> Fractal Design Meshify S2 or CoolerMaster H500M?

[Luke Murtagh]

Hello all,

 

I am looking for a good air cooling case and have seen both the Meshify S2 and the H500M generally perform well when it comes to air cooling. I had originally decided on the S2 however I've noticed the GPU temps recorded by GamersNexus were somewhat on the high side when compared to the other cases they have reviewed. Since I have a 2080ti which puts out a lot of heat that is somewhat concerning to me. The H500M seems to cool both the GPU and the CPU 5 degrees Celsius cooler than the Meshify S2. Is there any reason then, beyond aesthetics, to go for the Meshify S2 if I am looking for a case which performs great thermally?

 

Thanks. 

[TVwazhere]

59 minutes ago, Luke Murtagh said:

Is there any reason then, beyond aesthetics, to go for the Meshify S2 if I am looking for a case which performs great thermally?

If you plan on adding your own fans to the case. The Meshify S2 only comes with two 140mm fans *at the front*, which will almost always lose to two 200mm fans in an air cooling scenario unless very poorly positioned. Keep in mind all of that testing is done with stock fans at stock locations, so replacing the front fans with better ones in the S2 can help you get better temps, but it's not guaranteed to be better than the Mastercase H500 series. 

 

If temperatures are your highest priority in deciding between these two cases, go for the H500M, as you might have to spend more on the S2+fans to match or exceed the H500M in airflow potential.

Edited February 24, 2020 by TVwazhere
Two fans at the front

[Yebi]

16 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

The Meshify S2 only comes with two 140mm fans

Pretty sure I got three with mine. Meshify C gets two.

[TVwazhere]

Just now, Yebi said:

Pretty sure I got three with mine. Meshify C gets two.

Sorry, I meant two at the front. My bad, should have been more specific.

[Luke Murtagh]

25 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

If you plan on adding your own fans to the case. The Meshify S2 only comes with two 140mm fans *at the front*, which will almost always lose to two 200mm fans in an air cooling scenario unless very poorly positioned. Keep in mind all of that testing is done with stock fans at stock locations, so replacing the front fans with better ones in the S2 can help you get better temps, but it's not guaranteed to be better than the Mastercase H500 series. 

 

If temperatures are your highest priority in deciding between these two cases, go for the H500M, as you might have to spend more on the S2+fans to match or exceed the H500M in airflow potential.

Okay, thanks for your help. I must admit I do prefer the Meshify S2 in terms of looks. I'm not a huge fan (no pun intended) of the 'gamery' look of the H500 cases. If I did try to match or exceed the H500M in airflow potential with the Meshify S2 what fans would you recommend? I was looking at the Noctua NF-A14 Industrial fans for the front. I know they could get very loud at full rpm but I wouldn't run them anywhere near that fast unless temps were catastrophically bad which I doubt they will be. I have chosen them more for their high static pressure to help pull air through the mesh front panel and the high cfm they are capable of. For my rear and top rear exhausts I would use normal NF-A14s. I might also add one NF-A14 at the bottom to help bring cool air into my GPU. Do you think such as setup would equal the H500M? I realise I am adding £88 worth of fans but since the Meshify is around £65 cheaper than the H500M it roughly balances out. 

[TVwazhere]

1 hour ago, Luke Murtagh said:

Do you think such as setup would equal the H500M?

At max RPM, three NF-A14's (even non industrial) would have a bit more cfm than the Master fan MF200R's that are in the H500M, but thats of course not taking into the account that the Meshify's filters are more restrictive than the H500M. I'd imagine you'd get more performance but at the cost of alot more noise due to more fan and much higher RPM's. If you're okay with that, then the S2 could be a good option. 

[Luke Murtagh]

4 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

At max RPM, three NF-A14's (even non industrial) would have a bit more cfm than the Master fan MF200R's that are in the H500M, but thats of course not taking into the account that the Meshify's filters are more restrictive than the H500M. I'd imagine you'd get more performance but at the cost of alot more noise due to more fan and much higher RPM's. If you're okay with that, then the S2 could be a good option. 

