Gigabyte 3D aurora

[greyeyezz]

Few questions
Does the door come off?
Do the stock fans really perform poorly?
Does the dust filter get clogged easily and impede airflow?
Is it as big inside as it seems?
Thanks.

 

[Zepper]

I can comment on the size - the Aurora 3d is basically a stretch CoolerMaster Centurion done up in aluminum. It has useful extra height (more drives, etc) and has only minor extra depth and all of that is in the bezel bulge. Some sites say it will fit those 8800GTX cards (but just barely or maybe requiring slight modification) others say it won't. The new Aurora 570 is much deeper than the original version - will fit cards up to 12.5" long. About the only other unusual things are that a dual-120 radiator is allowed for on the back panel and grommeted port holes for WCing tubes are standard.

.bh.

 

[bloodugly]

The door will come off. its held at the top and bottom with screws to the hinges. not sure if the hinges will come out, haven't taken off the door to find out.

The stock fans aren't very good at all, very low airflow and not exactly as quiet as I'd have guessed considering the low RPMs they run at.

Haven't had it long enough to know if the filter gests clogged.

Its pretty roomy inside, and pretty easy to work with.

Overall, its a very nice, well built case. I'd recommend changing the fans though if you want any kind of good cooling for your components. Or you could go the watercooling route since its built with that option in mind.

Hope that helps.

 

[aigomorla]

saw one up close, and i didnt like it.

Honestly,

CM STacker = TT Armor > Gigabyte aurora.


Id suggest looking at a stacker or Armor instead.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I just got the aurora 570 (the newer one) and I love it. Very large - my mobo looks dwarfed in there now compared to my old case - and is pretty light. You could easily fit an 8800GTX in there with room to spare. The front is mostly aluminum as well, and the door has his real metal hinges instead of those cheap plastic ones that you usually find on a case. The door is solid aluminum about 1/8 inch thick. It has a toolless design for the drives and cards, but I removed the card thingy and just used screws.

However yes the stock fans suck, they are quiet but airflow is pathetic. I put the acrylic panel in place of the mesh - looks better IMO - and temps increased really quickly in there due to a lack of airflow. I'm using the mesh again. I think it was stupid to put 2 120mm fans in the back with the only air intake being from a single 120mm fan in the front. I plan to watercool at some point anyway - reason why I got the case actually - so the airflow problem won't be a problem after I do that. Also the HD rack is sidesaddle - bad for airflow - and doesn't rubber mount the drives. I'm thinking of looking into rotating the drive rack 90 degrees and modding the drive rails to hold some rubber grommets. Maybe.

 

[greyeyezz]

I like the dual 120's in back.
TT armor- don't want no 90mm fans, to noisy.

 

[J2T]

I'm planning on possibly getting the Aurora here shortly, and I like the 2 120s being in the back. Its better to have negative air pressure inside the case than positive pressure. You want that hot air going out as much as possible.

 

[SparkyJJO]

J2T if you get the Aurora I'd get new fans for it. I don't have any sophisticated test equipment but the stock fans while quiet have poor airflow which is surprising for the size of the blades and the 1000RPM they spin at. Or maybe I was spoiled from my old aerocool 120mm turbine fan, same RPM and noise but definitely more airflow (it had 11 or 13 blades or something crazy like that).

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

I owned a CM STacker 830 raved about it the day I received it in a review here and later smashed it with a sledgehammer along with a nice PSU & Asus MB. (Yep my nick name applies.... and luckily I got the money to toss around to take that loss easily.) The CM830 that I had there was a very bad flaw where the cards would not seat properly and caused me all kinds of grief.

I think I may get one of these and see if it gets smashed too. LOL!

P.S. I should probably update my sig....

 

[SparkyJJO]

You smashed it? You could have just contacted coolermaster ya know, they fixed that right away and were sending out free replacement parts to customers. And if you don't like something just send it to me, and since you apparently have extra cash throw a hundred bucks in my paypal account each month would you?

 

[greyeyezz]

Sometimes it feels better to smash something believe me i know.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: greyeyezz
Sometimes it feels better to smash something believe me i know.

Yeah I know, but smashing a $250 case, plus a mobo and PSU with it - total of $450 at least? - just is messed up. I've rarely got spare cash to burn, let alone that much, so I don't care if he's got money to burn, it just seems wasteful.

 

[Old Hippie]

smashed it with a sledgehammer along with a nice PSU & Asus MB.

Have a few issues, do we?

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

Have a few issues, do we?

Yep! That week I sure did!

