New Build Advice (Mostly what case?)

Twigjit · February 4, 2021

Budget (including currency): $1500 (USD) (-+300)

Country: (USA)

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Whatever I feel like.

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc):

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor	$559.98 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	EK EK-AIO 240 D-RGB 66.04 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$119.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE ATX AM4 Motherboard	$199.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory	$219.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$99.99 @ Amazon
Case	Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C ATX Mid Tower Case	$168.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Platinum 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$147.89 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1516.81
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-02-03 20:57 EST-0500

Additional: I will be reusing the HDD, SSD, DVD blue-ray, and GPU (gtx1050) from my old pc.

So here's what I am asking. I need a case with at least one 5.25" external bay. This is because my pc is the only dvd player I own and I want to keep the drive I have. With that in mind I would like case advice. I want a few things out of my case. I would like good cooling/air flow design, nice dust filtration, tempered glass on the side (more is fine but from what I have read more is usually worse for the air flow), the ability to fit the aio, decent cable management, and looks good! Any suggestions would be helpful in this. Cases are such a giant rabbit hole to try and figure out that I just want help.

I should address the elephant in the room which is that this build with my gtx 1050 is silly. I know this but, with the way gpu's are right now cant see getting one for a while. And at that point I might as well wait for the next generation to come out... I will probably wait and see how things play out for this part.

The reason I am building is that my current system is dying... It is old and on its last legs. So I figure I might as well go all out on a build and have some fun for once.

Any other advice about parts feel free to say so. I am going with the CPU for sure. The motherboard looked like a solid one to me. The AIO I am open to recommendations on. Same with the M.2. The PSU is overkill but might not be later, plus overkill just makes sure it isn't pushed hard ever (better safe then sorry as far as I understand).

Thanks for any help you give!

RONOTHAN## · February 4, 2021

What I would do would be a Phanteks P400A and with the money you save get an external Blu-Ray reader. That being said, if you absolutely need one, that define R6 you have is like one of 5 remaining highish end cases that still have optical drive bays. There aren't many cases left that still have them, and aside from a couple Phanteks Enthoo line cases, quality isn't really that great, or they don't have a lot of the modern comforts and tempered glass. Your only other options are really the be quiet Silent Base 600, Silent Base 900, and the Enthoo Pro M TG. The Enthoo would get my money, as I like the look and it probably has the least restrictive airflow (though none look like the airflow will be amazing).

Twigjit · February 4, 2021

I totally get you not wanting to mess with something different. But I am not into throwing tech away that still does its job perfectly well. I feel we do way to much of that with cellphones already. Let alone all the other garbage tech that gets tossed around. Also a external sitting around looks pretty trashy and just ads another thing sitting outside my case to clutter things up.

I will look at those cases and see what they have to offer. Thanks!