Nofan CS-70 Fanless Computer Case

I built a system using this case along with the Nofan P-400A Silent 400W Fanless Power Supply Unit and Nofan CR-95C Pearl Black IcePipe 95W Fanless CPU Cooler. I considered using another PSU, hoping for even higher efficiency, but the NoFan PSU takes air in at the bottom and exhausts it from the sides and the case is designed for this: the PSU fits flush beneath a metal plate at the top so PSUs with different airflow might not work.

I used a ASUS P8B75-M (Ivy Bridge socket 1155) motherboard which is not listed as compatible but has the CPU in what looks like a normal position and everything fits fine. I also used Corsair XMS3 memory which has heat spreaders and this fit easily underneath the heat sink. The CPU is a i7 3770T and I use the on built-in graphics. Running Linux, at idle the system uses 29W and sits at 31C. Watching video with XBMC the CPU temperature rises to 36C. I have not done full load testing yet.

I was impressed that the front and sides of the case come off with no tools. There is a dust filter that fits magnetically at the bottom. Cable routing for this build was straightforward, however NoFan dropped the ball with the IEC connector on the PSU which goes to an internal cable that routes power to the connector on the bottom of the case. Either it is upside down or the right angle connector on the cable turns the wrong way because there is some metal cable channelling in the case for this cable but it cannot be used because the cable exits the PSU in the wrong direction! No big problem but not as tidy as it could have been, and it seems like a silly mistake.

The motherboard fitting was one of the easier ones I have done; everything lined up perfectly. The hard disks fit nicely; I use a 2.5” SSD and 2x 3.5” HDDs and I can use the three power connectors from one lead from the PSU. For the HDDs there are rubber grommets and special screws which dampen vibration noise. However there is still a hum from the HDDs in this otherwise silent system, so I configure them to spin down as much as possible. The hot swap SATA bay is genius for backup and using HDDs as if they were big memory sticks. Just turn on AHCI on your motherboard to use it.

The only other negative point is that the top cover and buttons look a bit cheap and plasticky. But overall it is a very nice looking case and is nice to work with. It sits in plain view in the lounge making no noise and my wife is happy. Buy one.

I was lucky enough to receive a pre-production CS-70 thanks to QuietPC.com and am very impressed at the case. I’ve built a few systems with HFX and other components and the CS-70 was a breeze and the silence is fantastic after the noisy Dell 435MT it replaces. The P-400A power supply slides in very easily and is secured quickly - a nice touch is that the female socket for the mains lead is hidden from the outside and means the cable is less likely to be pulled out. The only slightly awkward part is that you add the CPU and memory to the motherboard and then put it in the case >before< installing the CR-95C CPU cooler as the cooler obscures several of the motherboard mounting screws. This is explained on the Nofan site and a very cute little bottle of thermal paste with brush is supplied which makes this very easy. You have to be a bit careful with the height of your RAM as very large heat sinks will foul the cooler, too. I used the recommended Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 and an i7-2700K which is sitting at 44C on all cores with a VM running and several other applications.