Okay, I'm stuck here... (Case recommendations)

[An0maly_76]

Recently I completed a 5900X / RTX3060ti build in a Corsair 4000X case. No complaints about the build, but I forewent an internal optical drive, a decision I now question the wisdom of. Hence, I would like something with that has at least one 5.25" bay for an optical drive, tinted or clear side window, and preferably (not necessarily a deal-breaker, but preferred), allows a vertical GPU mount.

 

Current build is an ATX AM4, 155mm tower air cooler (no AIO), 275mm double-slot GPU, six 120mm Corsair fans, 140mm PSU (RM850x), one 3.5" HDD, one USB 3.2 PCIe riser.

 

Does anyone have recommendations here?

Edited August 21, 2022 by An0maly_76
Wrong board size -- ATX, not m.ATX

[Vishera]

13 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

Recently I completed a 5900X / RTX3060ti build in a Corsair 4000X case. No complaints about the build, but I forewent an internal optical drive, a decision I now question the wisdom of. Hence, I would like something with that has at least one 5.25" bay for an optical drive, tinted or clear side window, and preferably (not necessarily a deal-breaker, but preferred), allows a vertical GPU mount.

 

Current build is a MicroATX AM4, 155mm tower air cooler (no AIO), 275mm double-slot GPU, six 120mm Corsair fans, 140mm PSU (RM850x), one 3.5" HDD, one USB 3.2 PCIe riser.

 

Does anyone have recommendations here?

 

 

 

 

What is your budget?

[An0maly_76]

8 minutes ago, Vishera said:

What is your budget?

Reasonable, not not crazy. Say, $150. I might go more depending. I know you get what you pay for, but I look at some of these $400-$500 cases and wonder how much gold is in them.

[Vishera]

5 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

Reasonable, not not crazy. Say, $150. I might go more depending. I know you get what you pay for, but I look at some of these $400-$500 cases and wonder how much gold in is in them.

What about the Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2?

Seems like it has everything you want,but double check that just in case i am wrong.

[An0maly_76]

2 minutes ago, Vishera said:

What about the Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2?

Seems like it has everything you want,but double check that just in case i am wrong.

I was looking at an Enthoo earlier, but apparently it wasn't THAT one... Hmmm...

[IkeaGnome]

Seen the Fractal Pop yet?

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/pop/pop-air/rgb-cyan-core/

Edit: hard to see but it does have 2 5.25 bays in the front panel. 

[Vishera]

Just now, An0maly_76 said:

I was looking at an Enthoo earlier, but apparently it wasn't THAT one... Hmmm...

I was wrong,even though for some reason Phanteks say that it has 5.25",they make it confusing.

[An0maly_76]

6 minutes ago, Vishera said:

I was wrong,even though for some reason Phanteks say that it has 5.25",they make it confusing.

Maybe that front panel I/O can be removed or relocated for a drive installation. It is a bit tall though. Not a deal-breaker. I like the look if it truly can have an ODD in there.

Edited June 30, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[Vishera]

12 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

Maybe that front panel I/O can be removed or relocated for a drive installation. It is a bit tall though. Not a deal-breaker. I like the look if it truly can have an ODD in there.

I just checked it out and it only support 5.25" internally,not externally.

The Phanteks Enthoo Pro (without 2) on the other hand does have an external 5.25" bay but half of the front panel is bays so airflow potential is reduced.

 

There is also the ridiculous looking Cougar PANZER MAX-G:

[An0maly_76]

1 hour ago, IkeaGnome said:

Seen the Fractal Pop yet?

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/pop/pop-air/rgb-cyan-core/

Edit: hard to see but it does have 2 5.25 bays in the front panel. 

Kinda like that one, except for the proprietary RGB control. Can't find it anywhere for pricing though. Is it not released yet?

[IkeaGnome]

33 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

Kinda like that one, except for the proprietary RGB control. Can't find it anywhere for pricing though. Is it not released yet?

Reviews just dropped yesterday. Supposed to be about $96. 
 

[An0maly_76]

10 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Reviews just dropped yesterday. Supposed to be about $96.

Phooey.

[An0maly_76]

Though I do like the idea of the Fractal Design Pop Air (thanks to @IkeaGnome for the recommendation), a rather profound thought occurred to me today while looking into a dual-system-capable case for another member's question...

 

I hadn't really thought about this until now, but it happens that I'm revamping a Lenovo M71E for web / media (possible NAS use but unlikely), more or less intended as a dedicated movie / web machine, mainly to protect the gaming rig by minimizing its time online. The original thought was to have a dedicated media system that used less power, but as others are cluing me in to the idea that newer stuff is generally more efficient anyway, I thought, "Hell, maybe I should integrate the two into one case, if I might be buying another case anyway."

 

The M71E now has an SR00B i7-2600 (95W) on the stock Lenovo H61 Express board, and is getting a SATA M.2 and a 6TB WD Black for media storage (coming from my gaming rig anyway). Considering that the M71E's chassis is warped a bit from being dropped prior to my ownership, which makes its inherent SFF space constraints even more of a PITA to work with, going with a dual-system case kind of makes more sense now that I think about it, given that nearly everything about the Lenovo is proprietary.

