Help with ATX Case Selection

[T-Paste]

I am looking at replacing my current case, Corsair Carbide Series AR540 (https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Carbide-Series™-Air-540-High-Airflow-ATX-Cube-Case/p/CC-9011030-WW) which I do love for the most part. The problem I have with it is that the 5.25 inch external bays are vertical and not horizontal. I have an LG BH16NS40 bluray burner (http://www.lg.com/us/burners-drives/lg-BH16NS40-internal-blu-ray-dvd-drive) that DVDs and CDs burn just fine with no issue, but burning Bluray discs fail frequently but not constantly. All 3 types of dics play just fine however. I have had to use my external USB Memorex Bluray burner for this reason.

 

Before I purchased this case, I always thought it looked ridiculous with how wide it was, but now, I can't imagine changing, especially when my GTX 1070 and using the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO heatsink on the CPU. Anyway, is there any suggestions of a case similar to mine, preferably as an upgrade to it, with horizontal 5.25 inch bays? It only needs to have 1 bay if that improves choices. 

[TVwazhere]

1 hour ago, T-Paste said:

I am looking at replacing my current case, Corsair Carbide Series AR540 (https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Carbide-Series™-Air-540-High-Airflow-ATX-Cube-Case/p/CC-9011030-WW) which I do love for the most part. The problem I have with it is that the 5.25 inch external bays are vertical and not horizontal. I have an LG BH16NS40 bluray burner (http://www.lg.com/us/burners-drives/lg-BH16NS40-internal-blu-ray-dvd-drive) that DVDs and CDs burn just fine with no issue, but burning Bluray discs fail frequently but not constantly. All 3 types of dics play just fine however. I have had to use my external USB Memorex Bluray burner for this reason.

 

Before I purchased this case, I always thought it looked ridiculous with how wide it was, but now, I can't imagine changing, especially when my GTX 1070 and using the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO heatsink on the CPU. Anyway, is there any suggestions of a case similar to mine, preferably as an upgrade to it, with horizontal 5.25 inch bays? It only needs to have 1 bay if that improves choices. 

Thermaltake Core X5 was the only one I could find. It's a fair bit bigger though than your current case. Most cube cases either have vertically oriented 5.25" bays or no 5.25" bays at all.

[T-Paste]

I was eyeing that case as well. Been trying to look at the description to see what actually comes in the box. I find it interesting that instead of separating side-by-side like my case, this one splits it up top-and-bottom. Wonder what the difference between the X5 and the X9 are as it appears on Amazon the X9 is slightly cheaper but the cases look similar. I wonder if either of those cases will have enough space to fit the default fans from the Corsair AR540 in the same function. I really love the positive pressure on my case as it limits the dust that enters the system.

 

I have to say I love the look of the liquid cooling mods in some of those sample images they provide, along with the RGB lighting, only thing is, that in my book, it means you have to keep up with upgrades, and I tend to upgrade every few years or so. If anyone else has any other suggestions, I would love it.

[T-Paste]

Oh, and one other thought, if someone reads this and really does not think that the bad bluray burns has anything to do with the vertical alignment of my bluray drive, let me know what you think the real issue is. If it helps, I have been using PlexDisc Liquid Defense Plus Glossy printable BDR DL 10 pack discs (https://www.amazon.com/PlexDisc-Resistant-Printable-Blu-ray-Spindle/dp/B016LTAX7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529694906&sr=8-1&keywords=plexdisc+bd-r+dl+glossy). The case burner doesn't fail every time, maybe 30-50% while my external USB has had 100% success if I remember correctly.

[TVwazhere]

1 hour ago, T-Paste said:

I was eyeing that case as well. Been trying to look at the description to see what actually comes in the box. I find it interesting that instead of separating side-by-side like my case, this one splits it up top-and-bottom. Wonder what the difference between the X5 and the X9 are as it appears on Amazon the X9 is slightly cheaper but the cases look similar. I wonder if either of those cases will have enough space to fit the default fans from the Corsair AR540 in the same function. I really love the positive pressure on my case as it limits the dust that enters the system

The X9 is larger for more watercooling support, thats about it. In fact the entire Core series is more geared toward watercooling support than anything. The Core x5 can fit a metric butt ton of fans, it makes the fan capacity of the air 540 look restrictive.

 

Fan Configurations: (Optional)

Front: 
3 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm or 1 x 200mm
Top: 
6 x 120mm or 4 x 140mm or 2 x 200mm
Rear: 
1 x 120mm or 1 x 140mm
Bottom: 
6 x 120mm
Left / Right Side: 
3 x 120mm 

 

[T-Paste]

Thanks for that added information. I saw there were about only 5 available on Amazon, so I went ahead and picked it up. Hopefully my current setup will work with it, but dont see a problem though. I do like how the ports and power are on the side instead of the front with my current desk setup, not sure how I'd feel about it with a standard setup though. Anyway, thank you for your help. I am assuming that the module design wont hinder my purposes out of the box, I'm really hoping I dont need some modular kit to get it to how I want. Maybe in the future, I will look into liquid cooling, but seems it's on par with air cooling at the moment, of course, depending on specific hardware choices.

[T-Paste]

The new case wont arrive until the 29th, so, if someone has other ideas to add more choice, please let me know, as I can cancel the order if needed.