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THE Case for Aircooling

Samoht
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Hey guys I'm currently planning my first build and have already researched quite a bit. I've already came up with a 4790k cooled by a Cryorig R1 Ultimate and have shot a R9 290 Windforce OC quite cheap on ebay. Whats left is the choice of the case. As these parts get quite hot, the cooler the case keeps them the better. Also Watercooling support doesn't matter to me, as I'll not be changing to watercooling using one oh theses cases.
I'm mainly torn between these three, but also open for other opinions.

Corsair Air 540

The good:
Direct airflow
Small volume per chamber -> faster air exchange at the same cfm of the fans
Easy cable management
Looks pretty cool

The bad:
No bottom fan mount->no extra GPU airflow
Seems to be a bit noisy
Only front fan filters


Fractal Arc Midi R2

The good:
High front panel -> easier accesible, because the case will stand under the table
A lot of fan mounts available
Solid build quality
All around fan filters

The bad:
Really nothing that would come to my head atm


Phanteks Enthoo Pro

Pretty similar to the Arc Midi R2

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I would vote for the air 540 10000 times if I could. Great case.

PC: 4770K @ 4.0 GHz --- Maximus VI Hero --- 8 GB 2133 MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro --- EVGA 780 TI Classified @ 1300 MHz --- Samsung Evo 250 GB --- Corsair RM 750 --- Corsair Carbide Air 540 --- CM Storm Rapid-I (MX Blues with PMK Evergreen Keycaps) --- Windows XP --- Razer Naga --- Custom Loop Parts: 380I, EKWB 780 Classy Waterblock and Backplate, 240mm and 360mm XT45, Swiftech MCP655, EKWB multi option reservoir, Mayhems Pastel Red, Primochill Primoflex Advanced Clear Tubing, 5 SP 120 Quiet Editions --- Mobile: Surface Pro 3 (i5 128gb) with JD40 (MX Clears) and Microsoft Sculpt Mouse --- Galaxy S6

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I rock the 540 and love my case.  Had to do a few tweaks for noise but nothing major.  Its very easy to use and great presentation.

 

For the top fans, mount a rad there and do exhaust fans to get past not having a filter on top.

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540 Air- has to be one of the easiest cases to work on. Have built 5 systems using this case. Not much to complain about.

PS sits behind the MB. Haven't had any issues with its airflow. If you really want additional airflow there, you could mod or add a 120mm fan above the PS (behind the MB).

Noise : this is more dependent on how you set up your fans (voltage reducers + set them up & forget about them).

Has these hot swap bays for HD on the bottom. If you don't use them, it leaves two large square holes. Not a great design feature. I modded mine to put a 200 mm LED fan to pull in cool air that feeds the GPU at low rims (low noise).

After building about 20 plus computers, you appreciate the small thought ou details. Corsair, definitely fits this bill. The case is well engineered (with a few issues).

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Well, seems that this forum is pretty stoaked about the 540.

@GatorBait: Thats exactly what I want to do if I get this case. Could you show me any pictures of your mod?

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Enthoo pro!

Rv05!

Ft02!

Ft05!

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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The forum loves the Air540 because it's a Corsair product. It isn't that impressive. Nothing groundbreaking in quality or features. The space in the back isn't used very efficiently. The reason everyone recommends it for air cooling is 1. Because it's from Corsair and 2. Because it has "Air" in the title and therefore must be amazing for air cooling.

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The forum loves the Air540 because it's a Corsair product. It isn't that impressive. Nothing groundbreaking in quality or features. The space in the back isn't used very efficiently. The reason everyone recommends it for air cooling is 1. Because it's from Corsair and 2. Because it has "Air" in the title and therefore must be amazing for air cooling.

Exactly.

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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Added the Enthoo Pro into consideration. 

Hard choice

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Enthoo pro!

Rv05!

Ft02!

Ft05!

^this

The RV05, FT02/05 are the best air cooling cases, full stop. they dominate stock configuration air cooling charts, and even when you put premium fans in cases like the air 540. Plus, they look a lot better, the Fortress cases are aluminium so are serious premium look cases. If you want the single best aircooling cases, look no further than silverstone.

PCs

Spoiler
Spoiler

Branwen (2015 build) - CPU: i7 4790K GPU:EVGA GTX 1070 SC PSU: XFX XTR 650W RAM: 16GB Kingston HyperX fury Motherboard: MSI Z87 MPower MAX AC SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB + Crucial MX300 1TB  Case: Silverstone RV05 Cooler: Corsair H80i V2 Displays: AOC AGON AG241QG & BenQ BL2420PT Build log: link 

Spoiler

Netrunner (2020 build) - CPU: AMD R7 3700X GPU: EVGA GTX 1070 (from 2015 build) PSU: Corsair SF600 platinum RAM: 32GB Crucial Ballistix RGB 3600Mhz cl16 Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus X570i pro wifi SSD: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1TB Case: Lian Li TU150W black Cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock Slim

 

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Keep in mind that with the Fractal Arc Midi R2 you'll have to remove the hdd cage to install your gpu. With the other one you don't need to.

 

Do you have a budget for the case?

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Removing the HDD cage in the Arc Midi wouldn't be a problem, as I won't be using more than one HDD and one SSD anyway.

My budget for a case is right around 130$.

Thanks for all your opinions guys.

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540 hands down.

Ketchup is better than mustard.

GUI is better than Command Line Interface.

Dubs are better than subs

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Thanks for all your comments. i'm pretty much sold on a white 540 because it looks so sexy. But as I don't have the money for teh full build at the moment anyway I will wait if there will be an updated version of it. I have read a statement from the Air 540 developer saying that, if the Air540 sells good there may be an Obsidian version of it.

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