Recommendation for Midi Tower ATX case ?

MylesS · 29 Mar 2016 at 20:35

I have the following specs lined up for a new build, but am struggling to decide on a case!

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z170-Gaming K3 Intel Z170 DDR4 ATX
Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor-OEM
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C 15 3000MHz Dual Channel (CMK 16GX4M2B30
CPU Cooler: Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler
Samsung 120GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E120B/EU
Hard Drive: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)
Optical Drive: OcUK 24 x DVD+RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
Graphics card: Not selected yet.
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power L8 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Suppy - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in.

According to the specs of the motherboard - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5720#sp it looks like there are 6 usb ports at the rear, and connectors for 2 at the front?

So I'm looking for a case that will accomodate two usb ports at the front. I don't want a window at the side, but something stylish would be nice if possible.

Budget up to about £80, but cheap and cheerful is also fine if it does a good job! I've been trawling through the site, but it's not always clear on the usb port availability.

Any recommendations or favourites?

MylesS · 29 Mar 2016 at 21:58

I think I may have found one I like the look of. - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/be-quiet-silent-base-600-midi-tower-case-black-ca-105-bq.html

It's right at the top end of my budget, but it seems to have everything I'm looking for.

Edit. I quite like the silver version too at the same price - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/be-quiet-silent-base-600-midi-tower-case-silver-ca-106-bq.html

arcon33 · 30 Mar 2016 at 12:46

Go for it mate I've just got the silver one (although I can't open it till Saturday as it's a birthday prezzie from the misses!) Like all be quiet gear it looks classy and solid without being "flash" I can't wait to move my rig into its new home

MylesS · 30 Mar 2016 at 12:56

arcon33 said:
Go for it mate I've just got the silver one (although I can't open it till Saturday as it's a birthday prezzie from the misses!) Like all be quiet gear it looks classy and solid without being "flash" I can't wait to move my rig into its new home

Cool. It does look nice! Only two more days for you to wait! Lol. Happy birthday for Saturday!

arcon33 · 2 Apr 2016 at 21:35

MylesS said:
Cool. It does look nice! Only two more days for you to wait! Lol. Happy birthday for Saturday!

Cheers

still not even opened it up yet, I've got a week off soon I bet it'll be then when I get round to it!

aceCrasher · 8 Apr 2016 at 20:24

Define R5! Awesome case, can only recommend it.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/fractal-design-define-r5-midi-tower-case-black-pearl-ca-035-fd.html

MylesS · 11 Apr 2016 at 11:13

arcon33 said:
Cheers still not even opened it up yet, I've got a week off soon I bet it'll be then when I get round to it!

Don't do what I did. I bought a JeanTech Phong case back in 2005, and it stayed in the cupboard until about two weeks ago! Lol.

aceCrasher said:
Define R5! Awesome case, can only recommend it.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/fractal-design-define-r5-midi-tower-case-black-pearl-ca-035-fd.html

Cheers, that does look like a nice case. I've already taken the plunge though and have gone with the be quiet! silver case. I'm getting OverClockers to build my system this time. I don't want another ten years to go by! Lol.

stuartharrison · 12 Apr 2016 at 16:24

aceCrasher said:
Define R5! Awesome case, can only recommend it.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/fractal-design-define-r5-midi-tower-case-black-pearl-ca-035-fd.html

I've just bought one but not too keen on the looks.
I think the slope of the front panel/door spoils the clean lines of it.
Haven't put my system in yet but there's some things that really bug me about it
The lack of a filter at the top, if you remove the moduvents to fit a rad/fans is just dumb.
If you remove them to fit fans/rad then you have zero noise dampening up there, which goes against the whole point of the case.
They really should have given some thought to noise dampening on the roof if you're fitting fans/watercooling.
Little things like non captive thumb screws are irritating.

I'll see what it's like with my system inside and the fairy lights on

arcon33 · 14 Apr 2016 at 10:53

MylesS said:
Don't do what I did. I bought a JeanTech Phong case back in 2005, and it stayed in the cupboard until about two weeks ago! Lol.

Cheers, that does look like a nice case. I've already taken the plunge though and have gone with the be quiet! silver case. I'm getting OverClockers to build my system this time. I don't want another ten years to go by! Lol.

Well i did get round to fitting 2 ssd in it last night

MylesS · 14 Apr 2016 at 20:40

arcon33 said:
Well i did get round to fitting 2 ssd in it last night

Well done! Have you put the OS on yet?

My system will have a small ssd for OS and programs, plus a sata drive for data files. I'm seeing advice from about a year ago that says to disconnect the sata drive before installing OS onto ssd. Not sure why that is. I guess it's not an issue for you if both your drives are ssd.

jt_uk · 16 Apr 2016 at 19:23

Anybody own a Silverstone Fortress FT-05? What do you think and how does it perform with silence being top of the list.

arcon33 · 26 Apr 2016 at 18:23

MylesS said:
Well done! Have you put the OS on yet?

My system will have a small ssd for OS and programs, plus a sata drive for data files. I'm seeing advice from about a year ago that says to disconnect the sata drive before installing OS onto ssd. Not sure why that is. I guess it's not an issue for you if both your drives are ssd.

Finally got round to moving rig into new case, have to say I'm disappointed :mad:

building it was a breeze compared to my first build which was in a enthoo evolv itx so lots more space for my clumsy hands, but the cooling/radiator support in the be quiet case is frankly awful (unless you start drilling and dremel it to your liking) I can't believe an itx case has better cooling support compared to a "standard" atx sized case, the phanteks could have upto 280mm in roof and 240mm front, where the be quiet can only do 240/280 in roof (possibly a slim rad at that) and 120/140 single in front, also it seems to be running hotter (anything upto +10 degrees) so ramping up the fans a little makes it louder than my old case lol first world problems eh

MylesS · 26 Apr 2016 at 18:45

arcon33 said:
".......have to say I'm disappointed building it was a breeze compared to my first build which was in a enthoo evolv itx so lots more space for my clumsy hands, but the cooling/radiator support in the be quiet case is frankly awful (unless you start drilling and dremel it to your liking)....."

That's a shame that it didn't meet your expectations. I've only gone with a couple of fans for the cooling, but I don't anticipate really needing more than that. It's only for office work! I've only got Windows 10 on at the moment, and it does run really quiet.

My progress has stalled a bit though. I bought a 512 GB usb stick from eBay, to transfer data to my new kit. Unfortunately the drive turned out to be fake, and is really only about 8GB. I got my money back, but it's delayed my plans a bit. Those first world problems again! Lol.