Looking for a good case (good filtering, airflow, 33cm gpu length)

[MIK0]

I recently updated my configuration as follow:

Case CM 690 II Advanced

Psu Corsair 750 HX

Mb Asus Z97 Pro

Cpu i5 4690k 

Ram 8Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1333Mhz

Vga Sapphire HD 5850 Toxic 1Gb

Monitor Asus ML248 1920x1080

Hdd OCZ Vertex 4 256Gb

SO Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit

 

I'm planning to get a Sapphire R9 290 Trix-x and it won't fit on the CM 690 II Advanced.

So I'm looking for a replacement for this case that served me well but it's now outdated (gpu max length, cable management).

 

What I expect from the new case:

- good cable management

- good air flow (i've no plan for liquid cooling). I have also no plan to overclock or at least to not go too far with it, the airflow concern is mainly for the gpu right now.

- very good filters and easy to clean.

- as silent as possible (I'm using it for gaming and watching blu-ray also). I could also add acustic filter if needed.

- has at least 33cm of room for gpu without removing hdd cages. I know that the one I'm planning to buy is 30.5 cm but I want to have enough room for mounting it, for cable management and for airflow. I specified that I want the length be enough without removing the hdd cage because I'll need them. I would consider case that has movable hdd cages but I would avoid configuration in which you remove only the middle cage becase I don't like the aspect and airflow of a gpu crammed in that space. I have an ssd and 3 hdd.

- has at least an hot swap slot for hdd. This is a feature I could live without, I can purchase a third party hot swap controller to fit in one of the 5.25" slot if needed.

- has at least one 5.25" for optical drive (yes I still use them).

- between the mid and tower size (I would avoid full tower)

- max 250$ (200€)

- i don't care for side panel windows

 

Right now the case that has most of the feature I want is the HAF XM, of which I don't like the aesthetic. My main concerns are the dust filters, that it seems not easy to clean and the fact that the case has already an old design.

I really like the corsair obsidian series for material and looks but I have concern about them too. The 650D has not usb 3 adapter and i read a lot of complain about the front fan.

The 750D lose the hot swap slot (for no reason) and has an awful look if you mount something on the 5.25" slot. I like the ssd slots.

450D is too small.

The Graphite 600t look good too.

Phanteks Enthoo Pro seems interesting but it's not easy to find where I live.

 

I'm open to every kind of suggestions and clarification.

Thanks

[Phllips]

Why is the 450D to small? also have you checked out the nzxt h440

[farhanorakzai]

I recently updated my configuration as follow:

Case CM 690 II Advanced

Psu Corsair 750 HX

Mb Asus Z97 Pro

Cpu i5 4690k 

Ram 8Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1333Mhz

Vga Sapphire HD 5850 Toxic 1Gb

Monitor Asus ML248 1920x1080

Hdd OCZ Vertex 4 256Gb

SO Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit

 

I'm planning to get a Sapphire R9 290 Trix-x and it won't fit on the CM 690 II Advanced.

So I'm looking for a replacement for this case that served me well but it's now outdated (gpu max length, cable management).

 

What I expect from the new case:

- good cable management

- good air flow (i've no plan for liquid cooling). I have also no plan to overclock or at least to not go too far with it, the airflow concern is mainly for the gpu right now.

- very good filters and easy to clean.

- as silent as possible (I'm using it for gaming and watching blu-ray also). I could also add acustic filter if needed.

- has at least 33cm of room for gpu without removing hdd cages. I know that the one I'm planning to buy is 30.5 cm but I want to have enough room for mounting it, for cable management and for airflow. I specified that I want the length be enough without removing the hdd cage because I'll need them. I would consider case that has movable hdd cages but I would avoid configuration in which you remove only the middle cage becase I don't like the aspect and airflow of a gpu crammed in that space. I have an ssd and 3 hdd.

- has at least an hot swap slot for hdd. This is a feature I could live without, I can purchase a third party hot swap controller to fit in one of the 5.25" slot if needed.

- has at least one 5.25" for optical drive (yes I still use them).

- between the mid and tower size (I would avoid full tower)

- max 250$ (200€)

- i don't care for side panel windows

 

Right now the case that has most of the feature I want is the HAF XM, of which I don't like the aesthetic. My main concerns are the dust filters, that it seems not easy to clean and the fact that the case has already an old design.

I really like the corsair obsidian series for material and looks but I have concern about them too. The 650D has not usb 3 adapter and i read a lot of complain about the front fan.

The 750D lose the hot swap slot (for no reason) and has an awful look if you mount something on the 5.25" slot. I like the ssd slots.

450D is too small.

The Graphite 600t look good too.

Phanteks Enthoo Pro seems interesting but it's not easy to find where I live.

 

I'm open to every kind of suggestions and clarification.

Thanks

the define r4 is a great case. it's great for silence, has 5.25" bays, and is really good looking in my opinion 

[farhanorakzai]

Why is the 450D to small? also have you checked out the nzxt h440

it doesn't have 5.25" bays. he said he needs one

[wng_kingsley7]

@MIK0 760T/450D might be in your price bracket. There are other options of course. Define R4

@farhanorakzai Next time when you quote, you should realise you're only highlighting a sentence/paragraph not the entire post.

