Can't decide on a case at all and don't understand all this RGB

[GregI]

Had the HAF X case for far too long now. It's time for a change to something much smaller and easier to move. Also upgrading to X570/5950x.

The case will eventually have a 3080 or higher so good airflow is needed. I've tried to look at recommended cases and ones like the Lian Li 215 come up. Don't get me wrong it looks ok but when I watched some guys build video he was talking about addressable rgb headers I was just lost. Another was a Lancool II and it had some fan hub which totally lost me again.

I then came across Lian Li 11D case which seems to be very popular. I lost interest when he was installing the 12th fan. Is this case for aesthetics or actually to get better temps?

Can anyone recommend a case that has a detailed accompanying build video to help me? Must have good airflow as discussed previously and if possible stick to stock. Not against RGB as long as it's easy to follow along with where everything goes.

I'm also not totally sold on these AIO so case must also have the height if I want to fall back to old faithful (Noctua).

Thanks

 

[GregI]

Thanks everyone for your input. I do think I have narrowed it down to the Corsair 4000D Airflow or the Fractal Torrent (P600S doesn't appeal to me). Some questions though.

1: The 4000D naming conventions. I just want the Airflow right (the one intake and one exhaust)? The 4000X has 3 front fans but this is worse since it's not mesh right? Why wouldn't they just sell a 4000 3 fan RGB airflow with a mesh panel?
2: @mickyflinn I looked at the Corsair site and it only supports a 240 AIO at the top. Your idea is to take the front fan off and stick the AIO in there? Won't that just feed the GPU hot air now?

Apparently it will fit a 280 at the top with low profile memory but I want G. Skill's Neo so need to see how that fits.

3: Fractal Torrent. Watched here (timestamped): https://youtu.be/E7nchcN2DeQ?t=279

Is this 3 fan and 2 fan splitter included or separate purchase? So I just connect 3 fans to the splitter and the other end to a motherboard fan header? Repeat for the 2 fans?

Thanks again

 

[GregI]

@mickyflinn Sorry to bother you again but I need to know if I'm stupid or not.

I can't help but think it ends up being slightly better if I get the 4000X (with included triple rgb front fans at £98) and then swap out the glass front panel with the mesh front panel accessory for £4.99 at Corsair site. 4000D airflow is £90.

Also considering the 5000 series and doing the same thing. 5000D Airflow 2 fan (£140) vs 5000X 3 fan RGB (£160) + £15 Front mesh.

 

[GregI]

@mickyflinn Update. Got the 4000D Airflow (Black). No RGB! (Besides my G. SKill Neo and the small EVGA logo but it sets the build off nicely).

Only issue I ran into was I had a lot of people say to build on the board outside the case so you can get to everything easier. This is well and good but what they don't tell you is the almost impossible nature of having to then screw the top screws in to the motherboard standoffs and attach the CPU 8 pin. Granted the size of the Noctua NH-D15S cooler didn't help this and would have been much easier with a smaller cooler (or a non issue with an AIO) but that was the only real problem. Was honestly so close to ordering the 5000D Airflow as I literally couldn't get the 8 pin in with how big my hands are. Got so lucky with the screw aswell. If I didn't happen to have an extra long screwdriver to get past the top of the case I wouldn't have been able to screw it in either.

 

[GregI]

Are you pleased with the final result ?

Yeah for sure. I even got some of Corsair's premium paracord type cables to finish it off.

I was super worried about the parts having issues but thankfully everything turned on and worked. Benchmarks are what they should be and thankfully no issues running cinebench for stability. Also seemed to get an insanely good cooler mount. This 16 core beast isn't going above 70c multi core in cinebench and idle temps under 30c!