Airflow in Cases with Restrictive Front Panels vs Open Airflow Cases

[narendb]

I'm interested in your thoughts on this. Cases with restrictive front panels are like the Thermaltake Versa H17 and Deepcube Macube 110 shown in the images below. How do thermals in these compare with Open Airflow front panels such as the DeepCool MATREXX 40, Versa H18, etc.? Do you think it really matters?

 

If anyone has their own data or Youtube reference videos on this topic, feel free to share.

[Skiiwee29]

Gamers Nexus is your best source that I trust for case reviews since they strictly do it 100% air cooled with the same system they've been using for like 5+ years now to test thermals. 

[emosun]

yeah gamers nexus delves into this exact thing. restrictive front panels arent a problem so long as the air has some else to go in and out quickly but if thats the only intake and its blocked off then yeah that would be an issue

[thrasher_565]

really depends. how close the fans are to the panel, how big the air slots are, dose it have side intake? but its a big preformace hit. i have an 011 evo that at some point i want to do test in it as it has every comb but i think 3 140m on bottom and top. also i have the mesh front for it so can do a solid front test too thow its not comparing case that have sold front and a slot...

 

but also depends on what system you put in it and what temps your fine with. in "theory" lower temps is better but no prof that it will make things last longer...

but it will be quieter and posably your stuff can boots higher thow ocing is largely dead.

 

some people are fine with 85c well others want 65c... the cost spent to lower the temp to make it "last" is not worth it even over then long run. save the moeny and buy an upgraded.

 

i guess if you have an aio on top as intake and a good gpu cooler and some front air flow it could bee ok...

Edited March 21, 2023 by thrasher_565

[narendb]

24 minutes ago, emosun said:

yeah gamers nexus delves into this exact thing. restrictive front panels arent a problem so long as the air has some else to go in and out quickly but if thats the only intake and its blocked off then yeah that would be an issue

This is interesting. Let's assume you have the standard 3x120mm/2x140mm front intake fans and 1x120mm rear exhaust fan. In a restrictive front panel case, would the front intake fans be also intaking air from the empty top vent(s) thus providing better airflow? 

[emosun]

1 hour ago, narendb said:

This is interesting. Let's assume you have the standard 3x120mm/2x140mm front intake fans and 1x120mm rear exhaust fan. In a restrictive front panel case, would the front intake fans be also intaking air from the empty top vent(s) thus providing better airflow? 

nope definitely not what i typed

[narendb]

No prob, I just couldn't think of any places other than the thin slots/grooves in a restrictive cases' front panel and the top vents that air can come in when you said "so long as the air has some else to go in..."

 

22 hours ago, emosun said:

restrictive front panels arent a problem so long as the air has some else to go in and out quickly..

[Lurking]

I have the Fractal R5. The Define family likely is the best silent case. But really, if noise from fans is a concern, the Fractal Torrent is better due to less fan noise at a given cooling 

 

One reason to chose a silent case like the Define are HDD since they are noisy even with superb airflow. If you don't have HDD, go for good airflow with large fans 

 

Gamers Nexus shows noise normalized results. But this doesn't include HDD noise, though. But even in my R5 HDD noise sucks 

[thrasher_565]

On 3/21/2023 at 6:16 PM, Lurking said:

I have the Fractal R5. The Define family likely is the best silent case. But really, if noise from fans is a concern, the Fractal Torrent is better due to less fan noise at a given cooling 

 

One reason to chose a silent case like the Define are HDD since they are noisy even with superb airflow. If you don't have HDD, go for good airflow with large fans 

 

Gamers Nexus shows noise normalized results. But this doesn't include HDD noise, though. But even in my R5 HDD noise sucks 

big ssd are not that much anymore so it be better to just replace the hdd with that then to buy a "quiet" case imo but people do like the solid front for looks.

 

but ya more air flow case lower fan speed quieter over all. thow if you got coil wine then a closed off case if the only option.

[Lurking]

21 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

big ssd are not that much anymore so it be better to just replace the hdd with that then to buy a "quiet" case imo but people do like the solid front for looks.

 

but ya more air flow case lower fan speed quieter over all. thow if you got coil wine then a closed off case if the only option.

 

I bought the R5 many years ago when HDD still were a thing. Shortly after that, small  SATA SSD for the OS became obtainable, but the data still were on HDD. Now my main rig (R5) has two 2-TB m.2 SSD only. 

