Best case?

[Advic3]

I have some in mind but, I'd like some other imput for this build.

 

Cases on mind, Fractial S / R5 Nzxt h440

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($339.99 @ Newegg) 

CPU Cooler: LEPA AquaChanger 240 103.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($75.99 @ Directron) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($97.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($82.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.89 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($659.99 @ B&H) 

Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.99 @ B&H) 

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ NCIX US) 

[thekeemo]

760T

S Frame

[Goodman2265]

S340, 450D

[STRMfrmXMN]

Antec P380? Kind of less than ideal functionally but a very, very pretty case.

Silent Base 800 Windowed? Base 600?

[TheRandomness]

Get an i5 (if this is a gaming build only) and get a 1TB HDD for long term storage.

Case? I don't know, it really depends on what you need.

[Curufinwe_wins]

If you are a fan of the looks, the Define S is arguably one of the best cases in existence today. Esp when you consider the price.

 

This is an opinion, but the define s is better than the h440 even though it costs way less.

[Hunched]

I'm looking into the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M, I can't find anything with less problems for the price.

 

The Define S has noise issues with HDD's according to SPCR who are to be trusted, they have Linus' trust.

The H440 has restrictive airflow, SPCR has also noticed this.

 

Also, the moduvent system on the new Define cases is terrible, and no dust filters for the top of the case.

[Hunched]

If you are a fan of the looks, the Define S is arguably one of the best cases in existence today. Esp when you consider the price.

Define S issues:

- Bad at dampening HDD vibration

- Side window is of poor quality

- Front fan mounts are vertical slots, so unusable with anti-vibration fan mounts

- Moduvent system is terrible, looks poor if any are removed, and has no filter for the top

Also the chassis is pretty flimsy.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Define S issues:

- Bad at dampening HDD vibration

- Side window is of poor quality

- Front fan mounts are vertical slots, so unusable with anti-vibration fan mounts

- Moduvent system is terrible, looks poor if any are removed, and has no filter for the top

Also the chassis is pretty flimsy.

1. I guess it varies, but my dampening is pretty decent (then again I don't actually use the HDD except for mass storage so it is rarely running.)

2. Side window might not be the best material ever, but it certainly is on par with most non-glass windows and it makes up for it with having one of the largest windows (of non-glass only cases).

3. This is actually totally a good thing. You can mount fans whereever you want, and with fans using anti-vibration corners (as pretty much all the best fans use) this doesn't matter at all. Besides you can use the mounts, they just don't make sense because the mount itself does a good job of dampening vibrations.

4. I guess it depends what you are looking for here. It clearly allows by far the most possibilities of any case (non-full tower) I have seen (for airflow/silence/mounting), and while I definitely think magnetic filters up top are a good thing (I own one over my two open slots), I don't think they look bad personally.

 

The chassis being flimsy is hilarious. Like that is so freaking insanely not true I don't even know what to say... I mean it's hypothetically possible if you took off both sides you could get the chassis to rotate even a little bit, but with even one side panel on it's a rock.

 

And perhaps I should have clarified. If you need a 5.25 obviously the define S is a no go. If you feel you need a full tower or ultra small size then obviously the define S is a no go. If you never plan on moving things whatsoever then perhaps a pure glass showoff case may be more to your taste.

 

But for conventional needs and use schemes, it is and was my top choice in case (as I chose it for a personal build instead of many of the other cases I had built with and seen reviews for, and budget was not a concern unless more than 300 dollars), and without a doubt it's a top 5 case overall.

 

The biggest issue I would actually have with the case is relative restriction to total drives but with 5 drives, few people will see that limit.

 

Not to mention that the case is so much cheaper than it's reasonable competition that if you really felt you needed to address any of the concerns above it literally would still fit within budget to do so.

 

That enthoo pro m looks like an absolutely awful case, (after reading reviews for it and looking at it's capabilities), but then again I doubt very much we are looking for the same things in a case anyways (I mean going from an Arc Midi R2 to a Enthoo Pro M pretty much requires looking at different things than I am, as neither of those cases could ever sit for a second on my own -tohave list.)

[Hunched]

That enthoo pro m looks like an absolutely awful case, (after reading reviews for it and looking at it's capabilities), but then again I doubt very much we are looking for the same things in a case anyways (I mean going from an Arc Midi R2 to a Enthoo Pro M pretty much requires looking at different things than I am, as neither of those cases could ever sit for a second on my own -tohave list.)

For what it's worth, the Enthoo Pro M has a better quality window than the Define S and has way less flex with no side panels on too. Also has a top dust filter.

It will likely deal with HDD vibrations better too, and if it doesn't, you actually have room to suspend it horizontally with elastic or whatever to solve the problem, no room for this in the Define S.

The Enthoo Pro (Full Size) is extremely well regarded, and the Pro M is just its little brother.

 

I don't know if we're looking too differently at things, as the Define S was one of the choices I had beside the Enthoo Pro M, it provides good enough airflow.

 

The biggest issues I can see with the Pro M is the front panel was designed by a moron, it has unfiltered holes along the sides... Dust filter in between them... So those need to be covered up with something.

If it wasn't for that, I can't find any obvious problems without owning it. Side window could be bigger like the Define S too.

 

Don't know if you noticed, but I had to throw my HDD in my 5.25 bay because my Arc Midi R2 was horrible with the vibrations. My front two fans are also suspended now too because of the noise created by mounting them to a plastic front panel, I should have known... 

I will never buy a case again where moving things are supposed to be attached to plastic, it's a disaster.

