Need recommendations - want smaller case, going back to air cooling

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Current setup is an old HAF932 case with the following components:
5820k @ 4.2ghz
CM Nepton 240m AIO
KFA2 1070 EXOC

What I am looking at is either the dark rock 4 or the dark rock pro 4 for the CPU cooler. I really don't like the noise of the AIO and want to go back to a quieter build. Since I am replacing the cooler it seems a good time to get a case with better airflow, plus I have wanted to go with a smaller case for a while.

My shortlist so far is:
Meshify C
500DX
Fara R1

Is there anything else around/under the £100 price point that people would recommend in 2020?
 
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Having read through countless reviews for cases around the £100 mark, I’d also recommend the 500dx. For me it has the perfect balance between performance and silence and has little things that I love, like screws that stay on the panels when you remove them, easily removable dust filters, good cable management, and feels like a well engineered case overall.

I got one a few days ago.
 
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Having read through countless reviews for cases around the £100 mark, I’d also recommend the 500dx. For me it has the perfect balance between performance and silence and has little things that I love, like screws that stay on the panels when you remove them, easily removable dust filters, good cable management, and feels like a well engineered case overall.

I got one a few days ago.
I just built one and can also highly recommend it. The only real downside I can think of is that the front panel needs too much force to pull off, but in the end it's just the way it's (unfortunately) designed and it should be durable. Otherwise, great case so far though pay attention to using quiet fans to avoid noise coming out of the mesh.
 
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I have a Meshify C with Arctic P series fans and it's completely silent in windows, I have it to ramp up on system temps so when gaming the noise obviously increases but everything stays nice and cool

I've had both the DRPro4 and none Pro, the Pro is too big and covers the ram if that bothers you or not, depending on your CPU I would just get the non Pro it works fine and there is only a few degrees in it, both are silent even when under load you can barely hear them, the Pro is bit of a pain to fit though
 
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I have a Meshify C with Arctic P series fans and it's completely silent in windows, I have it to ramp up on system temps so when gaming the noise obviously increases but everything stays nice and cool

I've had both the DRPro4 and none Pro, the Pro is too big and covers the ram if that bothers you or not, depending on your CPU I would just get the non Pro it works fine and there is only a few degrees in it, both are silent even when under load you can barely hear them, the Pro is bit of a pain to fit though
The Scythe Mugen 5 Rev B is half the price and performs very closely to the excellent Dark Rock 4 while staying very quiet. It's also worth consideration if you want to spend less. :)
 
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The Scythe Mugen 5 Rev B is half the price and performs very closely to the excellent Dark Rock 4 while staying very quiet. It's also worth consideration if you want to spend less. :)

True, or the Fuma, I've not owned either of them but both review really well. Much prefer the look of Bequiet though

Personally I sent my DRPro4 back and I'm sticking with the OEM cooler until my next build. I've managed to get it fairly quiet with a fan profile but tempted to get an arctic eSports duo just to compare it to the more expensive coolers
 
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I have an Arctic Freezer 240 AIO and barely hear it - then again, its in a Gamemax F15M case which huge 200mm fans which, if I am honest, are practically silent too
 
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Having read through countless reviews for cases around the £100 mark, I’d also recommend the 500dx. For me it has the perfect balance between performance and silence and has little things that I love, like screws that stay on the panels when you remove them, easily removable dust filters, good cable management, and feels like a well engineered case overall.

I got one a few days ago.

I just built one and can also highly recommend it. The only real downside I can think of is that the front panel needs too much force to pull off, but in the end it's just the way it's (unfortunately) designed and it should be durable. Otherwise, great case so far though pay attention to using quiet fans to avoid noise coming out of the mesh.

How do you find the standard fans with the case? Can you hear them at idle? the silent wings 3 fans seem to push more air and are somehow quieter, but throwing another £60 at fans on a £100 case seems stupid.
 
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How do you find the standard fans with the case? Can you hear them at idle? the silent wings 3 fans seem to push more air and are somehow quieter, but throwing another £60 at fans on a £100 case seems stupid.
Haven't built the system yet mate, waiting for the motherboard to arrive! Gamer's Nexus review compares temps and noise levels with other cases. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCnagbKkVzE

Meshify C seems to be 1dbA louder at stock.

With noise normalised, the 500dx is roughly 5C cooler than the Meshify C on CPU.

The Fara R1 seems to be 2dbA quiter than the 500dx, but then it's nearly at the bottom of the chart when looking at stress testing and miles off both the Meshify C and 500dx.
 
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I have an Arctic Freezer 240 AIO and barely hear it - then again, its in a Gamemax F15M case which huge 200mm fans which, if I am honest, are practically silent too

I did consider the F15M but (perhaps wrongly) assumed the massive fans would be quite loud. Is it possible to turn off the LEDs using the inbuilt controller? My mobo doesn't have a connector for argb.
 
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I did consider the F15M but (perhaps wrongly) assumed the massive fans would be quite loud. Is it possible to turn off the LEDs using the inbuilt controller? My mobo doesn't have a connector for argb.


Yes, indeed it is possible to turn the LEDs off - the fans are very quiet indeed. My son has the case, too, and has his fans on all the time because he lives in an attic conversion and its very warm up there these days - his system wasn't coping with the heat till we put the F15M case together for him. However, I have connected mines to the mobo instead as I don't want to waste the energy, basically. Problem is the fans hardly ever come on as the AIO seems to take care of the CPU amazingly well and exhausts the heat through the top of the case
 
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How do you find the standard fans with the case? Can you hear them at idle? the silent wings 3 fans seem to push more air and are somehow quieter, but throwing another £60 at fans on a £100 case seems stupid.
They're quiet enough but unfortunately not PWM which means that they can't be finely controlled like the CPU fan. I may replace them for 3x Arctic P14 PWM soon as they get great reviews and are cheap.

I have 2x intake and 1x outtake at the back with no top fans and it seems to work very well and hardware Canucks did a video n Youtube showing that this config was basically as good as it gets and adding two additional fans provided no tangible benefit.
 
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Cool. Are the P14's almost as quiet while performing more airflow? :)

You might think this is a bit crude but with the silent wings using the same fan curve I couldn't feel much air with my hand when in front of the case, with the P14's you can feel the air moving into the case

Noise wise they sound the same to me, the silent wings are ever so slightly quieter under full load but you can hardly tell, the sound profile is the same. If it wasn't for the P14's I would keep the silent wings but why pay that much for fans when the P14'S exist

Both are silent at low rpm
 
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You might think this is a bit crude but with the silent wings using the same fan curve I couldn't feel much air with my hand when in front of the case, with the P14's you can feel the air moving into the case

Noise wise they sound the same to me, the silent wings are ever so slightly quieter under full load but you can hardly tell, the sound profile is the same. If it wasn't for the P14's I would keep the silent wings but why pay that much for fans when the P14'S exist

Both are silent at low rpm
Not crude at all, sounds like good common sense and advice thanks. I may even replace my CPU fan with one. :)
 
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