Thinking of buying a new PC case

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NewDArt

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So, I'm getting a little tired of my old PC case. It's very heavy and not particularly well laid out.

I have a little extra money these days, so I thought I might treat myself to a luxury.

But I don't want any old case, as my current one serves decently. It's just something I've considered for a while.

So, what I'm looking for is a high-end "super duper" case. No, not just a fancy expensive case - but one that's extremely practical and focused on smart design and actual use - rather than style over substance.

Anyone here with experience in this field? I've never really cared about high-end cases, so I have limited experience.

I'm not just looking for a Google result - and I would prefer personal experience :)
 
If you have nothing else to do with the money ... I'll take it.

Anyway, I would recommend having a look at overclockers and pc specialist websites.

They're uk based but could give you some ideas


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Function > Looks.

Any case with builtin in front/top two or more USB3.0 ports and several fans inside will do. I use Zalman Z3, IIRC Kordanor uses Fractal Design Define R5.
Good cases are also cheap NZXT S340 and not so cheap NZXT H440. If as much LED light as possible is your thing, Rosewill Cullinan is a mustbuy:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M6TV6PC

Never cared about about cooler master cases, but if that one comes with USB3.0 and a few fans inside, buy now (can't see your link as I'm not at home and proxy here blocks it).
 
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joxer said:
Function > Looks.

Any case with builtin in front/top two or more USB3.0 ports and several fans inside will do. I use Zalman Z3, IIRC Kordanor uses Fractal Design Define R5.
Good cases are also cheap NZXT S340 and not so cheap NZXT H440. If as much LED light as possible is your thing, Rosewill Cullinan is a mustbuy:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M6TV6PC

Never cared about about cooler master cases, but if that one comes with USB3.0 and a few fans inside, buy now (can't see your link as I'm not at home and proxy here blocks it).
Click to expand...

I like the look of the Fractal R5 - and I've been considering that, too.

I have no interest in lights or displays.

I also checked out NZXT H440 - which seems good, too.

But I think the Storm Stryker is, overall, more consistently reviewed as being in the top, though it's slightly older.
 
Storm Stryker - I believe I found it:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Mas...&qid=1499339431&sr=8-1&keywords=Storm+Stryker

Not cheap definetly. :)
Has two USB 3.0 ports in front, but comes with just one fan (someone in comments there says two so I'm not sure) which is not a biggie, you can buy an additional one or two more as it "Supports up 7 fans".

If you don't care about it's high price, I say buy it.
Still, wait for Kordanor, maybe he has some actual experience with coolermaster cases.
 
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joxer said:
Storm Stryker - I believe I found it:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Mas...&qid=1499339431&sr=8-1&keywords=Storm+Stryker

Not cheap definetly. :)
Has two USB 3.0 ports in front, but comes with just one fan (someone in comments there says two so I'm not sure) which is not a biggie, you can buy an additional one or two more as it "Supports up 7 fans".

If you don't care about it's high price, I say buy it.
Still, wait for Kordanor, maybe he has some actual experience with coolermaster cases.
Click to expand...

It comes with 4 fans according to reviews :)
 
What parameters for the case - mini-itx; or full tower with 20 disks ? For the small size what I consider praticle is a lianli pc-q33 (works great with mini 1070); but # of drives is limited - i have 3 ssd in one and 2 ssd in the other. Typical price is around $95; for the more elaborate there is ncase and dan's case ($180 and $250 respectiively); very small cases so read up on them. On the cheap end is the cooler master 130 ($35 on sale); however while I have a couple i do not recommend them. Pain in the ass to modify the drive arrangement after the build and room for heat sink is limited (the pc-q33 has an interesting design; while the length of the graphic card is limited (full size won't work but does work in the 130); the area over the cpu is completely clear so very tall heat sink or water cooking is tirivla to use (I'm using a noctusa which does a fantastic job).
-
For the larger size I recommend lian-li PC-A75 - fantastic full tower. I have 8 mechanical hard drives in mine. Cost was around $130 new. It comes with 3 120mm fans in the front which does an excellent job of keeping the drives cool.
 
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I don't think he'd accept miniITX. I wouldn't either, although my reason is not SLI/crossfire whatnot. ;)
 
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you said:
What parameters for the case - mini-itx; or full tower with 20 disks ? For the small size what I consider praticle is a lianli pc-q33 (works great with mini 1070); but # of drives is limited - i have 3 ssd in one and 2 ssd in the other. Typical price is around $95; for the more elaborate there is ncase and dan's case ($180 and $250 respectiively); very small cases so read up on them. On the cheap end is the cooler master 130 ($35 on sale); however while I have a couple i do not recommend them. Pain in the ass to modify the drive arrangement after the build and room for heat sink is limited (the pc-q33 has an interesting design; while the length of the graphic card is limited (full size won't work but does work in the 130); the area over the cpu is completely clear so very tall heat sink or water cooking is tirivla to use (I'm using a noctusa which does a fantastic job).
-
For the larger size I recommend lian-li PC-A75 - fantastic full tower. I have 8 mechanical hard drives in mine. Cost was around $130 new. It comes with 3 120mm fans in the front which does an excellent job of keeping the drives cool.
Click to expand...

I like big towers so I don't have to worry about future expansion or large graphics cards :)

I'll check out the A75, thanks!
 
