looking for new case for air cooled rig

[vafan13]

Building a new rig soon and I'm finally going to let go of my geriatric ATC-201.

As title says, it will be air cooled. the 201 has definitely gotten super cramped over the years as heatsinks and GPU cards have ballooned in size so I'd imagine I'm looking for a larger mid tower or a full tower, or at least something less cramped in the right areas.

I'm looking around the $200 mark but I'll certainly consider anything higher priced if it's worth it.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

[chuchnit]

What kind of look do you like best? Gamer type cases with tons of plastic and flashy lights or elegant designs like Silverstone/Lian Li?

[vafan13]

What kind of look do you like best? Gamer type cases with tons of plastic and flashy lights or elegant designs like Silverstone/Lian Li?

In general definitely the latter, though I may be willing to drift in the other direction some if it means better cooling, internal case design and/or acoustics.

A friend pointed me towards the HAF X, which is definitely not at the "elegant" end but it's not completely horrible so I'd at least consider it. Is the performance worth the looks or is there something around the same performance that looks better? How does the FT02 compare performance wise with an air cooled setup and am I going to have problems fitting a gtx580 and a big tower cpu cooler?

[vafan13]

oh FFS double post

[chuchnit]

In general definitely the latter, though I may be willing to drift in the other direction some if it means better cooling, internal case design and/or acoustics.

A friend pointed me towards the HAF X, which is definitely not at the "elegant" end but it's not completely horrible so I'd at least consider it. Is the performance worth the looks or is there something around the same performance that looks better? How does the FT02 compare performance wise with an air cooled setup and am I going to have problems fitting a gtx580 and a big tower cpu cooler?

Well I for one just don't like the generic look of the so called "gamer" cases. I know tons and tons of people like the HAF series of cases but I am always skeptical and refuse to buy cases with non-standard fans; ie 200mm fans. You are basically stuck with the fan that came with it and that's it. The stupid 200mm or whatever they are fans that come in the 650D by Corsair is the only reason I won't buy that case. I like to have the option to buy my own fans to suit my needs. That means they need to be standard thickness and 140mm or less.

Bit-tech has a lot of cases that they have in their review charts. I have no clue how good their testing methods are though. This is my first time shopping for a case in three years (been using bench station).

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/201...v2120-review/3


I tend to only like designs from Lian Li, Silverstone and Fractal Design. All can have adequate cooling given the right fan configs. Well most of the cases anyways.

[vafan13]

based on that graph it looks like the FT02 is pretty stellar for aircooling. I might go with that unless someone tells me it has fitting issues. Thanks

[chuchnit]

Uh I think that supports up to 12.2" vga's so pretty much any card. Keep in mind that when they test the cases that is with the stock fans. That silverstone comes with all the fans. Some cases barely give you one or two.

[InCredible]

Like mentioned Fractal design is a good brand to look at . I have the Fractal Design R3 and no its not the best air cooled case however it does very well and with the setup i have its inaudible to myself(note i have silver arrow on cpu and shaman on gpu)
and unless everything else in my room is off i can't hear anything. With it dead silent i can BARELY hear the front fans but they are literally within a foot away from me at head height.

[Havokator]

I would recommend the Corsair 650D. It has great air cooling and ever since they fixed the fan issue, it is very quiet. Even with both of the 200mm and the 140mm fans at full speed, I can barely hear anything. It also comes with all the fans you need unlike some cases, and it has a build in fan controller for controlling up to 4 fans. Plus I think it looks great. Pretty much everything you could want in an air cooled case.

[vafan13]

has anyone actually tested the 650D to compare its temps to other cases?

[chuchnit]

I wouldn't touch it for one reason only. That stupid 200mm fan up front with no mounting holes for 120/140mm real fans. I don't know why they do that crap? I would order the 650D today if it wasn't for that stupid flaw... well that and the generic side panel which I could live with.

[Linchpin]

Personally for aircooling I'd avoid the Corsairs since they're just not that good partly because of the decision to use the 20mm thick fans which struggle to push decent amounts of air and can't be replaced with anything decent. FT02 or Haf X(the 200mm fans in it are replaceable) get my vote.

[ABalthazor]

If you want to try a case with a 90 degree MB orientation, with GPUs hanging vertically, try the Recent silverstone TJ case - I think it is TJ 11. It is quite large. Or the Rv03, which just came out.

[bot@xs]

i would also take a look at the Corsair Graphite Series 600T.

[Furiøùs]

If you want to try a case with a 90 degree MB orientation, with GPUs hanging vertically, try the Recent silverstone TJ case - I think it is TJ 11. It is quite large. Or the Rv03, which just came out.

I'm looking for a case that I can run my GTX480 SLI in. Right now running the HAF932 OG, and unfortunately due to the lack of expansion slots I have them sandwiched next to each other, also because of how close the motherboard is spaced with the power supply. I'm looking at the TJ11 or the FT02, or the Fractal Design R3 (all mentioned here) but I'm a little skeptical about the 90 degree mounting as well as the mid-tower size. I've been using full towers since.. forever.

The TJ11 just seems to have the same issue my HAF932 would have with a lack of expansion slots.

[aerial]

Haf 932 seems really good for air cooling, cheap, excellent air flow (direct gpu, powerful intake front). Only problem is how it looks, some people like it, but if you prefere aluminium Lian Li style, then this case is painful to look at.

[Furiøùs]

I wouldn't buy the HAF932. I would only buy the HAF-X if you were buying a full-tower HAF series.

[Church]

One can get HAF932 advanced, which is black inside as well.
Though wait, OP was about air cooled? Then doesn't really matter 939 or X. It's liquid cooling where 939 is imho preferable to hafx because of more space above motherboard.

[ABalthazor]

I'm looking for a case that I can run my GTX480 SLI in. Right now running the HAF932 OG, and unfortunately due to the lack of expansion slots I have them sandwiched next to each other, also because of how close the motherboard is spaced with the power supply. I'm looking at the TJ11 or the FT02, or the Fractal Design R3 (all mentioned here) but I'm a little skeptical about the 90 degree mounting as well as the mid-tower size. I've been using full towers since.. forever.

The TJ11 just seems to have the same issue my HAF932 would have with a lack of expansion slots.

The TJ11 has 9+1 expansion slots. You need more than that?

[Furiøùs]

The TJ11 has 9+1 expansion slots. You need more than that?

It seems I can't count. Just checked another picture and for some reason I thought it had less.
EDIT: It seems I was looking at the TJ10. I'm not spending 500+ on a case, and that seems to be the price for the TJ11.

I'm still looking really hard at that FT02 though.. I don't know how that thing is wrecking every other case in cooling performance, but it is.

Honestly though, any other recommendations?

[jstutman]

lol. I guess it is personal opinion. Everyone is just telling you there opinion. Most likely based on what they own. I ran into the same problem, as I am looking for a new case.
My eyes are on the CM 690II advanced http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
which is only $80 so I guess buy 3 to match the $200 you want to spend :P

[godsfist]

I would recommend the Corsair 650D.

What about USB 3.0 motherboard headers?

Are they going to do anything about that?

It's an absolute deal killer for me without that!