@taskforce, I decided to try this case:

http://www.coolermaster.com/case/lan-box/haf-xb/

I like the portable design of it, and there seems to be plenty of room inside.
Just thought I'd share.

 

Go water cooler it's one of the best upgrades I have done. CPU / PC is cool and quiet.

 

@digitaldragon
Dude i give up, after all that chat you picked a lan party case that is a 2012 model

 

Last edited: Feb 14, 2018

Dude, you are a complete taskforce of one. When and if my paygrade notches up a few rungs by the end of the year I would love you to spec out the machine of my dreams. I have hopes for a silent runner whence I patch the hole in my pocket.

 

anyone recommend any additional aftermarket fans for the ole cheesgrater mac pro's (in particular the 2009 4,1's)... or only apple made ones?

 

Sorry to disappoint.
I liked the portability and space it seemed like it had. I saw some other 7700K builds done with it. Supposedly airflow in it is pretty good too.
This PC will be moving around frequently between my mix room and a recording location. After lugging that old RAIDMAX case around for the last several years, I think this will be nicer in regards to that. Ultimately, I plan on finding a 4U or greater rack case for even better protection while moving, this was just a cheap way to get my build started. Those nice rack cases certainly aren't cheap. And belive me, I googled like hell trying to find some kind of portable solution. There's not a lot out there without parting with lots of cash.
When all is said and done, I'll still be able to use the old Phenom for some other tasks. I'm interested in the idea of offloading plugin processing to another machine once I can figure out what's involved in that. It's my understanding that you can do this with Reaper. Don't know about Sonar.

 

I would use this thing with only one fan in the mid section. When you have such a huge chunk of metal on your CPU, you really don't need many fans. But it is important that the air-flow in your chassis is good. One fan in the back and monitor the temps. Then add second fan in front and monitor the temps. I'm usually aiming for temps around 50-55c at the most when CPU is working 100%. That's for a quiet rig, of course. If noise is not that important, I just make everything as cool as possible with moderate noise and temps never reaching 50c. With a good chassis, one fan in the back and one on the CPU is usually enough. Additionally, one in front is a good safety measure. And of course they never reach more than 1200 RPM. I'm usually aiming for ~500-800 RPM. That is nice and quiet.

Scythe makes bad-arse-mudda coolerz, too. Just about any a bit more expensive Scythe cooler will do. But Noctua coolers and fans are really badarse, too!

Cheers!

 

Last edited: Feb 14, 2018

Not worth an upgrade really. Just disconnect the fan and cooler and clean them thoroughly, clean the cpu from past thermal paste leftovers, re-apply new thermal paste, re-connect the cooler and fan. With that said, you may find some good cooler options for the 1366 socket your Mac is in the second hand market, mainly ebay.

Why should i be disappointed. No worries bro. You did mention moving the pc from place to be place would suit your needs. I should pick it up, it just came late into discussion ,np. Slight misunderstandings like this happen all the time. Originally i assumed you 'd need something more powerful with more options. The CoolerMaster case you chose could be a neat solution, when portability is in play. It only takes two 3.5" drives though, the rest have to be 2.5". If top case handles mean portability to you this could also be a contender, although bigger it's quite more spacious too and can also take a 240mm radiator on top:
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/vengeance-c70-mid-tower-gaming-case-gunmetal-black
Actually these 2 solutions, the CM Haf XB/Evo and the Corsair C70 are the most popular among users who want a portable system with a full atx mobo.

Thanks for the quote my friend. Crossing my fingers all goes well for ya, get your dow and 'll do my best to provide you with some viable powerful options All the best

Double that, hehehe. Scythe's Mugen 5 rev.B is an excellent air cooler and a legit rival to Noctua's NH-D15 when it comes to cooling socket 1151 cpus. Noctua comes with a 7 year warranty though.
Cheers

 

Last edited: Feb 14, 2018

I know you said you don;t really wanna go for water cooling, but I would still recommend this: https://www.nzxt.com/products/kraken-x62

I got one a couple of years back and it is outstanding. Allows me to cool my Core i7 4960X Extreme Edition 6 core (12 thread) CPU down to about 30 degrees at idle (with fans at 400rpm using resistor) and below 60 degrees when under load at an overclock of 4.6GHz (and fans rarely go about 6-800rpm). Added to that, it makes zero audible noise that I can hear from my machine. Nice big 140mm fans, so they spin slowly to achieve the same air flow as smaller (normally 80-90mm or 100-120mm on larger stupid big coolers that take up the entire inside of your PC) fans typically found on block-style coolers that whiz at a higher, and noisier, rpm. No pump noise either. I was also dubious about water cooling, but this is one piece of PC hardware I have zero regrets over purchasing and is dead silent compared to the previous Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo I had in there, which is normally a recommended decent cooler, and the Noctua D15 one I had previous to that before it died on me. Plus, it takes up virtually no space in the main area of your PC's insides, but do check you have space to attach a 280mm radiator and the fans.

 

Yep,double this one too, great cooler, the only downside is at about 150-160 euros, it's one of the most expensive as well. Otherwise it's top class for sure.

 

you cant go wrong with a custom building a cooler i built my cooler myself custom sli gpu/cpu block from ekg custom radiator and custom liquid
( thats rgb from primo chill)with asus enabled rgb fans, i have an overclock on my core i9 thats at 4.5ghz and stays cool at 40 degrees max gpus stay at 40 degrees heavilly overclocked to (2.1ghz on the core and 9000 mhz on the vram sli 1080tis)
there is how ever drawbacks it does take for ever to put together with bending tubeing makeing sure all the fittings are correctlly placed and you have to clean it and drain it and refill it every 2 mopnths or so but my god its worth it.

 

Last edited: Feb 15, 2018

You are obviously talking about a gaming pc. Audio pcs usually don't include dual GeForce 1080 TIs or custom water loops unless the user is an extreme gamer and oc'er. I mean around 2.1ghz is the best 1080ti oc clock you can get with water cooling. The card reportedly doesn't get past 2.2 ghz under any kind of conventional custom liquid loop.

Only if you use the pastel coolant variety. And even with that it should be around 3-4 months. Put some clear liquid there and you won't have to flush & refill for 1 or even 2 years.

It's clear you like showing this build, why don't you show us some pic man.

 

Hello.
Don't forget to measure the inside of the computer, so the new cooler will fit beneath the lid - you'll have to close it ! Big coolers, with 120 mm fans, like Hyper 212, do not fit in an average-sized mid-tower, for instance.

 

Pretty sure it'll fit the case. I noticed a few builds using the Noctua and the Cooler Master LAN box I got.