Define Mini or Arc Mini R2

person31

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Jun 13, 2015
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Hi, I have an mATX system and I'm planning to transfer it into a new case. I like the looks of the Arc Mini but I have only just seen the Define Mini and I don;t know what to get as they are the same price. I want good performance but I want it to be as quiet as possible. I will probably use Arctic F12's as they offer the best airflow and noise levels for the money and I will probably get a GTX 960 when I have the money. My specs:

Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3
AMD 8350 4.0GHz
Nvidia Geforce GT 610
8gb RAM
CM Hyper 212 Evo
Standard 1tb HDD
Standard Optical drive

As I mentioned earlier, I will probs upgrade to a GTX 960. I'm not sure how hot my CPU will get as AMD are known for getting hot and putting it in a silent case will only make it worse, right? So which one should I get?
 
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person31

Honorable
Jun 13, 2015
228
2
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Thanks for the speedy reply, so they'll perform the same? But with the define mini reducing noise?
 

person31

Honorable
Jun 13, 2015
228
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10,695


Yeah I was considering that case but there are 2 things that put me off. Firstly, wouldn't the upside-down motherboard configuration restrict airflow to the GPU? I mean the fans on a PSU generally intake air onto the heatsink and there are no holes for the GPU; just the PSU. Also, the fact that heat rises tells me that the GPU would be getting heat from the made from the CPU. Secondly, the Arc and Define are cheaper. Plus I have got £30 of points on Xcase, so technically I can get the Fractal cases for £30 cheaper than they actually retail for. Unfortunately the Silverstone cases aren't on the website.

 


The 180mm fan covers most of the front. It has a high and a low speed. I mostly keep it on low.
Inside some of the intake air goes to the gpu side and some of it goes to the cpu side.
The cpu definitely gets cooled better because the 120mm exhaust is directly in back of the cpu air cooler.

You will have no cooling issue with a GTX960 card.
 
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