Cases with good airflow suggestions
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Stacker 830 - Large, tons of open slots for fans, a style that can go either way (I tend to think it looks cheap). Can get very loud depending on the fans you place inside and how many.
Gigabyte 3D Aurora - Comes stock with 3x 120mm fans. Two in back, one in front. Depending on choice of model can have a ventilated side panel. Personally my favorite case. It comes with holes already for water cooling and a lot of nifty tool free placements.
Antec Nine Hundred - Twin 120mm fans up front, a 200mm on top, and rear 120mm exhaust with ventilated side panel. I personally really dislike the style, but that's up to you.
ExtremEngine 3T - My personal case, a 140mm front intake, a 250mm side panel fan, and either twin 80mm or single 120mm in back. Case includes a three fan controller. I've added a Arctic Cooling fan in back and keep all fans at low, result is fairly quiet with a lot of airflow still, I also fitted sound dampening in key areas and removed the plastic fan up front (the real 140mm is behind that) and fitted a filter on that and the 250mm. I do not know how it ships now but I had to contact Aerocool about a special mounting bracket for my hard drives, that was the only issue I have with it.
Gigabyte 3D Aurora - Comes stock with 3x 120mm fans. Two in back, one in front. Depending on choice of model can have a ventilated side panel. Personally my favorite case. It comes with holes already for water cooling and a lot of nifty tool free placements.
Antec Nine Hundred - Twin 120mm fans up front, a 200mm on top, and rear 120mm exhaust with ventilated side panel. I personally really dislike the style, but that's up to you.
ExtremEngine 3T - My personal case, a 140mm front intake, a 250mm side panel fan, and either twin 80mm or single 120mm in back. Case includes a three fan controller. I've added a Arctic Cooling fan in back and keep all fans at low, result is fairly quiet with a lot of airflow still, I also fitted sound dampening in key areas and removed the plastic fan up front (the real 140mm is behind that) and fitted a filter on that and the 250mm. I do not know how it ships now but I had to contact Aerocool about a special mounting bracket for my hard drives, that was the only issue I have with it.
I am still thinking of picking up one of these Ennermax Chakra cases, for under $100us it looks fantastic.
Take a look at the Antec P180. Isolates the heat of your PSU and HDs (with a dedicated 120mm fan) from the main motherboard area. Has 2 120mm in main area for venting. Has optional mount for additional 120mm fan in front.
I like the fact that the HDs and PSU are in a little dedicated wind tunnel.
Doesn't the P180 have a nick name along the lines of like the heat chamber? I know it can get pretty out inside one of those cases, I believe that was why Antec went fan crazy with the Nine Hundred and the upcoming P190 (the P190 looks awesome though).
I've not seen that... With a 120mm on the top and another 120mm where the PSU is traditionally placed, I'm not sure how any heat could stay in the case. In addition, with the PSU and HDs isolated in their own vented area, it's a real winner.
In fact, if you read reviews you'll find it gets high scores on being cool and silent...
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/Antec p180 review/index.htm
Two key quotes on the P180 from DriverHeaven's conclusion:
Regarding cooling:
============
The cooling capacity of the P180 is more than enough "out of the box". Running the fans on low resulted in case temps of 5°C-7°C above room temp and at medium speed it never exceeded 5°C over the ambient room temperature.
Regarding Quietness:
==============
Hands down it is without a doubt one of the quietest case ive used.
Regarding cooling:
============
The cooling capacity of the P180 is more than enough "out of the box". Running the fans on low resulted in case temps of 5°C-7°C above room temp and at medium speed it never exceeded 5°C over the ambient room temperature.
Regarding Quietness:
==============
Hands down it is without a doubt one of the quietest case ive used.
Thanks for the suggestions.
These cases with side fans look like they move substantially more air.
My current case has 3 80mm fans and the processor runs 10 degrees hotter with the case closed than it does with the case open. But given the amount of dust there was in the case when I stripped it down, it may just be that the front vent I can't get to is blocked.
These cases with side fans look like they move substantially more air.
My current case has 3 80mm fans and the processor runs 10 degrees hotter with the case closed than it does with the case open. But given the amount of dust there was in the case when I stripped it down, it may just be that the front vent I can't get to is blocked.
I've had a couple of Antec Sonatas for a number of years now with 2x120mm fans, one front (mid) mounted intake & one rear exhaust. The biggest difference to case temp was by-passing the 80mm PSU fan's thermal speed controller. This lead to annoying fan noise, so I replaced the thermistor for a lower value & mounted it on the heatsink behind the mosfets. Moral: heat rises. To evacuate more heat from the case, you need a vent at the top, which I find unappealing. Chambered cases attempt to keep each section isolated & thus ceate a wind tunnel. Some are more successful than others. Cases with large side panel fans may be pretty good, but care is required to ensure good exhausting. In one of these, turning the front intake fan into an exhaust fan improved airflow & reduced case temps.
{Sniping}Waste
Regular
If you can find one, a Super Flower SF-201S if you can find one.
http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/cases/apro_superflower/
http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/cases/apro_superflower/
What size are you looking for? I think that's a factor that could be fairly important for you.
I thought you may have mentioned before that noise was somewhat of a factor to you. If so, then greater airflow obviously means more noise.
Have you considered Watercooling? Nowadays they have some decent watercooling systems that are fully integrated into cases. You simply attach the coolers to CPU & GPU and you're off and running. Then airflow can be reduced and also noise.
I just read a fairly glowing review on such a case, ran a bit less than $300. Need to find the link though...
Otherwise I recommend the Antec P180 (TONS of glowing reviews). I think there is a new version (the P190?) coming out soon.
I thought you may have mentioned before that noise was somewhat of a factor to you. If so, then greater airflow obviously means more noise.
Have you considered Watercooling? Nowadays they have some decent watercooling systems that are fully integrated into cases. You simply attach the coolers to CPU & GPU and you're off and running. Then airflow can be reduced and also noise.
I just read a fairly glowing review on such a case, ran a bit less than $300. Need to find the link though...
Otherwise I recommend the Antec P180 (TONS of glowing reviews). I think there is a new version (the P190?) coming out soon.
I'm looking at mini towers, but it sits on the floor next to my desk so size isn't critical.
I'd rather keep the noise down but I'm getting old and going deaf so it doesn't have to be whisper quiet
Water cooling is an intriging option but I have no experience with it, but I am open to suggestions.
I'd rather keep the noise down but I'm getting old and going deaf so it doesn't have to be whisper quiet
Water cooling is an intriging option but I have no experience with it, but I am open to suggestions.
I'm looking at mini towers, but it sits on the floor next to my desk so size isn't critical.
I'd rather keep the noise down but I'm getting old and going deaf so it doesn't have to be whisper quiet
Water cooling is an intriging option but I have no experience with it, but I am open to suggestions.
The beauty of water cooling these days is that most kits are very straight forward. I myself have been looking into Zalman's setup which use a rather large external radiator and have no fans and I would assume a silent pump. Hmmm.
keeping that cooling tower near by is annoying as hell and its not the most efficient thing in the world, i had a rev 1 as well awhile back (without the pump problems). If you want something quiet just pickup a swiftech H20-80 kit, mounted internally you want see it and it does the same thing as the reserator.
mess about in here
http://www.frozencpu.com/
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I couldn't have said it better my self. They are affordable considering the quality of their products and they look great.
I recommend their v600, v1000, v1200. I love the perforated whole look.
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