Argh!! Case choice in driving me bonkers

[Seearbe]

This is by far the hardest part of the build spec.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether any of the following are good or bad? Or just comments on which they would choose and why.

Please!!!!!!!!!!

All I want is a case that looks nice, sleek and sophisticated, without too much bling but not a big block of bland; performs well, and isn't noisy.

1) be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 Rev 2.
Biggest of the lot. I have the space under my desk, no probs, but it's big. Gives most flexibility and longevity of all the cases though. Has internal ODD so wouldn't need to get an external one. Sound dampened.

2) NZXT H510 (or other appropriate NZXT case)
Bit smaller obviously but less features.

3) Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-06
As above really.

4) be quiet! Pure Base 500
Again, as above really.

5) be quiet! Silent Base 600
Midway between the above in a way. But I couldn't stomach the lack of PSU shroud on the windowed version, so would have to go windowless.

6) Fractal Design Define R6
Ticks a lot of boxes but it just looks a bit dull

*bangs head*

 

[Kurgen]

Have you looked at phanteks?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Phanteks Enthoo 719 Full Tower DRGB Case - Gunmetal Grey= £179.99
• 1 x Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X Digital Midi Tower Glass Gaming Case - Galaxy Silver= £199.99
• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P600S Glass Silent Midi Tower Case - Black= £134.99
• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower DRGB Case - Black= £83.99
• 2 x Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Glass RGB Special Edition - Black/White= £109.99

Total: £866.22 (includes shipping: £47.28)​

​

 

[Relentless81]

Fractal design make the best full size ATX cases, either the Meshify C for air flow or the Define series

Both are as compact as you can get a full ATX build in, I've owned both and still own the Meshify C

 

[Seearbe]

Have you looked at phanteks?

• 1 x Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X Digital Midi Tower Glass Gaming Case - Galaxy Silver= £199.99

​

Thanks for the suggestions.

This is the only one I liked the look of but by the time I'm spending that kind of money, it seems I might as well get the DB900r2. I'd have to get an ODD adapter with the phanteks so pretty much the same price.

 

[Seearbe]

Fractal design make the best full size ATX cases, either the Meshify C for air flow or the Define series

Both are as compact as you can get a full ATX build in, I've owned both and still own the Meshify C

Thanks for that. Helpful to hear from someone who has a fractal case.

I had ruled out the meshify as, at that time, I was thinking I wanted a noise dampened case. I'm not sure that's necessary as I'm not looking at particularly noisy components other than gpu so will look into that further.

I need space for 2 x HDD and 2 x SSD. I cab see where the HDD would go in the meshify C but not where there SSD fit. Any clueses?

Three S2 probably looks most versatile from a storage drive perspective.

 

[ChugNorris]

Phanteks Evolv X is pretty much the best case mentioned so far on this thread. I think they beat Fractal on aesthetics and match them on features too.

 

[Vidar]

Phanteks Evolv X is pretty much the best case mentioned so far on this thread. I think they beat Fractal on aesthetics and match them on features too.

100% agree with this! Having owned a 900 pro I can say the build quality just wasn't there for me, down to the little things like screws stripping with minimal pressure etc and paint getting far to easily scratched.

Now I own a P600s after winning one on a forum competition and can say I am now a Phanteks convert! The build quality and attention to detail are second to none and I've owned several high end expensive cases in the past.

If I was in the market for a new case the Evolve X would be my first choice!

 

[Seearbe]

100% agree with this! Having owned a 900 pro I can say the build quality just wasn't there for me, down to the little things like screws stripping with minimal pressure etc and paint getting far to easily scratched.

Now I own a P600s after winning one on a forum competition and can say I am now a Phanteks convert! The build quality and attention to detail are second to none and I've owned several high end expensive cases in the past.

If I was in the market for a new case the Evolve X would be my first choice!

I did read about the screws stripping and also USB ports not working. Wasn't sure if that was the rev.2 version or not however.

I'll research this phanteks a bit more I think.

 

[Vidar]

I did read about the screws stripping and also USB ports not working. Wasn't sure if that was the rev.2 version or not however.

I'll research this phanteks a bit more I think.

Trust me you will not regret getting a Phanteks and this is coming from someone who has spent upto £300 on getting the "right" case!

 

[Seearbe]

Trust me you will not regret getting a Phanteks and this is coming from someone who has spent upto £300 on getting the "right" case!

Gamers Nexus aren't too keen on it!

 

[Vidar]

Which one?

 

[Seearbe]

Which one?

Evolve X. Described it as being very middle of the pack in terms of performance.

 

[Vidar]

Then go for the P600s I remember them and others giving it a stellar review! Having not had the Evolv X I can't comment on performance but build quality of Phanteks cases is what I'm pushing here.

 

[Seearbe]

Then go for the P600s I remember them and others giving it a stellar review! Having not had the Evolv X I can't comment on performance but build quality of Phanteks cases is what I'm pushing here.

Yeah, and build quality does count for a lot. Toy don't want to drop a load of cash on something that doesn't last or you find a screw is only just holding on. Unfortunately the p600 just isn't to my taste aesthetically.

 

[Vidar]

Plenty of other cases in the line up though fortunately.

 

[McPhee]

Both are as compact as you can get a full ATX build in

That's not even remotely close to being true. The Meshify C is 40.5 litres. The smallest ATX case is 19.43 litres (and manages EATX support). There are a bunch of other cases that sit between the two as well.

Gamers Nexus aren't too keen on it!

Worth bearing in mind that GN always uses the stock fan configuration (as do many review sites). Not sure how this affects the Evolv X, but it's worth bearing in mind; with some cases the reason for the poor performance is the cheap case fans, or too few case fans, or poor positioning.

Always worth looking at user reviews, as different cases have different optimal set-ups.

 

[ChugNorris]

GN and Phanteks don't play together very well. Whilst I usually think Tech Jesus is spot on, there perhaps is a bit of bad feeling there which could be a reason for the only above average Evolv X review, when pretty much everyone else loved it. Frankly the Evolv X excels in aesthetics and features. Airflow isn't going to beat a mesh fronted chassis but it's very much a case for the watercooling or high end AIO market. For the money I don't think there's a better case on the market. It's been Kitgurus top case recommendation for over a year now (and the Enthoo 719 is second!)

 

[Seearbe]

Worth bearing in mind that GN always uses the stock fan configuration (as do many review sites).

This is a very good point. I would plan on adding some extras fans to the case regardless.

I had another look at the p600s and the photos of the black one didn't do it justice. Now I've seen it in white I can see the lines a lot better and it is nice.

But think I'm going to go for the dark base 700.

 

[McPhee]

Nice choice. Always fancied one of the Be Quiet cases; they seem like they've been designed with a lot of thought. Just wish they'd do some small form factor (even <30 litres would do) cases.

The fans thing was something I noticed when I was shopping for my current case. It ships without fans, so that's how they tested it. And then they complained that it's a "hot box" Unsurprisingly, the addition of a few case fans (of varying quality) knocked double digit values off the CPU, GPU, and case temperatures.