 

I still have three HDD. But only because I already had them for many ears. they are in secondary or living room PCs and are a backup (i back up to them via network). Once they fail, it will be SSD and most likely m.2. i also have a bunch of SATA SSD in use that become redundant once I get more 2 TB m.2 but they just don't die. ironically for SSD there always is the fear they wil die or wear out. The reality is, they will last longer than i actually want them. 

 

If i bought a main rig case today, it most likely would be the Torrent or similar. I really like the look of the Fractal Define cases. Very conservative and timeless design. it looked good many years ago, and still will look good in many years. Unlike some of the flashy cases.... 

[thrasher_565]

3 minutes ago, Lurking said:

 

I bought the R5 many years ago when HDD still were a thing. Shortly after that, small  SATA SSD for the OS became obtainable, but the data still were on HDD. Now my main rig (R5) has two 2-TB m.2 SSD only. 

 

I still have three HDD. But only because I already had them for many ears. they are in secondary or living room PCs and are a backup (i back up to them via network). Once they fail, it will be SSD and most likely m.2. i also have a bunch of SATA SSD in use that become redundant once I get more 2 TB m.2 but they just don't die. ironically for SSD there always is the fear they wil die or wear out. The reality is, they will last longer than i actually want them. 

 

If i bought a main rig case today, it most likely would be the Torrent or similar. I really like the look of the Fractal Define cases. Very conservative and timeless design. it looked good many years ago, and still will look good in many years. Unlike some of the flashy cases.... 

ya people said that for ssd that they dont last but mine is like 8 years old and still going so i dont no. also have wd green hdd and other's said thow are crap but there still going...

 

ya if your temps are fine for you then dose not mater what case you use... and there no proff that lower temps makes things last longer and some times it last so long you want a upgrade anyway.

 

i just recommend a good air flow case when building a new system so people can have quieter fans. thow spending much on upgrade is not really the best price to preforamce.

 

some people just get board of there case and want something new.

 

i got the so called ultimate case and ill probably still buy new case because i just like em (looking at the lian li v300...) thow i have no build to put in it... but i no ill kick myself if i dont...

[Lurking]

3 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

ya people said that for ssd that they dont last but mine is like 8 years old and still going so i dont no. also have wd green hdd and other's said thow are crap but there still going...

 

ya if your temps are fine for you then dose not mater what case you use... and there no proff that lower temps makes things last longer and some times it last so long you want a upgrade anyway.

 

i just recommend a good air flow case when building a new system so people can have quieter fans. thow spending much on upgrade is not really the best price to preforamce.

 

some people just get board of there case and want something new.

 

i got the so called ultimate case and ill probably still buy new case because i just like em (looking at the lian li v300...) thow i have no build to put in it... but i no ill kick myself if i dont...

My hardware gets used a loooooooooong time, so I like to let it live for long. I have 4 PCs (+ 1 spare). Once a Main rig is outdated (after maybe 5-6 years) it becomes one of the lower PCs. So really, I like to keep the caps etc. alive and lower temps extend the life of caps and electronics in general. I bought 3 PSU this year with 10-year warranty just so I have extremely stable voltages (also is good for life) and the best quality. One 7 year old brand name PSU actually failed suddenly. We are 2 people working remotely and if one PC fails, I swap in one of the other ones till I got replacement parts. Reliability and longevity is extremely important to me. I just figured out how to install W11 on a 10 year old system, so this also will soldier on till it dies. It is powerful enough to do what I need it to. 

 

I have one of the WD Green drives. Worst decision ever! It is slow, even for HDD. Compared to that the two HGST 7200 rpm HDD are race horses. Whoever thought a HDD is too fast, got the idea to make "Green" drives. You save no energy with that Green drive since you need to run the PC for much longer. 

 

Most my cases are tucked behind a desk or a TV. My desks each have two 43"monitors, there is no room for a case to be on the desk. 

[tkitch]

11 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

big ssd are not that much anymore

Yes they are.

 

Anything past 2TB of SSDs gets hellishly expensive.  Whereas an 8TB HDD can be 100 bucks.

 

For a gamer?  A 2TB Game drive is a fuckton of space (generally speaking) but for some people, it's not enough, and 4TB+ Drives are $$$

[thrasher_565]

12 hours ago, tkitch said:

Yes they are.

 

Anything past 2TB of SSDs gets hellishly expensive.  Whereas an 8TB HDD can be 100 bucks.

 

For a gamer?  A 2TB Game drive is a fuckton of space (generally speaking) but for some people, it's not enough, and 4TB+ Drives are $$$

ya $120 for 2tb ssd or $300 for 4tb but if you want quiet that what it cost.

 

thow case with hdd space cost alot too could easy spend $300+ for cadys