Recommended Matx cases, Lian Li A3 Wood is too 'boring' apparently!

[GeorgeStorm]

Hi all,
I'm in the process of building a new PC, and have got everything setup other than a case, currently running it on an OBT which is fine to be honest but I think I'd still rather move it into a case, I had my eyes on the Lian Li A3 Wood version as I thought it was quite a nice understated look, wouldn't look out of place etc, but my wife said she thought it was rather boring and would just look like furniture, if I'm going to make a new PC why not get something a bit more exciting, which is not what I had expected!

I showed her the Thermaltake The Tower 300 in yellow which she thought was better, I'm personally not 100% sold on it, part of me really likes it but part of me less so, I also already have an air cooler (phantom spirit) and it appears that most people use an AIO in that case.

So thought I'd ask for some recommendations for an MATX case that is a bit more 'interesting' I guess, but has at least half decent airflow as I'm wanting a fairly quiet PC.

Thanks!

 

[GeorgeStorm]

most people use AIO's in everything now days, i personally like the tower 300 look very nice.
i would assume she just wants loads of glass and RGB.

i really like that Jonsbo TK-1

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Antec CX500M RGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-02734) = £54.95
• 1 x Aerocool Dryft Mini v2 Micro-ATX Case (SKU: CAS-AER-00607) = £54.99
• 1 x Jonsbo TK-1 2.0 Micro-ATX Case, Tempered Glass - Black (SKU: CAS-JON-01530) = £119.99
• 1 x Jonsbo TK-1 2.0 Micro-ATX Case, Tempered Glass - White (SKU: CAS-JON-01531) = £119.99

Total: £349.92 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

I mean I've used them in the past but was recommended just to go for an air cooler, less to go wrong etc, but then again the whole build has ended up being more than I'd originally planned! (just a small upgrade turning into a totally new pc)
Haven't seen that Jonsbo one before that is a bit different as most of those style cases are massive, still not 100% of location on our desk though so will have to have a think about how things could be arranged.
In a way I'd love an inverted case so it could sit to my left actually, more room to play with there as the desk has a bit of an L that end. And yeah in the end might just go for the tower as it is a bit different, gives plenty of room for future upgrades etc, and could sit on the left as can just turn it around without having loads of cables etc showing too badly.

Also discovered she *really* doesn't like white cases after I sent a couple of pictures over the other day haha.

Funny how you see a thread title and immediately think to yourself 'this is a wife post'.
I was correct

I mean the PC is for me so in the end I can go for whatever but she just asked why not go for something more unique/interesting so figured I'd at least have a check for options since it'll potentially be sat on a desk between us if we're both gaming on our PCs

 

[GeorgeStorm]

I have the Lian Li Air Mini. Boring, but it scales from mATX to ITX and ATX quite happily while still being reasonably small. In white it looks nice, though it is just another dual chamber case for sure

Lian-Li Air Mini

Cheers I'll have a look, white cases have 100% been ruled out but she did ask why don't you get one in purple or something and I sadly said they just don't really exist. I am considering just a black case but then going with ARGB fans to allow some colour if the case has a window.

That jonsbo still looks tempting but I am slightly concerned all of the glass means airflow might be a bit limited which if I'm going for a quieter setup might make things difficult.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

nope ive seen a few builds with 240mm AIO and AIR cooling, bottom intake fans top exhaust looks to work very well.
id love to get one but only have 2 ATX boards my self and the ATX model doesn't look as cute lol

Ah that's great to hear, had just done a bit of a google and seen comments about the vertical airflow maybe not being the best due to the gpu blocking most of the bottom fans. Haha yeah I bought a matx board as only intend on using a single card so thought no need to waste space with an atx, but it does limit case options as no point having a matx board in a full atx case really!
I'll show her the jonsbo then and see what she thinks, need to find a mixture of pictures of the case itself as well as some builds to give her a better idea of how it would actually look, as that's sometimes the issue I think, an empty case doesn't really give you an idea (if you're not really into pcs) of how it will look in the end.

