Jump to content

Best case for air cooling

MusicMayne
By MusicMayne
in Power Supplies
 Share
Posted

open test bench

System Specs

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x | Mobo: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX | RAM: Hyper X Fury 3600 64gb | GPU: Nvidia FE 4090 | Storage: WD Blk SN750 NVMe - 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo - 1tb, WD Blk - 6tb/5tb, WD Red - 10tb | PSU:Corsair ax860 | Cooling: AMD Wraith Stealth  Displays: 55" Samsung 4k Q80R, 24" BenQ XL2420TE/XL2411Z & Asus VG248QE | Kb: K70 RGB Blue | Mouse: Logitech G903 | Case: Fractal Torrent RGB | Extra: HTC Vive, Fanatec CSR/Shifters/CSR Elite Pedals w/ Rennsport stand, Thustmaster Warthog HOTAS, Track IR5,, ARCTIC Z3 Pro Triple Monitor Arm | OS: Win 10 Pro 64 bit

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

basically no case in theory (and probably practice).

 

tbh i don't think there really is a "case" (ignoring test benches) that straight up is the best, for air cooling in particular (custom watercooling can be narrowed down to only a few for each motherboard size).

 

some are optimized for silence, however they're usually quite enclosed so you have to run the fans faster and louder to get the same effect.

 

by contrast others are air flow optimized with lots of open spaces usually accompanied by a hoard of dust filters. this means air can pass around the case fairly easily but also provides practically no sound impedance.

 

I'd say go for one that you like the look of.

Aftermarket 980Ti >= Fury X >= Reference 980Ti > Fury > 980 > 390X > 390 >= 970 > 380X > 380 >= 960 > 950 >= 370 > 750Ti = 360

"The Orange Box" || CPU: i5 4690k || RAM: Kingston Hyper X Fury 16GB || Case: Aerocool DS200 (Orange) || Cooler: Cryorig R1 Ultimate || Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 240GB + WD Black 1TB || PSU: Corsair RM750 || Mobo: ASUS Z97-A || GPU: EVGA GTX 970 FTW+

"Unnamed Form Factor Switch" || CPU: i7 6700K || RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury 16GB || Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Mini ITX (White) || Cooler: Cryorig R1 Ultimate (Green Cover) || Storage: Samsung 850 Evo 1TB || PSU: XFX XTR 550W || Mobo: ASUS Z170I Pro Gaming || GPU: EVGA GTX 970 FTW+

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Anything that has 2x120mm intake fan slots at front (or more) and single exhaust fan. Any more fan slots and removable HDD cages is plus.

^^^^ That's my post ^^^^
<-- This is me --- That's your scrollbar -->
vvvv Who's there? vvvv

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

The Silverstone FT cases with the 90 degree rotated motherboard are by far the best cases for air cooling. They take in a lot of air from the bottom and it has a straight channel up to be exhausted through the top. GPU temps are much better with those cases than any others I'm aware of.

 

4OHPFLk.jpg

 

They're also really expensive though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

As titles states , what is the best case for air cooling? 

 

Ask ten different people and you'll get ten different answers. I personally swear by the Phanteks Enthoo Pro, but you're very free to heed the advice of others in this thread as well... The fact of the matter is that most decent mid- and full towers can pump so much air through themselves that there isn't currently any hardware available that can deplete that and go haywire on its temps.

 

The Silverstone FT cases with the 90 degree rotated motherboard are by far the best cases for air cooling. They take in a lot of air from the bottom and it has a straight channel up to be exhausted through the top. GPU temps are much better with those cases than any others I'm aware of.

 

They're also really expensive though.

 

That fan underneath the drive cages must be happy... :P

Main Rig "Melanie" (click!) -- AMD Ryzen7 1800X • Gigabyte Aorus X370-Gaming 5 • 3x G.SKILL TridentZ 3200 8GB • Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming • Corsair RM750x • Phanteks Enthoo Pro --

HTPC "Keira" -- AMD Sempron 2650 • MSI AM1I • 2x Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3 1866 8GB • ASUS ENGTX 560Ti • Corsair SF450 • Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV Shift --

Laptop "Abbey" -- AMD E-350 • HP 646982-001 • 1x Samsung DDR3 1333 4GB • AMD Radeon HD 6310 • HP MU06 Notebook Battery • HP 635 case --

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

The Silverstone FT cases with the 90 degree rotated motherboard are by far the best cases for air cooling. They take in a lot of air from the bottom and it has a straight channel up to be exhausted through the top. GPU temps are much better with those cases than any others I'm aware of.

