Returning H700i: Need Help on New Case!

[FUR1AN]

Hey everyone,

 

Despite some warnings on the CAM software I pulled the trigger on the NZXT H700i Mid Tower Case. I love the design, build, and features, but DO NOT love that the “smart device” is going to be 10x more work in the CAM software for fan control than is necessary. That along with a bent thumbscrew after shipping, i’ll be returning it and starting fresh with something different for my upcoming build.

 

With that being said i’d love some help deciding on a solid case (construction + features) to use. I definitely want a side window, preferably tempered glass but doesn’t have to be.  Below are my components for the build.

 

Intel Core i7 8700K Coffee Lake CPU

Asus Strix Z370-E Gaming Mobo

Asus ROG Strix GTX 1080Ti OC Edition

G Skill RipJaw V 3200 16GB (8x2) RAM

Samsung 960 Evo 500GB M.2 SSD

Seagate Barracuda 3.5” 2TB HD 7200rpm

NZXT x62 Kraken AIO (Mounted Front)

EVGA G3 850 Supernova Gold+ PSU

 

I want to run 2 RGB 140mm fans on the top as exhaust, a 140mm RGB as exhaust on the back, and will keep the NZXT 140mm fans that came with the Kraken on in the front as intake.

 

Please let me know any ideas you have I am open to everything. My largest concern is having  good build quality and having plenty of clearance between the GPU and the x62 Kraken AIO in the front.

 

Thanks all!

 

[Streetguru]

32 minutes ago, wpowell13 said:

 

Mastercase pro 5 but the Kraken's cooling per dollar isn't as good as non RGB $100 or less 240 AIOs, and did you already buy the parts? Whats your monitor set up?
 

 

[FUR1AN]

21 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Mastercase pro 5 but the Kraken's cooling per dollar isn't as good as non RGB $100 or less 240 AIOs, and did you already buy the parts? Whats your monitor set up?
 

 

I know the Kraken is expensive, it was an aesthetic choice. Currently I have the PSU, AIO, RAM, and Mobo.

 

Monitor will likely come later when I have the cash.

[Streetguru]

9 minutes ago, wpowell13 said:

 

Well then don't buy a 1080ti without knowing your monitor lol, also not a good idea to buy your PC in parts really...

You could buy an RX 580 and this $399 1440p 144hz IPS free-sync display for the same price as just the 1080ti, course only esports games will run at native rez 144fps with a 580.

https://pixiogaming.com/collections/monitors/products/new-px277

I would suggest caring only about asthetics when you have an X299 or X399 build.

But If you care about asthetics, why don't you buy EK's Fluid Gaming Kit? Far more options and it's the same price i think, though naturally you need aluminum parts for the loop in the future, can't just use any old custom water cooling stuff. no Vega blocks yet if you end up with that free-sync display and want to get Vega in the future to make use of adaptive sync.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC8W5SB2261&cm_re=Fluid_Gaming-_-9SIAC8W5SB2261-_-Product

 

 

[FUR1AN]

1 hour ago, Streetguru said:

Well then don't buy a 1080ti without knowing your monitor lol, also not a good idea to buy your PC in parts really...

You could buy an RX 580 and this $399 1440p 144hz IPS free-sync display for the same price as just the 1080ti, course only esports games will run at native rez 144fps with a 580.

https://pixiogaming.com/collections/monitors/products/new-px277

I would suggest caring only about asthetics when you have an X299 or X399 build.

But If you care about asthetics, why don't you buy EK's Fluid Gaming Kit? Far more options and it's the same price i think, though naturally you need aluminum parts for the loop in the future, can't just use any old custom water cooling stuff. no Vega blocks yet if you end up with that free-sync display and want to get Vega in the future to make use of adaptive sync.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC8W5SB2261&cm_re=Fluid_Gaming-_-9SIAC8W5SB2261-_-Product

 

 

Well I appreciate the input, and I am sure there are more cost effective ways to build a system. But this is the one I want right now. I’m not interested in getting into custom cooling loops at this juncture. Also I know what performance monitor I’ll be buying, I’m just not buying it right this second.

