In Win 303? Corsair 460x? S340 Elite?

[MeDownYou]

I'm shopping for a new case, Currently I have the vanilla S340...(that has yet to have it's original side panel EVER placed on it...mainly because i think it's ugly AF even when i made my own glass one...still pass.)

 

So I'm looking at these three cases since I've narrowed it down ALOT

 

The IN Win 303 is the most peculiar one on this list as it has a top mounted PSU and some interesting fan placements. Still It feels refreshing that it would have room for an easy 360 rad on the top  with an exhaust fan and 3 intakes in the bottom, I don't mind the cable management on this case either, aside from front panel connectors (which I believe lower fans would hide or i'd get creative). This Case doesn't come with fans, but I've already ordered some Corsair fans regardless, which would just slot in here. (Also, I've definitely gotta change that logo to red hopefully software allows me to? if anyone knows lemme know!)

 

The Corsair 460x is the most expensive option here, and it doesn't have a complete basement, which allows for additional rad support. In fact this case would support a 240 and a 360mm rad for a loop if wanted. But with my non modular power supply I'd either have to replace it or show all my cables it would seem, adding even additional cost to this option. 

 

S340 Elite, basically the same case as i have with a TG panel, there are good things about the design, and bad. I work well with it, but there really is no where if i decided to do a loop in here either. A better option would be the h700I but that's 200 dollars, which is out of budget currently. 

 

So what do you guys think?

[Guest]

I love the CorsaIr Crystal series, so that gets my vote.

[Damascus]

460x 

[ApolloX75]

I've built in the 303, it's a good case with mediocre airflow. Squeezing 120mm fans in the bottom is doable with an ATX board but it's goddamn tight against the connectors and looks horrible. I have also squeezed a 240mm rad in the bottom for giggles and it worked but was terrible at the same time. Drive mounting is also a pain and requires flat cable connectors so if your PSU has SATA connectors with wires at 90 degrees you're SOL. That being said it's a solid case with a good overall aesthetic design and the top rad mount works quite well. Other than having the PSU interfere with a third of your rad if you use a triple.

 

That's my two cents for you.

[FlatBrokeRacing]

my personal opinion on the 460, but if its anything like the 570 (in which i cant see it being much different) I would stay away from it. I have the 570 and there are multiple things i dislike about it. Tempered glass on all sides is nice, but poor mounting solutions imho and the dust filters leave alot to be desired as well as the case is not truly sealed, front air flow is restricted, cable management is decent, corsair cheeped out and did not include the cover for the PSU cables. Overall i'm pleased with the case, but not happy. 

[MeDownYou]

1 minute ago, ApolloX75 said:

I've built in the 303, it's a good case with mediocre airflow. Squeezing 120mm fans in the bottom is doable with an ATX board but it's goddamn tight against the connectors and looks horrible. I have also squeezed a 240mm rad in the bottom for giggles and it worked but was terrible at the same time. Drive mounting is also a pain and requires flat cable connectors so if your PSU has SATA connectors with wires at 90 degrees you're SOL. That being said it's a solid case with a good overall aesthetic design and the top rad mount works quite well. Other than having the PSU interfere with a third of your rad if you use a triple.

 

That's my two cents for you.

Good to know, I use exclusively M.2 right now so the drives shouldn't be an issue

 

If i were to do a loop with a 360 and 240 on the bottom do you see any issue there? (I mean realistically my CPU and GPU only dump 200W anyway, so i think i'd be able to get away with a thicker 360?)

[ApolloX75]

Just now, MeDownYou said:

Good to know, I use exclusively M.2 right now so the drives shouldn't be an issue

 

If i were to do a loop with a 360 and 240 on the bottom do you see any issue there? (I mean realistically my CPU and GPU only dump 200W anyway, so i think i'd be able to get away with a thicker 360?)

I scrapped the 240 in the bottom and just did an exclusive 360 in the top. I got solid results with my 4790k (before it's premature death) with both setups but I honestly didn't see more than a 2 degree improvement when I added the second rad. Your mileage may vary, but like I said the airflow leaves something to be desired.

