New Case

[Spankme]

Hey guys..

Am building another gaming pc and can i fek decide on the case.
The one i have in the conservatory is old, really loud, pretty much ready to set the house on fire every time i load up BF4 so it needs replacing..

Am looking for a good solid case, nice cable management and of course quiet even under load..

Am gonna jam the Be QUiet! dark rock 3 cooler on it so am going for mid tower case (ATX)

Budget is £100

Been studying hard and came with 2 options..

Be Quiet! silent base 600 black/orange with no window

Phanteks p400s in black (with this one i will have to colour co-ordinate as it has a window)

anyone got any other thoughts on a good looking case thats quiet and has at least 2 fans included?

 

[TallPaul1878]

My friend has just built a new PC in a Phanteks P400 glass. He's thrilled with it.

I'd say a case with a big glass window and no optical drive bays is screaming out for an AIO cooler to fill the space.

The Fractal Define C range are more compact cases so don't have that big empty space if you aren't using an AIO cooler.

 

[TJM]

The Corsair 400Q (the quieter and windowless version of the 400C) is a very good case for £100. It also includes two fans, although I can't comment on their performance as I replaced them with Noctuas before the PC was powered up.

 

[t31os]

Just moved two systems over to the Phanteks P400S Tempered glass, one in black and red, and one in black and white (both are gorgeous to look at). Lovely looking cases with great routing options and very spacious, and reasonably quiet. They aren't Fractal though(i have a Define R4 to compare with), if you want silence Fractal really do rule the roost. Fractal do have a Define C(probably the most favorable in their line-up) with tempered glass coming, but it's not due out for a month or two yet (there's always the Meshify if you want a tempered Fractal now).

You'll get a good quality case out of either Phanteks or Fractal, but if you want quiet above all else the latter is definitely the better choice, in my personal opinion(there's also a few minor drawbacks with the Phanteks but that's really nitpicking).

Something to bear in mind is that having a window negates sound dampening you'd get by not having a window. The case can also only do so much, the loudest fans in the system are still going to make noise and the case will just dampen it, more or less so depending on what case you choose and whether you opt to have a window(a full glass window isn't going be dampened at all, non-glassed/partial windows can be dampened around the acrylic).

 

[SiDeards73]

Just moved two systems over to the Phanteks P400S Tempered glass, one in black and red, and one in black and white. Lovely looking cases with great routing options and very spacious, and reasonably quiet. They aren't Fractal though(i have a Define R4 to compare with), if you want silence Fractal really do rule the roost. Fractal do have a Define C(probably the most favorable in their line-up) with tempered glass coming, but it's not due out for a month or two yet (there's always the Meshify if you want a tempered Fractal now).

You'll get a good quality case out of either Phanteks or Fractal, but if you want quiet above all else the latter is definitely the better choice, in my personal opinion(there's also a few minor drawbacks with the Phanteks but that's really nitpicking).

Sorry to hijack, but im kinda in the same boat as the OP, however i have the Enthoo Primo and want to downsize to a Mid sized case, im looking at the Phantek P400S Tempered Glass, i will probably buy 2, one in white and one in black, transport my 4770k build to the black one for my kids and build a new 8700k in the white one, what are the downsides you mention if you dont mind me asking?

Also im sure the answer is yes, but does the P400S have room for a 280mm Rad for my AIO?

 

[t31os]

The location for HDDs isn't the greatest and little airflow makes it down there, it can become toasty with 2 HDDs stacked on top of one another(fine if you run just one alongside an SSD - mounted on the back of the motherboard tray).

Connecting cables to a modular PSU once it's fitted can be really tricky unless you have small hands(i do, yay me!), if not i'd suggest connecting prior to putting the unit in to save yourself some frustration, non-issue if your PSU isn't modular or semi-modular.

With one of the systems(the second) i moved into the case the fans create a noticeable hum when hooked upto the motherboard's fan headers, that seems to be related to that one motherboard and the speeds it's choosing for the fans(i've tried tweaking in bios to no avail), it's mostly(i can still tell when i'm listening for it) negated by using the included fan controller. The first system i moved into this case had no hum that i noticed(but then i didn't have it on the desk right infront of me with the sides off). With a gaming GPU and/or rads running(and with the sides on), you'd probably not even notice that hum.

Honestly couldn't speak to space for rads(the video reviews i've seen for the case do cover this though), we're all on air here, but i'm pretty sure the answer is yes all the same.

 

[SiDeards73]

The location for HDDs isn't the greatest and little airflow makes it down there, it can become toasty with 2 HDDs stacked on top of one another(fine if you run just one alongside an SSD - mounted on the back of the motherboard tray).

Connecting cables to a modular PSU once it's fitted can be really tricky unless you have small hands(i do, yay me!), if not i'd suggest connecting prior to putting the unit in to save yourself some frustration, non-issue if your PSU isn't modular or semi-modular.

With one of the systems(the second) i moved into the case the fans create a noticeable hum when hooked upto the motherboard's fan headers, that seems to be related to that one motherboard and the speeds it's choosing for the fans(i've tried tweaking in bios to no avail), it's mostly(i can still tell when i'm listening for it) negated by using the included fan controller. The first system i moved into this case had no hum that i noticed(but then i didn't have it on the desk right infront of me with the sides off). With a gaming GPU and/or rads running(and with the sides on), you'd probably not even notice that hum.

Honestly couldn't speak to space for rads(the video reviews i've seen for the case do cover this though), we're all on air here, but i'm pretty sure the answer is yes all the same.

Thanks for the response, sounds good to me, i only use SSD's now anyhow as i have a NAS for storage at home, and modular PSU's so will take note of that comment about fitting the cables prior etc. Fairly sure the case will take a 280mm Rad in the top as well.

Aesthetically i think they look really nice, and ive been so impressed with my Phantek Enthoo Primo's build quality.