MIK0

760T inside is the same as the 750D with it's pros and cons. Outside the 760T has a better optical drive cover if you use them (750D looks awful when an optical drive is mounted). The top panel cover your fan if you want to mount them on top. Also it's unfiltered so you have to find filter yourself. The 750D has a removable magnetic filter out of the box.

Ok, thank you.

Thank you for your reply. The 200mm fans alredy mounted are one of the reason I choose this case. To match this fan installment on other cases I would have had to spend more. Also 200mm are quiter and one of my goal was to achieve a quite system. I had to go for the windowed one because that's the only one I could find but at least it doesn't have fan socket on the side so I don't have to cover them. I wonder if it is better to mount the psu with the fan on the inside of the case. This way I could avoid the filter problem and help the airflow to dissipate the heat from the gpu. I don't know what's better.

I went for the HAF XM, I hope I made the right choice.

Keep in mind that with the Fractal Arc Midi R2 you'll have to remove the hdd cage to install your gpu. With the other one you don't need to. Do you have a budget for the case?

I hoped someone would chip in about those cases to help me decide. Here the final showdown: HAF XM: I'm really going for this one even if I don't like the aesthetic as it has all the things I need even though the design is already old. It has a lot of good fan out of the box (front, top and back). My main concern is the filtering and how easy is to clean. It has a mesh similar to the CM690IIAdvanced that actually attract a lot of dust but at least it let the air flow. For this case I can buy both soundproof filter and dust filter to add later. The issue remain with the psu filter that is not removable while the psu is installed (maybe I could use the psu with the fan on the inside?). It the most convenient choice for me now. Obsidian 650D: It's almost tie with the HAF XM. It has an old design but not so old like the above. It lacks the improvements of the 750D and 450D (the ssd slots, magnetic filters). I heard that it has issue with the front fan, I want a case as silent as possible. The only way I can use this is if I find a way to change the front panel usb 3.0 cable to one with the proper connector. Any suggestion? Obsidian 750D: Lack the hot swap slot but I can live with it. The main issue is the awful optical drive slot. I'm considering to go over it too. It has a removable filter on the top but it doesn't have a top fan out of the box (so I have to buy another) and the front ones are covered so I don't know if it is a good case for air cooling. I really like the ssd slots and removable filters. Graphite 730T: Like the 750D I like the interior. Even if the aesthetic is not cool as teh 750D it has a better front panel, same removable filter on the bottom. Better filter on the front, with the fans not covered. I don't like the top removable panel because it doesn't have a filter so if I add a fan there (it's not there out of the box) I still need to find something for filtering but it's not compatible with the 750D filter. With the cover on the top fans are useless. Graphite Series 600T: ruled out because it so similar to the 650D that I would go with that probably. It has better air flowing due to a better front cover.

My case in on the desk, so it's a major issue for me. I'm confident that in the future, layout like that would be user friendly. Maybe for the next update. I'm ruling out some choice because I need to pick one in the end. Fractal Design Define XL-R2: It's really cool but I don't like the interior and while I like the noise reduction material, no toolless slot and the front panel door doesn't work for me. Fractal Design Arc XL: same as above. Phanteks Enthoo Pro: Difficult to find where I live. Specific question about single case, please help me choose or to solve some of the issue (take in consideration my actual case): HAF XM: It has really almost everything I want. I cannot change the looks, which I don't like much, but my main concern is the filtering. Obsidian 650D: No usb 3.0 adaptor and has a issue with the front fan (is it really a problem?). Obsidian 750D: Awful optical drive slot. I'm thinking of getting over the look and go for this case anyway. I don't know how the airflow is compared to the haf xm (I guess the haf xm is a bit better at this). Filters seems ok but still I don't know how good they are and how easly I can clean them. No hot swap slot, but at this point I can find a solution with a third party bay. Graphite 730T: Similar to the 750D. It solve the issue with the awful optical drive slot but the materials are not equally good. Seems to have good filters and easy to clean but I don't like the top panel unfiltered cover and I'll need to cover the side panel vent. I have concern about the side panel: is it possible to remove it without opening it completly? I don't usually have much space when I open the case and I want to avoid moving the case too much only to open the side. Graphite Series 600T: old design but still good. Good airflow, good filter. Same issue of the 650D (no usb 3.0 adaptor) and only one usb 3.0 Of these case I would like to understand how silent they are. I can add noise reduction material myself but it costs and I cannot find in the proper size for every cases.

I understand, but I prefer a layout that doesn't put so much boundaries on what I can install in it from the start. It's indeed an interesting layout but I would pass for now. Also I don't understand how one can have easy access to the I/O panel. So for now I would prefer a more classic layout. Thanks however as I didn't know such kind of layout existed and I hope in the future we'll see more of this.

This is indeed cheaper. However, while I understand that the layout improves air cooling, it seems difficult to build and also make wonder how I'll handle the input cables.

My fault. I actually pay in euro so I have done a rough conversion in usd to make it more easy to you to help me. For me those cases costs more than 200 euro that is my budget.

The FT02 has an interesting upside down layout. The other ones has interesting layout too, but I prefer a more streamlined layout. In any case, they are out of my budget.

Here a sum up of the cases I'm evaluating. HAF XM: I don't doubt its airflow, it seems to have a lot of space for gpus without losing hdd cages, it has hot swap slots. My main concern are the dust filters and the cleaning. Obsidian 650D: It has the right size and it's good looking, but it has not usb 3.0 adaptor. Also it has a issue with the front fan. It costs more then the newer chassis. It has hot swap slot. Obsidian 750D: Good looking and good material except for awful optical drive. I don't know how the airflow is. Filters seems ok. No hot swap slot. Graphite 730T: Similar to the 750D without the awful optical drive but the materials are not equally good. Good filters easy to clean but I don't like the top panel unfiltered cover and I'll need to cover the side panel vent. No hot swap. Graphite Series 600T: old design but still good. Good airflow, good filter. Phanteks Enthoo Pro: Seems good but I don't find it easly where I live. No hot swap. Fractal Design Define XL-R2: I don't much like the interior but it has room for everything. I don't like the front panel with the door. It has noise reduction material installed. No hot swap. No toolless slot! Fractal Design Arc XL: better looking than the Define XL-R2 but without the noise reduction material. I have concern about filtering. No toolless slot!

That's exactly my point. I don't understand why they don't do much longer mid tower case. However 750D or HAF XM are in a size between the full tower and the mid tower, that's why I set my limit at that size. Aboud modding the 750D, I would like to avoid having to fix myself a design flow like that (still don't know why they didn't thought about that). It's unfortunate becase my optical drive has a similar mesh to the brushed aluminum of the 750D. The 730T is less cool but doesn't have this issue. It has the not filtered and not particularly good looking top cover though.

That's exactly why. With this case I give up the possibility of mounting a xfire/sli in the future. Also it require to remove an hdd cage from the start. For a new case that I want to keep for as long as possibile, this is not a great start. That's why I specified that I would prefer a case that has the room for a longer gpu without having to remove the hdd cages. And I also don't like the gpu crammed in the middle section of the case between the 5.25" slots and the lower hdd cages. As I said the 750D it's ok on that because it's tall.

I'm ruling out Phanteks Enthoo Pro mainly because It's not easy to find where I live and I want to avoid high shipping taxes plus custom taxes. About 450D, Fractal Design ARC mid R2 and Define R4, the issue is that to fit a long gpu you need to sacrifice a lot of feature. I wish for mid cases that are not too tall (like a full tower) but longer that the previous cases are.