What are your thoughts on modern PC case designs?

[Wheresmehammer]

I have looked at modern cases and i see that most offer a lot of looks over function from my perspective, i could be wrong, but is any air getting sucked in through those big RGB glass panels at the front? I kept my Phantom 820 for this reason, you don't really get this kind of chassis anymore. Coolermaster used to trickle down the air cooling benefits from their HAF line up (932 / X) to smaller and more affordable options like the HAF 922 & 912.

 

 

[dizmo]

Depends on the case. There's so many options that you can't simply lump "modern cases" into a single category and give a sweeping statement.

Also, I'd say your case has pretty poor airflow as well. Can't exactly get much from a single, low mounted fan

[miagisan]

Some have glass in the front.  I love my meshify c, sleek, simple, and not gaudy like cases of old.  Before that I had a fractal define 5, loved it but too big for my taste.  

[Wheresmehammer]

3 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Depends on the case. There's so many options that you can't simply lump "modern cases" into a single category and give a sweeping statement.

Also, I'd say your case has pretty poor airflow as well. Can't exactly get much from a single, low mounted fan

Ok fair point, but it has a 200mm on the side panel though

[PiberiusWilde]

My only gripes with pc cases today is. Why are they so expensive???

 

 

When I saw a case priced more than $50 my brain just go crazy

[dizmo]

9 minutes ago, Wheresmehammer said:

Ok fair point, but it has a 200mm on the side panel though

Smart air paths>more fans.

[Wheresmehammer]

8 minutes ago, PiberiusWilde said:

My only gripes with pc cases today is. Why are they so expensive???

 

 

When I saw a case priced more than $50 my brain just go crazy

Mmmhmm i forgot to add the huge hike in price too, it may be the additional costs of strengthened glass panels though?

The chassis i have was not cheap to begin with, but it still hangs up there in the top spots for cooling capacity, but it is a huge thing in fairness.

 

Coolermaster sold their HAF series 912 around $60 and their 932 around $90-100 the HAF X flagship would set you back around $150-200 and you would have class leading cooling performance and plenty of space for components.

 

Now for that you need around $300+

 

Actually GN did a more recent review of the X.

 

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3256-revisit-cooler-master-haf-x-2018-review

[Letgomyleghoe]

19 minutes ago, Wheresmehammer said:

Ok fair point, but it has a 200mm on the side panel though

doesnt really matter, a few fans in the front are better, the side mounted 200mm doesnt do much unless you have a flower style cooler, and with any thought out airflow, will just cause turbulence

[Wheresmehammer]

5 minutes ago, Letgomyleghoe said:

doesnt really matter, a few fans in the front are better, the side mounted 200mm doesnt do much unless you have a flower style cooler, and with any thought out airflow, will just cause turbulence

That is true and i agree, the 820 was not that great with GPU temperature in stock configuration and needs an additional fan installing inside the case where it has a dedicated fan mount for that application.

 

The HAF X though is still literal king.

[Letgomyleghoe]

5 minutes ago, Wheresmehammer said:

That is true and i agree, the 820 was not that great with GPU temperature and needs an additional fan installing inside the case where it has a dedicated fan mount for that application.

 

The HAF X though is still literal king.

the king of what? certainly not temps and airflow, or design

[Wheresmehammer]

Just now, Letgomyleghoe said:

the king of what? certainly not temps and airflow, or design

We recently revisited the “King of Case Airflow”, the SilverStone Raven 02, which we originally reviewed back in 2013. It’s certainly the king compared to anything we’ve tested recently, but competition for the crown was a lot stronger back when the case was released, and the ultimate example of high airflow early 2010’s cases is the Cooler Master HAF X (still available, by the way). 2010 seems like ancient history, back when certain people were working for Newegg TV and others for NCIX, but the HAF series remains so respected that Cooler Master leveraged the name to promote the H500P last year; the HAF X specifically was so popular that brand new ones are available for purchase on Newegg right now, nearly eight years after its release.