[farhanorakzai]

@MIK0 760T/450D might be in your price bracket. There are other options of course. Define R4

@farhanorakzai Next time when you quote, you should realise you're only highlighting a sentence/paragraph not the entire post.

i don't know how to quote a certain sentence

[Phllips]

it doesn't have 5.25" bays. he said he needs one

Its got 2

[Phllips]

i don't know how to quote a certain sentence

Delete the rest of the quote

[farhanorakzai]

Its got 2

i'm pretty sure the h440 has no bays

[Phllips]

i'm pretty sure the h440 has no bays

Oh i thought you meant the 450D  

[Thorium19]

The Phanteks Enthoo Pro/Luxe seems decent, with good airflow and dust filtering, along with more than enough room for a 12" GPU as well. Plus the Luxe has that LED light strip, which makes it a bit more lively than the Pro, which is a bit gaudy in my eyes.

I would say the RV/FT05, but that only has a slimline slot loading optical drive in it, although the airflow in it is second to none.

The 450D is a brilliant choice, as its got enough room for a good watercooling loop, and very good airflow, so i dont see how it can be "too small."

Otherwise, for a plain look, the Fractal Design ARC midi R2 and Define R4 are solid choices, with the ARC having outstanding dust filtering.

[MIK0]

Thank you all for your reply.

 

Why is the 450D to small? also have you checked out the nzxt h440

450D indeed looks cool and I really looked for it. It's has some improvement over the 750D like the removable dust filter. When I say that it is too small is regarding the gpu length, as i specified. It does support longer gpus but only removing the hdd cage in the middle, and I don't like the gpu crammed in there. The 750D being tall mitigate this issue because you can move the cage at the bottom and still feel like you have the whole space in the middle section and even have room for a second gpus if you want to go sli or cross fire. With the 450D this doesn't happen and you have to remove all the cages if you want 2 gpus. I'm planning of keeping the next case for a long time, so I have to consider this matter.

 

the define r4 is a great case. it's great for silence, has 5.25" bays, and is really good looking in my opinion 

Indeed, I looked at that. But I would probably go for the XL version for the same reason of the 450D.

 

@MIK0 760T/450D might be in your price bracket. There are other options of course. Define R4

760T looked good even thought I don't like the aesthetic and it seems not too solid (reviews confirmed that). I would probably go for the 730T instead that has steel side panel, so I'm keeping this model in mind. It doesn't have hot swap slot but it could be fixed with a third party one.

 

Has anyone have anything to say about the HAF XM, I would like to clear some doubts about that.

[MourningSouls]

The Phanteks Enthoo Pro, Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, Corsair Air 540 & Corsair 450D are my top recommendations. Any Silverstone Fortress or Temjin series case would be a good buy as well.

 

As for the 450D's GPU length and HDD cage issues, don't it only have the one cage that sits on the bottom?

[MIK0]

The Phanteks Enthoo Pro/Luxe seems decent, with good airflow and dust filtering, along with more than enough room for a 12" GPU as well. Plus the Luxe has that LED light strip, which makes it a bit more lively than the Pro, which is a bit gaudy in my eyes.

I would say the RV/FT05, but that only has a slimline slot loading optical drive in it, although the airflow in it is second to none.

The 450D is a brilliant choice, as its got enough room for a good watercooling loop, and very good airflow, so i dont see how it can be "too small."

Otherwise, for a plain look, the Fractal Design ARC midi R2 and Define R4 are solid choices, with the ARC having outstanding dust filtering.

I'm ruling out Phanteks Enthoo Pro mainly because It's not easy to find where I live and I want to avoid high shipping taxes plus custom taxes. 

 

About 450D, Fractal Design ARC mid R2 and Define R4, the issue is that to fit a long gpu you need to sacrifice a lot of feature. I wish for mid cases that are not too tall (like a full tower) but longer that the previous cases are. 

[Thorium19]

I'm ruling out Phanteks Enthoo Pro mainly because It's not easy to find where I live and I want to avoid high shipping taxes plus custom taxes. 

 

About 450D, Fractal Design ARC mid R2 and Define R4, the issue is that to fit a long gpu you need to sacrifice a lot of feature. I wish for mid cases that are not too tall (like a full tower) but longer that the previous cases are. 

 

the 450D doesn't sacrifice any features unless you are doing a xfire/sli set up, which the HDD cage would then interfere, but doesn't if there is only one card. the ARC midi does require the HDD cage to be removed for a long GPU, but there is the bottom one, as well as the ability to mount SSDs on the back of the motherboard tray. Not sure if the define R4 has that feature, but I would assume so.

[MIK0]

the 450D doesn't sacrifice any features unless you are doing a xfire/sli set up, which the HDD cage would then interfere, but doesn't if there is only one card. the ARC midi does require the HDD cage to be removed for a long GPU, but there is the bottom one, as well as the ability to mount SSDs on the back of the motherboard tray. Not sure if the define R4 has that feature, but I would assume so.

