Help required - PCI-E Riser for custom case design

andy_mcp1

Distinguished
Jan 15, 2008
7
0
18,510
Hi, I'm presently building a custom (slim-line) case as i'm tired of the chunky Thermaltake soprano i've got at the mo. I was think'n in using a PCI-E riser for my BFG 8800GT OC2 to help thin the case design down a bit. However i have no idea how much a performance hit i'm going to take for using a riser!? I've found a tonne of sites that sell risers, both pcb style and flexy, are there any differnce in performance between the two?

As part of the new build i've bought a water cooling that i know is up to performance for my system but is another factor that is making me sway towards a flexy card (it would allow me to leave some room for the water block and open the possabilities for gfx card mounting arrangements). Most of the fixed risers place the gfx card about 40/60mm from the motherboard with the chips facing in towards the MB (not much space for cooling).

Any suggestions?
 

bob8701

Distinguished
Feb 22, 2006
251
0
18,780
you mean a 90 degree pci-e riser, are you sure you have enough room for the video card stay parallet to mother board and not touch anything, and how do you connect the dvi output to the monitor?
and how do you support the weight of the video card?
it will be so cool to see You actually build one.
for high speed digital data, the shorter travel distance is better, the longer distance, the noise and interfence go up fast.
 

andy_mcp1

Distinguished
Jan 15, 2008
7
0
18,510
Bob, thanks for the reply, i intend to use a 90 degree/flexy riser to place the gfx card in parrellel with the MB. I've done some calcs and sketched up a few designs and i believe that i can stick the card in at bout 50/60mm from the MB and still get the waterblock on. The water block i intend to use is linked below and has no pre-mounted barbs, thus allowing me to screw 90 degree barbs to it and mount the gfx card closer to the MB. If all elsle fails the 8800GT is a single slot card and would take less room than with the water cooling.

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27_78&products_id=694 WaterCooling UK

As for supporting the card, i'm intending to build a sturdy stand/support for it to sit on, constructed from left overs of an Acrylic panel i've bought for facing the front of my new case. I will also mount some of the Acrylic to the inside of the side panel of the case to prevent any shorts. (dont fancy blowing up £200!)

since i'm constructing the case from scratch with sheet alluminium, i'll be able to create a vertical mount/cut out for the card dvi ports/connections so will be out the back as per norm.

Basicly my case design is as small as an HTPC but verticaly mounted with a water cooling kit, PCI-E 8800GT, ATX MB and ATX PSU fit snug inside.