Impressions with 650D

Don't think these would fit in the bigger threads and don't want to hijack someone else's thread. (If mods disagree, go ahead and merge or something >>a)

 

So, I ordered my new parts and got the case as well (after pondering back and forth for month or so) and I have to say I'm not quite happy with it so far. For the price and looks from pictures I was expecting for something more impressive but eh.. here's the issues I've ran to so far:

 

1. The 200mm fans&the controller. They are actually two separate issues. I thought only early batch had the problems and they'd be fixed by now. So with controller full speed the fans are loud, and at lower speeds they make buzzing/durrrr-sounds. Figured I'd bypass the controller and hooked the 200mm fans to a molex adapter that steals 5V from the lines. Solution was actually pleasantly quiet until I put everything else together, popped sidepanels on and turned system on - which gets us to point

 

2. The sidepanels aren't tight. Right side's is tighter because of all the wires bulking under it but the left one (one with window, looking from the front panel) is only hanging from the latches. The problem is, the sidepanels resonate far more than rest of the case. With the 200mm fans hooked to 5V and being pleasantly quiet without sidepanels; the sidepanels actually amplify the resonation making it audible. Its not only the 200mm fans either, HDDs&DVD-drive resonation sounds worse too.

And its quite clear the sound comes from the sidepanels because a) you can't hear it without sidepanels on b) put finger gently on sidepanel, then gently on side of case's top - sidepanels vibrate a lot more and c) if you apply pressure on the sidepanel so it'd sit tight on the frame it'll vibrate a lot less and it'll actually dampen the resonation sounds.

Bit of constructive criticism here for whoever designed the damn thing and plans to design another case: add some rubber/silicon around the edges of either frame where the panel sits or the panel itself so it'd fit tight&stop amplifying the vibrations from the frame it sits on.

 

3. The HDD-trays are a mystery for me. Since the case only came with A3 quick start manual I'm wondering if I missed something since they don't really damped the sound either.

Drives are attached with pins that seemed to have silicon washers around them so I assumed they were meant to dampen the vibration. Problem however seems to be that the trays don't lock in position properly when pushed in. They shake&rattle which apparently makes the drives' sounds worse (compared to my old case which locked the HDDs tightly to the frame with springy plastic rails)

Also I couldn't figure out how to mount my SSD in one of the trays. There are the obvious holes through the bottom of the tray, but one of the pins with silicon washer makes it impossible to attach the SSD in the holes. So my SSD is in a 5.25" bay adapter under my DVD-drive. Good side is its using same sata-power-cable as the DVD-drive so there's one less cable in case.

 

4. Without sidepanels the case is pleasant to handle. Makes it so much easier to put parts in when you can easily lift&lean the case. But after you put sidepanels on there isn't really much you can grab the case from. The front panel feels too wobbly to even try lifting the case from it, nothing at back of the case - only option is get fingers under the case which will cause a minor problem when the case is pushed back under a table with limited space around it. If I ever have to move the case out of the room I'll probably have to pop sidepanels off so I can use the holes in frame to carry it..

 

5. The feet. Thought I saw some rubber pads under them. If there actually is something soft under them, its purely for keeping the case from scratching floor/moving since those either don't have any effect on the case's vibration.

With my current setup there's couple of centimeters (about an inch or so) between the case and the feet of my table. Yet I can feel the vibration from the case on my table..

Without 200mm fans running at all and computer idling most of the vibration seems to come from the HDD-trays. While playing the fans pick up speed and makes the case quite darn loud.

 

6. Overall built quality; think they tried to skim all possible extra weight off the case. For one the metal plate under motherboard is sort of springy when you push parts in motherboard. It just doesn't feel quite right when you push in parts to unused (aka tight) slots and feel how the motherboard moves under the pressure.

Other minor thing I noticed after removing the plastic covers from the window was some left overs of web-like glue or fiberglass that I assume the window is attached with because it was between the sidepanel and window frame. Couldn't pull all of it out but I got at least the longer bits out of the way.

 

 

Btw, WTB HX650 sata-power-cables with connectors flipped around. Apparently the PSU was designed back when PSU was on top of the case. With the newer design of PSU bottom all the sata-connectors are upside down, so now there's lil twisty loop behind each HDD&drive. For silver lining - the loop makes right side panel sit on tighter.. Yay.

I was trying to figure out how you could possibly be having so much trouble with vibration. Then I looked at your system specs and noticed the caviar black, have you tried running the system without it? The reason I ask is because I had one as well and was the noisiest most vibrating piece of crap I have ever put into a computer and could be the source of your problems. It caused my 800d and lianli pc-60 to make the most unbearable vibration noise. I unceremoniously threw it in the trash and replaced it with spinpoint, problem solved for me at least.

I was trying to figure out how you could possibly be having so much trouble with vibration. Then I looked at your system specs and noticed the caviar black, have you tried running the system without it? The reason I ask is because I had one as well and was the noisiest most vibrating piece of crap I have ever put into a computer and could be the source of your problems. It caused my 800d and lianli pc-60 to make the most unbearable vibration noise. I unceremoniously threw it in the trash and replaced it with spinpoint, problem solved for me at least.

 

Well, could be. If the 300-500GB SSD drives prices would come down to reasonable levels (hinthint Corsair) I'd happily replace the Caviar Black that's holding my games at the moment. :p

 

Still, I had the HDD in my last case (Chieftech's something. Huge, heavy, bulky steelcase) and the vibration didn't have such big effect as with the 650D.

Good to read about these, so I can prepare all the stuff needed to eliminate the resonation.

 

One "MacGyver" thing you could try, which needs you to have couple of rubber bands + tooth pics per HDD is:

- let the HDD "float" between rubber bands in HDD tray, and use the tooth pics to keep the rubber bands in place.

 

kind of like this:

http://www.homemedia.fr/i/imgs/324.jpg

 

Edit:

This is way more durable solution:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article8-page2.html

 

Normal rubber bands will snap and give free fall for you HDD