 

Edit: you wouldn't have noticed, my PC pic isn't in my sig, wtf, used to be... There, fixed.

[Curufinwe_wins]

snip

 

The back panel was also designed by a moron. Gaping holes everywhere completely unfiltered. Going to let everything in. (I also think the HDD mounts are idiotic personally but that's more of a taste thing. Don't even want to think about that SSD mount...)

 

(and the define S mounts are nothing like the R2 mounts btw)

 

I'm using fans with rubberized corners in all of my fan slots (so I wouldn't have the issue in the first place), but I never noticed any issues with the define S fan mounts with the stock fans nor have heard anyone else talk about issues there.

 

Neither the Pro M or Pro standard has the ability to meet even my lowest standards for cooling/fan mounts, so it's kinda mute for me to look beyond the exterior anyways, but that back panel is still completely idiotic.

 

Again it just depends on what you are looking for. I have absolutely no use for 5.25 drive bays, and so with only one exception I am aware of (that being the mastercase pro 5) cases with 5.25 bays almost immediately fail cooling standards I have set based on the earlier criteria. (which obv the h440 also fails, but that should be obvious)

[Hunched]

snip

The back panel was of some concern to me, but even the high end Phanteks cases have the same design. The very chassis of the Pro M is used in the new Enthoo Evolv ATX which is like $180.

If your case has positive air pressure, you shouldn't be getting too much dust in from the back. 

 

Not sure what's wrong with the HDD or SSD mounts... they're both out of sight if their looks are an issue, Pro M gets that nice big cover at the bottom.

 

I know the Define S mounts are nothing like the R2, Define S mounts vertically.

 

My fans are all NF-A14's, all rubber corners too, doesn't stop the front plastic panel from acting as a giant amplifier. The back fan which is mounted to metal absorbs all vibrations before they can travel and make noise. The Define S would be fine most likely, along with the Pro M, its fans are mounted to metal too. This is just something about my R2 I was complaining about. 

 

I don't have any use for the 5.25 bay either, unless I need to suspend my HDD up there because of vibrations again, which is not an option with the Define S.

Even without the 5.25 bay I could suspend my HDD where HDD's are supposed to be installed in the Pro M. The Define S has nowhere to go, it has to be vertically in 1 of 3 places at the back.

 

My main concerns when looking at a case is airflow, dust filters, and shit that is going to make noise and whether or not I have options to fix it. That's all really.

[SteveGrabowski0]

I think the Enthoo Pro is probably the best all around case in the $100 price range. You can mount a radiator at top, put both drive cages in, put 120mm fans on the drive cages, and you get really outstanding GPU cooling. I think the window looks great too, the case is very well built and has lots of room for your system to grow; e.g., if you want to stick an AIO on your GPU or put a custom loop in later. And it comes with two very good quality fans (a 140mm and a 200mm) that move a good amount of air without having to run at really high RPMs. I initially had some concerns about the side intakes on the front panel being unfiltered, but the case keeps pretty clean and with a fan going a few feet away from it the case hasn't had any major dust buildup in the month or so I have owned it. It's worlds cleaner than the crappy Antec GX500 it replaced, which has no top dust filter.

 

The Define S would probably be the best $100 enthusiast case if it had a dust filter on top. I don't know why they stuck moduvents on top when it's not a silence optimized case like the Define R5. A top dust filter would be so much better to keep dust from settling into your radiator when the system is powered off.

 

 

I'm not a fan of the H440 for watercooling. It's a silence optimized case and thus the top vents don't do a great job expelling hot air out of a top mounted rad. Check this benchmark, the Corsair H105 is one of the best watercoolers on the market and yet a $25 Hyper 212 EVO outperformed it in an H440 since it was pushing hot air out the back of the case through a normal sized vent than through the small vents at the top.

 

[MadyTehWolfie]

760T

S Frame

My second rig is in the 760T main in the 780T id recommend both. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

The back panel was of some concern to me, but even the high end Phanteks cases have the same design. The very chassis of the Pro M is used in the new Enthoo Evolv ATX which is like $180.

If your case has positive air pressure, you shouldn't be getting too much dust in from the back. 

Just because all of them use it doesn't make it good. All of the Define Series uses the moduvents that are so polarizing.

 

Even with perfect positive pressure you are going to get huge build up there. And suppose you were to use a blower style gpu... that's fairly signicant local negative pressure that will suck shit in.

 

@SteveGrabowski0 without the window (which personally I don't know why you would buy it without a window but some people do) it's basically just as quiet as the define r5 as the loss of noise dampening in front gets combated by the better cooling/airflow (which allows fans to run slower in the first place.) With that huge window though... yea it's totally not silent optimized (it's not loud but nothing special at all). I think the real reason moduvents are there is because when in place they are obviously much less dusty (and result in less air leakage) when not in use over a dust filter.

 

Plus there are people like me who would like not to have my other slots open (while still having the capability of up to 360mm rads).

 

I own a fan filter over my two open slots, but I think and hope that Fractal's next generation of Define Cases will include a fan filter if people remove the moduvents, because it has been a huge complaint overall (and for their other faults, you can't say FD hasn't taken into account people's past complaints on their case remakes).

 

I'm going to the meeting with Fractal Josh on Wednesday so perhaps I can ask him about it. I don't really see why they didn't in this gen...

 

Speaking of options... On topic the MasterCase Pro5 should be noted as an option for best mid-towers available but by the time you get all the options you probably wan't it isn't going to be cost competitive with the cases we have mentioned already.

[CoolMaximus]

760t FTW, also more mobo less cooler