Completed Silverstone Grandia GD07 - Ideal Large HTPC Case (1 Viewer)

[kiwijunglist]

Hi

Case: Silverstone Grandia GD07
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z69XP-UD4
CPU: Intel i3-2100 with Stock HSF
Ram: 12 GB DDR3
GPU: Powercolor HD4670 1GB
Tuner: HVR2200
PSU: Seasonic X-560
HDD: 750GB + 3TB + 3TB

Advantages

1. Looks good
2. Large 3x120mm fans for quiet airflow
3. Could fit ~8 or 9 x 3.5" HDD
4. Removable HDD Rack makes installation + adding more HDDs easy
5. Built in fan filters (externally accessible)
6. Designed for positive pressure
7. Single LED on front that does HDD+PWR
8. LED Brightness control knob
9. Can lock the front of the case for kids
10. Can lock the power button so it pushed in by kids
11. 2x USB3.0 front panel
12. 7+1 expansion slots (PCI etc)
13. Takes full size ATX / extended ATX motherboards

Disadvantages

1. Not quite enough clearance to fit most tower style coolers
2. 120mm fans @ 12volts / 1200 rpm are not silent, but if you slow them down to ~700 rpm they are silent
3. No built in IR receiver
4. It's big and heavy
5. Must do a handstand to remove the bottom case filters

Notes
Stock i3-2100 is almost silent when used with bios silent profile
This motherboard only has 2x headers that control fan speed (CPU + SYS2) so you must use a Y adapter cable if you want to control more than 1 case fan
The Seasonic X-560 is a great PSU, fan has never come on so it's silent and it has no hum either.

 

[blair_haynes]

Seasonic or Silverstone X-560 PSU? Have I read somewhere that you've also tried the fanless Seasonic (X-460 I think?)

 

[kiwijunglist]

Seasonic X-560 my mistake, i posted in the other silverstone case thread, and that guy had the fanless model. I wouldn't pay extra for the fanless model to be honest, as the psu controls the fan, and it's never needed to turn on the fan.

 

[blair_haynes]

I see that they are not cheap, but I dare say they are well worth it. I had always though that I'd go for the 460 fanless model, but after what you've said, and a little more investigation, the X-560 seems like the go. Increasing the wattage so it's not working as hard seems to have thermal merits. Here's what Seasonic have to say themselves about their fan system:

"The X Series adopts a clever “Hybrid Silent Fan Control” design, which offers three distinct operation modes, fanless mode, silent mode, and cooling mode. The X automatically adjusts fan mode and speed according to the ambient temperature level. This brand new design not only optimizes heat dissipation, but also prolongs lifespan of the system by reducing unnecessary fan rotation. To make the X Series even more robust and exciting, Seasonic offers Sanyo Denki San Ace Silent Fan on X, the best fan there is in the industry."

 

[kiwijunglist]

Most reviews say you should buy the X-660 over the X-560 because it's only $5-10 more. In my case, I got a 10 month old second hand X-560 for quite a low price, I think the warranty is 3 or 5 years. Regardless HTPC's don't use much power, At a rough guess I think my HTPC probably uses ~150-250 watts.

Also: X-400 and X-460 being fanless are not supposed to be installed on their side, if they are on their side the heat can't escape easily.

 

[kiwijunglist]

Added 2x 3TB WD Greens for more storage

Currently running
4x 3TB WD Greens
1x 750GB WD HDD

The WD Greens give me 9TB storage + a 3TB partity backup drive. This means if a single HDD fails I don't lose any data.

 

[azzuro]

You have no Fan extractor ? (PSU take flow from out directly)
2x Front insufflation
1 x Left Insuflation !! -> you can't inverse it ? and move it toward the back as Extractor / blocking the opening where is your Fan actually

 

[kiwijunglist]

The PSU filtered intake is from the outside edge of the case (Although I've never seen the PSU fan turn on)

I have 4x filtered intake fans (one more than shown in the picture)

I use positive pressure, there are vents along the back of the case, and there is also a vent in the top of the case near the rear.

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You have no Fan extractor ? (PSU take flow from out directly)
2x Front insufflation
1 x Left Insuflation !! -> you can't inverse it ? and move it toward the back as Extractor / blocking the opening where is your Fan actually

Yes I could possibly change the side fan to extractor and move it towards the rear, however I find everything is very cool with 4x low speed intakes.

The front 3 intake fans keep all my HDDs cool. The side fan is probably not needed, but it allows me to run my CPU fan a bit slower.

I like to have intake only because then my case is positive pressure, and I can use dust filters, and have a dust free case.

 

[azzuro]

For me, i think don't working great as you think ... the Flow is my Job
You have TRIAC down of CPU + Chipset at middle of MB, Presure Positive is an good solution, but not for Case with Many holes. and i forgot all small hole in front.
Green color, is block holes

 

[kiwijunglist]

Yup I understand what you mean and yes it is not ideal

Fortunately for me this case has less holes than a normal case.
I actually have 3 fans at the front bottom, not 2 as shown in the picture.

It currently looks like this

I disagree with your airflow direction here though, if the case is positive pressure, I think the airflow will go in the opposite direction

I think your idea is probably better though, would this work better @azzuro ?