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Case suggestions for EATX mobo

Idiot211

Hey all,

 

Just finishing up planning a build which is going to use an EATX board with a dual GPU setup.

 

Currently looking at cases and having a hard time deciding what case to use for the setup. The setup is going to be primarily air cooled as I don’t have the experience to build a custom loop and I don’t see the advantage of an AIO to a large air CPU cooler. (Feel free to change my mind on this :) )

 

With that in mind, has anyone got a suggestion for a good case that would fit all of this nicely with good airflow for cooling?

 

Many thanks!

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11-147-053-23.jpg
Rosewill Thor v2

Ugly as sin, huge with lots of airflow 

11-139-022-18.jpg
Corsair Carbide Air 540

At bit big to fit in places, but again good airflow, looks better. 

11-352-103-V40.jpg
Fractal Design Meshify S2 
Only 7 horizontal pci slots, but will accept eatx. 

These are just a few of the mesh ones I can think of off the top of my head, a lot these days have like a flat front panel or a tempered glass front panel. There's a lot more obv. Dont know what price you want, so there are all less than 150$
 

muh specs 

Gaming and HTPC (reparations)- ASUS 1080, MSI X99A SLI Plus, 5820k- 4.5GHz @ 1.25v, asetek based 360mm AIO, RM 1000x, 16GB memory, 750D with front USB 2.0 replaced with 3.0  ports, 2 250GB 850 EVOs in Raid 0 (why not, only has games on it), some hard drives

Screens- Acer preditor XB241H (1080p, 144Hz Gsync), LG 1080p ultrawide, (all mounted) directly wired to TV in other room

Stuff- k70 with reds, steel series rival, g13, full desk covering mouse mat

All parts black

Workstation(desk)- 3770k, 970 reference, 16GB of some crucial memory, a motherboard of some kind I don't remember, Micomsoft SC-512N1-L/DVI, CM Storm Trooper (It's got a handle, can you handle that?), 240mm Asetek based AIO, Crucial M550 256GB (upgrade soon), some hard drives, disc drives, and hot swap bays

Screens- 3  ASUS VN248H-P IPS 1080p screens mounted on a stand, some old tv on the wall above it. 

Stuff- Epicgear defiant (solderless swappable switches), g600, moutned mic and other stuff. 

Laptop docking area- 2 1440p korean monitors mounted, one AHVA matte, one samsung PLS gloss (very annoying, yes). Trashy Razer blackwidow chroma...I mean like the J key doesn't click anymore. I got a model M i use on it to, but its time for a new keyboard. Some edgy Utechsmart mouse similar to g600. Hooked to laptop dock for both of my dell precision laptops. (not only docking area)

Shelf- i7-2600 non-k (has vt-d), 380t, some ASUS sandy itx board, intel quad nic. Currently hosts shared files, setting up as pfsense box in VM. Also acts as spare gaming PC with a 580 or whatever someone brings. Hooked into laptop dock area via usb switch

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Appreciate the speedy response!

 

I’ve seen the Meshify banded around a few times and did like it. But I had a slight concern that throwing two GPUs in there would just packed in a little tight...

 

The others are, a sight to behold... haha.

 

I am looking for something that does fit on the desk a bit better than the carbide, and has some half way decent looks...

 

Might measure it all up for the Meshify and see how I feel.

 

 

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Few more 

11-854-070-V25.jpg
Phanteks Enthoo Pro TG 

This is the tempered glass version, you can get a non tempered glass one as well. 

11-139-060-01.jpg
Corsair obsidian 750D
I have this one, and while it looks excellent, it is cheap crap like a lot of corsiar cases. But if you value look and dont plan to move it around a lot, it really doesn't hurt anything. 

11-119-334-V01.jpg
CM Storm Stryker/Trooper - classic right here
The white version is called the striker for legal reasons. It's hard to find the old version of this case without tempered glass, but you can if you look. I have the black trooper one, second gen with non tempered glass side, and it is a BEAST. Heavy, solid, a power button that sounds like a NES Zapper trigger and a handle can you handle that? Even a secret tool compartment. It can be a bit on the salty side price wise if you want to get the older one especially. 

11-112-584-V09.jpg
LIAN LI PC-O11AIR
I love lian Li. Never seen this one in person, but I'm sure like most cases under their name it's quality. Price is good too. 

2 minutes ago, Idiot211 said:

Appreciate the speedy response!

 

I’ve seen the Meshify banded around a few times and did like it. But I had a slight concern that throwing two GPUs in there would just packed in a little tight...

 

The others are, a sight to behold... haha.

 

I am looking for something that does fit on the desk a bit better than the carbide, and has some half way decent looks...

 

Might measure it all up for the Meshify and see how I feel.

