Help Buying Mid-Tower Case For My Ryzen

Skillz

Disciple
Advice Please..

My build -
Ryzen 2600x
B450 Gaming Carbon Pro AC
2x 1Tb WD
WD SSD
8Gb DDR4
Seasonic S12II 520W (1 year old)

As the title suggest.. i need help regarding buying a good mid tower case with good air flow, plenty of fan options and future upgrades. I have bought all the items needed to assemble it... but cant really decide on the case. The case i am looking for should have good clearance for cooler like Noctua or Radiator support for future upgrade which i am planing to do next year before summer.

Budget - 7-8k Max
 
The best option in this price range would be NZXT H500i. It was in in stock last weekend when I checked since I was mulling over replacing my 8 year old CM 690 as well.

https://mdcomputers.in/nzxt-h500i-matte-black-ca-h500w-b1.html


I have a Noctua NH-U12S which is 158 mm tall over my Ryzen 1700 and it would fit as this case has 165 mm of clearance.

If you are using the huge Noctua NH-U14S then I think you might not be able to fit in this case.
Take a look at the specs for GPU length clearance as well.
https://www.nzxt.com/products/h500i-matte-white


I was also looking at this case which is one of the smallest full size ATX cases in the market without all the bells and whistles. If you check reviews in youtube you will only find one Indian joker reviewing it but its a very small and light all aluminium case which would fit my CPU cooler as well as my GTX 1060.

https://mdcomputers.in/jonsbo-mid-tower-u4-black.html


The NZXT is 7 Kg vs the U4's 5 Kg. However the NZXT has superb cable management as well as the RGB controller. If you add a couple of compatible NZXT Aer RGB fans you can go for the full baraati RGB bling as well.

The Jonsbo is limited wrt cable management and it has no bundled RGB controller as well. The things going for it are its size and its minimalist look.
 
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Well.. I went through all the case from nzxt to phanteks.. What i don't like nzxt is that they have only one single fan slot at the top.. I may be nit picking but really wanted to put 2 120/140 r
The best option in this price range would be NZXT H500i. It was in in stock last weekend when I checked since I was mulling over replacing my 8 year old CM 690 as well.

https://mdcomputers.in/nzxt-h500i-matte-black-ca-h500w-b1.html


I have a Noctua NH-U12S which is 158 mm tall over my Ryzen 1700 and it would fit as this case has 165 mm of clearance.

If you are using the huge Noctua NH-U14S then I think you might not be able to fit in this case.
Take a look at the specs for GPU length clearance as well.
https://www.nzxt.com/products/h500i-matte-white


I was also looking at this case which is one of the smallest full size ATX cases in the market without all the bells and whistles. If you check reviews in youtube you will only find one Indian joker reviewing it but its a very small and light all aluminium case which would fit my CPU cooler as well as my GTX 1060.

https://mdcomputers.in/jonsbo-mid-tower-u4-black.html


The NZXT is 7 Kg vs the U4's 5 Kg. However the NZXT has superb cable management as well as the RGB controller. If you add a couple of compatible NZXT Aer RGB fans you can go for the full baraati RGB bling as well.

The Jonsbo is limited wrt cable management and it has no bundled RGB controller as well. The things going for it are its size and its minimalist look.
I went through almost all cases in my budget.. I am looking for case which should not only looks good.. bad a**.. But it should be able to deliver.. About nzxt series I really like s340 and h500..but both don't have dual fan support at top.. I may be nit picking here.. But I was planing to put two 120/140mm rgb fans on top for extra bling and extra air. Next is phanteks.. Again nit picking here.. But after reading and watching review I found cases like p300/350x/400s has a common problem .. Thermal properties are not that great as front is semi closed.. Some say it chocks the fans at the front.. But they all agree it's best for aio cooler and it has dual fan as well rad support at top. Bonus.
Ps - really liked enthu pro m from phanteks, may not be sexy but it has good air flow.. And my budget won't allow.. :(
 
Enthu series is very heavy as well. I always go with negative air pressure. All fans on my current rig are configured as exhaust and only cool air is drawn passively into the case via the fanless air intake in front of the PSU. Helps with Indian dust issues.

