Case Recommendation

[xXCallumXx]

Hello

 

I am going to be building a new system in the near future. I'm going till wait till Haswell launches and and go with the Z87 platform. My budget is £700 ($1100) The case im currently looking at is a Corsair C70. Has anyone got a better Recommendation with is a bit cheaper. I will be mounting a H100 in the top, 2 HDD's and a Radeon HD 7870.

 

Thanks

 

[KaareKanin]

Fractal Design Define R4 is pretty much the name you'll se pop up around the forum. No idea of how they compare at price

[mtempty]

Fractal Design Define R4 is pretty much the name you'll se pop up around the forum. No idea of how they compare at price

 

I agree, Fractal will be the recommendation of many, although I would suggest the Arc R2, opposed to the define R4 for sheer cooling performance. The Arc can mount a 240 rad in the roof and comes in cheaper than the Corsair C70.

 

Dependent on if you can sacrifice extra noise for increased thermal dissipation over the Define R4 and, If the prospect of cleaning dust build up form inside your case every week isn't too taxing, I'd go for the Arc R2!

 

You can also check out the H100 Compatibility thread http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1523-h100-compatibility-thread/'>here which will give you an in-depth insight into cases that suit your requirements.

 

Hope this helps.

[ARod]

Fractals are solid.  Define R4 can be had with Window or no Window.  Also look at Nanoxia Deep Silence 2...similar case at similar price.  The Corsair Carbide 500R is on sale now too and I'd highly recommend that.  Depends on your aesthetic tastes.

[Hyp0xia]

As has already been mentioned, Fractal Design has a couple of great options with the Define R4 (my case) and the Arc Midi R2. Corsair has the 300r and BitFenix has the Shinobi. Here are some current prices for comparison:

 

 

• Fractal Design Define R4: $89.99 @ Micro Center
• Fractal Design Arc Midi R2: $89.99 @ NCIX
• Corsair 300r: $64.99 (post-rebate) @ Micro Center
• BitFenix Shinobi: $69.99 @ Newegg

[xXCallumXx]

Thanks for the suggestions. After reviewing the cases i'm going to get the Fractal Design Define R4, as the computer will need to be quiet.

 

Should i replace the stock fans on the case and H100 with Noctua NF-F12's or leave them as they are?

[joelthezombie15]

nzxt phantom :)

[IVIeLt]

 

I agree, Fractal will be the recommendation of many, although I would suggest the Arc R2, opposed to the define R4 for sheer cooling performance. The Arc can mount a 240 rad in the roof and comes in cheaper than the Corsair C70.

 

Dependent on if you can sacrifice extra noise for increased thermal dissipation over the Define R4 and, If the prospect of cleaning dust build up form inside your case every week isn't too taxing, I'd go for the Arc R2!

 

You can also check out the H100 Compatibility thread here which will give you an in-depth insight into cases that suit your requirements.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Anybody should be cleaning the dust out from there case regardless!

[IVIeLt]

Thanks for the suggestions. After reviewing the cases i'm going to get the Fractal Design Define R4, as the computer will need to be quiet.

 

Should i replace the stock fans on the case and H100 with Noctua NF-F12's or leave them as they are?

 

If you have the budget for it replace the fans, The stock corsair fans are extremely loud!

[IVIeLt]

Thanks for the suggestions. After reviewing the cases i'm going to get the Fractal Design Define R4, as the computer will need to be quiet.

 

Should i replace the stock fans on the case and H100 with Noctua NF-F12's or leave them as they are?

 

Also good choice on the R4, I've done alot of builds in them, They are possibly my favourite case on the market at the moment.

[xXCallumXx]

The build has to be quiet so i'll replace the fans. Can the Noctua fans be controlled in Asus's AI Suite 2? I'd like to set fan curves on them.

[Guest Teddybear]

If I were you I would avoid the C70 as it has low air-clearance through its hard drive cages. 

(As you can see in this TTL's video )

I'd recommend you go with Corsair 350D instead. It's high quality mATX case with good looking window.

You can fit your 2 HDDs easily. It's H100/H100i compatible (It's Corsair what do you expect).

[IVIeLt]

The build has to be quiet so i'll replace the fans. Can the Noctua fans be controlled in Asus's AI Suite 2? I'd like to set fan curves on them.

 

So far with my experience with AI Suite 2 there isn't control for normal 3 pin fans, But the H100i will be able to control the fans for you.

 

In all honesty Noctua fans are so quiet that you could get away with running them directly off the psu at 12 volts and not even know they were on!

[mtempty]

Anybody should be cleaning the dust out from there case regardless!

 

Agreed, although if you're the owner of a case that's designed for cooling, like the Arc, you'll be cleaning dust out on a much bigger scale than, lets say, the Define R4.

[mtempty]

So far with my experience with AI Suite 2 there isn't control for normal 3 pin fans, But the H100i will be able to control the fans for you.

 

In all honesty Noctua fans are so quiet that you could get away with running them directly off the psu at 12 volts and not even know they were on!

 

3 pin fans are controllable with AI Suite 2. Why would they not be? 

[IVIeLt]

3 pin fans are controllable with AI Suite 2. Why would they not be? 

 

I'm not sure, But I've not been able to get my fans to run at anything other than 12v off of the motherboard with AI Suite, I only played around with it for 15 minutes or so ut so it could be quite possible.

 

I just ended up pulling out my aquaareo 5 lt and hooking that up. So much overkil for my little APU spare parts rig :D

[ARod]

The H100i has two dual fan pin connectors so you can control up to 4 fans directly from the H100i.  My system is set up that way; the dual rad fans and the dual front fans are controlled by the CorsairLink.

[Hyp0xia]

For quiet fans, you can consider Noctuas, Nanoxias, Be Quiet! fans, or just stick with the stock Fractal Design Silent Series R2 fans since they are very quiet and quite sexy. I myself stuck with the Fractal Design Silent Series R2 fans, but I did throw in an additional front intake and floor intake (also Fractal Design Silent Series R2s) for high positive pressure. All the intakes are hooked up to the built-in fan controller at 5V while the back exhaust is at a constant 7V using an in-line resistor. If you don't get the windowed version of the case, you may not care as much about aesthetics. If you couldn't care less about aesthetics, then, yes, Noctuas are going to be the quietest.

[NamelessTed]

Great choice going with the Define R4. My original case was a Corsair 300R and I moved to the R4 and have not regretted the decision at all. Case has been really fun to build in. And the build quality is out of the world compared to other cases.

 

As far as your cooling solution goes. If you are planning on getting an H100 and replacing the fans then I would personally suggest you take a look at getting a Swiftech H220. Yes, it costs more than the Corsair coolers but you won't need to replace the stock fans. I can tell you from experience that the H220 can be extremely quiet if you want it to be. 

[Lukiose]

Define R4, Nzxt Phantom 410 for ATX

350D for m-ATX :D

(All 3 support 240mm top-mounted rads)

[Hyp0xia]

The NZXT Phantoms are way too plastic-y and the panels on the Corsair 300r are too thin. The Fractal Design cases, on the other hand, offer some beefy steel construction, although this makes them less than ideal for LAN events, if you're into that kind of thing.

[JohnnyGrey]

Whether or not the motherboard can control 3 pin fans off the case fan headers depends on the the motherboard. My Asus Maximus V Gene is able to control the front 180mm, 3-pin fan off a case fan header, but then again, the case fan headers on this mobo are all 4-pin PWM headers.