So, I learned that the Strider "Gold Evolution" will not actually fit in the case - will have to go with the Strider "Plus" series to take advantage of the short-cable kit.

Also weighing up my options for SSD/HDDs. As it stands, it's most likely going to end up with a 240gb Intel 520, and a 2tb WD Caviar Black.

Hello gamers and overclockers, nicej here. It has been 3 months since the completion of my rather large Cosmos II build, and I think an update is overdue - but boy do I have updates lined up for you!

Since its completion I have taken the beast to about 4 LANs so far;
Two complaints:

• Fan noise (should have seen that coming)
• Weight of the case

There are a total of 11 fans in this rig, and they are all 3,000rpm fans. 8 of them are speed controllable, but the 3 GT3000's on the top 360rad are not - they only have one speed and that's "go" (Charlie Sheen, 2011).

What I can do is replace the entirety of the fans to the little brother of the family GT1850s, they are a noticeable 10 or so decibels quieter (iirc), but that means dishing out over $300 for eleven more fans. Probably the least of my worries currently.

On a more serious note, the sheer weight of the thing...I have got to do something about that...but what?

I could replace the case, to a slimmer full aluminium case from say CaseLabs or Lian Li; but the Cosmos II is too good looking (imho). That would mean an additional expensive of $500-$800 depending on the brand and case (plus shipping).

Seems like a pretty unnecessary expense, for a ill-thought out initial purchase of a case which is mainly build out of steel, and which I knew would be taken to many LANs in it's lifetime. However instead of spending that kind of cash for another case, leaving the Cosmos II to be used as a kennel - I have decided to go ahead and build a completely separate machine purely for LAN purposes. 

Luckily for me, recently a brand new, phenomenal mini-ITX case has been released by BitFenix. I plan on incorporating this absolutely beautiful and diverse case into my next build. Here is a parts list which is going to be ordered next week:

• BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Case
• G.Skill Ares 1866Mhz 8GB kit
• ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini ITX Motherboard
• Intel Core i7 2600K
• Corsair Hydro H100 CPU Cooler
• Silverstone Strider 850W Gold Evolution
• Silverstone ATX short cable kit for Strider series
• EVGA GeForce GTX670

At this stage I have about 4 days to decide whether or not to go with i7 2600K or bite the bullet and get an Ivy Bridge either 3570K or 3770K. The temps for an overclocked IB is just abysmal, and on the SB is just a breeze, especially with an H100. The only reason why I'd consider IB is to take advantage of PCIe3.0, which on paper gives you double the bandwidth but real world testing doesn't see any practical advantage, especially on single monitor setups. Thoughts?