Change of case recommendation please!

grimpeeper · 13 Jan 2016 at 07:16

Hi all,

I won from Custom PC Magazine a Bequiet! 600 Window case. Its really quiet! But its **** for cooling (Unless I go water cooled, which at this point I don't want to do if I can help it!)

After struggling with cooling issues with it (It now has 4 case fans, as opposed to the original 2, 140mm Noctua and 120mm Noctua has been added) and that didn't resolve it, the only resolution was to take the front of the case off. I kid you not. Now I have no cooling issues and instead of thermal shutdown with the graphics card, it now reaches the lofty heights of 59 degrees. Hooray!

SO

What to do? I need the front of the case on. There is no doubt about that, for noise, looks and to keep from air "leaking" from the front being hot, Do I get a Dremel or a drill and cut/drill holes in the front of the case and create air flow that way, or do I just buy a new case? I am thinking the latter, so any recommendations for cases would be appreciated!

Specs:
Intel i7 7600k @ 4.2ghz
Asus VIII Maximus Ranger
16gb Corsair Vengeance 3200mhz
Noctua CPU Fan (Can't remember the model no.)
Asus Strix nVidia GTX980 4gb OC
240gb Sandisk SSD Ultra II
4TB Toshiba HDD
RM750i PSU

CPU Hits 22 idle, and about 35 under full load.
Currently the case HDD Caddy is at the bottom, I will be changing this to the top tonight and hoping that adds to the GPU Cooling.

I don't want to go down the water cooled GPU Route at all if I can help it (Unless someone can advise the best way to do it, I guess its a new challenge!) 59 degrees isn't that high and is more than safe.

And just to add to this. I do *NOT* Recommend a Bequiet case if you're going air cooled. Its ****. Forget it. Water cooled? Yeah its probably a great case!

Cooper · 13 Jan 2016 at 08:01

I will always recommend the Corsair 450D for a stylish, high air flow, cool running case.

I run my system on a cheap £20 Raijintek cooler and the CPU never gets above 70c when gaming, and the two 970's stay well below 65c most of the time, meaning the fans hardly ever have to come on, same with the PSU fan as well.

For low temps on air cooling you won't find better, obvioulsy the aesthetic look of the case is purely subjective and personal and is really the only reason to reject it.

grimpeeper · 13 Jan 2016 at 08:14

Looks like a good case, Cable tidying behind motherboard, much room behind it? I notice the SSD's stick behind it too, nice. Aesthetics don't bother me too much (hence willing to get a drill and drill the current case)

lude1962 · 13 Jan 2016 at 08:28

and to keep from air "leaking" from the front being hot

hot air should be coming out of the back
sounds like to many intake fans , intakes should balance outlet or be slightly higher to help avoid dust intake

quick look at the case specs , you have lots of options for fans and installing an AIO watercooler.
Where have you installed the extra fans and are they intake or outlet?

grimpeeper · 13 Jan 2016 at 08:32

lude1962 said:
and to keep from air "leaking" from the front being hot

hot air should be coming out of the back
sounds like to many intake fans , intakes should balance outlet or be slightly higher to help avoid dust intake

You've missed the point. Front of the case is currently off, so hot air can go out the front and top. Its not sealed. Big gap above the DVD Drive atm

I've decided I am going to mutilate the front of the case for now, and if that fails, new case!

lude1962 · 13 Jan 2016 at 09:38

TBH it looks like a nice case, worth selling not butchering.
I'll ask again, have you actually got the fans setup correctly?
cpu fan pointing right direction, to the rear
rear fan full speed
front fan full speed
- above asked as 'Convenient 3-step fan controller for up to three 3-pin fans'
where have you put the other two fans and what direction are they blowing (ideally one in front as intake, one in top rear as exhaust)

grimpeeper · 13 Jan 2016 at 10:01

lude1962 said:
TBH it looks like a nice case, worth selling not butchering.
I'll ask again, have you actually got the fans setup correctly?
cpu fan pointing right direction, to the rear
rear fan full speed
front fan full speed
- above asked as 'Convenient 3-step fan controller for up to three 3-pin fans'
where have you put the other two fans and what direction are they blowing (ideally one in front as intake, one in top rear as exhaust)

They're in the correct places, and currently working. I have been building PC's for 20+ years

but this is a problem I just couldn't solve for some strange reason. The front of the case is off due to cooling issues. Before I took it off, the thermal cut off for the graphics card kicked in at 96 degrees. Take front off, it hits 59 degrees. Hence why massive gaps at the top of the case at the front atm.

The case fan at the rear is a Noctua case fan @ 1500RPM blowing out
The Front 2 fans are sucking in, One Noctua the other Bequiet!, 1500 and 900RPM Each
The bottom fan is sucking in, 900RPM, directly blowing cold onto the GPU (Another reason I couldn't believe the temperatures I was getting!)
the GPU has 2 fans, running at 3200RPM And couldn't keep it cold before the front was taken off. hence mutilating the case (and saving me £100 on a new one!)

CPU Fan is in the middle of the two sets of fins, pushing towards the rear of the case. CPU is at 22/35 degrees C so that isn't a problem.

it was the GPU that was the problem, and that is solved by the front fans sucking air in.

Cheers

lude1962 · 13 Jan 2016 at 12:24

no good trying to fill the case will cold air if only 1 fan is blowing the hot air out
thats why hot air is coming out of the front with out the front of the case

Trying · 13 Jan 2016 at 12:57

lude1962 said:
no good trying to fill the case will cold air if only 1 fan is blowing the hot air out
thats why hot air is coming out of the front with out the front of the case

Agreed...
The top of the case outflow does look rather restricted by the top cover... maybe matters could be improved by adding a top case outflow fan... or two.

Robert_G · 13 Jan 2016 at 14:19

Sounds like a heat build up. Have 2 fans as exhaust, one at the rear, one at the top near CPU and have 2 in the front drawing air in. This will allow the air to flow through your case, rather than being pumped in and not going anywhere.

grimpeeper · 13 Jan 2016 at 17:40

This thread could well be closed now

My problem is resolved. Its nothing to do with the hot air trapped at the top of the case hence coming out the front. If its coming out, that's good

The graphics card sits nearer the bottom of the case than the top, has 2 fans blowing onto it, and 2 fans on the heatsink, the "hot air" is non existant. CPU Sits at 22 degrees idle, 35 under load. that's above the GPU. So the "hot air is hanging about" remark is BS.

You really need to read my post again before realising the issues I have had! Its literally been a case of "Can't get cool air into the case" not "Can't get hot air out of the case"

trust me, the exhaust can cope with the air coming out, and even adding a top fan to blow air through the top, have you actually seen the top of this case? The slots for it to come out are miniscule. but that's not the problem anyway.

The OP wanted "Recommend me a case" rather than "Well your problem is this"

But cheers guys.

VonScar · 22 Jan 2016 at 21:19

If you want airflow and you can cope with it, the Coolermaster Haf X cools the lot. Pretty quiet too.

Its getting on though as a case.

Lots of cases are so small these days.