ATX Mid-tower case pick

[kistomi01]

I've been looking for an ATX Mid-tower case for my mid-high end build. Please help me chose from the ones I picked or feel free to suggest one.

My build is

• Air cooled
• Little overclocking but nothing crazy
• Looking for a decent airflow that doesn't sound like a Jet engine
• Single GPU, Single ATX mobo
• Conveniently spaced, not too confined

I spent a couple of days looking up reviews (mostly by GamersNexus) and the ones I plan to pick from are listed below. Note that I'm open to any suggestions at around 100-150-ish USD.

 

Fractal Meshify 2

The only complaint here (apart from looking hideous, I'm not concerned with that one though) is that it's a bit louder than the be quiet! counterparts. Positive side is that it's convenient to build in or so they say on pc part picker.

Question - If I just replace its default fans with be quiet! custom fans will that solve the noise issue?

 

be quiet! Silent Base 802

Decent enough space and is quieter than the Fractal one but the reviewer has some quality complaints at the end (parts peeling off). It ships with mesh or noise dampening panels, making it more expensive while you'll be only using one of the panels. Looks okay by thermals - noise with the mesh front but not as much as another of their cases,

 

be quiet! pure base 500DX

I'd instantly buy this one (although I'm not a fan of rgb) but some reviews on pc part picker say it is a bit confined and relatively uncomfortable to build in.

 

Did you have any luck building with any of these cases? Any feedback on ease of build, noise and cooling?

[Downkey]

1 hour ago, kisstomi1 said:

I've been looking for an ATX Mid-tower case for my mid-high end build. Please help me chose from the ones I picked or feel free to suggest one.

My build is

• Air cooled
• Little overclocking but nothing crazy
• Looking for a decent airflow that doesn't sound like a Jet engine
• Single GPU, Single ATX mobo
• Conveniently spaced, not too confined

I spent a couple of days looking up reviews (mostly by GamersNexus) and the ones I plan to pick from are listed below. Note that I'm open to any suggestions at around 100-150-ish USD.

 

Fractal Meshify 2

The only complaint here (apart from looking hideous, I'm not concerned with that one though) is that it's a bit louder than the be quiet! counterparts. Positive side is that it's convenient to build in or so they say on pc part picker.

Question - If I just replace its default fans with be quiet! custom fans will that solve the noise issue?

 

be quiet! Silent Base 802

Decent enough space and is quieter than the Fractal one but the reviewer has some quality complaints at the end (parts peeling off). It ships with mesh or noise dampening panels, making it more expensive while you'll be only using one of the panels. Looks okay by thermals - noise with the mesh front but not as much as another of their cases,

 

be quiet! pure base 500DX

I'd instantly buy this one (although I'm not a fan of rgb) but some reviews on pc part picker say it is a bit confined and relatively uncomfortable to build in.

 

Did you have any luck building with any of these cases? Any feedback on ease of build, noise and cooling?

If you get the Meshify 2, then you would want to replace the fans. As you said earlier, it would most likely solve the noise issue, and could help temps a bit. The 500DX is a really good case, although I have no experience building in it. both have cons but both are good choices imo.

[Jason 57]

13 hours ago, kisstomi1 said:

I've been looking for an ATX Mid-tower case for my mid-high end build. Please help me chose from the ones I picked or feel free to suggest one.

My build is

• Air cooled
• Little overclocking but nothing crazy
• Looking for a decent airflow that doesn't sound like a Jet engine
• Single GPU, Single ATX mobo
• Conveniently spaced, not too confined

I spent a couple of days looking up reviews (mostly by GamersNexus) and the ones I plan to pick from are listed below. Note that I'm open to any suggestions at around 100-150-ish USD.

Any feedback on ease of build, noise and cooling?

My suggestion would be the Lian Li LanCool 2 Mesh Performance. 

It has great thermals on the GN chart. I found it very nice to build with. 

I pretty much have the case fans running in HIGH all the time and I can't hear the difference in speeds, and the case sits right in front of me. 

The Performance model doesn't have RGB fans. 

 

I love this case!

[TVwazhere]

I dont have experience in either, but the 500DX and Lancool Performance II Mesh are both exceptionally good cases on paper. Having worked in a Define C (same frame as Meshify) and a 220T, I can tell you smaller cases are not always bad, it's sometimes just a matter of planning. 220T took some planning, the Meshify C did not.

