Case with best (air) cooling?

Shocked

Limp Gawd
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Nov 1, 2009
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I'm highly debating going back to air (or a closed loop system) for the current build I've been planning. I've been trying to figure out what cases these days provide the best cooling, but a lot of reviews I've been looking at don't test thermal performance, and some that do only include a handful of cases so it's hard to get a good picture.

I have a budget anywhere from $100 - $350, I definitely wouldn't mind keeping it under $200 but if I found something with great cooling, is nice to work with, and looks decent, I'd happily pay more. And I don't mind forking out to add/replace case fans.

So far I've looked at everything from the Corsair 900D / 780T, Corsair Air 540, Enthoo Luxe, EVGA DG-87 (no optical drive bay would be a bit of a problem for me but it's tempting otherwise), Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5, be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 900. Aesthetically I probably like the last three best, but I like all of them enough that that's not going to be a deciding factor.

Any suggestions? I was intrigued by the Corsair Air 740 after reading the [H] review, actually, but again the lack of a drive bay would be frustrating (I could easily buy a cheap external DVD drive, but I'd still be giving up my Blu-ray burner).

Also, noise isn't an absolutely huge concern for me, it can't sound like a tornado but I've had plenty of cases without acoustic dampening that were just fine. It'll be cooling a 6700K and GTX 1080 FTW. CPU temps are going to be more important for me because I don't really OC my GPUs anymore.
 
The Define S is your go to case : you can get 3 x front intake fans behind a dust filter, bottom fan as well after a dust filter, although you might want to compliment that one with a fan grill, keep the Moduvents panels in place and one rear exhaust fan or remove the fan on the exhaust and let the cpu cooler do the job of expelling the warm air.
 
CM Haf-X. I know some ppl don't like the looks but it does make a small difference with temps. My MB has the worst VRM passive cooler yet it hardly throttles thanks the sheer size and amount of fans and ventilation. On the other hand, its a dust magnet and I clean it once a week.
 
Excluding the aesthetics which is not a good taste for everyone I can always recommend the Corsair C70, I haven't found yet a mid-size case (this is certainly bigger by mid-size standards) with this kind of great cooling capacity specially for GPU, and that's the main reason why i'm still using it even if I have tested lot of other huge models.. mine have few cooling modifications as dual 140mm front fans instead of dual 120mm and right side panel grille with a slim 120mm fan for cooling the rear of the motherboard which also make it to have better overall cooling..
 
I have a Coolermaster Master Case Pro 5. Its pretty good on air flow, I have all Noctua 140mm fans in it. As for dust, I clean it out once a week, it doesn't get hardly any in it between cleanings. I also have a cat.
 
The Define S appears to have the same problem as the EVGA and Air 740 in having no optical bay drives. I can work around that if I really need to, but all things equal I'd rather have the bays.

I actually used to have a HAF X many years ago. Did its job pretty well, but I got tired of the epic dust wars. I'd almost certainly go back to it if I could figure out how to add dust filters to all its fans (that are easily removable/cleanable). One thing I've noticed these days is that very few cases have side fans anymore, but I did generally like having them.

Never heard of the Corsair C70, I'll have a look at it.

I do like the way the MasterCase Pro 5 looks, but I think there were some unflattering comments in the Anand review. I'll have to look at some others.

Thanks for the responses guys.
 
Take a look at the Silverstone FT02 and FT05 cases.
I was reading somewhere that blower-style GPU coolers are better for those rotated motherboard cases, is that true? My GTX 1080 FTW has twin fans. Probably not a huge deal.
 
+1 on the HAF-X, with a few mods it cools even better. I put an additional fan in the top front and revered the airflow so it intakes from the rear and outputs through the front.

20141116_144241.jpg
 
I was reading somewhere that blower-style GPU coolers are better for those rotated motherboard cases, is that true? My GTX 1080 FTW has twin fans. Probably not a huge deal.

I don't have any data, but the blower coolers are better off in those cases like Fortress and Raven with rotated motherboards, but I don't think that means custom coolers are worse off. I have a Raven and have to say it is one of the best cases I have owned, quiet, cool, and very clean after years of use. The only problem is they are big...
 
I was reading somewhere that blower-style GPU coolers are better for those rotated motherboard cases, is that true? My GTX 1080 FTW has twin fans. Probably not a huge deal.

There is a real advantage with blower style GPU cooling on rotated motherboards but the primary virtue of the design is that the top card doesn't get hotter than the others because heat rises from a horizontal card upwards.

On my Silverstone Raven RV02 there are 3x180mm fans across the entire bottom of the case blowing air straight up. Since the cards are laid out vertically they all cool equally.
 
I was reading somewhere that blower-style GPU coolers are better for those rotated motherboard cases, is that true?

IME blower coolers work better because the heat is flowing the same way - upwards - but custom coolers work just fine.
 
Best aircooling... the Silverstone cases with rotated vertical motherboard trays, hands down. The airflow is in the direction heat naturally rises. They have massive 180mm intake fans with really high CFM and high rated static pressure that force the air through the case and out the top.

They are not necessarily the best cases overall, as they do have their own occasional quirks. They are also not well known for ease of installing custom watercooling. I love my FT05, but it was a real pain in the ass to manage the wiring. The older FT02 is much larger, but at the same time much better for wire management.
 
Yes, the FT05 really fails when it comes to cable management. I solved my problems with adhesive clamps below the motherboard to tidy the GPU and motherboard power cables.
 
The cheapest FT02 I see (appears they're hard to find these days) is $250 on Amazon + 6% sales tax. Compared to the FT05 for $160 at Newegg (no tax, plus a $15 MIR). Worth paying the extra $100?
 
IMG_0588.JPG IMG_0591.JPG Best case I have had in 30+ years of doing this hobby= Carbide Series® Air 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case

Great cable management, put a 6 switch fan controller where the DVD/Blu-ray would go.(Don't need a drive personally) Have 3 SSD's in the back where cables are and 1 Standard HDD in the quick connect port in the main chamber. Also had plenty of room for 240mm rad/water cooling. Seriously love this case!
 
Yeah, I've been very tempted by that case too.

What are some good 140mm case fans to go with these things? I'm aware of some pretty good 120mm's, but never used all that many 140's. Noctuas?
 
I was reading somewhere that blower-style GPU coolers are better for those rotated motherboard cases, is that true? My GTX 1080 FTW has twin fans. Probably not a huge deal.

I stuck a 1070 FTW in my FT02 and have zero problems. The big fans on the bottom move air up out of the top incredibly well. I'm about to retire the FT02 for a Caselabs case in the next few months but it's been excellent for years now through three builds.
 
It's hard to beat a big HAF case for air cooling, but they are vacuum cleaners.

Built a buddies computer in a big one a dew years ago, but I'm sure have been other ones come out.

I still use a small HAF for a HTPC, have been using a pretty modded old ATEC 1200 for the main for a long time.

The only thing still stock is the big fan on top, most the other fans have Noctuas or Artic Cools, it's pretty quiet for the amount of fans in here. It sits on the big desk about two feet from my ear atm and makes very litte noise.
 
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