The way I have mine set up is pulling air in from the bottom and out through the top now which seems to work really well and keeps the dust to a minimum since there is a good filter on the bottom. Use really strong fans and you'll see good temps throughout.

[Guest]

S340, did you look at the Phanteks P400 TG?

[MeDownYou]

1 minute ago, ApolloX75 said:

I scrapped the 240 in the bottom and just did an exclusive 360 in the top. I got solid results with my 4790k (before it's premature death) with both setups but I honestly didn't see more than a 2 degree improvement when I added the second rad. Your mileage may vary, but like I said the airflow leaves something to be desired.

The way I have mine set up is pulling air in from the bottom and out through the top now which seems to work really well and keeps the dust to a minimum since there is a good filter on the bottom. Use really strong fans and you'll see good temps throughout.

I was thinking maybe 3 AF 120's on the bottom intaking and 1 AF120 exhausting to get everything going at first,

 

then when i add in the loop swap the AF120 from exhausting to intake, and do a triple rad of SP120's pushing through the rad into the PSU area

 

What did you have on your exclusive 360 loop 4790k and what gpu?

[ApolloX75]

2 minutes ago, MeDownYou said:

I was thinking maybe 3 AF 120's on the bottom intaking and 1 AF120 exhausting to get everything going at first,

 

then when i add in the loop swap the AF120 from exhausting to intake, and do a triple rad of SP120's pushing through the rad into the PSU area

 

What did you have on your exclusive 360 loop 4790k and what gpu?

I had my 970 on it for a while at first but then I exclusively cooled my 4790k when I switched to my 1080. I thought I had a picture or three but I can't find them. I'll take a shot or two of the setup and post them for you in a bit.

[porina]

As another owner of the 303, this is a case you buy for looks not airflow performance. I'm using 3 exhaust fans on top, Noctua D12 or 14 on CPU I think, with a Strix 1080Ti. If the GPU is working hard the hot air does noticeably increase the CPU temps.

[MeDownYou]

3 minutes ago, Konrad Kwasniewski said:

S340, did you look at the Phanteks P400 TG?

Yeah, I have a few problems with that case, being that there is no place for vga cables to come out of the shroud, and for the panel headers also, There really isn't a good way to hide them, some may not mind the VGA however. I dislike the drive mounting on the side and the distances associated there just don't work very well for my purposes. Plus the accent draws away pretty heavily, the top fan mounts and a rad doesn't seem like worth the hassle on the clearing tolerance there either.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, MeDownYou said:

Yeah, I have a few problems with that case, being that there is no place for vga cables to come out of the shroud, and for the panel headers also, There really isn't a good way to hide them, some may not mind the VGA however. I dislike the drive mounting on the side and the distances associated there just don't work very well for my purposes. Plus the accent draws away pretty heavily, the top fan mounts and a rad doesn't seem like worth the hassle on the clearing tolerance there either.

Ok. Cool. You do you.

[MeDownYou]

24 minutes ago, porina said:

As another owner of the 303, this is a case you buy for looks not airflow performance. I'm using 3 exhaust fans on top, Noctua D12 or 14 on CPU I think, with a Strix 1080Ti. If the GPU is working hard the hot air does noticeably increase the CPU temps.

Ahh, yeah Hopefully I can keep things cool until i get that loop installed it, that seems to be the real struggle for this case, wonder if modifying the feet on the bottom to be a little taller would change this?

 

Oh, one very minor thing, is the illuminated logo, is that changeable?

 

I see a few pictures of different colored ones like this 

 

[Mrchooow]

have never built in the inwin 303, but i have a x99 systeim in a 101 with full atx mobo and 2 x1070 that i use nzxt g10 brackets on.

So i have a total of 4x120 fans only.

The temp isnt the best but it isnt that bad either, jsut make sure the fans you buy are the cheapo ones from china. 

