Lian Li PC-V351 and i7 SLI build - Will it fit and is it worth it?

Hi guys,

I'm planning a new PC out which is going to be my gaming box and am really thinking about going MicroATX versus ATX so that I can use a smaller enclosure for more portability. Here is my current setup.

Lian Li PC-V351
ASUS Rampage II GENE X58 MicroATX Mobo
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66ghz CPU
6 GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 RAM
1 TB Seagate Barracuda ST31000528AS SATA HD
2 EVGA 260 GTX Core 216 Superclocked cards in SLI
Pioneer 20X DVD Burner
Seasonic M12D 850w PSU
Windows Vista/7

SO...

Question 1) Will all of this fit in that case?

Question 2) Should I go with this setup in this chassis or swap the ASUS Rampage II GENE for a ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 and move to a normal ATX size case? Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks all,

Ramzie

Hi,

I have a very similar build which I finally finished today:

Lian Li PC-V351B Aluminium Cube Case - Black (No PSU)
4 Drive 2.5in Removable SAS SATA Mobile Rack Backplane StarTech.com ID: SATABAY425BK
2X Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (SSDSA2MH080G1)
2X Zotac GeForce GTX 285 1024MB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card - Retail
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - OEM
Asus Rampage II Gene Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express mATX DDR3 Motherboard
Seasonic M12D 850w Quad GFX Enabled ATX Power Supply
Crucial 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Triple Channel (CT3KIT25664BA1339)
2X Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B 1TB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (0A38016)
Scythe Mini Ninja CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
Noctua NF-P12 Vortex-Control 120mm Quiet Case Fan - 3 Pin
Noctua NF-R8 80mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin
1X Thermaltake extreme spirit II
2X nidec gamma 28 blower fan
Old DVD drive.

Q1) Yes, it will fit in the case provided your graphics cards are the same shape with power sockets in the same place as the ones above.
Q2) Only go down this route if you really need or want a small box.

At first I had heat problems and couldn't get much of an overclock.

The Gene northbridge cooler consists of: thermal pad, 1mm aluminium plate, heatpipe, aluminum block, heat transfer compound, aluminum fins. That's 7 interfaces between the chip and the air.

I now have the system running stable at 3.8GHz quiet enough for gaming. At 3.2GHz it is quiet enough for working.

I did the following mods:

1) Cut 80 mm diameter hole in the HDD cage fan grille and add Lian-li aluminium fan grille (which has better airflow than the perforated sheet aluminium). This helps to get the hot air out of the top of the case faster.

2) I tried a few solutions with the northbridge. Eventually I removed the entire ASUS northbridge and VRM cooler and heatpipe assembly. I put a thermaltake extreme spirit II directly onto the northbridge silicon with arctic ceramique. I pulled the heatpipe out of the ASUS VRM cooler and replaced the finned part on the VRMs using arctic ceramique instead of the silicone pad (I'm not sure this was a good idea but it's working OK at the moment).

3) I replaced the 40mm fan on the extreme spirit cooler with a nidec gamma 28 blower (attached with a loop of cable ties to the spirit and another loop to the ninja through some plastic washers acting as a standoff) and attached another blower (with cable ties) to the rear side of the ninja pointing straight down at the VRM fins. This second blower sucks extra air over the ninja CPU heatsink and directs it down over the VRM sink and motherboard. I attached a heat sensor to the VRM sink. I used the Gene fan headers for these two blowers, opt fan 1 for the VRMs under thermal control from the heat sensor and opt fan 2 for the northbridge on duty mode.

As I'm typing now, I'm running 3.2GHz with CPU@40C NB@46C SB@52C MB@34C VRMs@41C.

Some notes:

The HDAUDIO cable for the front panel didn't quite reach the Gene header. I had to use the AC97 plug which is on the same cable and allows it to reach.

You should install the 5 1/4 bay devices first because the thumbscrews are obscured by either the PSU or the HDDs.

You have to plug the left chassis fan in before you install the left graphics card.

You should route power to the HDD cage before installing the PSU or the motherboard. I put the cable in through the bottom of the cage before noticing there is a cutout at the top that would allow you to route a cable over the top of the PSU.

It's easier to route SATA cables to the HDD cage before installing the PSU.

The motherboard can be built up and tested outside the case and then slid in with the exception that you will have to remove the power cables and reattach them. The extra power to the graphics cards is a bit fiddly. Your build has different cards. If the power connectors are in the same place as mine they should be OK.

The cable routing can be done reasonably neatly for good airflow if you make use of the space at the bottom of the case between the front chassis fans and the motherboard tray to route the power to the motherboard and the graphics cards - you end up with a completely clear tunnel from the front fans to the inputs of the ninja and the blower on the northbridge.

I found this to be quite a difficult build mainly because I had to do it a few times to get the cooling right. There are some nice watercooled V350s described on the web. I was tempted to watercool but I want to put this machine in my hold baggage when I travel and I am constrained by weight.

I'm happy with my build but I don't want to ever have to open the covers and work on the inside again!