 

I’ll take a second look at the case you mentioned above. Thanks.

[Streetguru]

14 minutes ago, wpowell13 said:

Well I appreciate the input, and I am sure there are more cost effective ways to build a system. But this is the one I want right now. I’m not interested in getting into custom cooling loops at this juncture. Also I know what performance monitor I’ll be buying, I’m just not buying it right this second.

 

I’ll take a second look at the case you mentioned above. Thanks.

I'll just say that you don't need to spend a ton of money on your gaming rig to have a nice experience. Like Vega 56 + that $399 display will be pretty damned good.

[Somnax]

 

12 hours ago, Streetguru said:

I would suggest caring only about asthetics when you have an X299 or X399 build.

 

Why build on x299 or x399 when z370 outperforms them in games. Don't need more expensive motherboards and more cores. I'd say an 8700k with a 1080 ti is a perfectly reasonable time to care about aesthetics. 

 

Take a look at thermaltake core/view 31. 

 

I personally am hoping fractal makes a define S with tempered glass and a psu shroud sometime soon.

 

Are you not able to manually control the fan speed in the bios on the H700i?

[Tech22]

2 hours ago, Somnax said:

Are you not able to manually control the fan speed in the bios on the H700i?

They would be connected to a 'smart' hub. According to gamers nexus, the fans connected wont run until it is setup. You have to put the cpu and gpu at load and idle with VERY strict utilization %, which Cam 7-8% cpu utilization and you have to keep it under 10% for like 15 mins, then having to put it at load, but it has to be between 65-80%, again, pretty difficult to keep it there for a while. After that it works fine, but it is such a hassle to get it setup and it uses "AI" to detect the sound level of your pc to make it quieter (lol, that seems pretty false). It is a pretty dumb fan hub. Also the cable management bracket is really poorly designed, kills all opportunities for watercooling with the top part, and crushes all the cables being routed through it. This case could have been great, but it failed badly.

[FUR1AN]

4 hours ago, Somnax said:

Take a look at thermaltake core/view 31. 

 

I personally am hoping fractal makes a define S with tempered glass and a psu shroud sometime soon.

Yessss. I would love to do the Define S but I want the glass and a shrouded basement and an actual 3.5” Bay not mounts.

 

1 hour ago, Tech22 said:

They would be connected to a 'smart' hub. According to gamers nexus, the fans connected wont run until it is setup. You have to put the cpu and gpu at load and idle with VERY strict utilization %, which Cam 7-8% cpu utilization and you have to keep it under 10% for like 15 mins, then having to put it at load, but it has to be between 65-80%, again, pretty difficult to keep it there for a while. After that it works fine, but it is such a hassle to get it setup and it uses "AI" to detect the sound level of your pc to make it quieter (lol, that seems pretty false). It is a pretty dumb fan hub. Also the cable management bracket is really poorly designed, kills all opportunities for watercooling with the top part, and crushes all the cables being routed through it. This case could have been great, but it failed badly.

So the H700i case is amazing aside from the accent bar and the smart hub. Both of which can be removed, and honestly I’m considering doing just that. I was thinking of taking them both out and putting in a Corsair Commander Pro to route all fans/RGB through. Only problem is the Kraken and the included NZXT RGB strips probably have to be controlled through CAM.

[Streetguru]

6 hours ago, Somnax said:

Why build on x299 or x399 when z370 outperforms them in games. Don't need more expensive motherboards and more cores. I'd say an 8700k with a 1080 ti is a perfectly reasonable time to care about aesthetics. 

More of a joke really, but the money spent on aesthetics can usually go to other things, in his case a better monitor for example.

[FUR1AN]

2 hours ago, Streetguru said:

More of a joke really, but the money spent on aesthetics can usually go to other things, in his case a better monitor for example.

I plan to get an ROG Swift 27” 165hz, 1ms Gsync monitor. I think that will suffice for the use of my 1080Ti.

[Streetguru]

13 minutes ago, wpowell13 said:

I plan to get an ROG Swift 27” 165hz, 1ms Gsync monitor. I think that will suffice for the use of my 1080Ti.