 

However, there is the issue of the 4-pin aux power that the H61 board needs -- can that be adapted from the 8-pin of modern ATX? Additionally, GPU power transients also concern me as to whether an 850W would be enough to power both simultaneously, say, if I wanted to game while ripping or record a movie. I also suspect that I would have to buy a B550 mini-ITX and an H61 / B75 mini-ITX for this, am I right?

 

That said, here is a review of dual-capable cases I found, and at least two of them, the Phanteks Enthoo Mini XL DS, and the Phanteks Enthoo 719, have at least one 5.25 available for an optical drive. However, I rather think it'd be less expense and headache to go the separate systems, separate cases route with the Fractal Pop Air or Cougar Panzer MAX-G, and a cheap aftermarket case with PSU for the M71E. Thoughts?

Edited June 30, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[An0maly_76]

 

As MaximBady would say... SOOOOOO.... What is going on HERE? OHHHHHH, BOY, did it get complicated. What an odyssey this has been, and I'm relieved to see it finally (hopefully) concluded. Grab yourself a root beer and some Pringles or Doritos or something...

 

My original 5900X build would randomly hang on a blank screen every 8-12 cold boots. Troubleshooting suggested the board was to blame, so during the RMA, I built a test bed in the Corsair 4000X case for the Crucial Ballistix BL16G32C16U4B.16FE, KO-RTX-3060ti-8GB-OC, WD Blue SN570 M.2, with an ASRock B450M-HDV and used 3600X. Interesting results. One DIMM failed to POST off the bat, tandem or solo. Using the other, Win10 displayed a constant Win10 hourglass. It failed two weeks later. So safe to say I found the issue with the original build, especially as it was not QVL'd for the Asus Tuf B550-PLUS (5900X) or the ASRock B450M-HDV (3600X). As the SNL Church Lady would say, "HOW CON-VEEEEEN-IENT".

 

When the Asus board was returned "could not duplicate customer issue", in addition to three SP120s, three LL120s, and a WD Blue SN570, I ordered a Fractal Pop XL Air per @IkeaGnome's recommendation, a Pioneer BDR-212DBK, Patriot Viper 4 Blackout (PVB432G320C6K) QVL'd for the Tuf B550-PLUS / 5900X. Also a Corsair CX-650F, Asus Phoenix GTX1650-OC, and Ballistix (BL16G36C16U4B.M16FE1) QVL'd for the ASRock B450M-HDV / 3600X.

 

The ASRock B450M-HDV / 3600X combo perked up immediately with the BL16G36C16U4B.M16FE1, and with the Corsair CX-650F and Asus Phoenix GTX1650 OC, it runs flawlessly. While I'm sure the RTX card is much faster, I can't really tell much difference in video quality, even with near-identical settings in ATS and BeamNG.drive. This setup remains in the Corsair 4000X, and depending on a few factors (mainly whether the 5900X build behaves itself), I may flip it, though I hate to let it go.

 

Reassembled the 5900X / RTX3060ti build in the Pop XL Air a few nights ago. After an interesting battle of wills with DOCP, 16-18-18-36 DRAM timings had to be set manually, but it's back up and running, seemingly better than ever. A bit early to say it's fixed, but so far, no blank screen on startup, and the 5900X seems a bit snappier now. Strangely, it needed a bit more aggressive fan curve, initially idling 15C warmer, but now holds the same idle temp, gaming 15C cooler.

 

Speaking of cooling, I originally got a Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 for the 3600X, but since its Mickey Mouse bracket-upon-bracket arrangement didn't even seem to line up, I put it back in the box and installed my Scythe Mugen 5, ordering a Mugen 5S for later transplant. Not that the Mugen's offset heatsink design is a picnic to install (one screw requires a 5/16" box end wrench), but at least I'm not guessing at it like a jigsaw puzzle. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I also realized the PCI-e USB riser I previously installed was probably hindering GPU airflow, so I opted not to use it this time around.

 

Now for my thoughts on the Fractal Pop XL Air. Not a bad case at all. It has a few minor quirks, nothing that's a deal-breaker. The topside dust filter seems ill-fitted. Not really a fan of the magnetic ODD bay cover retention to start with, but I think Fractal should paint or rubber-coat the case-recessed magnets for the cover retention to make them less conspicuous.

 

I already knew the Fractal Aspect 12 RGB fans included with the case (Pop gets 3, Pop XL gets 4) are not yet widely available for further addition. Amazon shows not available until November, although I found a prebuild site that shows them available separately (salvaged from Fractal cases for clients that want different fans, maybe?)

 

But this was no big deal. I didn't think much of the Pop Air's RGB control as reviewed by GamersNexus anyway, so I'd already planned to swap the Commander and three LLs from the Corsair 4000X anyway. The unsheathed Lighting Node Core screwed easily into the 4000X's dedicated spot. Swapped the LLs for SPs within minutes. Putting six LL120s and the Commander Core XT in the Fractal Pop XL Air took longer, requiring removal of the included Fractal fans first.

 

Overall, I have to say, the Pop XL Air is much easier to work with than the 4000X. Cable management, I feel, is much better. The Pop XL Air's panels also come off much more easily than the 4000X. I honestly hate the 4000X for that, especially after having to open it twelve times in four months due to the aforementioned issue (which now seems to be fixed, fingers crossed). Good call, @IkeaGnome.