Cases

[samwil]

So I'm currently looking at 3 cases.
NZXT H500.
Fractal Meshify C
Corsair Carbide 275R

My budget is £80 and this is my last decision before making my purchase before the end of august.

Now recommendations so far have been for both the fractal focus and meshify cases, due to airflow. Are there any serious or moderate benefits to airflow with these cases comparative to other popular cases out there? Some videos or content links would be appreciated to educate me. Am I going to notice any difference in either a. Performance or b. My builds life expectancy by choosing a case with a different approach or more accurately, less open airflow design than with one of the other cases listed?
My favourite is the 275R, but I've been steered away from it due to airflow concerns.

Or, are there any alternatives out there you can recommend? My previous case was the Zalman Z11 plus which was both well designed for airflow with side mounted intakes and also looked appealing.

If you have any history with these cases or any other cases please get in touch. Would love to hear your thoughts.

The case I pick will remain with me for potentially 10 years.

 

[Oussebon]

It depends a little what you want from the case, and the rest of the system.

For instance if your mobo supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 at the front, you might want case that offers that.

Or maybe quiet is your number 1 priority.

Also, setting a specific budget for the case is probably not helpful.

Perhaps there are economies to be made elsewhere that take little away from those elements, but let you have a case that ticks all your boxes, whatever those boxes are.

 

[Oussebon]

As for the Meshify C:

Fractal Meshify C Review: Thermals & Noise vs. Define C | GamersNexus

stub We’ve received a lot of requests from readers to review the Fractal Meshify C, and rightfully so. The case combines three things we’ve liked a lot recently: mesh front panels, tempered glass, and the Fractal Define C. We’ve been advocating cases with this style of cooling for a while now...

www.gamersnexus.net

And then a review of its more recent, larger counterpart, which is useful as it references the Meshify C as a baseline a lot:

Fractal S2 Meshify Case Review - Improving Airflow in a Mid-Tower | GamersNexus

stub This is a review of a revision of the Define S2, a case which we already dismissed as nearly identical to the Define R6 (a case we liked and found of high build quality), making this the third review we’ve published of the same(-ish) enclosure. That description may not sound promising, but...

www.gamersnexus.net

These are written articles but you can also see as video (videos embedded on the article pages)

 

[phitol]

I often find I'll compromise a little on thermals if I get the 'look' I'm after.
I like most of those cases and don't think you can go amazingly wrong, as pointed out newer USB (motherboard dependant) might be useful!

On top of the Meshify C, The GN review of the Carbide 275R:

The H500 (well it's part of hte H510 review)

NZXT H510 Elite Case Review: Making Things Worse | GamersNexus

stub The NZXT H510 Elite is NZXT’s premium spin on the H500 -- no, not the Cooler Master H500, not the H500P, not the H500M, and definitely not the 500D or A500, but the NZXT H500. NZXT’s H500 is a case that wasn’t top-of-the-line in thermal performance but that we liked anyway for its good...

www.gamersnexus.net

The Carbide 275R review IMO shows it's OK, obviously any closed front with minimal front vents may slightly increase temps, but in this case it seems good enough to not overly worry about.

I went crazy on my last build with the Phanteks Evolv-X purely as I love the look and engineering of it, however it's 'OK' for thermals but not the best and that's still way more than I need!

The issue I find with case reviews is they tend to amplify things, especially a bit of thermal performance difference, or build quality, or overall aesthetics, it's very easy to get confused because any case you mention will have a bit of criticism levelled at it, I particularly find thermals tricky because they don't put it in to context, I mean does 5C more really matter if the CPU was still under 70 degrees?

 

[samwil]

I often find I'll compromise a little on thermals if I get the 'look' I'm after.
I like most of those cases and don't think you can go amazingly wrong, as pointed out newer USB (motherboard dependant) might be useful!

On top of the Meshify C, The GN review of the Carbide 275R:

The H500 (well it's part of hte H510 review)

NZXT H510 Elite Case Review: Making Things Worse | GamersNexus

stub The NZXT H510 Elite is NZXT’s premium spin on the H500 -- no, not the Cooler Master H500, not the H500P, not the H500M, and definitely not the 500D or A500, but the NZXT H500. NZXT’s H500 is a case that wasn’t top-of-the-line in thermal performance but that we liked anyway for its good...

www.gamersnexus.net

The Carbide 275R review IMO shows it's OK, obviously any closed front with minimal front vents may slightly increase temps, but in this case it seems good enough to not overly worry about.