I had a very bad week and sadly had a major break down moment.... my in-laws were sitting in the driveway in the mid summer sipping on a beer enjoying the sun as I trudge passed them in a fit.... shotput the case as far as I could grab the sledgehammer and get only 2 whacks at it (yes I was their hero because they are die hard bikers... yeah the Hell's Angels types) before the handle snapped because it hit the frame....says a lot for CM's construction. All I got from them were Cheers! LOL

No normally I'm a pretty mild mannered fella.... just these PC probs all added up and added up.... would you believe the end result was a bad SATA drive? effin A.

I still look back on that day and say WTF?!?!?

 

[Swufabuda]

I've had the Gigabyte Aurora for about 2.5 years now. It has served me well. Yes the stock fans are on the lacking side of air volume moved. I don't have a 8800GTX at the moment but I did install one in a friends computer. Judging by that I do believe it would fit this case but ,would be very close to the harddrive bays. Sinse the power plugs for the 8800's are on the side not the end. I don't think there will be any problem. bloodugly
As for the filter getting clogged it will to a certain extent and reduce the air flow. I removed the filter from mine and had alot better airflow which took some of my temps. down a couple of degrees. I also replaced all 3 stock 120's with Thermaltake thunderblades they move 78cfm and I can't tell that they are alot louder than stock

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: greyeyezz
I like the dual 120's in back.
TT armor- don't want no 90mm fans, to noisy.

ummmmm 90mm fans noisey eh?? Not really... but okey...

Quite hoenstly i dont like the auroa. I have expressed this b4, and the reason is because of this!

Here

That case cant do jack compared to my other 2. Im sorry but id like to see it try. If i wanted a dual radiator setup on the auroa, it aint going to happen because i'll lose too much of my front bays.

Theres no way in hell a 120x3 radiator will fit on the auroa even moded, unless im willing to lose A LOT of top realestate. As well as 2 bays and also risk mobo compatibility.

So i ask again, why not just pick up a stacker for the same price. If your really insistant on 120x2 on the rear, the Stacker RC810 has that feature and its tons better then gigacrap.


Sorry i really dont like there brand after having 4 mobo's fail and 1 craptastic case from them.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I'm looking at my aurora 570 and with some modding (involves moving the PSU down a little) a 120x3 rad would fit in the top no problem, yeah I would lose 2 or 3 5.25" bays but I only have 2 drives anyway. There is also still enough room I could put a fan controller in one of the other bays since they'd only be partially blocked. As to how a rad in the top could risk mobo compatibility I don't know, there is a ton of room between the top of the case and the mobo tray. Or a 120x2 rad can fit right on the back of the case where there are already 2x 120mm fans, and a second one in the top of the case in front of the PSU (losing those 2 or 3 top bays again but there are still 2 full bays left).

Which aurora did you have? The newer 570 is a little bigger so it has more room for rads and such.

I'm going to be watercooling once I get the cash so I'll prove a 120x3 rad can fit in the top

Funny how you've had trouble with their boards, I've used several (in my system and customer systems) and they've always been decent boards. Heck the budget board I used in the one system had the more expensive high quality caps on it. Guess it goes down to what you've experienced, like I won't buy WD hard drives since they've always died on me but others have no trouble.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
I'm looking at my aurora 570 and with some modding (involves moving the PSU down a little) a 120x3 rad would fit in the top no problem, yeah I would lose 2 or 3 5.25" bays but I only have 2 drives anyway. There is also still enough room I could put a fan controller in one of the other bays since they'd only be partially blocked. As to how a rad in the top could risk mobo compatibility I don't know, there is a ton of room between the top of the case and the mobo tray. Or a 120x2 rad can fit right on the back of the case where there are already 2x 120mm fans, and a second one in the top of the case in front of the PSU (losing those 2 or 3 top bays again but there are still 2 full bays left).

Which aurora did you have? The newer 570 is a little bigger so it has more room for rads and such.

I'm going to be watercooling once I get the cash so I'll prove a 120x3 rad can fit in the top

Funny how you've had trouble with their boards, I've used several (in my system and customer systems) and they've always been decent boards. Heck the budget board I used in the one system had the more expensive high quality caps on it. Guess it goes down to what you've experienced, like I won't buy WD hard drives since they've always died on me but others have no trouble.

:] well if you need any help in the watercooling section drop me a pm.

And yeah i dont like WD also, but the fastest non SCSI drives you can get are from WD, and im kinda stuck with 2 at the moment until another competitor, comes out with 10k rpms.