Case for Noctua cooled 3700X / 5700XT build

[AngryAnt]

OHAI!

 

My initial plans for a case did not pan out, so I am looking for recommendations on alternatives. Having spend the past couple of days looking through reviews and listings, I'm finding that getting an overview is not as straight forward as I could have hoped.

 

The build has been sitting on my desk, in use for a little over a month, and I am quite happy with the (lack of) noise from the fans. So I am not specifically looking for a case which offers additional damping, but would prefer that the geometry of one not result in *more* noise. My preference tracks towards Lian Li style boxy over high tower, no LED, no glass, no Transformers styling, no wild colouring. That said, I am most likely going to move the case to sit on the wooden floor (decent bottom fan intake / outlet) below my desk.

 

I quite like the Lian Li 011 (optimally with the glass swapped for a metal side panel with a 200mm fan fitting), but unfortunately it does not offer sufficient clearance for my CPU cooler.

 

This is what I currently have sitting on my desk:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$326.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$89.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard	$315.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$139.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Corsair MP600 Force Series Gen4 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$189.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Corsair MP600 Force Series Gen4 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$189.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate IronWolf Pro 8 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$269.99 @ Adorama
Video Card	Asus Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB STRIX Gaming OC Video Card	$459.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$119.89 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua NF-R8 redux-1800 PWM 31.37 CFM 80 mm Fan	$9.94 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua NF-R8 redux-1800 PWM 31.37 CFM 80 mm Fan	$9.94 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua NF-A20 PWM 86.46 CFM 200 mm Fan	$29.95 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan	$29.90 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan	$29.90 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan	$29.90 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2242.25
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-24 05:14 EST-0500

 

Any recommendation / other advice or pointers would be highly appreciated.

[AngryAnt]

Sorry I just fell into an internet hole again and came out of the labyrinth with this link: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Carbide-Series™-Air-740-High-Airflow-ATX-Cube-Case/p/CC-9011096-WW

 

 

 

 

 

Any thoughts on the 740? Glass panel aside, that thing looks like it ticks just about every box. I was unable to locate any Gamers Nexus review on it - the LTT walkthrough provided a good practical overview, but I am curious how it compares to the competition.

[ravenshrike]

I recommend the PM01 and to pay attention to this video. Toss one of your 120s in the top rearmost slot. I'd say the RL06 and to flip out the front fans for your 120s but your CPU cooler is too big.

 

 

 

Addendum - Or you could grab a Meshify C, flip out the front fans for your 120s, and place one of the removed fans in the top rear slot since fully populated with fans in the front the C is almost as good as the PM01 or RL06.

[AngryAnt]

No argument from me on managed high airflow vs. noise reduced closed case. That is exactly why I am partial to the compartmentalised boxy designs from Lian Li and Corsair - offering actually useful bottom intake as well.

 

Unfortunately it looks like the Carbide 740 is pretty much impossible to purchase today and it is the only model I have managed to find with sufficient CPU cooler clearance.

[ravenshrike]

Since you've already got the best fans on the market, I'd go with the metal-paneled C unless you would want to do water cooling in the future, in which case the PM01 is stupidly versatile.

[AngryAnt]

Ah yea that's interesting - I hadn't noticed the option to remove the shroud SSD caddies entirely for full throughput of bottom case fans. It might be a bit tight on CPU cooler clearance (currently offsetting one fan for RAM compatibility), but it may well just be me reserving too large a margin of error there.

 

Checking local availability I think I'll take the Carbide 540 for a spin first (same CPU cooler clearance, which is why I had looked at it bigger sibling in stead) - it looks like it would be a fairly straight forward mod to set up bottom fans in stead of drive caddies there. If that doesn't work out (before taking a drill to the 540), the Meshify C is also easily available to test here after returning the 540.

 

Thank you for walking me through this

[jake9000]

@AngryAnt I have my NH-D15 in a Fractal Design R5 and there's more than ample clearance. All of the panels have sound deadening and you can remove an unneeded drive caddy to improve airflow if you don't need to have like 15 HDDs. 

[AngryAnt]

Thanks Jake. It is a refreshingly clean case to look at, but when I don't have a noise problem to dampen and desire high airflow, it does seem like an odd choice to me?

[AngryAnt]

So something is clearly off on the CPU cooler clearance measurement - there is *plenty* of space for it - even with the fan offset for ram clearance.

 

The default Corsair fans are stupid loud and getting replaced and the HHD trays just failed to relay signal, but otherwise it's been a very nice experience.

[AngryAnt]

Also the 200mm fan fits perfectly to cool the back of the motherboard around the CPU area. It's just in there with a wire mount while I work out a more permanent solution (executing that at the same time I cut out the bottom HDD trays for two 140mm fan mounts), but with the pair of 80mm set up as intakes above the power supply, utilisation of that second hold looks pretty good. The three 140mm Corsair fans which came with the case are unfortunately even worse than expected noise-wise. I should be getting Noctua replacements today.

 

[AngryAnt]

New fans arrived. Silence is mine!

 

Also gave me sufficient splitters to run the 80mm intakes.