Okay. My overall setup, including the fans, GPU, and case already mentioned, would include a 3700X cooled by a Noctua NH-U12S. I'm planning on upgrading my CPU when the new AMD CPUs are released later this year and may also upgrade my CPU cooler to an AIO if I need to. I understand it may be difficult to give a precise answer, but do you think my fans and case would do a good enough job at cooling my system when overclocking is taken into account? I have already overclocked my GPU as far as it can go inside a NZXT H710i with stock fans and it never reaches above 70 degrees c. I presume since the Meshify S2 has better airflow it would also mean lower GPU temps than I'm getting currently.

[TVwazhere]

5 minutes ago, Luke Murtagh said:

I understand it may be difficult to give a precise answer, but do you think my fans and case would do a good enough job at cooling my system when overclocking is taken into account?

I would fairly confidently say yes. Cases like these give you maximum opportunity to take full advantages of your coolers, so if you're still overheating after that, it's possible the overclock is too high or the cooler needs to be upgraded based on what you want to achieve (though for a 3700X, a NH-U12 should be good)

[Luke Murtagh]

1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

I would fairly confidently say yes. Cases like these give you maximum opportunity to take full advantages of your coolers, so if you're still overheating after that, it's possible the overclock is too high or the cooler needs to be upgraded based on what you want to achieve (though for a 3700X, a NH-U12 should be good)

Thanks for the advice.

 

That's what I thought as well. I just seem to be one of those people who fret over the tiniest of things lol. 

 

I probably won't do this just yet as I want to see how my build works when it is just all air-cooled, but if I go for an AIO when I upgrade the 3700X should I also go for one of those EVGA Hybrid AIO GPU coolers that you can just affix to the top of your GPU? I presume such a thing would really help to bring GPU temps down.

 

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=400-HY-1484-B1

[TVwazhere]

10 minutes ago, Luke Murtagh said:

should I also go for one of those EVGA Hybrid AIO GPU coolers that you can just affix to the top of your GPU? I presume such a thing would really help to bring GPU temps down.

That ONLY fits the 2080ti FTW3 from EVGA, so unless you have that specific card, then it wont fit. (You didnt mention which 2080ti you have so I have to preference that with a warning)

 

Technically it will help lower your temperatures, but I'm not entirely sure how much as I'm not super familiar with the performance of the FTW3 AIO vs the air version. That's a good question for the GPU subforum should you decide your GPU thermals are too warm or you want more OC headroom once the new system is put together.

[Luke Murtagh]

1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

That ONLY fits the 2080ti FTW3 from EVGA, so unless you have that specific card, then it wont fit. (You didnt mention which 2080ti you have so I have to preference that with a warning)

 

Technically it will help lower your temperatures, but I'm not entirely sure how much as I'm not super familiar with the performance of the FTW3 AIO vs the air version. That's a good question for the GPU subforum should you decide your GPU thermals are too warm or you want more OC headroom once the new system is put together.

Yes, good point, fair enough. That is indeed the card I have. 

 

I doubt I will need it, as I would rather slightly scale back my overclock than add that AIO.

 

Thanks again for all your help!

[djeso]

On 2/24/2020 at 10:52 AM, Luke Murtagh said:

Hello all,

 

I am looking for a good air cooling case and have seen both the Meshify S2 and the H500M generally perform well when it comes to air cooling. I had originally decided on the S2 however I've noticed the GPU temps recorded by GamersNexus were somewhat on the high side when compared to the other cases they have reviewed. Since I have a 2080ti which puts out a lot of heat that is somewhat concerning to me. The H500M seems to cool both the GPU and the CPU 5 degrees Celsius cooler than the Meshify S2. Is there any reason then, beyond aesthetics, to go for the Meshify S2 if I am looking for a case which performs great thermally?

 

Thanks. 

Hi,

 

I'm in the same boat actually just built a Cooler master for a friend, it's extremely quiet. But like yourself I like the Meshify look better as well. 

 

So the Cooler Master fans generate about 90 CFM @ 28 DBA each

 

The Included fans with Meshify generate about 68 CFM @ 19 DBA

 

However these $10 fans put both fans to shame

 

Coolermaster sickflow 120 69 CFM @ 19 DBA  with static pressure of  2.94 mmH2O

 

So with that in mind I'm leaning towards the meshify, you can always remove that restricting filters, just have to clean the computer more often

 

Peter