But i would perosnally gone for the Corsair case

[MeDownYou]

12 minutes ago, Mrchooow said:

have never built in the inwin 303, but i have a x99 systeim in a 101 with full atx mobo and 2 x1070 that i use nzxt g10 brackets on.

So i have a total of 4x120 fans only.

The temp isnt the best but it isnt that bad either, jsut make sure the fans you buy are the cheapo ones from china. 

But i would perosnally gone for the Corsair case

yeah, i just hate that power supply cover...and then i don't have a modular psu, either which sucks and i don't like RGB...I just want red, so the value of the case is reduced quite a bit for me

[r3loAded]

1. Corsair "GoodEnoughAirFlow" Crystal 460X

2. S340 "MediocreAirFlow" Elite

3. InWin "ShittyAirflow" 303

[r3loAded]

51 minutes ago, MeDownYou said:

yeah, i just hate that power supply cover...and then i don't have a modular psu, either which sucks

Best thing that could happen to modern cases today - a PSU cover. and even more for your non-modular PSU it's heaven at hiding all that mess

 

52 minutes ago, MeDownYou said:

and i don't like RGB...I just want red, so the value of the case is reduced quite a bit for me

There are 2 versions of Corsair 460X - the one with RGB fans and the one without (cheaper), so you can buy the one without and save some money to put towards the fans you like.

 

Either way just don't buy it if you feel that 460X is not the case for you. Go with the one that makes you "feel butterflies"

[MeDownYou]

Just now, r3loAded said:

Best thing that could happen to modern cases today - a PSU cover. and even more for your non-modular PSU it's heaven at hiding all that mess

 

There are 2 versions of Corsair 460X - the one with RGB fans and the one without (cheaper), so you can buy the one without and save some money to put towards the fans you like.

 

Either way just don't buy it if you feel that 460X is not the case for you. Go with the one that makes you "feel butterflies"

I hate THAT specific PSU cover, for clarification and context.

 

They are the same case, but one comes with a single ML140 fan, and the other comes with 3x RGB fans and a hub, The main problem i have with the 460x is just that since it doesn't have a front of a shroud and the front panel is glass you can see into the shroud, so you can see your non-modular PSU cables that are stowed in there as a giant mess...which sucks.

 

I'm definitely leaning towards the 303 currently, but i want to make sure i can change the color of that acrylic logo first before i pull the trigger on that. I've seen several pictures of it, with different colored ones, but there isn't much direct documentation and i found they said they were going to make "options" when it was released, and in promotional material there have been like 7 colors of acrylic, so i'm not sure if they are just included at this point or if i'm going to have to make and etch my own, both doable one is easier obviously though.

[r3loAded]

4 minutes ago, MeDownYou said:

so you can see your non-modular PSU cables that are stowed in there as a giant mess...which sucks

Do you see anything here? Sorry for pic quality

[MeDownYou]

2 minutes ago, r3loAded said:

Do you see anything here? Sorry for pic quality

 

 

on the first picture i see a bundle of something, on the second the sheen from the panel makes it a non issue at least from what i see in that picture. I could see in videos that i watched of reviews however, which concerns me a bit.

[porina]

2 hours ago, MeDownYou said:

Oh, one very minor thing, is the illuminated logo, is that changeable?

I haven't looked at it in depth, but there isn't a way to select a colour as shipped on mine (nivida edition green). For a non-stock colour you'd have to mod it.

[MeDownYou]

Just now, porina said:

I haven't looked at it in depth, but there isn't a way to select a colour as shipped on mine (nivida edition green). For a non-stock colour you'd have to mod it.

Damn i didn't see a red one available, Guess we're modding!

[porina]

2 minutes ago, MeDownYou said:

Damn i didn't see a red one available, Guess we're modding!

It looks like they made an RGB version called 303C

https://www.in-win.com/en/gaming-chassis/303c/

 

[MeDownYou]

20 minutes ago, porina said:

It looks like they made an RGB version called 303C

https://www.in-win.com/en/gaming-chassis/303c/

 

You are a live saver btw, I thought the C was only because of the USB type C port on it! definately will buy this version instead of the other one since they are the same price.