You don't want a TN display if you can help it, as stated before it's only $399 for the Pixio 1440p 144hz IPS display, better overall panel for daily use IMO.

Or non korean IPS free-sync displays are pretty cheap as well, $470 for this one, vs $600 for a G-sync IPS version

Entirely up to you if you think it's worth it for the 1080ti and G-sync display
 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VvRbBP
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VvRbBP/by_merchant/

Monitor: AOC - AG271QG 27.0" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor  ($599.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Nixeus - NX-EDG27 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor  ($469.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1069.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-05 13:37 EST-0500

[Somnax]

2 hours ago, wpowell13 said:

I plan to get an ROG Swift 27” 165hz, 1ms Gsync monitor. I think that will suffice for the use of my 1080Ti.

Nice. I went with the IPS panel, but the backlight bleed and general ips glow is annoying. Most games I don't notice it, but in dark caves it sucks. Really hoping for a high performance Oled monitor one day. 

 

Honestly if you're not using your monitor for anything that requires color accuracy TN panels are perfectly fine. Not like you'll be looking at it off center anyway. And for me, if I want to watch something I'll just put it on my tv instead.

[Somnax]

2 hours ago, Streetguru said:

Or non korean IPS free-sync displays are pretty cheap as well, $470 for this one, vs $600 for a G-sync IPS version

If only Vega was fast enough to take full advantage of the framerate and resolution on the free sync displays. 1440p 144 is more difficult than 4k 60.

[Streetguru]

4 minutes ago, Somnax said:

TN panels are perfectly fine

ew

 

 

2 minutes ago, Somnax said:

If only Vega was fast enough to take full advantage of the framerate and resolution on the free sync displays. 1440p 144 is more difficult than 4k 60.

It's pretty damned fast man, just about the 1080's level after you flash it, you won't get Ultra 4k, but you'll get more like medium-high at pretty frame rates

 

1440p 144hz is really about the same GPU wise, you get more of a CPU issue for 144hz .

[Somnax]

2 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

1440p 144hz is really about the same GPU wise, you get more of a CPU issue for 144hz .

Just on a pixel per second basis, it is 6.7% more and if you go to 165hz it is 22.2% more.

 

And of course you need a good cpu as well, but with the 8700k he has that covered. He should get that boy delidded though.

[TVwazhere]

Id either, A Wait for NZXT to hopefully listen to us and seel that case without the smart hub,

 

Or B, look at the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG, which can easilly do push/pull front and a 1080ti strix (this example doesn't show it, but as you can see there's enough clearance)

[FUR1AN]

4 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

Id either, A Wait for NZXT to hopefully listen to us and seel that case without the smart hub,

 

Or B, look at the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG, which can easilly do push/pull front and a 1080ti strix (this example doesn't show it, but as you can see there's enough clearance)

Thanks for the input man, I think I am actually going to order the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv TG this week. Should be about the same in terms of capability.

[TVwazhere]

Just now, wpowell13 said:

Thanks for the input man, I think I am actually going to order the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv TG this week. Should be about the same in terms of capability.

The Evolv has terrible airflow. The front and top panels completely choke off any airflow and I personally do not recommend it. 

[FUR1AN]

2 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

The Evolv has terrible airflow. The front and top panels completely choke off any airflow and I personally do not recommend it. 

That is interesting, I’ve seen a number of reviews claiming that it is a great quality case. Do you have a support video/article showing that the thermals are that bad? Not calling you a liar, I’m just curious.

[TVwazhere]

20 minutes ago, wpowell13 said:

That is interesting, I’ve seen a number of reviews claiming that it is a great quality case. Do you have a support video/article showing that the thermals are that bad? Not calling you a liar, I’m just curious.

It's always good to back up claims, opinions or sadly in this case facts with sources!  

And here Dmitri talks a bit that he wa slooking for a better airflow case for his new build

[FUR1AN]

17 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

It's always good to back up claims, opinions or sadly in this case facts with sources!  

And here Dmitri talks a bit that he wa slooking for a better airflow case for his new build

Thanks, I’ll take a look!