 

 

Didn't see this before the response. 

muh specs 

Gaming and HTPC (reparations)- ASUS 1080, MSI X99A SLI Plus, 5820k- 4.5GHz @ 1.25v, asetek based 360mm AIO, RM 1000x, 16GB memory, 750D with front USB 2.0 replaced with 3.0  ports, 2 250GB 850 EVOs in Raid 0 (why not, only has games on it), some hard drives

Screens- Acer preditor XB241H (1080p, 144Hz Gsync), LG 1080p ultrawide, (all mounted) directly wired to TV in other room

Stuff- k70 with reds, steel series rival, g13, full desk covering mouse mat

All parts black

Workstation(desk)- 3770k, 970 reference, 16GB of some crucial memory, a motherboard of some kind I don't remember, Micomsoft SC-512N1-L/DVI, CM Storm Trooper (It's got a handle, can you handle that?), 240mm Asetek based AIO, Crucial M550 256GB (upgrade soon), some hard drives, disc drives, and hot swap bays

Screens- 3  ASUS VN248H-P IPS 1080p screens mounted on a stand, some old tv on the wall above it. 

Stuff- Epicgear defiant (solderless swappable switches), g600, moutned mic and other stuff. 

Laptop docking area- 2 1440p korean monitors mounted, one AHVA matte, one samsung PLS gloss (very annoying, yes). Trashy Razer blackwidow chroma...I mean like the J key doesn't click anymore. I got a model M i use on it to, but its time for a new keyboard. Some edgy Utechsmart mouse similar to g600. Hooked to laptop dock for both of my dell precision laptops. (not only docking area)

Shelf- i7-2600 non-k (has vt-d), 380t, some ASUS sandy itx board, intel quad nic. Currently hosts shared files, setting up as pfsense box in VM. Also acts as spare gaming PC with a 580 or whatever someone brings. Hooked into laptop dock area via usb switch

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Don’t sweat not spotting it.

 

This is one hell of a good list we have here. A few of these I’ve just missed like the Lion-Li air case.

 

Right now I think it might be between the Lion-Li, the classic CM and the Fractal.

 

Some more research and this could be fun haha.

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11 minutes ago, Idiot211 said:

Don’t sweat not spotting it.

 

This is one hell of a good list we have here. A few of these I’ve just missed like the Lion-Li air case.

 

Right now I think it might be between the Lion-Li, the classic CM and the Fractal.

 

Some more research and this could be fun haha.

The Lian li is wider, and the CM trooper is very tall. The corsair and the phanteks one are pretty tall to, but can fit in some slots. They'll all fit under a table that's a normal desk height, but probably not in like a slot meant for towers. Also quote or tag people @Idiot211 so we get a notification. 

muh specs 

Gaming and HTPC (reparations)- ASUS 1080, MSI X99A SLI Plus, 5820k- 4.5GHz @ 1.25v, asetek based 360mm AIO, RM 1000x, 16GB memory, 750D with front USB 2.0 replaced with 3.0  ports, 2 250GB 850 EVOs in Raid 0 (why not, only has games on it), some hard drives

Screens- Acer preditor XB241H (1080p, 144Hz Gsync), LG 1080p ultrawide, (all mounted) directly wired to TV in other room

Stuff- k70 with reds, steel series rival, g13, full desk covering mouse mat

All parts black

Workstation(desk)- 3770k, 970 reference, 16GB of some crucial memory, a motherboard of some kind I don't remember, Micomsoft SC-512N1-L/DVI, CM Storm Trooper (It's got a handle, can you handle that?), 240mm Asetek based AIO, Crucial M550 256GB (upgrade soon), some hard drives, disc drives, and hot swap bays

Screens- 3  ASUS VN248H-P IPS 1080p screens mounted on a stand, some old tv on the wall above it. 

Stuff- Epicgear defiant (solderless swappable switches), g600, moutned mic and other stuff. 

Laptop docking area- 2 1440p korean monitors mounted, one AHVA matte, one samsung PLS gloss (very annoying, yes). Trashy Razer blackwidow chroma...I mean like the J key doesn't click anymore. I got a model M i use on it to, but its time for a new keyboard. Some edgy Utechsmart mouse similar to g600. Hooked to laptop dock for both of my dell precision laptops. (not only docking area)

Shelf- i7-2600 non-k (has vt-d), 380t, some ASUS sandy itx board, intel quad nic. Currently hosts shared files, setting up as pfsense box in VM. Also acts as spare gaming PC with a 580 or whatever someone brings. Hooked into laptop dock area via usb switch

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My bad @Syntaxvgm

 

Appreciate the input again. At the moment the plan is to have the PC sit on the desk rather than in a slot or under it. Hence why taller is less of an issue than wider. But I might be willing to put up with the Lian-li just because it seems so well designed.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Idiot211 said:

My bad @Syntaxvgm

 

Appreciate the input again. At the moment the plan is to have the PC sit on the desk rather than in a slot or under it. Hence why taller is less of an issue than wider. But I might be willing to put up with the Lian-li just because it seems so well designed.