I've become a big fan of thermaltake cases. They really make some good ones now and they're pretty innovative. They have all size, stackable one, wall mount, giant cases, etc. really well made and many are full modular. The prices are great too. I used to buy at mountain mods but thermaltake is making stuff on par with them for much cheaper.

I currently have too thermaltake x5's stacked. One houses my dual loop watercoolers. I can fit 2 pumps, 2 480 rads, 2 reservoirs and tubing in one and all my components in the other. It's giant 2 ft wide by 2 ft deep and over 4 ft tall. It's overkill for sure. When people first see it they think it's my furnace.:lol:

My next build I'll be switching to their tower 900 case which will fit all that in one case and has tempered glass on 3 sides to show all you components. I'll be switching to hard tubing for water cooling at that point for a clean look. I love modding my cases. Almost as fun as gaming.

Here's a link. It's big but looks great imo.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2F85R55063&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-_-Cases+%28Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form%29-_-9SIA2F85R55063&gclid=Cj0KEQjwv_fKBRCG8a3ao-OQuZ8BEiQAvpHp6NnBVwJmAzMrAUoWTAB9KQpU6g0RTp3TfTV9JoKddDkaAn4n8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
My main concern is always silence so I currently have a Nanoxia Deep Silence 5 case which is awesome for that purpose. The temps are also fine in spite of the dampening material. I run a rather hot-headed i7-4790K inside it and there hasn't been a problem so far. The case has a fan controller so when it's really hot in the summer like right now then I sometimes crank up the fans for some additional cooling when playing a demanding game.
It's a great case, good modularity and easy to put together.

Pretty much the one and only disadvantage of the Nanoxia case is the fact that you can not remove the top 5.25" rack. If I were to build a new system now then I'd probably want a case where I can just remove the 5.25" cage altogether because it would be my first system sans any optical drive at all.
So, if I had to buy a new case right now, I'd be very interested in the beQuiet DarkBase 900 Pro . There are also versions with a side window but I really don't care about that and would always prefer the more silent dampened side panel option.
 
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NewDArt said:
I like the look of the Fractal R5 - and I've been considering that, too.

I have no interest in lights or displays.

I also checked out NZXT H440 - which seems good, too.

But I think the Storm Stryker is, overall, more consistently reviewed as being in the top, though it's slightly older.
Click to expand...

Funny you say that, I have an H440 here that i'm not using that I was going to sell cheap.

EDIT: Here's my thread on the build I used to have with this case. I've since gone to a Micro ATX
 
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Personally I am using 2 Fractal Define R5 for my 2 PCs.

Great cases, which you can get in 2 main variants: With window or closed side.
And if you are living in Europe you can also get a special PCGH (stands for PC Games Hardware) Edition. An edition of this case which was slightly modified by a german hardware magazine. It includes 3 fans, and the side and top panel are closed for better dampening (but less options for coolers, e.g. liquid cooling).

Personally I am using the PCGH edition.
One thing which could be better though is the HDD isolation. Not sure if there is a case which is focusing on this. But for my PCs, even with special dampening slots, the HDDs are still the loudest component in the PC.

https://www.alternate.de/Fractal-Design/Define-R5-PCGH-Edition-Tower-Gehäuse/html/product/1190705
 
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Looking at some other folks recommendations I have a few generic comments:

Do you care about noise (btw i wonder if those silent case have issue with heat) ?

Do you care about weight (steel vs aluminum) ?

Do you care about windows ?

Do you care about tool-less ?

Do you care about hot-swap drive bays ?
--
Anyway a few things to consider.
 
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you said:
Do you care about noise (btw i wonder if those silent case have issue with heat) ?
Click to expand...

Silent Cases generally have no issues with heat. The inner case is isolated against noise but you have your regular fans.

One thing I forgot to mention: The Fractal Define R5 also has dust filters in the front and bottom where the air is taken in. So the majority of the dust stays outside.
 
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I have used the Fractal Design R5 this year in a build and it is a great case. The only downside is that the fans are 3 pins and not PWM controlled, but that is custom for these types of cases. The case does have a manually controlled speed switch for those fans. I have it on the lowest setting almost always.
Alternatively one or more 20 cm fans with PWM could be bought later, to replace the ones in the case, when you find you want The speed to be set automatically. They aren't that expensive.
 
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Myrthos said:
I have used the Fractal Design R5 this year in a build and it is a great case. The only downside is that the fans are 3 pins and not PWM controlled, but that is custom for these types of cases. The case does have a manually controlled speed switch for those fans. I have it on the lowest setting almost always.
Alternatively one or more 20 cm fans with PWM could be bought later, to replace the ones in the case, when you find you want The speed to be set automatically. They aren't that expensive.
Click to expand...

The Fractal Define R5 PCGH Edition comes with 3 Fans (instead of 2 of the normal edition and black fins instead of white ones) and I am using them in my second PC, also on lowest setting. The are decent and absolutely quiet.

For my main PC I went ahead and bought Fans from Noctua which are PWM controlled. If you plan to replace any fans (and don't want to go LED) Noctua is definitely the recommendation here. They will release an even better version of their fans around september 2017.

 
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I bought a Noctua CPU cooler and it's become one of my favourite pieces of hardware ever. I haven't personally used a lot of different CPU coolers to compare, though I've assembled a lot of systems with various crazy coolers - most of which were more difficult to install, but I liked their product so much I don't see why I'd look to another brand. Been running my CPU overclocked a full 1GHz with it for years.
I'm sure their new fans are fantastic!
 
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