If you want 2x 140/120 on top you can go with this as well.But I don't like the side panel attachment method compared to NZXT which is much cleaner.

https://mdcomputers.in/corsair-mid-tower-460x-cc-9011099-ww.html

 
Enthu series is very heavy as well. I always go with negative air pressure. All fans on my current rig are configured as exhaust and only cool air is drawn passively into the case via the fanless air intake in front of the PSU. Helps with Indian dust issues.

If you want 2x 140/120 on top you can go with this as well.But I don't like the side panel attachment method compared to NZXT which is much cleaner.

https://mdcomputers.in/corsair-mid-tower-460x-cc-9011099-ww.html

whats your view on Antec P110 Luce, looks clean and with fairly large sized mid tower..
 
whats your view on Antec P110 Luce, looks clean and with fairly large sized mid tower..
It looks a bit bland not minimalist.
However it seems to be a big case but has a few cons as well. e.g. the 2nd HDD caddy has issues with the motherboard power/front USB headers.
Intake seems to be a bit choked up. But major plus point is the upper mount of the 240 mm rads which most cases don't allow in this budget range(although might be tricky to install depending on mobo due to clearance for screw tightening).
Take a look at the video below. This case can hold massive cards though. The one in the video is 325 mm long.



https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/antec-p110-luce-case,5305.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Antec/P110_Luce/
 
It looks a bit bland not minimalist.
However it seems to be a big case but has a few cons as well. e.g. the 2nd HDD caddy has issues with the motherboard power/front USB headers.
Intake seems to be a bit choked up. But major plus point is the upper mount of the 240 mm rads which most cases don't allow in this budget range(although might be tricky to install depending on mobo due to clearance for screw tightening).
Take a look at the video below. This case can hold massive cards though. The one in the video is 325 mm long.



https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/antec-p110-luce-case,5305.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Antec/P110_Luce/
well.. it seems its like a fashion now a days to include only two 3.5'' hhd caddies.. my old 10 year old case 4 .. :/ anyway i was going through Phanteks 400 in Rigz shop (https://shop.rigz.in/shop/phanteks-p400-br/) do know if they are legit or not !!
 
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Noctua D-15 needs, if I remember right, at least 165 mm clearance. But the thing is, even when using low profile dimms, your might have to mount the second fan a little higher, which means, your case should have a clearance of about 180mm or more. Some mastercases fit this bill. And Fractal-deisgn Define R6 or R5. They have enough HDD and SSD trays too.
 
Noctua D-15 needs, if I remember right, at least 165 mm clearance. But the thing is, even when using low profile dimms, your might have to mount the second fan a little higher, which means, your case should have a clearance of about 180mm or more. Some mastercases fit this bill. And Fractal-deisgn Define R6 or R5. They have enough HDD and SSD trays too.
Fractal Design is hugely expensive in India. I wouldn't suggest the D-15 as its very heavy to the tune of 1.3 Kg.
 
Noctua D-15 needs, if I remember right, at least 165 mm clearance. But the thing is, even when using low profile dimms, your might have to mount the second fan a little higher, which means, your case should have a clearance of about 180mm or more. Some mastercases fit this bill. And Fractal-deisgn Define R6 or R5. They have enough HDD and SSD trays too.
It seems like whatever I go for.. noctua option is out of window.. Secondly Fractal design cases are only available with primeabgb.. And they take flat 1200 shipping charge which brings r6 tg case for 14k..
 