 

 

Check out more lian li cases, a lot of them are all metal and they're probably a lot of options for eatx

muh specs 

Gaming and HTPC (reparations)- ASUS 1080, MSI X99A SLI Plus, 5820k- 4.5GHz @ 1.25v, asetek based 360mm AIO, RM 1000x, 16GB memory, 750D with front USB 2.0 replaced with 3.0  ports, 2 250GB 850 EVOs in Raid 0 (why not, only has games on it), some hard drives

Screens- Acer preditor XB241H (1080p, 144Hz Gsync), LG 1080p ultrawide, (all mounted) directly wired to TV in other room

Stuff- k70 with reds, steel series rival, g13, full desk covering mouse mat

All parts black

Workstation(desk)- 3770k, 970 reference, 16GB of some crucial memory, a motherboard of some kind I don't remember, Micomsoft SC-512N1-L/DVI, CM Storm Trooper (It's got a handle, can you handle that?), 240mm Asetek based AIO, Crucial M550 256GB (upgrade soon), some hard drives, disc drives, and hot swap bays

Screens- 3  ASUS VN248H-P IPS 1080p screens mounted on a stand, some old tv on the wall above it. 

Stuff- Epicgear defiant (solderless swappable switches), g600, moutned mic and other stuff. 

Laptop docking area- 2 1440p korean monitors mounted, one AHVA matte, one samsung PLS gloss (very annoying, yes). Trashy Razer blackwidow chroma...I mean like the J key doesn't click anymore. I got a model M i use on it to, but its time for a new keyboard. Some edgy Utechsmart mouse similar to g600. Hooked to laptop dock for both of my dell precision laptops. (not only docking area)

Shelf- i7-2600 non-k (has vt-d), 380t, some ASUS sandy itx board, intel quad nic. Currently hosts shared files, setting up as pfsense box in VM. Also acts as spare gaming PC with a 580 or whatever someone brings. Hooked into laptop dock area via usb switch

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10 hours ago, Syntaxvgm said:

Check out more lian li cases, a lot of them are all metal and they're probably a lot of options for eatx

A lot of their cases are aluminum, and therefore are much more expensive. The O11D and O11Air are all steel constructions targeted at the masses, which is why they've been so successful

 

The O11Air's included dust filter has shown to be very restrictive though so be careful about that. 

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3336-lian-li-o11-air-case-review-benchmarks

Spoiler

image.png.2bdb0dbaae1c877a9faf933aa202444b.pngimage.png.98abc2951d22f5a2bda7da620b5b4287.png

 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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Thanks for the reply @TVwazhere

 

I just binged a bunch of the GN reviews for cases and saw that review and was surprised! Haha.

 

I still haven't decided on a case but at the moment the CM H500M is asking questions, as is the Lian-Li O11 Air (w/o dust filters)

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1 minute ago, Idiot211 said:

Thanks for the reply @TVwazhere

 

I just binged a bunch of the GN reviews for cases and saw that review and was surprised! Haha.

 

I still haven't decided on a case but at the moment the CM H500M is asking questions, as is the Lian-Li O11 Air (w/o dust filters)

The H500M is overall very good, but if the main concern is airflow there's the H500P Mesh and H500 which are $150 and $100 respectively, so unless you care about the style or RGB, you dont have to pay the $200 to get the same functionality. But if you really like the styling, then there's not much else that suffices.

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

The H500M is overall very good, but if the main concern is airflow there's the H500P Mesh and H500 which are $150 and $100 respectively, so unless you care about the style or RGB, you dont have to pay the $200 to get the same functionality. But if you really like the styling, then there's not much else that suffices.

I did see that and I'm willing to pick the 500M over the 500P mesh for the styling even with the price increase... Although if I had to shave costs anywhere that'd be the first thing to change.

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What size e-atx tho?Reason i ask theres e-atx and there is asus e-atx which is a atx board just longer not taller.

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if going on desk, might suggest, "fractal define series",  r5, r6, i have a Define XL R2 

 

no sense having LEDS blasting into your eyes. and at same time help reduce some fan noise coming at you. 

 

the define xl r2, has dust cover, front, and bottom, and extra fan slots have covers on them if not used, with some material inside case to help reduce noise.  though if you are running fans at max rpms, there is not much can be done about that. 

 

you loose 4 hdd spaces, if you need extra room for longer video cards. 

 

look for a case, with a "flat top" so you can toss something on top, external drive, speaker, book, phone, router, etc...

 

 

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4 hours ago, andrewmp6 said:

What size e-atx tho?Reason i ask theres e-atx and there is asus e-atx which is a atx board just longer not taller.

30.5cm x 27.1cm to be specific, or 12" by 10.7" if my conversion skills are correct.

 

9 minutes ago, boggen said:

if going on desk, might suggest, "fractal define series",  r5, r6, i have a Define XL R2 

 

 

I have a define R5 for my current/old build, and while I do like it, what sets apart some of the other choices on the list is the 4x USB 3.0 on the front. I'm also less a fan of the design of it, it's functional and wonderful, but better airflow and design can be achieved with other cases. I do appreciate the suggestion as they are mighty fine cases.

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