size really surprised me at first. I've been through several NZXT cases before (Nemesis Elite silver, Lexa Blackline red), and pc's I've built for friends have them, too (Lexa, Lexa S) and all of them are typical mid-tower height.
The Phantom is bigger than all of them, and though I only really complain about a case when they're something like Advance's small little things, or some proprietary Dell or Packard Bell piece of shit design, I would never have thought that working with a case the Phantom's size is so much more pleasant than working on the normal size tower. I've been singing NZXT's praises for a while now, with thoughtful design touches such as holes for your screwdriver on the back plate so that you're not angling yourself when you're screwing something in, or the hard drive/optical drive bracket system, but the Phantom is the best thought-out case I've worked with so far. They've improved on the drive bracketing system, so that you now no longer have to keep a box full of differently-sized brackets hanging around. You can now easily remove the back cover, which combined with the pre-drilled holes makes for a really good cable management system (they include cable ties in the box).
About the only thing that I don't like is that the motherboard plate isn't removable, but that's a minor issue. This case is awesome to look at and even more awesome to work with.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten