looking for a budget case with psu at the top of the case with space at the bottom

justwondering

justwondering

justwondering

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Hi , I am chasing budget case recommendations that would be suitable for 2 - 3 graphics cards , rx 480 type lenght , my current case a Aerocool 500 , nice for a budget case , does not allow me to fit in 2 full lenght cards , also , even if it did the 2nd card fans would be pretty much nose to nose with the PSU

So I guess ideally I need a case with the PSU at the top of the case , with space at the bottom of the case so that the 2nd card's fans are not touching the bottom of the case , spoiling the airflow.....

Ideally I would to be able to fit in 3 cards full lenght PCI-E but I imagine this is not possible with most motherboards not offering that much space between PCI-E slots and most cards been double width , using 2 slot spaces..

card risers would be a option , but still I would need 2 cards at least in each case

Help and advice welcomed please , but on a tight budget .
 
Which 480 models (length differs), which motherboard (some have PCI-E x16 as the first slot, some have PCI-E x1 as first slot)?

Max budget (with the understanding that cheaper would be better)?

I imagine a case with PSU at the bottom would also be fine as long as: (a) there was a PSU shroud to keep the airflow straight and (b) the front fans, or front fan mounts, were above the shroud and not like half below shroud and half above, right?

Any HDD space requirements? Or are you going to have a single SSD?

CPU cooler (size)?
 
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Without an idea of budget and CPU cooler size etc, the following ones have caught my eye for your needs, initially... did have a look at cheaper too but they didn't quite cut the mustard in some ways (obstructed front intake considerations mostly) for 2 x 480 (and long 480s apparently).


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £281.18
(includes shipping: £15.30)



​


All of these have great airflow design, with very little front intake obstruction. The front panels are all nice big mesh, with no secondary mesh or grille where the front fans are mounted, so air can more comfortably reach the GPUs.

The Silverstone RL05 is "ready to go" other than needing a rear 120mm fan added (2 x 140mm included). The Silverstone RL06 Pro Gaming is also "ready to go" and doesn't need any fans added (4 x 120mm included). Obviously a bit more expensive.

The CoolerMaster Masterbox 5 needs another 120mm fan at the front (2 x 120mm included). I like two things in particular about this one. Its modularity - the optical bay cage can be taken out, and the HDD cage moved from the bottom to the top where the optical bay cage was. And also - the fact that it has more space between the bottom-most PCI-E expansion slot and the PSU shroud, so you'd have more space between your second GPU and the shroud.

After moving the HDD cage up to the optical bay cage location and getting that out of the way, you can simply fit an object that provides a "slope" for the air from the bottom front fan to travel underneath the second GPU instead of straight at the PSU. The "slope" can be anything - cardboard (although maybe this'd be a fire hazard), plastic (hard obviously) or a sheet of metal cut to fit.

RYu4mSZ.png


The green angled line represents the "slope" object. With this easy mod, the Masterbox 5 would send more air to your GPUs than the Silverstones could (even though these would also be a good choice). Because if you look at pics of them, there's one front fan aiming air at the CPU, and only one front fan aiming air at the GPUs (in the RL05's case), or one front fan aiming air at CPU, only one front fan at GPUs, and one front fan at the HDDs/PSU (in the RL06 Pro Gaming's case). With the Masterbox 5 and this easy mod, your GPUs receive airflow from two fans. The top front fan aims between your GPUs, and the bottom front fan/with slope aims air below your second GPU.
 
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Wow
Danny75 said:
Without an idea of budget and CPU cooler size etc, the following ones have caught my eye for your needs, initially... did have a look at cheaper too but they didn't quite cut the mustard in some ways (obstructed front intake considerations mostly) for 2 x 480 (and long 480s apparently).


My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £281.18
(includes shipping: £15.30)



​


All of these have great airflow design, with very little front intake obstruction. The front panels are all nice big mesh, with no secondary mesh or grille where the front fans are mounted, so air can more comfortably reach the GPUs.

The Silverstone RL05 is "ready to go" other than needing a rear 120mm fan added (2 x 140mm included). The Silverstone RL06 Pro Gaming is also "ready to go" and doesn't need any fans added (4 x 120mm included). Obviously a bit more expensive.

The CoolerMaster Masterbox 5 needs another 120mm fan at the front (2 x 120mm included). I like two things in particular about this one - its modularity. The optical bay cage can be taken out, and the HDD cage moved from the bottom to the top where the optical bay cage was. And also the fact that it has more space between the bottom-most PCI-E expansion slot and the PSU shroud, so you'd have more space between your second GPU and the shroud.

After moving the HDD cage up to the optical bay cage location and getting that out of the way, you can simply fit an object that provides a "slope" for the air from the bottom front fan to travel underneath the second GPU instead of straight at the PSU. The "slope" can be anything - cardboard (although maybe this'd be a fire hazard), plastic (hard obviously) or a sheet of metal cut to fit.

RYu4mSZ.png


The green angled line represents the "slope" object. With this easy mod, the Masterbox 5 would send more air to your GPUs than the Silverstones could (even though these would also be a good choice). Because if you look at pics of them, there's one front fan aiming air at the CPU, and only one front fan aiming air at the GPUs (in the RL05's case), or one front fan aiming air at CPU, only one front fan at GPUs, and one front fan at the HDDs/PSU (in the RL06 Pro Gaming's case). With the Masterbox 5 and this easy mod, your GPUs receive airflow from two fans. The top front fan aims between your GPUs, and the bottom front fan/with slope aims air below your second GPU.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your replies, the CoolerMaster Masterbox 5, looks good, one thing I noticed when reading a review, it supports EATX motherboards, which is something I had never heard of before, but that appears to help offer the extra space between a ATX board at the bottom of the case, which is really great.

The main reason for the case will be for bitcoin mining, I did consider a open air frame, but they seem either all home made for 49.99 for for a wooden made frame case or ridiculously expensive.

I know people might mention the cost of electric into the mix, but I have a flat fee per week for my office and all bills are included,which helps :)
 
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You're welcome Just. Had a feeling it was about mining but with a proper case. :)

For the three cards scenario you asked about - that would be a lot of heat in a case if not watercooling. You'd also need a big mobo and a bigger more expensive case with more expansion slots. Or risers, at which point it would be best to go for a frame type set-up. Unless there's a budget option out there I'm not aware of.
 
Danny75 said:
You're welcome Just. Had a feeling it was about mining but with a proper case. :)

For the three cards scenario you asked about - that would be a lot of heat in a case if not watercooling. You'd also need a big mobo and a bigger more expensive case with more expansion slots. Or risers, at which point it would be best to go for a frame type set-up. Unless there's a budget option out there I'm not aware of.
Click to expand...

I was thinking 2 in the case and perhaps just rise the 3rd and 4th one.

I wouldn't water cool them, just air, perhaps custom curve running at 65 percent constant.

It would be used in my office at work which is air conditioned which would help.
 
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