It seems like whatever I go for.. noctua option is out of window.. Secondly Fractal design cases are only available with primeabgb.. And they take flat 1200 shipping charge which brings r6 tg case for 14k..
Not really. I am running my Ryzen 1700 @3.4 GHz on a Noctua NH-U12S which is 158 mm tall and its whisper quiet. It will fit in all the cases you mentioned. On another thread I saw a guy with a Fractal Meshify C which is a very good case for airflow. So I asked him where he got that and at what price.

https://www.techenclave.com/community/threads/help-finding-new-cpu-cooler.187570/
 
Not really. I am running my Ryzen 1700 @3.4 GHz on a Noctua NH-U12S which is 158 mm tall and its whisper quiet. It will fit in all the cases you mentioned. On another thread I saw a guy with a Fractal Meshify C which is a very good case for airflow. So I asked him where he got that and at what price.

https://www.techenclave.com/community/threads/help-finding-new-cpu-cooler.187570/
Meshify C is awesome case.. couldn't find anywhere in Nehru Place, but its available on Primeabgb may be he got it from there.. btw how much you bought noctua for ? i had a chat with Shop rigz on facebook and they said Be quite cooler will be available by this month.. looks promising as its one of the best cooler next to noctua..
 
Meshify C is awesome case.. couldn't find anywhere in Nehru Place, but its available on Primeabgb may be he got it from there.. btw how much you bought noctua for ? i had a chat with Shop rigz on facebook and they said Be quite cooler will be available by this month.. looks promising as its one of the best cooler next to noctua..
I had to buy it from newegg as Be Quiet Dark Rock was even more expensive.
BTW I can see Be Quiet available for pre-order at MD Computers.
https://mdcomputers.in/am4-cooler#/be-quiet-m213/availability=1/sort=p.sort_order/order=ASC/limit=16

upload_2018-9-6_16-32-10.png
 
I had to buy it from newegg as Be Quiet Dark Rock was even more expensive.
BTW I can see Be Quiet available for pre-order at MD Computers.
https://mdcomputers.in/am4-cooler#/be-quiet-m213/availability=1/sort=p.sort_order/order=ASC/limit=16

View attachment 76463
Suggest me what to do.. do you think 2 fans at top of the case is a good thing or i am just being too nit- picky here. or should i just go with p400.. post like this on reddit scares me (https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsa...ase_phanteks_eclipse_p400_tempered_glass_mid/)
 
Suggest me what to do.. do you think 2 fans at top of the case is a good thing or i am just being too nit- picky here. or should i just go with p400.. post like this on reddit scares me (https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsa...ase_phanteks_eclipse_p400_tempered_glass_mid/)
After all this searching last week I finally gave up and bought a H500 today. Will be setting it up on Saturday after I disassemble my CM690.

After seeing the gamernexus review here where the GPU has better temps with the stock config (i.e. 1 top and 1 rear 120 exhaust) but the CPU is a bit hotter, I will try to compromise with 1 rear 120 exhaust, 1 front upper 120 intake and finally set up a push pull on my Noctua with the Corsair SP120 I have in the older case. The top 120 is anyways covered up by a router and cloth cover sorta thing. I will leave the front lower 120 slot empty since as per reviews it messes with GPU airflow. Funny thing is that I got 3 Thermaltake Ring 12c blue LED fans today as well which will be left unused now.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3309-nzxt-h500-case-review-thermals-noise-vs-s340
 
After all this searching last week I finally gave up and bought a H500 today. Will be setting it up on Saturday after I disassemble my CM690.

After seeing the gamernexus review here where the GPU has better temps with the stock config (i.e. 1 top and 1 rear 120 exhaust) but the CPU is a bit hotter, I will try to compromise with 1 rear 120 exhaust, 1 front upper 120 intake and finally set up a push pull on my Noctua with the Corsair SP120 I have in the older case. The top 120 is anyways covered up by a router and cloth cover sorta thing. I will leave the front lower 120 slot empty since as per reviews it messes with GPU airflow. Funny thing is that I got 3 Thermaltake Ring 12c blue LED fans today as well which will be left unused now.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3309-nzxt-h500-case-review-thermals-noise-vs-s340
congratulations for your new case.. how much temperature you are getting under stress and idle? btw i am still stuck which one to buy.. yea i know its kinda funny, may be i am thinking too hard. anyway did some more research and dug up some more new case .. if you can please have a look at it and let me know how they are..