Thermaltake tower 300 has multiple colour choices (14 iirc)

The Tower 300 Micro Tower Chassis

The Tower 300 is an m-ATX case with a classic vertical case design and comes in an octagonal prism shape. It supports up to a 420mm AIO radiator on the right side and can accommodate up to eight 120mm/140mm fans. With a separately sold Chassis Stand Kit, users can enjoy a unique view with a...

www.thermaltake.com

Yeah that's one of the only (I think?) ones that does, hence why when I originally showed her the yellow version she said she preferred it as it looked a bit more interesting than just another black box
I think I'll do some googling for ARGB fan recommendations, and then regardless of what case I go for I'll be able to add a bit more colour with the fans hopefully, not wanting anything too crazy with rainbow or patterns etc.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

As usual, my recommendation for great value fans would be thermalright.
Can get 3 argb fans for less than £11.
(I use these fans in my main and secondary computers, so its also a first-hand recommendation)

Not available from here right? Think I've seen a pack elsewhere but not quite that cheap so will have another look.

yer as @tamzzy said thermalright or phanteks SK120's are cheap as chips.
or the complete opposite of the spectrum is the phanteks D30's

the tower 300 is a very nice unique case but even this this air flow will not be amazing. the GPU is jammed on one side grill so you end up with intake bottom and side / exhaust a single top fan

It's not as bad as the first gen tower.
They now have mesh on each side for the GPU and aio.
(I've actually been thinking of changing cases to the tower 300 lol)

Yeah my understanding is the 300 whilst bigger than the 200 made some improvements, and in general has more room for fans/intake less blocked potentially by GPUs.

it is a very nice case, i like the look of the ITX one. but ive been itx ones and it was enough for me

Yeah I've used itx in the past and part of me was tempted again, but the premium on boards seem to have gone even higher and in the end I'm not really going to lan parties or anything anymore so the need to a very small pc isn't really there, at least compared to a medium sized one.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

Not at Ocuk.

Search:
"Thermalright TL-C12CW-S CPU Fan 120mm White ARGB Case Cooler Fan, 4pin PWM Silent Computer Fan With S-FDB Bearing Included, up to 1500RPM cooling fan（3 quantities)"

Wouldn't want white fans but as a result of looking at that I came across a 5 pack of the black for £17 or so which is still pretty good compared to some argb fans!

 

[GeorgeStorm]

Yes those non-argb fans are pretty keenly priced too.

The black argb fans back in the day were about the same price as the white fans but they've now gone up in price unfortunately

They're still ARGB just black rather than white fans as far as I can tell

"Thermalright TL-C12C-S X5 CPU Fan,Black Cooling Fan, PC Fan with 1550RPM Speed, 120mm Computer Case Cooler Fan,PWM Control Fan for Case and Liquid Cooler & CPU Cooling"​

if your getting a case like the tower 300, are you really not going to put RGB in it???
thats a £140 case and your putting £3.40 fans in... and TBF not the best cheap fans at that

I mean RGB isn't for everyone....
But in this case yes I do plan to go RGB, as mentioned they're ARGB fans just in black rather than white. Also I had heard of them before after watching the hardware canucks ARGB fan roundup so in theory they're pretty decent, at least for the price. Am open to spending a bit more but if you're spending £10 a fan suddenly you're looking at an effectively £170+ case or something!

 

[GeorgeStorm]

sorry when you said the 5 pack for £17 in black TBF i think both me and @tamzzy thought you was getting the none RGB ones

Yeah no worries I wasn't super clear.

sorry no the ThermalRight ones are fine, the SK120's make less noise but move lass air there about £7 each

the ThermalRight are cheap but £3.40 a fan is insane, obviously a budget fan but for £3.40 a very good fan

I mean I've currently got the system on an OBT just sat next to me, and the thermalright fans the phantom spirit come with are I think the same model but without the ARGB, and they're running very slowly so I'm hoping I won't need anything crazy performance wise, I was going to look at both the SK120 and M25 from phanteks though as I think I've seen them mentioned as decent fans on the low(er) end of the budget spectrum.

But yeah that price is difficult to ignore!

 

[GeorgeStorm]

both are very good fans i personally love Phanteks RGB...

out of interest what system spec will it be cooling, and remember ever with the best air flow in the world everything gets hotter when it going into a case.
you have the CPU and GPU dumping air into the case unless you have insane fans at 100% you will never remove all the heat as fast as you need to.

that said this is a very good cooler if you dont have a 400w cpu haha

My only experience of LED fans are some old (10+ years I'd guess) cooler master than had 4 red leds, one in each corner haha. All this ARGB stuff is totally new to me.
Ah yes the system will be a 7500f and a 4070s so nothing too crazy, and the cooler in theory deliberately over the top so it can be run quietly.

Ah yes found them. £17.29 for the 5-pack. Incredible.
(The non-argb 5-pack is £15.79 - those were the one I thought you meant lol)

They're cheap fans but their performance is pretty good and not to be snuffed at.

Yeah the price the performance ratio of them really is difficult to say no to.