Spec me a case, bitches.

[Dog Pants]

Not just a case actually, a cooler too. PC Gamer have reviewed closed loop water coolers this month and I've had my eye on them for a while. My case is old and a bit ugly, so I figured I'd do them both since I'd have to strip my PC down for both.

I don't need hardcore cooling, I don't overclock, but I do have my motives. First up, my PC is in the living room so I'd like a nice, quiet one. This one can get pretty loud when it's hot (like today). The other reason is that I don't want it sucking up as much dust. I have a child and a bird and a small room, so it isn't easy to get at to clean. Again, it gets hot and noisy. So that's the cooling.

The case I'm not as fussy on, but obviously not fugly. I don't really go for windows and lights, although I do like the extrovert colours of the Bitfenix. It needs to be big enough to fit a mofo of a GPU (267mm long GeForce GTX 570) and whatever water cooling solution I decide on (240mm for a double fan setup). I don't mind a massive case, but gone are my days of being impressed by size.

Money isn't an issue particularly, I just got my bonus and it will only get squandered on bills if I don't spend it. Within reason, I'm not a millionaire. I'm going to have a good shop around, but I'd be interested to hear what you bummers think. Go go retail therapy!

EDIT: I have an ATX mobo.

[Thompy]

I don't need hardcore cooling, I don't overclock, but I do have my motives. First up, my PC is in the living room so I'd like a nice, quiet one. This one can get pretty loud when it's hot (like today). The other reason is that I don't want it sucking up as much dust. I have a child and a bird and a small room, so it isn't easy to get at to clean. Again, it gets hot and noisy. So that's the cooling.

I presume you're looking at the Corsair Hydro range and the like? Well just be a bit careful with your motives - water cooling isn't necessarily any quieter. In your case you'll probably only be cutting out one fan and you're better off with two quiet ones rather than one noisy one. With the low power draw of Intel CPUs of recent years (I don't know what you have of course) the CPU fan is generally the quietest. I don't want to put you off of course, I just think water cooling, even the all in one jobbers, is aimed at performance, not quietness. Anyway, a 3rd party fan might be in order but that's cheapness overall. I wouldn't worry about dust too much these days. Both of my last two cases (below) have had excellent filters that pretty much cuts it all out, and I've lived in awfully dusty houses.

I recommend checking out Fractal Design. I had a Define R3 and currently have an Arc Midi (mATX), they both ooze quality and thoughtful design. I can't recommend a specific model for ATX at this time but do check their range out. Overclock3d.net's YouTube channel has a lot of fantastic but lengthy video reviews of a lot of cases.

Alternative: if you really want to cut down on noise, have a big case, a low power CPU and a bit of cash to burn then ahem. Although if you have a lot of hot components and poor airflow then you may need more case fans, negating the point of the thing.

Too much editing: oh! the Arc Midi is compatible with ATX. I'd forgot because I have a mATX MB. Then yes, I can recommend that!

[deject]

I am a fan of BitFenix, Fractal Design, NZXT, and Corsair cases. Check out:

From Fractal, the Design Define R4 and Arc Midi R2 cases:
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... 2&prod=100
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... 2&prod=113

From Corsair, I'd check out the Carbide 300R:
http://www.corsair.com/us/pc-cases/carb ... -case.html

From BitFenix, the Ghost and Ronin:
http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/produ ... sis/ghost/
http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/produ ... sis/ronin/

From NZXT, the H630:
http://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/120-H630.html

For closed loop watercoolers, I would avoid most of the 120mm/140mm radiator ones, as you're not going to get enough performance to justify the cost over great air cooler designs like the Hyper 212 Evo or Noctua NH-U14S. The 3 best 240mm/280mm radiators are:

Corsair H110
NZXT Kraken X60
Swiftech H220

Of course, you'll want to make sure the one you pick will in fact fit in your case.

[Dog Pants]

Nice posts, cheers guys.

