which case is the best overall?

GuyClinch said:
I'd imagine almost any mountain mods case would cool better - providing you configured it right. OTOH not sure those cases ship with ANY fans at all.

Listen the FT02 is a great case from what I can tell. But you are trying to set the parameters of the argument so it automatically wins. It's called framing the debate - and I don't think its in the spirit of the OP request.

You are disqualifying every case that doesn't cool quite as well but ignoring cases that cool better just because they need additional parts - that's unfair. Who cares if you need to go out and buy fans. BFD. If you were a weathly man on a mission to buy the fastest sports car - and that turned out to be a Ferrari 599. Would you not buy it because you needed to also buy new tires? Hell no.

I do agree the FT02 is a mighty fine case. But for my money if some dude gave me $500 bucks and told me it HAD to be spent on a PC case I'd probably get a Lian LI X2000f. If they gave me a 1000 I'd look for a nice pre built water cooling unit....

Ultimately there are no 'best cases" only good and bad ones IMHO. It's too subjective to come to some definitive answer.
Click to expand...

The parameters were the best overall case that would quietly keep the OP's components cool and that case is one of the Raven RV02-E's or FT02's if you want the best while staying within a reasonable budget for the case. And even if you add additional fans to the other cases mentioned in this thread like the HAF X or one of the Lian LI's its still not going to cool better than the FT02 unless you add a lot of them and then your just going to run into diminishing returns due to the design of the cases as well as the increased noise which doesn't go with the OP's request for a quiet case.

I mean I can take the side panel off on my FT02 and sit a box fan next to it and it will out cool any number of fans you want to install but at the same time I'd have to put up with the additional noise and dust going into my case so it wouldn't be worth it unless I had a specific application for the need like running my GPU's around the clock with Bitcoin Mining.

So as far as aircooling goes your going to find it hard to beat the RV02-E and FT02 because its inverted positive pressure design with 3 180mm fans directly underneath the hot running components does a more efficient job than having a bunch of smaller fans further away where their airflow is typically interrupted by things like HDD cages. If your wanting to watercool though that's an entirely different debate and something else like the Corsair 800D or one of the full tower Lian Li's would be a better option.
 
Last edited:
So as far as aircooling goes your going to find it hard to beat the RV02-E and FT02 because its inverted positive pressure design with 3 180mm fans directly underneath the hot running components does a more efficient job than having a bunch of smaller fans further away where their airflow is typically interrupted by things like HDD cages. If your wanting to watercool though that's an entirely different debate and something else like the Corsair 800D or one of the full tower Lian Li's would be a better option.
Click to expand...

Yeah except some cases feature gigantic side fans - which put cooling right over your graphics card which is responsible for most of the heat. The FT02 case is nice - but it's not nearly as clear cut as you think.

Actually cooling wise side fans which are both ugly and inconvient (IMHO) DO cool EXCEPTIONALLY well. Why? Because you can put the fresh air right over the component. It's path is EVEN SHORTER the designs like the FT02 or the TYR series from Lian Li. Yes moving the HD cages away from the motherboard such that cool air can skip them is smart. But it doesn't make a case an unbeatable cooler. It depends on the components and fans you have installed..
 
GuyClinch said:
Yeah except some cases feature gigantic side fans - which put cooling right over your graphics card which is responsible for most of the heat. The FT02 case is nice - but it's not nearly as clear cut as you think.
Click to expand...

The HAF X has a 200mm side panel fan and with it it showed to beat the FT02 by 1C for GPU cooling in the review by Bit-tech. For CPU temps the FT02 was ahead by 6C. Again, you could take out the 200mm fan and install 4 high performance 120mm fans along with a 120mm fan in the GPU duct the HAF X has and end up with even better GPU temps but in doing so the case is going to be louder. I've actually considered the HAF X myself for the 6990's I've been running since the noise level wouldn't be as much of a factor for me and I need the GPU cooling but I really don't care for the look of the case and steel/plastic is definitely a downgrade from an aluminum Silverstone or Lian Li.
 
Last edited:
^^^Agree. That was kinda my point cooling isn't everything. I'd also add that quiet is very relative as well. If you have alot of high quality but fairly slow moving fans you case might be 45db - but it will be a very nice 45db - with a gentle woosh.

OTOH a very 'quiet' case with very low noise can be quite annoying because you might hear say the GPU fan spinning up or even worse the HD making the incredibly annoying seek noises. So I don't know that a HAFX is unreasonably loud just because of alot of fans. I would have to experiment and probably replace downvolt alot of the fans..

Most people who complain about loud cases have an overheating GPU or god forbid a stock CPU cooler buzzing like crazy. I personally don't think the case matters that much. It's the components that you have to worry about for noise. Covering up fans doesn't really help - because they can get starved for air (P180, R3 etc).. All that really matters is that your fans don't spin too fast and you don't get alot of vibrations. Of course Silverstone and Lian Li get this - and they guard against both problems.
 
Earlier this year I set out to purchase the last case I'll ever buy. I can say that I have been successful in that, as I see no reason to ever replace my Corsair 700D. The cable management, sturdy construction, and ample room for expansion offers everything I could ever need in a case.

If you do not need hot-swappable hard drive bays in the front of the case (who would, honestly?), avoid the 800D and just get the 700D. I believe it leaves more room inside for other usage when you don't necessarily need it loaded with hard drives (I'm using a large portion of my extra HD space for cable management and storage). Only other difference is the window'd panel, which Corsair sells individually for $25 bucks.

Only con: Do not expect to move this thing around much. I feel like i'm going to hurt myself every time I lift it, and I don't even have it fully loaded.
 
I've had my Cooler Master stacker 830 for years now and it's a rock solid beast. If I ever replace her I'll be going with Cooler Master no doubt!
 
toddfx said:
Only con: Do not expect to move this thing around much. I feel like i'm going to hurt myself every time I lift it, and I don't even have it fully loaded.
Click to expand...

That's one of the benefits of having an all aluminum case, like Lian Li. I can lift loaded full tower cases with one hand. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top