Silent Fortress re/build log [WIP]

[mikey]

My personal computer has gone through a number of rebuilds over the years, including hardware upgrades, case changes, etc. Recently I acquired, hands down, my favorite case of all time, the Silverstone FT02. So i decided it's about time i give my personal rig a proper build.
 
I must say, the 3 AP180's are simply beautiful, I've gone through a number of silent cases in the past; however, no amount of dampening can match the performance of a larger, slower, well engineered fan.
 
 

Table of Content:

• Update 1: Case pictures + Brackets painted (Sept 11)
• Update 2: PSU + NH-D14 (Sept 13)
• Update 3: Sleeved 24 pin (Sept 15)
• Update 4: Vinyl wrapping (Sept 17)
• Update 5: Dual zone LED lighting (Sept 18)

Old Hardware:

• Asus P8Z68M Pro
• Intel i7 2600k
• Corsair H80i (with 2x AF12PWM fans)
• 4 x 4GB Mushkin Blackline
• HD6970 Asus DCu II
• 3 x 120GB Vertex 3
• 1 x 500GB WD 7200rpm 2.5" drive
• XFX XXX 850W 80+ Silver 
• Antec p180 mini white

New Hardware:

• Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
• Seasonic X650 Gold 
• Noctua NH-D14
• HD7870 MSI Twin Frozr
• Asus Xonar DG
• Lamptron FC6
• Silverstone FT02

Justifications:

• The 2600k offers plenty of performance for what i need to do.
• SSD's were from a friend, running in raid 1 for data security.
• WD drive is used as a scratch disk, performance and data security were not a big concern. 2.5" for heat output and silence.
• Moving up to the FT02, a m-ATX motherboard seemed inappropriate.
• The Lamptron fan controller was free and it fit the case styling so it used it. Gigabyte didn't offer fan control features on par to Asus so it gave me finer control as well.
• Not much of an audiophile but the major benefit from the Xonar sound card was in Microphone gain. It was a lot more sensitive and improved the recording from my shitty headset mic over onboard sound.

• The H80i was a huge disappointment for me. prior to it, i ran the CoolIT-ECO and Kuhler H2O 920. There was a consistent hum of the pump when it ran, while it wasn't loud, it was high pitch enough, to keep me thinking about it. 
• I was extremely impressed with the FT02's directional air flow through the case, and with the disappointment in the H80i, i wanted to increase redundancy and silence by perhaps going passive. The NH-D14 seemed like the obvious choice with its large surface area and availability. I considered the Phantek and Thermalright; however, the styling of the Noctua was subtle, and perfectly inline with the minimalist styling of the FT02
• The XFX psu worked fine; however, for some reason when placed vertical in the FT02, the fan made a ticking noise. So i decided to go full modular with Seasonic, the hybrid fan mode is great. less fan noise where ever possible. Modularity makes sleeving much simpler. Other than that, they are both Seasonic at heart.
• HD6970 and HD7870 are pretty heads on when it comes to performance. The main reason was that the Twin Frozr was dual slot and more energy efficient. Less heat, Less noise, Less opportunity for PSU fan to turn on.

More Pics and Updates to come ^-^ 
Feel free to critique or ask about my experiences with any hardware.

Edited September 18, 2013 by mikey

[mikey]

 Update 1:

 
The brushed finish on the fronts are different, but high quality finish still looks very elegant imho.
 
 

-> Pic 2 <-  -> Pic 3 <-

 Painted the brackets black, didn't like the bare aluminum color. 
 


-> Pic 2 <-

 Brackets reinstalled. 

 

-> Pic 2 <-  -> Pic 3 <-

 Test fitting the motherboard. The H80i fits with no more than 2mm to spare; I must admit, I really like how it looks with the XFX 

[NanoMasky]

Excited for this, just be sure to get the black noctua's when they come out. it will color match great with the FT02

[Mogwai]

Excited for this, just be sure to get the black noctua's when they come out. it will color match great with the FT02

They look nice but they are like $30 a fan

[Quantum]

Nice looking specs, can't wait for the pictures

[mikey]

Excited for this, just be sure to get the black noctua's when they come out. it will color match great with the FT02

Thanks =]

Although ideally, the build will have 4 fans total, all part of the case. 3x AP180s and the 120mm Golf ball dimple fan as an exhaust.

The NH-D14 will be run passive. From what I've read, it has performed well in traditional cases, the unique config of the FT02 should perform just as well if not better.

[CJPowell27]

Is there a reason for the complete silence?

[mikey]

Is there a reason for the complete silence?

 

 

I've always viewed silence as a sign of a well thought out and optimized system using quality components. Even pre-built systems are very much optimized for very quiet operations; Dell desktops have been near silent for generations now.

 

The way i see it, there is absolutely no need and no place for noise; there will always be ways to optimize for silence regardless of performance requirements  or budget constraints.

[Judgie97]

 

I think this looks awesome. 

[Nicktrance]

Awesome, gotta love all black builds.

[mikey]

 Update 2:

Picked up the Seasonic X650 used, the previous owner had tried to peel of the stickers and attempted sleeving.

 

Time to clean off the sticker residue.

 

 

 

The sleeving seems to be DarkSide, the quality is pretty good, just the sleeve job was terrible. The lengths were completely off too so it will be impossible to fix both ends. Other option is to re-sleeve completely.

 

 

Brand new NH-D14 to play with. Build quality is to drool over. Personally, without the fans, it just looks absolutely beautiful. I was worried about it's weight on the CPU socket; however, with it in hand, I feel at ease.

[mikey]

 Update 3:

Fixed up the 24 pin as best I could, the uneven length sleeved on PSU side, I will just terminate with heatshrink.

 

First sleeving job, how does that look?  

[mikey]

Update 4:

 

Received my order for Black Brushed Aluminium Vinyl... time to have some fun  

 

 

It wasn't exactly what i expected, but in the right lighting it doesn't look too bad.

 

 

After I cleaned off the sticker residue, there was markings on the PSU, i presume it is from quality control.

 

 -> Pic 2 <-  -> Pic 3 <- -> Pic 4 <-

The stickers on the fans were quite the eyesore, had to black them out.

[mikey]

Update 5:

 

Playing around with some LED's

 

 

Soldered some strips together that runs along the edge of the motherboard

 

 

A lot brighter than I had expected

 

 

That underglow... i feel like a ricer  

 

 

The glow didn't light any of the components, so some dual zone lighting was in order.  

[AxelPeeters]

Nice project

[megadarkwood]

Wow, nice! I love the LEDs behind the mobo. Looking forward to more

[mikey]

Thanks  

 

Do you know if there is any way to black out the PCB of the ram? its bugging me a little bit.