I have an extra Asus 970 Strix laying around the house, so I'm making it a little project of mine to build a bedroom HTPC gaming machine. The Fractal 202 seems to the best fit for the shelf I want to place it on in my bedroom (unfortunately the wife has nixed vertical stands on top, or cubes off to the side :/ ).

With that in mind, I've seen some mixed things with GPU temps on this case - particularly if you aren't using a rear exhaust blower-style GPU. Anyone have experience with this case? I'm hoping 2 noctua 120s and Asus' solid cooling tech can keep the GPU cool enough.

Any and all help is appreciated :)

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/cugabuh/saved/YVqpgs

@hmoney001: Ya, I saw that video. His temps are decent for an HTPC build I suppose. A few others seem to have no problem with the case so long as you use 2 intake fans below the GPU.

At the end of the day, it's just a mini-Christmas project I suppose! Here's to hoping it works out, because it's a sexy little case!

@big_denim: There's two types of Noctua fans, the ones you have chosen are optimised for radiator/heatsink usage so I would recommend you change to these ones. It won't be a huge difference but in such restricted cases every little helps, the NF-S12A will pump a bit more air in/out of the case.

@wynnduffy: Thanks, I'll make that change now. Still think setting them as 2 intakes makes the most sense? Hopefully it'll be enough force to get any hot air the GPU pumps out over to the side vents of the case.

It should be fine, ideally you want more air coming in than going out so 2 in 1 out makes sense. The cool air coming in will help the case deal with the heat coming from the GPU. I would probably set your exhaust to a slightly higher speed than the intakes to make sure warm air isn't lingering anywhere.

I did a bit more research on some topics on overclock.net forums. It seems like most people recommend the high static pressure fans for the GPU chamber since they're so close to the GPU. I think I'm going to use the SF12A fan you recommended for the CPU exhaust though.

Hmm I'm not sure. The difference between them would be small but I don't think static pressure would help unless they are directly mounted to the GPU heatsinks.

Again though it would be a small difference so I don't think it matters very much really.

@big_denim: please keep this topic updated if you ever complete your christmas project. i love htpc/gaming builds and i'll probably build a mini-pc for my next build when my current rig gets outdated.

my money's on static pressure fans btw. but i don't think it would make much of a difference.

and i think i5 6500 would be fine with its own stock cooler? i've actually never used stock coolers but are they that bad? same thing with asus strix 970. do you really think it will overheat without those noctua fans on side?

I bought this case for my new computer build this year. It's not used as an HTPC right now, but I bought it to keep my options open in case I wanted to move it into an entertainment center later, so I got a CPU and GPU with lower TDP instead of the higher performing ones(namely i5 6600 and Asus Strix GTX 960). With 2 Noctua fans(S12B) providing static pressure, I'm getting some solid temps out of the GPU and it stays relatively silent.

I'd recommend this case for anyone, with the caveat that I did have some issues with stability when I tried placing the computer on a shelf in my entertainment center, but I believe you'd be fine as long as you didn't try to overclock.

If needed, I could move my computer back into the entertaiment center and run some benchmarks to see what kind of temps I get out of it.

@hugh_jazz: Care to elaborate on the performance issues you had? Were you overclocking at the time? Was the GPU throttling down due to temps? It's a pretty tight space that I'm fitting this case in, however it won't be surrounded by other electronics so hopefully temps won't be too bad!

Where I'm hoping I can store the PC: http://imgur.com/c149aNd

Worst case scenario, I will just store it on the top shelf next to the PC, though the wife isn't crazy about that idea :P

@hkabaran: You betchya! I plan on doing a before, during, and after mini-blog so I'll let you know how it goes!

Stock coolers work fine, however they can get loud. I figure an aftermarket cooler is more reliable and less likely to make noise. Cases like a Fractal R5 are built to keep acoustics in check, but a tiny little HTPC like this doesn't have the extra padding to absorb noise, so all of it escapes to the room.

@big_denim: If I remember correctly I was doing a bit of overclocking, and after extended play of Shadow of Mordor(2016's Game of the Year of 2014) the game would soft-freeze and I'd get a "graphics drivers restarted" error message from Windows. The picture you provided shows you have a lot more space than I did(the case barely fit into it height-wise), so I shouldn't think you'll have any problems.

If I have the time I'll move my computer back into the entertainment center and stresstest it with some DOOM to see what happens.

@hugh_jazz: Sounds good! No worries if you can't get around to it though. Appreciate the help and comforting news on temps/performance.