Midtower case conundrum

[sherman9800]

So recently I've wanted to update my graphics card to the Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 in preparation for the Witcher 3 and some rocking steam sale games. Come to find out its too long for my current OLD first revision of the Antec Three Hundred. It's served its purpose but the cable management is horrible, the fans have all but died in it and is loud as hell even with my Corsair H60 fan at half speed.

 

I've come to realize that my tastes for silence have become more apparent over the years. Moving from my first build "fans and lights party", to something more subdued. I do have an itch again to see my components within a windowed case especially with the windforce logo lighting up on my future graphics card that would happily match my Corsair K90 and Logitech G502.

 

I've really worked my way down to 4 cases and it is becoming extremely hard to choose between them. Sadly one doesnt have every bit I'd want and that's frustrating.

 

Here is a list of the cases in question and I will list some of the pros and cons of each:

 

Fractal Designs Define R5 - The silence is great and and I love the clean looks and newly implemented cooling options. But even with impeccable cable management, it is difficult to get your power supply cables looking like anything other than a clumped mess. I've been spoiled with NZXT's power supply covers. If I could get a power supply shroud for this case I wouldn't hesitate to buy it for even $10 more. At nearly $150 shipped its a rough sell when wanting to add silent fans to the price.

 

Phanteks Enthoo Pro - The modding options and cooling are great. Everything attached with screws is a surprising benefit as well. I do realize this is classified as a full tower and thats one thing I dont love about it. Its quite a large case and Im not super into massive cases since I will be only using 1 SSD and 1 HDD and at maximum one to no optical drive. The front drives are accessible but I've grown tired of the exposed optical bay look and would prefer something sleek and sophisticated. Also love that everything is filtered. A decent middle ground pricing option but my least favorite looks wise externally.

 

NZXT H440 - Great looking case. The clean look with interesting lines make it a looker. I love the power supply shroud and attempts at making the sound dampening as well thought out as possible. But the "single" side vents on the top and bottom make me question the cooling potential of the case. The PSU shroud and 2.5" drive mounts on top is truly a genius use of space and looks very aesthetically pleasing. One thing that bugs me is the absence of an all black version. The colors are great but I'd really prefer a glossy black similar to the white just completely blacked out. About as expensive as the Fractal but comes with more fans even though they would eventually be replaced over time anyway. Sort of a wash on value.

 

NZXT S340 - I love the tiny compact size of this case. Such a clean elegant design that doesn't embellish too much with lots of efficiency. I enjoy the "full" look of the case with a dual 120 or 140mm radiator in the front and possible dual graphics card to make it look like its going to burst at the seams with power. But the same front mounted radiator/AIO cooler has me wondering if its as an intake how it would effect the temps of the GPU, especially when not using a reference GTX 970. It also lacks any kind of fan openings to add in additional cooling if I purchase a custom watercooling loop in the future. Best value by far and could easily get 2-3 better fans for the same price as the default fractal shipped.

 

I wouldnt mind watching some blurays on my optical drive but the likelihood of me doing that is 1-2 days out of the year.

 

I'm also planning on replacing any and all of the fans with either Noiseblocker M12-S2, Cougar Vortex HDB,  Noctua NF-A14 or Phanteks PH-F140HP. I am going to be running these fans at 7V on either the integrated controllers on the cases themselves or through Speed Fan because my fans now sound like jet engines to me.

 

In order of importance:

1. Window

2. Silence

3. Cooling

4. PSU Shroud

 

Any and all opinions are welcome. I know these cases have probably been debated to death but it would be really appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

[1Scotty1]

Hey,

 

I have the H440 and building in this case is awesome, cable management is good, even with my 2-way SLI. And even though it lacks optical drive bays, I think I wont be needing it, or maybe I will get an enclosure, because its a blu-ray drive and I may never know when I will need it Other than that it is a great case and I recommend it highly just my .02

[Thorium19]

Just a suggestion, but how about the Silverstone FT05 or TJ04? They've great cooling, especially the FT05 with the top cooling for any case. Plus they've got aluminium construction and are pretty quiet as well.

Out of your choices though, I'd say either the H440 or Define R5. Take the define if you have an optical drive and want to keep it, and take the H440 if you want to have a PSU shroud and more dust filtering.

[spwath]

Just a suggestion, but how about the Silverstone FT05 or TJ04? They've great cooling, especially the FT05 with the top cooling for any case. Plus they've got aluminium construction and are pretty quiet as well.

Out of your choices though, I'd say either the H440 or Define R5. Take the define if you have an optical drive and want to keep it, and take the H440 if you want to have a PSU shroud and more dust filtering.

Yup this.

If you want to save money, s340

[sherman9800]

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

Right now Im leaning toward the R5 since it comes in all black which is important to me even if I think the H440 in white looks awesome, it wouldnt match anything else I have. One thing that I didnt think of is sleeving to help the PSU cables look better when in the case. I have a Seasonic X850 that I will be using once I upgrade everything. Can anyone recommend a site that sells already sleeved cables? I know a lot of people recommend MDPC for DIY sleeving kits which I wouldnt mind doing on my own but I'd prefer already done cables if I can help it. Thanks again.