Kicking that horrid Antec P-50 case to the wind (where no air can move through).

[GuruSR]

First off, it was a case of convenience (as in it fits in a space left in this desk), sadly, that is where the "great" part of this convenience ends.

I have an i7-6700K (not overclocked, can't), undervolted AND underclocked (why, read on).

I ended up having a bit of a bizarre "what died first" situation, was in the middle of a relaxing game with a family member a bit over a year ago and the machine froze, extremely rare, but it can happen. I pushed the reset button as nothing else worked (yes, have one of those, they DO still come in handy), the machine came back up what looked normal and proceeded to BSOD. It wasn't a virus or anything malicious, turned out if I had anything IN any USB port, the machine would crash, even tried booting with the Windows DVD (Windows 7) and bang, that died if I had even a USB keyboard plugged in. So I got a support ticket to ASUS and to Intel, because neither knew what happened because I couldn't plug anything in to test it, BUT Linux, which neither wanted to hear as all their tests were Windows based, so ASUS RMA'ed the board and I got a replacement, put the system back into the P-50 the same way it was beforehand, turns out that now the CPU was spiking towards the T-Case (which Intel sent me in an email with the T-Case circled and a note that was hand written over it, don't get too close to this).

The previous motherboard seemed to actually have had a flaw in it, the 6700K could never go over 4GHz (no turbo, ever), but the new board, yes, it is, but that extra 200MHz was the difference of pushing the CPU right up to the T-Case (61C) which Intel said "that chip must have also been damaged somehow, we'll RMA it" (not their exact words, as I was on the phone with Intel). So the new chip showed up (rattling around in the box inside the shipping package, so someone was drop-kicking it), made a video of it being removed and then got it into the case, but right away, I saw temps spike up, so I figured, another cooler, same thing (the Antec P-50 is barely useful with radiators, let alone coolers due to the space constraints). I decided to go with an H80iV2 from Corsair, that was super cramped, right now it's on the bottom spot in the front, the heat from it is cooking the GPU (1050Ti Dual OC), but I don't run super high games, so I am not really worried too much about that, I'm an I.T., so most of my work is researching problems, seminars online, online classes to keep my vendors happy, etc. As of late the H80iV2 seems to be losing the battle (and destroying my hearing) with it having to go to 100% fan speed at 37C which makes me rather stick my head in a jet turbine and tell them to crank it so I'll hear some peace and quiet in comparison, the unit is over a year old, think myself that the coolant in it is failing, as now it crept to 40C (which Corsair recommends avoiding) and I had a poweroff set for that and it did that on a game I was playing all day last year for an event, now I can't do it for 15 minutes. I've pretty much had it with this P-50, the case IS simply too cramped and I am now looking for another case. I found in your listing of cases, an Anidees AI7 Black Window, fit the bill, had everything I was looking for and it appears to be discontinued or the company is closed, never got a response back from them.

I want to put a Deep Rock Pro 4 on the board to cool the CPU to keep it as low in temperature as I can to avoid it climbing past 55C.

So, what I am looking for is...

A case that offers Massive Air Flow, prefer the least amount of glass as possible, front open mesh (no doors, because they're usually BUTT ugly when they're open).
1 ODD (on the top or bottom of the front, bottom preferred if fans can sit up top).
2 HDD (minimum)
1 SSD (want at least 3 in the case down the road)
2x2.0 USB & 2x3.0 USB (need these, can't live without them)
1 power button AND 1 reset button
Prefer 2 Leds for power/hdd.
Space for a Deep Rock Pro 4 cooler because I just can't stand AIOs anymore. If someone has a better option for an air cooler over the Deep Rock Pro 4 that can help me keep the 6700K down below 55C (100% load) in a case that is capable of doing that as well, then I can finally stop underclocking the CPU to 3.6GHz and see about seeing it running normally (with the undervolt still there).

GuruSR.

 

[freeagent]

It cant be that bad.. I stuffed a 6 core X58 with 240mm CLC and SLi 570s with a non modular 850 PSU in an Antec Sonata lol.

 

[Mr.Scott]

6700K under 55c at full load?...........good luck.
Delid it and lose 10 to 20c plus water cooling and you might have a chance.

 

[GuruSR]

It cant be that bad.. I stuffed a 6 core X58 with 240mm CLC and SLi 570s with a non modular 850 PSU in an Antec Sonata lol.

240mm CLC won't fit in there, there isn't room, the 120mm barely fits, ruins the second fan slot because of how close the fans are to the bottom, it offers alternative fan locations for the 120mm, but it ate a fan position in the process. It looked like a good case, but just isn't.

6700K under 55c at full load?...........good luck.
Delid it and lose 10 to 20c plus water cooling and you might have a chance.

Delid, not sure I can, warranty issues there, this is a replacement with a warranty. Water cooling, not in this case literally zero room, no reservoir space, the above 240mm spot on it is a joke, slim 240mm maybe, if I put the fans outside, not about to do that because the air flow would be pushing heat onto everything, it just isn't a good case. The H80iV2 was the only thing I could get into this case and it can't keep up with it, at 3600MHz it caps at 51C (cores), but because that coolant can't keep itself in check, it loses the battle and the cpu just climbs without control if I push it harder than 3600MHz. I was looking at cases:

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categ...Tower-ATX-Case/p/CC-9011078-WW#tab-tech-specs

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en//Cate...760T-Full-Tower-Windowed-Case/p/CC-9011073-WW

and the overkill one https://www.amazon.ca/Thermaltake-Tempered-Certified-Computer-CA-1F8-00M1WN-02/dp/B01N4R021Q

But I wonder what would be better for a cooler than the Deep Rock Pro 4, as I have installed one on a 3700X and it was keeping temps in the 60's while overclocked, I can't see it being difficult to keep a lower core counted chip at less temps, though a higher quality air-flow cooler would probably be the best. Am using the Antec FORMULA 7 Nano Diamond Thermal Compound, seems to work very well. So any thoughts, as I honestly don't care if I can't turbo on this machine, lived with the last board not letting it go past 4GHz, so if I can do a re-build getting away from coolants and fans needing to be ear bleedingly fast, I can live with it, since the 200MHz loss is far less than the 400 I have now + the <BLEEPING> noise.

GuruSR.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Am using the Antec FORMULA 7 Nano Diamond Thermal Compound, seems to work very well.

Antec Formula 7=That was my go-to thermal compound of the late-2010s. I never used any in 2020, so far, because I just used the TIM included with the AMD-bundled heatsinks that came with my Ryzens, including my Ryzen 7 3700X, which I installed on June 9, 2020.

 

[GuruSR]

Antec Formula 7=That was my go-to thermal compound of the late-2010s. I never used any in 2020, so far, because I just used the TIM included with the AMD-bundled heatsinks that came with my Ryzens, including my Ryzen 7 3700X, which I installed on June 9, 2020.

Well, I didn't put the stock cooler in it, used a Deep Rock Pro 4 on it, that loves to move around, the default TIM would have been squished off during installation, whereas the Antec Formula 7 is thick enough to sit still, though I know removing that heatsink down the road will be a PITA, so as to not yank the CPU out of the socket when I lift it off, but thankfully the spatula that comes with it, is useful for lifting the heatsink away from the chip.

GuruSR.