What started as a PC-upgrade project about a year and a half ago is now well underway. I’m upgrading just the motherboard/processor and the case, but it should perform like a new box after that. Ordinarily, I’d buy a higher-end motherboard in order to have it last through a few incremental upgrades, but I decided instead on a cheap Soyo motherboard as part of my new buy-cheap-and-buy-often strategy. So, the remaining decisions were the heatsink/fan and the case.
The case was actually an easy decision. A few months back, I read a review on Ars Technica for Antec’s Sonata case and it seemed to be just what I was looking for. In particular, the Sonata was designed to be quiet and that was one of my primary goals for this new machine:
OK, now we get to what makes this case special. Antec’s marketing term for its cooling management system is “Antec Low Noise Technology.” It consists of a handful of things, but the most important of these is the TruePower PSU that comes with the case. The TruePower 380W unit adjusts fan speeds based on the temperature in the case. Two Molex-connector power lines coming off of the PSU are marked as “fan only” lines. Those lines will adjust fan spinning speed (via voltage) to minimize noise, and frankly, it works really well. […]
In addition to the quieting features, I was also stoked about their innovative “sideways” hard drive mounting:
First, you can see on the bottom right that hard drives are installed “sideways,” that is, with the connector end facing you in this picture. This is a great design; it makes accessing drives very easy, plus it means that all of your drive cables can be made to easily run up the side of the case. […]
So, the case was an easy enough decision but the heatsink/fan was a bit tougher. At first, I had planned on going with a Zalman heatsink as it’s both an effective and very quiet cooler. However, I then saw Zalman’s motherboard compatibility chart where my motherboard was listed as not compatible (the only Soyo with that designation, natch).
So, I checked on Zalman’s other primary competitors to look for a suitable substitute. I first checked on Thermalright and since their heatsinks seemed a bit on the large side, I headed off to their support section to see whether any of their heatsinks would fit my motherboard. However, even though they have a motherboard compatibility list for each of their heatsinks, they’re not entirely comprehensive — my motherboard wasn’t listed on any of the lists (either way), so I was left unsure. I didn’t want to take a chance on buying a heatsink that wouldn't fit, so I crossed Thermalright off my list.
I next checked on Thermaltake and what first caught my eye there was their SilentTower. It uses heat pipes, which not only cools well but lifts the large heatsink well out of the way of any low-flying motherboard capacitors. In all, the SilentTower pushes about 52 CFM (about twice that of a normal fan setup) while remaining at 21 dB. This looked like just about the perfect heatsink/fan until I tried to buy one — it turns out that Thermaltake only released the SilentTower earlier this month and it wasn't available in stores anywhere yet.
So, I looked over Thermaltake’s other offerings. I had heard of some of their fans from their Volcano line, but I chose to avoid those they’re known for being a bit loud. But, their Silent Boost seemed more like what I had in mind. Granted, it only pushed 27 CFM, but it was only 21 dB and I wasn’t planning on overlclocking my box anyway. I didn’t see any motherboard compatibility charts on Thermaltake’s site, but the Silent Boost visually appeared that it would fit my motherboard easily (especially since it’s tapered towards the bottom).
So, I’ve ordered a Thermaltake Silent Boost ($25.75 w/ free FedEx Saver shipping from AccuPC) and an Antec Sonata case ($84.57 + $20 shipping from Provantage). Somehow seems as if my current PC has become even slower since ordering all these parts for my new PC — I can’t wait to assemble it and put it to good use :).