Case recommendation please

Sudden

Sudden

Sudden

Soldato
Joined
15 Nov 2005
Posts
2,955
Location
London
Planning a new build (my second ever!) and I think i've now locked down the spec. What I need is a good case for it now and any extra fans that the case requires.

No set budget as such. Happy to spend as long as i'm getting value for it. Was thinking £150 at the upper end, but is flexible. Currently have an Akasa Eclipse. Don't know much about cases, so came here :) No plans at the moment to go near water-cooling for this. Will likely stick to air.

The spec is -

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 770 SC ACX Dual Bios 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-2776-KR) £339.95
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £197.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-OC Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £172.99
1 x Seasonic X-Series 850w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £159.95
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD2002FAEX) HDD £117.00
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2B2133C9) £89.99
1 x Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler £65.99
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/RSMS 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black/Silver/Biege) - Retail £22.99
Total : £1,329.43 (includes shipping : £10.50).




Will also be putting in a front bay card reader and maybe a second optical in it from my existing build. Also another 2 or so HDD's (raptor and spinpoint).

(Feel free to suggest changes to build as well if you like :))
 
Ephraim said:
What is most important to you? Cost? Coolness? Quietness? Look? Are you planning to overclock?
Click to expand...

Coolness and quietness. Cost is second. Look is third. Don't want a completely fugly one, but other than that, fairly open :)

No plans to overclock at the moment, but may decide to later. If this happens though, it will still be with air cooling. No plans to go to liquid. Would like a case which has the capability of allowing overclocking if needed.
 
I was focussed on quietness with a system not dissimilar to yours, and ended up going with the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1. It seemed to be the best trade off between silence and cooling. I have yet to rebuild into it, so can't give you any ideas of performance.

The Fractal Design Define R4 was also on my shortlist as was the Corsair 550D. The ability to increase cooling with the chimney appealed most about the DS1 and swung the decision.

As I say, i was focussing primarily on quietness, but anticipate no problems with temps, even with a little gentle o/c
 
Ephraim said:
I was focussed on quietness with a system not dissimilar to yours, and ended up going with the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1. It seemed to be the best trade off between silence and cooling. I have yet to rebuild into it, so can't give you any ideas of performance.

The Fractal Design Define R4 was also on my shortlist as was the Corsair 550D. The ability to increase cooling with the chimney appealed most about the DS1 and swung the decision.

As I say, i was focussing primarily on quietness, but anticipate no problems with temps, even with a little gentle o/c
Click to expand...

Deep Silence seems to be nice, though a couple of reviews said that better ones do exist.

The 650D seems popular, though I prefer the look of the 330R. From what I remember, the Lian Li's are always good, but very lost in their range.

Would welcome any other thoughts on what I should be looking at and if there is any case which is generally regarded as one of the top ones.

When I bought my existing build, almost everyone seemed to be going for, and recommending, the Akasa Eclipse 62. Is there anything that universally liked at the moment?
 
I would go for a high airflow case, that way you can run lots of fans at low rpm which will give you good airflow and low noise.

Also the larger the fans generally the better airflow and lower noise so look for ones that can fit 140mm or above if possible.

This is an expensive case but is generally considered one of the best air cooled cases you can buy due to the internal layout and fans

YOUR BASKET
1 x Silverstone Fortress FT02 USB3.0 Case - Black (SST-FT02B USB 3.0) £190.99
Total : £204.49 (includes shipping : £11.25).

 
Thanks a lot Something Else! The Silverstone, I don't very much like the look of, and the price point doesn't help either. The NZXT seems a bit too shiny to me as well.

The Anidees, BitFenix and 550D look very nice. The 650D and 330R I mentioned above look nice as well. Not heard of Anidees before though, and BitFenix only to a limited extent. How does build quality and what not compare to the more established brands like Corsair, Lian Li etc.?

What would be your pick from these (or any other)?

Also, re. the CPU cooler - the Noctua i'm planning (though umming and arring between that and the Phantek) seems to be pretty big. How do I check that it will fit? Is it as simple as checking that the CPU width is a bit more than the cooler height?
 
Silverstone raven RV03 (looks better in the flesh it's like a matt black not shiny) if no plans to go water cooling, it's simply the best air cooling case on the market (probably) at it's price point.Not many people like the RV03 which has always baffled me the design build quality and performance is brilliant for the cost.

You could even get away with overclocking and just running 1 of the bottom 180mm fans and still have nice temps in it but I wouldn't call it an ultra quiet case compared to an r4 or corsair 550d ds1 which are built for quiet.It's quiet just not really really quiet..

I think you'd appreciate the design coming from an akasa eclipse I still own an eclipse and a silverstone fortress ft01
other cases I rate are

Corsair 550D
Corsair Carbide 540
Corsair 650D ( may have to mod the front grill to stop airflow noise)
Silverstone fortress ft02
Silverstone raven rv02 evolution

Silverstone Lian Li and probably now I'd say corsair are a notch above others in terms of build quality.
The corsair 650D is at nice price point now and the build quality is top notch too only issue is possible front fan noise and that the spacing isn't that great for a thicker fan at the front.

I'd stick with a silverstone lian li or corsair if build quality troubles you.

Thinking of the future we don't really know what it holds in terms of custom coolers for all we know there are all in one gpu water coolers in the works so might be worth making sure you get standard 2x 120/140mm radiator mount compatibility in a new case.
 
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The anidees would be my preference. I have looked at one ocuk had on display in their store and its simply stunning in the metal! Feels very high quality, has brushed aluminium all over the top and front, its a full metal construction with plastic sections but mainly metal. I was going to be moving back from matx to atx and purchasing the anidees but then corsair brought the 350D out.

The anidees door can also open both ways by simple swapping the hinges over.

the noctua should fit, I think it has clearance of 170mm so you should be fine, noctua is 160mm high i think
 
Thanks guys!

The Silverstones, I just don't like the look of i'm afraid :( A bit too flashy for my liking. I like the more restrained ones. The Carbide 540 seems to be excellent, but i'm after a tower case.

I've now narrowed it down to the following -

Corsair Carbide 500r
Corsair Obsidian 550D
Corsair Obsidian 650D
Anidees AI6BS
Maaaaaybe one of the Fractal Designs - possible the xl r2.

I realise this isn't much of a narrowing down, but as far as i've been able to get. All of them seem to have good reviews, and I like the look of all of them.

Would really like any opinions anyone has on these ones to help me decide! C64's comment about the fan noise, and the lack of the 3.0 USB from the mobo in the front (even though I can't think of any reason I would want one) probably puts the 650D at the bottom of the list for me, but i'm yo-yoing all over the place.
 
Ok, narrowed it down more now to 550D, 500R or the Anidees AI6 BS.

Any more opinions on these three? :)


Also - general query - with respect to cases with doors, how much is cooling affected for front fans? Would I need to say keep the door open in order to effectively cool?
 
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