Mining/Workstation Rig

[NameTaken]

I already have open air rigs set up in my mining room but I also want to have a future mining rig to double as a workstation at my desk with 4770K, 16GB RAM and Windows 8. I can use the HD 4600 iGPU in the 4770K for display output so I would not get screen lag or reduce my hashrate. Silence will be top priority so a silence optimized case such as the Corsair 550D or Define XL R2 would be ideal. For the motherboard I have narrowed it down to the ASUS TUF series Sabertooth or the GIGABYTE Z87X-OC. The Sabertooth with thermal armor, motherboard fans, extra PCB sensors, and increased overall durability seems like the logical choice for the abuse it will be taking with 3 graphics card mining 24/7 in an enclosed case. The GIGABYTE Z87X-OC because it is the cheapest motherboard that can natively support 4 dual slot cards without risers. I haven't decided on graphics cards yet from the R9 295X2 to 280 from Sapphire, MSI or ASUS. For the CPU cooler, high end heatsinks would not fit on the Z87X-OC but 240mm AIO can fit in the front of the XL R2 or 140mm radiator on the rear of both. I have never used a case for my mining rigs so I would appreciate any thoughts on the feasibility of something like this.

[Wipeout2097]

Your choice of components is very good. It is indeed feasible, with 2 or even 3 undervolted ASUS videocards. I suggest DirectCU II Top, Matrix or Poseidon (with liquid cooling support).

Stay away from mining scrypt and scrypt-n on hotter days, and you will be fine. I started mining scrypt last Summer/Autumn in a case, with an ASUS 6950 and a 7870. They are still doing fine and I wasn't careful at all, but luck played a part.  

Otoh, having 4 cards close together mining like on that pic, is asking for trouble.

[NameTaken]

Fixed a few mistakes in my OP so it should make more sense now. I'm leaning more towards the Define XL R2 as the case. It has 9 PCI expansion slots so with the Sabertooth motherboard, the first and third cards can be up to 3 slots wide. For 2 slot cards, the DirectCU II and Twin Frozr IV seem like they are two the best but have heard that some do not have dual BIOS switch or are voltage locked.

[BitCoinPokerBro]

Rosewill Thor is a pretty bad ass case with tons of cooling

[NameTaken]

Rosewill Thor is a pretty bad ass case with tons of cooling

Silence is top priority.

Sample - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l59tSalJy_Q

[NameTaken]

So something like this with the Z87X-OC would not be feasible inside of an enclosed case with flow focused fans blowing behind it?

[Wipeout2097]

Well, one thing is a picture to lure high-end gamers and PC enthusiasts, other is real world usage 24/7 at (scrypt) coin mining.

I suggest you buy in 2 batches. First the base and experiment with videocards from your existing rig, put them close together like in the picture, undervolt, monitor the temperatures, torture test with 1 or 2 minutes of scrypt-N and Furmark (keeping a fire extingusher nearby  ), think about worst case hot summer days, etc... Then commit to buy the # of videocards you feel comfortable to leave unnatended

[NameTaken]

Well, one thing is a picture to lure high-end gamers and PC enthusiasts, other is real world usage 24/7 at (scrypt) coin mining.

I suggest you buy in 2 batches. First the base and experiment with videocards from your existing rig, put them close together like in the picture, undervolt, monitor the temperatures, torture test with 1 or 2 minutes of scrypt-N and Furmark (keeping a fire extingusher nearby  ), think about worst case hot summer days, etc... Then commit to buy the # of videocards you feel comfortable to leave unnatended

The cards I have now have the Dual-X cooler which primary blows hot air out the rear of the card so the front radiator fans would not be as effective in helping to cool them. The new Sapphire 280X Vapor-X Tri-X are not 2.2 slots wide anymore so they should be able fit next to one and another. Tri-X's extra long heatsink and triple fans looks to be even better than DirectCU II and Twin Frozr IV.