 

The 500DX is a bit larger than both of those cases, so users complaining about "restricted spaces" are most likely people who typically build in larger mid towers (Meshify 2) or full towers (Meshify 2 XL). be quiet!'s cases are typically quiet not only because 90% of their cases use sound deadening foam, but because their included fans are.... well.... quiet. The included fans are 140mm pure wings 2 only spin at 1000rpm max and still pump out 60cfm/ 100m³h (on paper). For a mid-high end build, this should still offer good airflow for a system (depending on your definition, I'm envisioning 5600/5800 or 11400/11700 paired with an RTX3060ti/6700) but higher end hardware may need more airflow to sustain good temps under load. 

[kistomi01]

8 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

I dont have experience in either, but the 500DX and Lancool Performance II Mesh are both exceptionally good cases on paper. Having worked in a Define C (same frame as Meshify) and a 220T, I can tell you smaller cases are not always bad, it's sometimes just a matter of planning. 220T took some planning, the Meshify C did not.

 

The 500DX is a bit larger than both of those cases, so users complaining about "restricted spaces" are most likely people who typically build in larger mid towers (Meshify 2) or full towers (Meshify 2 XL). be quiet!'s cases are typically quiet not only because 90% of their cases use sound deadening foam, but because their included fans are.... well.... quiet. The included fans are 140mm pure wings 2 only spin at 1000rpm max and still pump out 60cfm/ 100m³h (on paper). For a mid-high end build, this should still offer good airflow for a system (depending on your definition, I'm envisioning 5600/5800 or 11400/11700 paired with an RTX3060ti/6700) but higher end hardware may need more airflow to sustain good temps under load. 

Almost nailed the setup, Ryzen 7 5800X with 3070 Ti some time later (hurry up evga). The airflow seemed okay based on GamersNexus' reviews. Do you think I should go with the Meshify 2 with fans from be quiet?

[thrasher_565]

imo bottom air flow with the 30xx gpus is key. so i vote lan cool 2.

[TVwazhere]

12 hours ago, kisstomi1 said:

Almost nailed the setup, Ryzen 7 5800X with 3070 Ti some time later (hurry up evga). The airflow seemed okay based on GamersNexus' reviews. Do you think I should go with the Meshify 2 with fans from be quiet?

You could probably also look at the Phanteks P500A (non D-RGB) if you wanted to add some be-quiet fans and not spend money on fans you dont plan on using. It does favorably well in GN's testing twoards the top of the stack in most categories. You definitely can replace the Mehsify 2 fans with be quiet! fans but I tend to not recommend that because that's extra expense that not everyone is okay with doing (or in some cases it's not always necessary)

 

In any event, any of the three cases would be good choices for a mid-high end system IMO. Personally I look forward to my own opportunity to build in ANY of the listed cases so far (I just like build in new cases every time)

[kistomi01]

38 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

You could probably also look at the Phanteks P500A (non D-RGB) if you wanted to add some be-quiet fans and not spend money on fans you dont plan on using. It does favorably well in GN's testing twoards the top of the stack in most categories. You definitely can replace the Mehsify 2 fans with be quiet! fans but I tend to not recommend that because that's extra expense that not everyone is okay with doing (or in some cases it's not always necessary)

 

In any event, any of the three cases would be good choices for a mid-high end system IMO. Personally I look forward to my own opportunity to build in ANY of the listed cases so far (I just like build in new cases every time)

That's true though. I'll scrap the be quiet 802 for sure and will pick from the rest of the three. If I go with the Meshify I might not even need to replace any fans, it's a bit louder than the be quiet for sure but isn't terrible. Your suggestion with the upgraded P500A seems the best value tbh. Worst case scenario if I really do need to upgrade the fans later on, I'm looking at a 80$ purchase at most which really isn't that terrible. I think I'll rewatch the reviews and chose by build quality and front facing ports.

[kistomi01]

10 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

imo bottom air flow with the 30xx gpus is key. so i vote lan cool 2.

I considered that as well but some reviews and forums wrote it's a dust magnet and my room is pretty dusty unfortunately.

[thrasher_565]

4 hours ago, kisstomi1 said:

I considered that as well but some reviews and forums wrote it's a dust magnet and my room is pretty dusty unfortunately.

well you might run in to temp problems then.