I went crazy on my last build with the Phanteks Evolv-X purely as I love the look and engineering of it, however it's 'OK' for thermals but not the best and that's still way more than I need!

The issue I find with case reviews is they tend to amplify things, especially a bit of thermal performance difference, or build quality, or overall aesthetics, it's very easy to get confused because any case you mention will have a bit of criticism levelled at it, I particularly find thermals tricky because they don't put it in to context, I mean does 5C more really matter if the CPU was still under 70 degrees?

This was basically what I was trying to get at. Isn't there a point where temperature "no longer matters" as such. Once its below the threshold of what is widely understood to be acceptable, is there going to be any if much difference in longevity and performance of any build? Some cases are flat out awful and you can usually spot those yourself, however it seems that when the fractal define I think it was, was reviewed as "warm" by gamersnexus, fractal released the meshify, but even the host of the show seemed a little off-balance I guess you could say, when reviewing the Meshify he hinted with his tone about the whole sort of point of the Meshify.

 

[Oussebon]

I mean does 5C more really matter if the CPU was still under 70 degrees?

Agreed.

It does make a bit more a difference for GPUs though, as a few degrees can make a difference to performance and/or fan speeds needed to reach that.

I'd always recommend a case with decent airflow. Why spend £XXX on a PC with an expensive CPU and GPU and all the bits that go along with it, only to undermine performance with sub-optimal airflow.

If we spend £20 extra to get faster RAM, we may as well spend £20 more on a case that could keep the GPU's boost clocks that bit higher, while meeting the aesthetic style we're looking for.

 

[phitol]

Absolutely , I most certainly would agree on the 'decent' side, you would not want to get a case that will lead to thermal throttling or excessive noise (for no reason) of the CPU or GPU.
What I would say is the CPU and GPU thermal limits are fairly high, I think there are quite a number of 'decent' enough cases that might end up with one that's middle of the 'decent' pile just because you like the build quality/aesthetics over another case.

Indeed, when I wanted the Evolv-X, it really isn't the best case for cooling (especially considering the price), but it is 'decent' enough:

And for me it was really all about my idea of aesthetics coupled with decent build quality and reasonably well thought out interior, however I've had quite a few people slamming the choice based on that fact the H500M Mesh is significantly better at cooling, however I am not a fan of how it looks!

 

[Oussebon]

It's not about thermal limits though; Pascal GPUs at least would start dialing down the boost clocks long before you got to the ~84 degrees target. Keeping card temps low will encourage it to keep boosting and boosting itself as far as power/voltage limits allow.

Seems to be similar with Turing.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition Review: Faster, More Expensive Than GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition is in a difficult position. It has to compete against GeForce GTX 1080 Ti at a higher price point, and with a number of features not yet available to enjoy. Can it shine as bright as the flagship RTX 2080 Ti?

www.tomshardware.com

Of course, the case is only a part of that - you'll end up setting custom fan curves if you're really that bothered - but a few degrees does help, even where 'throttling' as we usually think of it isn't an issue.

Or another way to talk about throttling and Nvidia GPUs' boost is that pretty well all of the cards throttle all the time, and maximising airflow helps keep that to a minimum.

 

[phitol]

Don't worry, we are on the same page, although my experience with my Titan Xp has been that no matter what (even with the case open) it starts throttling slightly under heavy load, I'm not aware of any case that can keep it from reasonably throttling (https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/nvidia_star_wars_titan_xp_collector_edition_review,8.html)

Even with games that aren't so bad, the noise of the cooler was quite significant, so I ditched that and initally used an NZXT Kraken X62 and a G15 Bracket to CLC it which was amazing, never went about 55-58 degrees under any load. Ultimately I now have a full EKWB water block on it, and have never seen more than about 50 degrees even in summer, usually in the low 40's.

I'm probably the wrong person to discuss cooling with, not that I'm any expert, but I'd happily spend £120 to put a CLC on my GPU just to get much better thermals and noise and maximise performance while still getting a case that I like the look of but doesn't have to be best in class air flow wise. I won't mention the cost of water cooling, even buying secondhand as I've done for quite a chunk of it, you are talking the best part of £500.

 

[Oussebon]

Titan Xp is blower cooler only right? This will only emphasise the crazy temp gains from modding the cooling (and good on you for doing so tbh).

Also I guess case airflow may be a little less relevant with a GPU that exhausts directly out of the back rather than directly into the case as open coolers will.