Air 540, Meshify C or ...?

[martward]

Hi all,

 

I want to improve my thermals somewhat, mostly of the GPU (GB RTX 2060 Windforce OC). I would also like a slightly smaller case than I currently have and hide the PSU. I currently have a Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 with two Arctic Freezer P12s as intake, a H75 push/pulll in the back as exhaust and a 140mm fan that came with the case also as exhaust in the top. I am currently looking at the Corsair Carbide Air 540 and the Fractal Design Meshify C. 

 

Air 540

+ Dual chamber design

+ Very good airflow

+ 140mm fans as exhaust

+ Very easy cablemanagement

- I've read it's rather loud (maybe due to lack of fan filters

- No fan filters in the top

- €120

 

FD Meshify C

+ Nice shroud

+ Bit smaller than my current case

+ Lot's of fan filters

+ €90

- AFAIK same thick filter in the front

- Not sure whether it's better than what I have in terms of thermals

 

Opinions, other ideas, everything is welcome.

 

Cheers

[brunostejskal]

The Meshify has also got good airflow, its quite silent, somewhat cheap and looks better than the 540 (subjective), if I was deciding I´d go for Fractal.

[brunostejskal]

It´s one kilo lighter, too.If you´re getting the no TG version there´s noise dampening foam included. The steel is 1mm thicker on the Meshify compared to the Carbide.

[r2724r16]

13 minutes ago, martward said:

Opinions, other ideas, everything is welcome.

Picked up a Meshify C TG (White) recently and I have no regrets. It's a breeze to build in, looks really good, has good airflow, it's easy to clean the dust filters, has decent upgradeability and expansion options, and it's compact.

 

I bought an Air 540 many years ago, but I never really liked it (for many obvious reasons) and returned it soon after getting it.

[Tsuki]

i used to have an air 540. its an okay case, but its really wide, and takes up a lot of space.

 

that being said, there is plenty of room for cable management.  there are also giant gaping holes in the bottom of the case, which look awful if you dont put harddrives over them..i never understood what they were thinking with that.

[aezakmi]

Meshify C and move that H75 to the front

[martward]

15 minutes ago, Geography said:

Picked up a Meshify C TG (White) recently and I have no regrets. It's a breeze to build in, looks really good, has good airflow, it's easy to clean the dust filters, has decent upgradeability and expansion options, and it's compact.

 

I bought an Air 540 many years ago, but I never really liked it (for many obvious reasons) and returned it soon after getting it.

Is it possible to mount 3 120mm fans in the front without removing the shroud in the meshify C? I saw in a GN video that it's not really optimal for cooling the GPU unless you have a fan lower down, but I would really like a shroud.

 

What were your problems with the air 540?

[martward]

6 minutes ago, aezakmi said:

move that H75 to the front

Wouldn't that be detrimental to the cooling of the GPU?

[martward]

20 minutes ago, brunostejskal said:

It´s one kilo lighter, too.If you´re getting the no TG version there´s noise dampening foam included. The steel is 1mm thicker on the Meshify compared to the Carbide.

Nah I would definitely go for the TG, looks are important too.

[r2724r16]

13 minutes ago, martward said:

Is it possible to mount 3 120mm fans in the front without removing the shroud in the meshify C?

Nope unfortunately. You'll have to remove the front part of the shroud to fit three 120mm fans in the front.

15 minutes ago, martward said:

What were your problems with the air 540?

The shape was quite weird, the side panel got scratched very easily, the finish was a fingerprint magnet, etc.

[martward]

4 minutes ago, Geography said:

Nope unfortunately. You'll have to remove the front part of the shroud to fit three 120mm fans in the front.

Yes but only the front part right, not the whole shroud? It looks like there's a little hatch that can be removed.

The most important part for me is optimizing the GPU temperatures, so I need the two bottom fans the most.

[r2724r16]

13 minutes ago, martward said:

Yes but only the front part right, not the whole shroud? It looks like there's a little hatch that can be removed.

Only the front part (not the whole shroud) needs to be removed in order to have three 120mm fans in the front.

 

Also note that you'll lose all 3.5" drive bays if want to fit three 120mm fans in the front.

[aezakmi]

43 minutes ago, martward said:

Wouldn't that be detrimental to the cooling of the GPU?

It might increase temp by 2C but is still better than increasing the CPU by 5-7

[martward]

17 minutes ago, Geography said:

 

Also note that you'll lose all 3.5" drive bays if want to fit three 120mm fans in the front.

That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, only have one HDD. Thanks!

 

10 minutes ago, aezakmi said:

It might increase temp by 2C but is still better than increasing the CPU by 5-7

I'm water-cooling a Xeon E3 which never goes over 50 with the radiator as exhaust, I can take the 5-7 degrees on the CPU. The GPU is currently 75-80 degrees under load and I'd like to shave off as much degrees as possible. When I move to a new CPU I would experiment with this setup though, thanks :).

[SenKa]

Fractal gets my vote, always.