That's exactly why. With this case I give up the possibility of mounting a xfire/sli in the future. Also it require to remove an hdd cage from the start. For a new case that I want to keep for as long as possibile, this is not a great start. That's why I specified that I would prefer a case that has the room for a longer gpu without having to remove the hdd cages. And I also don't like the gpu crammed in the middle section of the case between the 5.25" slots and the lower hdd cages. As I said the 750D it's ok on that because it's tall.

[Thorium19]

That's exactly why. With this case I give up the possibility of mounting a xfire/sli in the future. Also it require to remove an hdd cage from the start. For a new case that I want to keep for as long as possibile, this is not a great start. That's why I specified that I would prefer a case that has the room for a longer gpu without having to remove the hdd cages. And I also don't like the gpu crammed in the middle section of the case between the 5.25" slots and the lower hdd cages. As I said the 750D it's ok on that because it's tall.

the 450D doesn't require a cage to be removed at the start, as there is only a single cage in the first place, with both 3.5" and 2.5" drive mounting points. If you want a case that doesn't require a HDD cage to be removed to install more than one GPU, then you are largely limited to full towers like the 750D. Also, you can mod the 750D optical drive covers, and attach it to the ODD, so you don't have it looking rather strange.

[MIK0]

the 450D doesn't require a cage to be removed at the start, as there is only a single cage in the first place, with both 3.5" and 2.5" drive mounting points. If you want a case that doesn't require a HDD cage to be removed to install more than one GPU, then you are largely limited to full towers like the 750D. Also, you can mod the 750D optical drive covers, and attach it to the ODD, so you don't have it looking rather strange.

That's exactly my point. I don't understand why they don't do much longer mid tower case. However 750D or HAF XM are in a size between the full tower and the mid tower, that's why I set my limit at that size.

Aboud modding the 750D, I would like to avoid having to fix myself a design flow like that (still don't know why they didn't thought about that). It's unfortunate becase my optical drive has a similar mesh to the brushed aluminum of the 750D.

The 730T is less cool but doesn't have this issue. It has the not filtered and not particularly good looking top cover though.

[spwath]

I recently updated my configuration as follow:

 

Silverstone FT02

Silverstone FT04

Silverstone FT05

Silverstone RV05

 

 

All these are exelent air cooling cases, with the ft0 2, 4, and 5 being full aluminum construction. They are some of the best cases ever.

[MIK0]

Here a sum up of the cases I'm evaluating.

HAF XM: I don't doubt its airflow, it seems to have a lot of space for gpus without losing hdd cages, it has hot swap slots. My main concern are the dust filters and the cleaning.

Obsidian 650D: It has the right size and it's good looking, but it has not usb 3.0 adaptor. Also it has a issue with the front fan. It costs more then the newer chassis. It has hot swap slot.

Obsidian 750D: Good looking and good material except for awful optical drive. I don't know how the airflow is. Filters seems ok. No hot swap slot.

Graphite 730T: Similar to the 750D without the awful optical drive but the materials are not equally good. Good filters easy to clean but I don't like the top panel unfiltered cover and I'll need to cover the side panel vent. No hot swap. 

Graphite Series 600T: old design but still good. Good airflow, good filter.

Phanteks Enthoo Pro: Seems good but I don't find it easly where I live. No hot swap. 

Fractal Design Define XL-R2: I don't much like the interior but it has room for everything. I don't like the front panel with the door. It has noise reduction material installed. No hot swap. No toolless slot!

Fractal Design Arc XL: better looking than the Define XL-R2 but without the noise reduction material. I have concern about filtering. No toolless slot!

[MIK0]

Silverstone FT02

Silverstone FT04

Silverstone FT05

Silverstone RV05

 

 

All these are exelent air cooling cases, with the ft0 2, 4, and 5 being full aluminum construction. They are some of the best cases ever.

The FT02 has an interesting upside down layout.

The other ones has interesting layout too, but I prefer a more streamlined layout. 

In any case, they are out of my budget.

[spwath]

The FT02 has an interesting upside down layout.

The other ones has interesting layout too, but I prefer a more streamlined layout. 

In any case, they are out of my budget.

Thought you said max 250?

All thoes are under that.

THe layout actualy leads to better air cooling.

[MIK0]

Thought you said max 250?

All thoes are under that.

THe layout actualy leads to better air cooling.

My fault. I actually pay in euro so I have done a rough conversion in usd to make it more easy to you to help me. For me those cases costs more than 200 euro that is my budget.

[spwath]

My fault. I actually pay in euro so I have done a rough conversion in usd to make it more easy to you to help me. For me those cases costs more than 200 euro that is my budget.

ah ok.

The rv05 should be cheaper, but more plastic.

[MIK0]

ah ok.

The rv05 should be cheaper, but more plastic.

This is indeed cheaper. However, while I understand that the layout improves air cooling, it seems difficult to build and also make wonder how I'll handle the input cables.