Author Topic: Decent PC Case  (Read 4394 times)

  • Offline neXus

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Decent PC Case
on: May 05, 2020, 00:50:07 AM
Hey all,
I been working on my office setup and my PC case is a black beast which I know has poor air flow and I need to look for a better solution.


- I have a single fan/radiator water cooler but will upgrade to a double at some point
- I have a DVD drive for disc games that I barely use and I know most modern cases do not have drive bays so I do not mind, maybe there is an enclosure you can get?
- I game on my PC but I do have work stuff as well so I have a few drives
- Good airflow and less noise is something I am keen on
- I do not care about RGB but if the case has it it has it
- I am keen on a white case, but mainly just non black really
- Full midi or larger


Any recommendations?

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  • Offline Clock'd 0Ne

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #1 on: May 05, 2020, 08:09:08 AM
Most cases these days have filtered air flow in from the front and a rear vent, a decent case on its own with whatever stock fans it has will probably yield great results without any extra work.

If you want to swap out your DVD drive I would simply remove it and buy an external USB drive for what is about £20 ish here, they're very cheap.

What sort of budget did you have in mind for the case? That will dictate a lot of the suggestions as decent (especially white) premium ones such as NZXT, Fractal, when on offer are still in the £80+ region. Half the money gets you something like a Corsair Carbide, CoolerMaster Masterbox.

Silent PC Review might be a good start
https://silentpcreview.com/?taxonomy=vocabulary_1&term=casesdamping

  • Offline Serious

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #2 on: May 05, 2020, 17:25:04 PM
I have a NZXT Phantom white tower, lots of drive bays including 5.25. Cooling is via a 129mm fan in rear and a huge slow one in the top, mine has a second huge fan in the top. Run out of 3.5 bays? Unlikely but put a 4X2.5" or 2X3.5" bay converter into one of the 5.25 ones.

No lights on mine. The one issue is if you don't like Star Wars Storm trooper style.

Usually there are at least some of NZXT's cases on ebay so have a look at least.


  • Offline neXus

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #3 on: May 06, 2020, 01:10:11 AM
I have a NZXT Phantom white tower, lots of drive bays including 5.25. Cooling is via a 129mm fan in rear and a huge slow one in the top, mine has a second huge fan in the top. Run out of 3.5 bays? Unlikely but put a 4X2.5" or 2X3.5" bay converter into one of the 5.25 ones.

No lights on mine. The one issue is if you don't like Star Wars Storm trooper style.

Usually there are at least some of NZXT's cases on ebay so have a look at least.


I am after as less old school case and more one with the modern concepts of air flow etc, something like this:

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/nzxt-h510-tempered-glass-midtower-atx-case-matte-white-ac24911?gclid=Cj0KCQjwncT1BRDhARIsAOQF9LkAtHPCxsahIg1SBkIRUYZkrefMuUvMdi0aRPISm1Wu4c7iXHpVREAaAqhMEALw_wcB


This is along the lines.. I just do not know which are the good and bad on modern standards.
But to note modern cases...


- No horizontal drive bays at front
- PSU at bottom or in its own compartment, sometimes behind the motherboard in thicker case designs
- Fans 3-2 at front and 1-2 at the back
- Little to no interference from front to back
- cable management
- drive bays for various drive sizes on floors, beside motherboard as well as behind
- cable management features where 90+% of cables are behind

Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #4 on: May 06, 2020, 20:31:22 PM
I've got that exact case (H510), not actually running any rads in it at the moment but might do at some point if I can be arsed, keeps everything cool, good case, but if you have any questions let me know..

  • Offline neXus

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #5 on: May 08, 2020, 06:34:59 AM
I've got that exact case (H510), not actually running any rads in it at the moment but might do at some point if I can be arsed, keeps everything cool, good case, but if you have any questions let me know..


Would go in the front hey.
Could you snap a picture?
I would like to see how it looks with actual stuff inside. How many drives do you have in there?

Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #6 on: May 08, 2020, 12:43:35 PM
I've got that exact case (H510), not actually running any rads in it at the moment but might do at some point if I can be arsed, keeps everything cool, good case, but if you have any questions let me know..


Would go in the front hey.
Could you snap a picture?
I would like to see how it looks with actual stuff inside. How many drives do you have in there?

Depends on the Rad, a single can go in the top, a double in the front..

I'm not running any HDDs, just a 1TB NVME drive on the mobo, I have a server for all my storage needs.. the case I believe will take 3 HDDs, and you can mount 2 SSDs on the back of the mobo too..

I picked mine up for £55 so got it at a bargain price really..

Google album here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zu4FvF6i8k9jtwDh6

  • Offline Serious

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #7 on: May 10, 2020, 19:19:02 PM
I have a NZXT Phantom white tower, lots of drive bays including 5.25. Cooling is via a 129mm fan in rear and a huge slow one in the top, mine has a second huge fan in the top. Run out of 3.5 bays? Unlikely but put a 4X2.5" or 2X3.5" bay converter into one of the 5.25 ones.

No lights on mine. The one issue is if you don't like Star Wars Storm trooper style.

Usually there are at least some of NZXT's cases on ebay so have a look at least.


I am after as less old school case and more one with the modern concepts of air flow etc, something like this:

https://www.mwave.com.au/product/nzxt-h510-tempered-glass-midtower-atx-case-matte-white-ac24911?gclid=Cj0KCQjwncT1BRDhARIsAOQF9LkAtHPCxsahIg1SBkIRUYZkrefMuUvMdi0aRPISm1Wu4c7iXHpVREAaAqhMEALw_wcB


This is along the lines.. I just do not know which are the good and bad on modern standards.
But to note modern cases...


- No horizontal drive bays at front
- PSU at bottom or in its own compartment, sometimes behind the motherboard in thicker case designs
- Fans 3-2 at front and 1-2 at the back
- Little to no interference from front to back
- cable management
- drive bays for various drive sizes on floors, beside motherboard as well as behind
- cable management features where 90+% of cables are behind
There is a door on the front, no drive bays visible. There is space for a 120mm fan at front too pushing air directly onto 3.5 bays but if you have looked and don't like it then it's your choice.

H510 looks decent too.

  • Offline neXus

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #8 on: May 11, 2020, 02:22:25 AM
I've got that exact case (H510), not actually running any rads in it at the moment but might do at some point if I can be arsed, keeps everything cool, good case, but if you have any questions let me know..


Would go in the front hey.
Could you snap a picture?
I would like to see how it looks with actual stuff inside. How many drives do you have in there?

Depends on the Rad, a single can go in the top, a double in the front..

I'm not running any HDDs, just a 1TB NVME drive on the mobo, I have a server for all my storage needs.. the case I believe will take 3 HDDs, and you can mount 2 SSDs on the back of the mobo too..

I picked mine up for £55 so got it at a bargain price really..

Google album here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zu4FvF6i8k9jtwDh6


Thanks for the photo's man. Much appreciated.
Defiantly keen on this one or similar looking at it. Cable management and space with the side of the case not to squashed?

Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #9 on: May 11, 2020, 14:00:40 PM
I've got that exact case (H510), not actually running any rads in it at the moment but might do at some point if I can be arsed, keeps everything cool, good case, but if you have any questions let me know..


Would go in the front hey.
Could you snap a picture?
I would like to see how it looks with actual stuff inside. How many drives do you have in there?

Depends on the Rad, a single can go in the top, a double in the front..

I'm not running any HDDs, just a 1TB NVME drive on the mobo, I have a server for all my storage needs.. the case I believe will take 3 HDDs, and you can mount 2 SSDs on the back of the mobo too..

I picked mine up for £55 so got it at a bargain price really..

Google album here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zu4FvF6i8k9jtwDh6


Thanks for the photo's man. Much appreciated.
Defiantly keen on this one or similar looking at it. Cable management and space with the side of the case not to squashed?

Added 3 more pics to the album.. fine for me, the cable management on the back is pretty good, built in velcro and channels etc.. the most trouble is the main PSU to mobo cable as it's not very flexible, where I have it it would prohibit 1 HDD being installed, but that's only because I haven't planned to install any.. so used the space to keep them out of the way..

  • Offline neXus

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #10 on: May 12, 2020, 00:38:13 AM
Is the front of the case solid? How is the air coming into those front fans?

Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #11 on: May 12, 2020, 08:43:30 AM
There's a filtered vent on the bottom which you can see in one of the pics I sent plus a larger filtered vent down the side, shown in this pic: https://images.app.goo.gl/5gcfjMDucFCH7JtM6

  • Offline neXus

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #12 on: May 13, 2020, 01:18:22 AM
Does that suck in enough air?
I am asking because I live in Sydney and we hit 40+ in the summer and I have 6 case fans on my current and water cooling and temps go high on hot days

Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #13 on: May 13, 2020, 09:30:04 AM
It does for me, but I'm running a Ryzen 3600 and a RTX 2060S I'm also only running a fan in the front as I had one spare, it would stay cool regardless.. might be a different story without the UK weather maybe.. I guess you need to see what other people running WC are experiencing?

  • Offline neXus

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Re: Decent PC Case
Reply #14 on: May 14, 2020, 07:36:08 AM
And I was thinking, even if you have a single rad all in one water cooling, you should really try and have that at the front hey? If you are sucking air in outside thats going to be the coolest rather than having it at the black trying to blow hot air off the radiator or at the top?

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