 

4OHPFLk.jpg

 

They're also really expensive though.

Not to mention the rv02 and ft02 (the best 90 degree rotated ones except the tj11 which cost the same of a fully assembled pc) are a bit outdated and really limiting with the hardware dimensions you can mount inside

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Define S is arguably the best modern midtower on the market today for air cooling (and water cooling) assuming you are willing to buy more fans.

Unimpeded front 3x140, rear 140, bottom 140, top up to 3x140.

LINK-> Kurald Galain:  The Night Eternal 

Top 5820k, 980ti SLI Build in the World*

CPU: i7-5820k // GPU: SLI MSI 980ti Gaming 6G // Cooling: Full Custom WC //  Mobo: ASUS X99 Sabertooth // Ram: 32GB Crucial Ballistic Sport // Boot SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB

Mass SSD: Crucial M500 960GB  // PSU: EVGA Supernova 850G2 // Case: Fractal Design Define S Windowed // OS: Windows 10 // Mouse: Razer Naga Chroma // Keyboard: Corsair k70 Cherry MX Reds

Headset: Senn RS185 // Monitor: ASUS PG348Q // Devices: Note 10+ - Surface Book 2 15"

LINK-> Ainulindale: Music of the Ainur 

Prosumer DYI FreeNAS

CPU: Xeon E3-1231v3  // Cooling: Noctua L9x65 //  Mobo: AsRock E3C224D2I // Ram: 16GB Kingston ECC DDR3-1333

HDDs: 4x HGST Deskstar NAS 3TB  // PSU: EVGA 650GQ // Case: Fractal Design Node 304 // OS: FreeNAS

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Look at the silverstone RV05, RVX01, FT05 for the best air cooling cases outside of test benches. The vertical airflow design aids cooling and they're pretty compact in comparison to other cases as well.

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

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Define S is arguably the best modern midtower on the market today for air cooling (and water cooling) assuming you are willing to buy more fans.

Unimpeded front 3x140, rear 140, bottom 140, top up to 3x140.

 

I love the Define S if you don't run mechanical drives, but man they must get hot behind the motherboard tray if you do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I love the Define S if you don't run mechanical drives, but man they must get hot behind the motherboard tray if you do.

I haven't noticed any issues, but yea there isn't any active cooling (there is perforations in the front and bottom, and it does connect to the main chamber passively.)

 

Then again I only use one and only use it occasionally.

 

Also they are mounted on metal plates which connect to the metal divider so there is some heat dissipation that way as well.

LINK-> Kurald Galain:  The Night Eternal 

Top 5820k, 980ti SLI Build in the World*

CPU: i7-5820k // GPU: SLI MSI 980ti Gaming 6G // Cooling: Full Custom WC //  Mobo: ASUS X99 Sabertooth // Ram: 32GB Crucial Ballistic Sport // Boot SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB

Mass SSD: Crucial M500 960GB  // PSU: EVGA Supernova 850G2 // Case: Fractal Design Define S Windowed // OS: Windows 10 // Mouse: Razer Naga Chroma // Keyboard: Corsair k70 Cherry MX Reds

Headset: Senn RS185 // Monitor: ASUS PG348Q // Devices: Note 10+ - Surface Book 2 15"

LINK-> Ainulindale: Music of the Ainur 

Prosumer DYI FreeNAS

CPU: Xeon E3-1231v3  // Cooling: Noctua L9x65 //  Mobo: AsRock E3C224D2I // Ram: 16GB Kingston ECC DDR3-1333

HDDs: 4x HGST Deskstar NAS 3TB  // PSU: EVGA 650GQ // Case: Fractal Design Node 304 // OS: FreeNAS

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Power Supplies

×