An alternative to HAF X

SpoonedurI

SpoonedurI

SpoonedurI

Associate
Joined
4 Oct 2010
Posts
50
Hey everyone, I'm on a look out for a new "future proof" case (big enough to serve for 6+ years including possible expansion to watercooling and hardware upgrades) that has air cooling performance comparable to the HAF X.

Because of all the user reviews and performance benchmarks HAF X was my first case of choice but ideally i'd like something that is a bit...nicer on the eyes.

I wouldn't want to spend over £180 unless its something super-duper amazing.

Any suggestions?
 
I'd say cases with 120mm intake fans are old hat now.:eek:

You can get a Silverstone Fortress FT02S (silver) for £167 I'd get that.
 
Last edited:
Silverstone cases are a big no-no as i'm using the h50 cooler.

I also considered 71AF but not too sure about the airflow as ill have to use the rear fans to push air into the case
 
If you plan on going water cooling for sure and by that I don't mean the corsair h50 I mean cpu under water gpu too etc then I'd get a dedicated good water cooling case like the corsair 700d/800d or silverstone tj07 doesn't matter that it's air cooling ability isn't amazing.

But in terms of style and air cooling performance with ability to do small water cooling like 240 rad etc the ft02 is fine.
The Coolermaster ATCS 840 is the logical choice here it's bigger than the Haf X but with similar ability and space but with better looks.
 
Last edited:
Lian li: with the rad from h50 i effectively will be left with just 1 fan blowing cool air in. I don't think that's enough with the progressesly bigger and hotter gfx cards.

I would like to have a proper w/c set up eventually but its just way out of my budget atm, which is why i need a case with decent air cooling :p
 
SpoonedurI said:
Lian li: with the rad from h50 i effectively will be left with just 1 fan blowing cool air in. I don't think that's enough with the progressesly bigger and hotter gfx cards.

I would like to have a proper w/c set up eventually but its just way out of my budget atm, which is why i need a case with decent air cooling :p
Click to expand...

I dont understand why that is the case (sorry for pun).

1st, i know what corsair says, blow air into case but thats just plain wrong :S sure it makes ur cpu 0.1C cooler, but it puts all the hot air into your case, making ur other components much hotter. my h50 blows out of the case. - i suggest that u put ur hand behind the exhaust side of the radiator while the cpu is under load and see how hot the air coming out of it really is!!!

2nd, the 71AF has 2 x 140mm front intakes and 2 x 120mm exhaust fans at the rear.
 
Last edited:
Really? From my experience exhaust air has always been pretty hot...but then again I've always had small cases.

Is it possible to fit a 120mm fan in the a71f (for my rad)?

I do like coolermaster 840 but the lian li case looks a lot nicer :p. As for the cosmos, i've read that its just a worse version of the haf
 
exhaust air is hot, thats why it should go out of not into your case.

yes the h50 will fit in that case, on the lower of the two 120mm rear exhaust fans.
 
theron said:
exhaust air is hot, thats why it should go out of not into your case.

yes the h50 will fit in that case, on the lower of the two 120mm rear exhaust fans.
Click to expand...

Exactly - look at proper watercooling in cases. The ideal is for the radiator to be roof mounted (when you haven't got a separate compartment like in the TJ07 et al) to blast radiator air out, not take air in.

So, I'd say go with the RV02 - then stick the H50 in the roof. The RV/FT02 cases are the best for air cooling, as the components don't stack above each other.

The Lian Li A70 is also a good bet, as it's good at air cooling, but will grow with you better if you decide to do proper watercooling in future.
 
woah! was sure this said lian li last time i checked? :P

well what ever u decide, they are all good cases and u will get ur moneys worth from all of them! enjoy it!
 
I moved from an atcs 840 to a haf x and am chuffed! Whichever case you go for I'd reccomend trying to get one with at least 8 pci slots as one of the things that really bugged me was that as hige as my atcs 840 case was, the spacing of the pcie slots on my mobo meant that the third pcie slot was actually unuseable when installing a dual slot card :(

Obviously if you never sli/xfire than its not gonna be a problem but it bugged me anyways :)
 
theron said:
woah! was sure this said lian li last time i checked? :P

well what ever u decide, they are all good cases and u will get ur moneys worth from all of them! enjoy it!
Click to expand...
Last minute ninja edit :). I've decided to go with the CM with its better airflow.

@shuzz: i guess that in part depends on the mobo as well :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom