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Chat => Entertainment & Technology => Topic started by: neXus on May 05, 2020, 00:50:07 AM

Title: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus 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?
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: Clock'd 0Ne 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
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: Serious 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.

Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus 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 (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
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity 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..
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus 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?
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity 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 (https://photos.app.goo.gl/zu4FvF6i8k9jtwDh6)
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: Serious 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 (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.
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus 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 (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?
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity 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 (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..
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus on May 12, 2020, 00:38:13 AM
Is the front of the case solid? How is the air coming into those front fans?
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity 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 (https://images.app.goo.gl/5gcfjMDucFCH7JtM6)
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus 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
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity 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?
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus 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?
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity on May 14, 2020, 08:37:50 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?

Yeah there's also much more room, you need to use quite a thin rad and fan combo if mounting elsewhere..

The top exhaust I think* can take up to a 140mm fan BTW
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus on June 02, 2020, 00:55:43 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?

Yeah there's also much more room, you need to use quite a thin rad and fan combo if mounting elsewhere..

The top exhaust I think* can take up to a 140mm fan BTW


I put the order in :)
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity on June 02, 2020, 09:10:47 AM
 :ptu:
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus on June 10, 2020, 06:56:28 AM
:ptu:


I got all I needed in and it booted. Still need to do some things.


You did not note that annoying HD led inside the ring light that just keeps flickering away. The connector is all in one but you do get that extension cable so I will use that and not plug the harddrive indicator pin in.


- Smaller than my old case but more room
- Using less power cables even though I am only short one drive and some less fans but due to the case layout I could chain things better with single power cable runs.
- 2 120 mill fans at the front (will replace with quieter ones at some point)
- Water block (Single and fans) at the back with the 80ml
- And the fan that came with the case at the top (but I may get a 120 so it spins less)


Overall pretty happy with it. My case had lots of features I did not use and was more like what many would get for a home server and not a modern PC case. I need to check and see how the thermals go but with such a clear airflow path I think it will be much better with less fans.
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity on June 10, 2020, 08:22:53 AM


You did not note that annoying HD led inside the ring light that just keeps flickering away. The connector is all in one but you do get that extension cable so I will use that and not plug the harddrive indicator pin in.

Oh yeah  ;D I don't really notice it where my computer is located, bit could be very annoying in a dark room! Put some pics up when done!
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus on June 15, 2020, 04:52:56 AM
Bad picture but I not worked out how to grab one on my phone without the crazy reflection going on.


I also need to finish re-doing the cables tidy at the back but wanted to wait for it to be all stable before putting it under cable wraps again.
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: Clock'd 0Ne on June 15, 2020, 08:16:51 AM
401 on that picture, I think permissions don't allow sharing it.
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus on June 16, 2020, 02:26:23 AM
Fixed image:
(https://i.ibb.co/pXs7Kw0/rBci3P9g.jpg) (https://ibb.co/pXs7Kw0)
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: Clock'd 0Ne on June 16, 2020, 07:33:11 AM
To think people used to mock the RGB fans and now its literally in every piece of hardware. Looks great, that 8)
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: XEntity on June 16, 2020, 09:00:30 AM
Nice I see you went for the 120 rad in the end
Title: Re: Decent PC Case
Post by: neXus on June 18, 2020, 02:15:10 AM
Nice I see you went for the 120 rad in the end
That was what was in my old case. The only thing changed is the case itself. Everything else is right out of the old one.


- With the main drive bay and SSD being at the back panel and right near the PSU and me just sorting cables better I used less PSU cables. Literally just the mobo default cable set and 2 connected to connector ports and chained.
- 2 120 mill at the front and the fan that came with the case at the top.


Just better airflow. Quieter with less fans and 20 degrees idle cooler.