GamersNexus did exist when the HAF X launched, but we never officially reviewed it. Steve bought the case featured in this revisit for his own system years ago, and we ran a contest for a HAF X shirt in 2012. It seems like everyone had a high opinion of it, including us, which made the H500P a big letdown. This revisit aims to find out whether the HAF X was really worthy of all that hype.

 

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3256-revisit-cooler-master-haf-x-2018-review

 

"For the most part, the answer is yes. CPU and GPU cooling are great (especially GPU, where the HAF X dominates the charts), and there aren’t many definitively bad aspects. The excessive 3.5” and 5.25” bays and the overall appearance of the case are dated, but they made sense at the time. The multicolored cables are old-fashioned, too, but they make it a lot easier to plug in front panel connectors without a flashlight and tweezers. The SATA dock, VGA support, PSU shroud, drive cage shroud, and pass-through cables have always been unnecessary, but could always be cleared out (as well as the side panel shroud, but that’s actually useful). One of the few irreparably bad features is the style of filter, which is far more difficult to clean than it needs to be. $200 launch MSRP was steep, but considering that it’s still a serviceable case eight years later, that may have been a good investment."

[Letgomyleghoe]

 

5 minutes ago, Wheresmehammer said:

the SilverStone Raven 02, which we originally reviewed back in 2013. It’s certainly the king compared to anything we’ve tested recently,

 

6 minutes ago, Wheresmehammer said:

the ultimate example of high airflow early 2010’s cases is the Cooler Master HAF X (still available, by the way).

yeah sorry no its not the king of airflow, its a good case but not the king

[Wheresmehammer]

3 minutes ago, Letgomyleghoe said:

 

 

yeah sorry no its not the king of airflow, its a good case but not the king

 

They trade blows, both literally sit at the top.

 

 

 

 

 

[TVwazhere]

12 hours ago, Wheresmehammer said:

Coolermaster sold their HAF series 912 around $60 and their 932 around $90-100 the HAF X flagship would set you back around $150-200 and you would have class leading cooling performance and plenty of space for components.

 

Now for that you need around $300+

12 hours ago, Wheresmehammer said:

They trade blows, both literally sit at the top.

Actually you only need about $100

 

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3602-lian-li-lancool-ii-mesh-case-review

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3621-lian-li-lancool-215-airflow-case-review

 

Price =/= performance when it comes to cases. You also have to agree that having so many HDD bays and such a huge case is no longer required or even demanded by PC builders today. 

 

I do agree as a Thermaltake Level 10 GT owner that Side 200mm fans are some of the best direct cooling options for your GPU on the market (just ask Project ITNOS), but cases like the SL600M and Lancool 2 Mesh show that it can be done other ways. 

[thrasher_565]

23 hours ago, Wheresmehammer said:

I have looked at modern cases and i see that most offer a lot of looks over function from my perspective, i could be wrong, but is any air getting sucked in through those big RGB glass panels at the front? I kept my Phantom 820 for this reason, you don't really get this kind of chassis anymore. Coolermaster used to trickle down the air cooling benefits from their HAF line up (932 / X) to smaller and more affordable options like the HAF 922 & 912.

 

 

so back in the day you had a fan in front to cool your hdd and some case had fans on the side to help with gpu blower and sli. rally did you see fans mounted on the bottom and filters wernt really a thing. gpus just dint have heasinks in them like they do now so air from the front was fine also the wats was not as hi as it is now.

 

now all case have filters, all have tempered glass, most have an basement.

 

tempered glass has kill all side fans. and they build case around aio and not custom water cooling as that cost way more and they say if you can afford custom water cooling then you can afford a more expensive case.  so cases that have 2 fans up top and 3 in front are normal $150 and under and 3 on top and 3 in front are $150+ most aio are for cpus only and rally do you see an dubble rad for a gpu let alone a triple.