Corsair are always a good bet, I like their stuff, and the Carbide is a stalwart of gamers. I'd rather have something a bit more unusual though, and I don't really go for the mesh front designs. I like the Bitfenix Ghost, understated and quiet, and able to fit a 2x120mm fan if I can find a decent water cooler for that configuration (which none of the suggested ones are). The Fractal Define R4 is a lovely thing, easily the winner on aesthetics, but it looks to be a bit sparse on the fan fittings.

So I have a couple of options at the moment. Go with the Ghost and a 240mm liquid cooler, or with the R4 and a decent (quiet) air cooler. The first is going to be the quietest, the second the prettiest. A few other things to consider, then. Firstly, I have a Socket 775 CPU. Yeah, it's old, but it does the trick and I'm not planning on making the whole CPU/mobo/RAM upgrade yet. Secondly, I pile crap on top of my case, so a top mounted fan is going to get angry. A front mounted 240 would fit on the Ghost, but I'm assuming that would be blowing the hot air out of the front, which presumably means it's sucking it in at the back. I don't know if that's better or worse for dust, but I suppose it has more dispersion blowing forwards.

Hmm.

[deject]

Nice posts, cheers guys.

Corsair are always a good bet, I like their stuff, and the Carbide is a stalwart of gamers. I'd rather have something a bit more unusual though, and I don't really go for the mesh front designs. I like the Bitfenix Ghost, understated and quiet, and able to fit a 2x120mm fan if I can find a decent water cooler for that configuration (which none of the suggested ones are). The Fractal Define R4 is a lovely thing, easily the winner on aesthetics, but it looks to be a bit sparse on the fan fittings.

The Swiftech H220 is a 2x120mm model, and there's also the Cooler Master Seidon 240M and the Corsair Corsair H100i.

So I have a couple of options at the moment. Go with the Ghost and a 240mm liquid cooler, or with the R4 and a decent (quiet) air cooler. The first is going to be the quietest, the second the prettiest. A few other things to consider, then. Firstly, I have a Socket 775 CPU. Yeah, it's old, but it does the trick and I'm not planning on making the whole CPU/mobo/RAM upgrade yet. Secondly, I pile crap on top of my case, so a top mounted fan is going to get angry. A front mounted 240 would fit on the Ghost, but I'm assuming that would be blowing the hot air out of the front, which presumably means it's sucking it in at the back. I don't know if that's better or worse for dust, but I suppose it has more dispersion blowing forwards.

Hmm.

There are very, very few cases that have space for a double wide radiator anywhere but the top of the case. I'd suggest possibly sticking with air cooling, as they can be better at cooling and quieter than any of the closed loop options in the same price range. The Noctua NH-U14S is much cheaper than the 240mm/280mm closed loop coolers and is only 4-6°C warmer which is not much at all, considering you're not going to be anywhere near the top of the thermal headroom of any CPU.

[Dog Pants]

I did a little change around. I went for the Fractal R4, because it's so pretty, but I've canned the cooling option for now. Anery quite rightly pointed out that it's somewhat pointless going to all that expense to cool a 7-year-old Core 2 Duo E8500, so I bought an Asus P8Z77-V LX2 mobo and an i5-3570K CPU instead. Fortunately I bought cutting edge RAM back then, so my DDR3 1066 will still do the job.

[deject]

I did a little change around. I went for the Fractal R4, because it's so pretty, but I've canned the cooling option for now. Anery quite rightly pointed out that it's somewhat pointless going to all that expense to cool a 7-year-old Core 2 Duo E8500, so I bought an Asus P8Z77-V LX2 mobo and an i5-3570K CPU instead. Fortunately I bought cutting edge RAM back then, so my DDR3 1066 will still do the job.

For what it's worth, I have a Core i5-3470 and a Hyper 212 Evo and my idle temps are ~35°C and my load temps are ~50°C. Ivy Bridge can handle up to like 90°C without breaking a sweat.

I think Fractal's cases are among the best looking cases out there by far. Never gaudy or ostentatious, just slick and beautiful.