Enthoo Pro M or Define R6?

[Donutwithacape]

Hi there, I'm looking into building my first PC and I'm pretty undecided when it comes to cases. I'm considering the R6 and Pro M because they are two of the few recent cases that have 5.25" bays, and I need at least one for an optical drive.

 

Airflow is going to be super important to me; I'm getting an NH-D15s (in dual-fan config) as the cooler for my 8700K, which runs rather hot, but I don't want to get into liquid cooling cos I'm a super noob at building (and I've read many places that the larger air coolers are just as good as entry-level AIOs for a lesser price). As far as I've researched, I need positive air flow, so with the R6 I think I'd get 3 120mm front intake fans (if the case allows for that many without sacrificing the 5.25" bay) and just the one exhaust in the back, and for the Pro M I'd probably get two 140mm intake fans with the one rear exhaust.

 

The wee wrench in the mix (that may not even be a wrench at all to many people here) is that there is a cat in my house that likes to sit on top of PCs. I'm going to do my best to keep him off of mine, but I'm only around so many hours in the day. This is why I'm now favoring the R6 because of the ability to completely close the top (I will have no fans at all mounted to the top), but then I have to consider him turning the PC on/off due to the power button being at the top of the case. The Pro M has the opposite problem where it has the front power button but no ability to close the top, so the cat's hair will probably get into the case easier.

 

For reference, my build will be the following:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BJDNf8 (the only difference will be the case and the case fans)

 

So far I think I prefer the R6 at this juncture. Do you guys have any ideas or input for me?

[TVwazhere]

50 minutes ago, Donutwithacape said:

Hi there, I'm looking into building my first PC and I'm pretty undecided when it comes to cases. I'm considering the R6 and Pro M because they are two of the few recent cases that have 5.25" bays, and I need at least one for an optical drive.

While the airflow in the Pro M is objectively better, it's not horrible in the R6. The case was made for silence not airflow, but it still does a decent job, especially compared to a lot of other silence cases, and considering you're going to have a cat move in on top, I'd get the R6. 

[MatsNorway]

The power button on the fractal cases needs to be pushed quite deep to activate. And it is not that light. You have to do more than grace it to activate it.

 

R6 supports 3x120 with 5.25 bay. But if you check it out. There is only a little gain in 3x120 vs 2x140 according to Noctuas data. Been checking it out myself. It depends on the type of fan.

 

I am probably going R6 myself. Currently have a Define C. A good case but it lacks 5.25 bay and enough space for drives. (16Tb in a Define C is pretty good tho )