 

silverstone case with the 180mm fans air the best air flow out there even today. also the Cooler Master MasterCase SL600M also good air flow (fans are probably crap thow)

 

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by thrasher_565

[freeagent]

Back in the day I used an old server case with 120x38s, I still have my original Stacker STC-01. And I still use 120x38s for case fans lol. I haven't used many modern cases. Mostly just my old R4 since 2012. I did spend nearly 2 years with a Meshify C. That's probably my favorite case for air cooling. I had 5x 120x38s in that case, wished it was around when X58 was still fresh lol. I had to use my X58 in that case until I got a Z77 board to replace the one that died.

 

I actually just asked for a Meshify 2 for Christmas.. as I was making this post lol.. it will fit my quite girthy motherboard, and I don't want to cut up my Meshify C.

[thrasher_565]

i think this case can give the haf x a run for its money...

AZZA Hurrican 2000

i got an azza 1000 for $40can its came with 200mm top, 200mm side, 2x140 in the front and 120mm in the back option to add a 120mm to the bottom. exstream amount of air out the back and top.

Edited November 14, 2020 by thrasher_565

[thrasher_565]

i might do a project (i no i have a shit tone of projects not done...) were i find a cheap case and try to improve the air flow of it for cheap. would be nice to have an gx testing rig but that would cost some money... but if i just just the same hardware for each test should be alright.

hmm im kinda liking this case dont no why...

oh its an m-atx case nop.

[Enter Plasma]

I think people who complain about modern prices haven't tried building systems 5 years ago. You have no idea how bad it was.

 

Back in the day, one of the best under 50 offers was the Fractal Design Core 1000.

It's crap, and it was crap even back in the day. Didn't even cover basic functionality like, oh I don't know, cable management holes.

Any half-decent case would cost you at least 70-80. Fancy would be easily over 100.

 

Meanwhile today under 50 you can find cases like the Antec DP501, which comes with all the basic functionalities and even a good amount of fancy.

Today, at 70-80+ you get full-on fancy.

[Wheresmehammer]

Just now, Enter Plasma said:

I think people who complain about modern prices haven't tried building systems 5 years ago. You have no idea how bad it was.

 

Back in the day, one of the best under 50 offers was the Fractal Design Core 1000.

It's crap, and it was crap even back in the day. Didn't even cover basic functionality like, oh I don't know, cable management holes.

Any half-decent case would cost you at least 70-80. Fancy would be easily over 100.

 

Meanwhile today under 50 you can find cases like the Antec DP501, which comes with all the basic functionalities and even a good amount of fancy.

Today, at 70-80+ you get full-on fancy.

Cable management is very much mostly for showing off, as long as air can flow, it's a non issue.

[Enter Plasma]

1 minute ago, Wheresmehammer said:

Cable management is very much mostly for showing off, as long as air can flow, it's a non issue.

That's not the point.

 

The point is that 50 before got you this

 

Today 50 gets you this

 

 

 

Spot the differences

[Wheresmehammer]

Much further back than 5 years ago it was a non issue. I think you are projecting your ignorance.

 

These cases wer the same cost as that Core 1000.

 

Coolermaster Centurion 5

 

 

Xigmatek Utguard

 

 

 

 

[freeagent]

Remember when it took real creativity to hide all of your cables? Now people slap their crap in a case and post a YouTube video about how leet their skillz are 

[Wheresmehammer]

1 minute ago, freeagent said:

Remember when it took real creativity to hide all of your cables? Now people slap their crap in a case and post a YouTube video about how leet their skillz are 

Hence, showing off, narcissism and being proud of barely doing anything.

 

I miss undoing rivets and removing things to make a case fit my preferences, now everything is prefab and boring, no heart & soul.

[freeagent]

I put a panel window where there wasn't one before, and one of my lines was off just a bit.. dull snips lol.. anyways it was that line that brought me some comments saying I did an awesome job. I didn't think it was but others loved it, or the attempt anyways. Made me feel good.