CoolerMaster MasterBox Lite 5 RGB Top Ventilation - ( https://www.amazon.in/dp/B073R5GC4R/ref=psdc_1375346031_t1_B075N2898D)
( https://mdcomputers.in/index.php?route=journal2/quickview&pid=8541)

THERMAL TAKE G21 - (https://mdcomputers.in/thermaltake-mid-tower-core-g21-black-tempered-ca-1i4-00m1wn-00.html)

Deepcool MATREXX 55 Mid Tower - (http://www.deepcool.com/product/case/2018-07/9_8726.shtml)

Thermaltake VIEW 21 - (https://www.amazon.in/dp/B077VX1C4H/ref=sspa_dk_detail_6?psc=1)

THERMALTAKE Versa C23 TG RGB Edition (https://www.amazon.in/Thermaltake-CA-1H7-00M1WN-00-Tempered-Mid-Tower-Chassis/dp/B072F7C6ZH/ref=sr_1_11?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1536338637&sr=1-11&refinements=p_89:Thermaltake)

DeepCool Earlkase RGB - (https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0...ee5-5803-9ec7-1d7aa1e25412&pf_rd_i=1375346031)
 
Whoa thats a lot of homework.:eek::eek:

Set up the H500 with two Thermaltake Riing 120 Blue LED fans as front intake and 1 fan as rear exhaust and these are my temps at stock CPU profile with ambient temp of 32C at 96% CPU usage after 2 hrs of three Handbrake HEVC encodes running parallely. BTW I even set up dust filters for the rear exhaust as well as inner front intakes(i.e. on top of the actual case filter I added 2x120 filters to the front fan frame as well).

I am okay with the temps and dust is a bigger issue for me. Bought magnetic sheets off amazon to cover up the ventilated top portion of the PSU shroud and will be covering up the rear 120 mm opening as well as the ventilated PCI slot covers which are unused. The rear covers will be removed when PC is turned on though.

I am really satisfied with the 2 hrs I put in for cable management though.

upload_2018-9-9_2-48-23.png WhatsApp Image 2018-09-07 at 11.57.47 PM.jpeg

Full specs are as follows-
Ryzen 7 1700@Stock
Noctua NF-U12S CPU Cooler
2x8 GB G.Skill FlareX F4-3200C14D-16GFX
Asus Crosshair VI Hero Motheboard
Gigabyte GTX 1060 G1 Gaming (Planned upgrade to RTX 2070 come October)
Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB SSD Boot Drive
Samsung 840 Evo 250 GB SSD Steam Installation Drive
Seagate 1 TB Dump Drive (8 years old and still ticking. :p)
Logitech G510S Keyboard
Razer DeathAdder Elite Mouse
24" Samsung LC24FG70FQWXXL Curved 144 Hz 1080p monitor
 

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Whoa thats a lot of homework.:eek::eek:

Set up the H500 with two Thermaltake Riing 120 Blue LED fans as front intake and 1 fan as rear exhaust and these are my temps at stock CPU profile with ambient temp of 32C at 96% CPU usage after 2 hrs of three Handbrake HEVC encodes running parallely. BTW I even set up dust filters for the rear exhaust as well as inner front intakes(i.e. on top of the actual case filter I added 2x120 filters to the front fan frame as well).

I am okay with the temps and dust is a bigger issue for me. Bought magnetic sheets off amazon to cover up the ventilated top portion of the PSU shroud and will be covering up the rear 120 mm opening as well as the ventilated PCI slot covers which are unused. The rear covers will be removed when PC is turned on though.

I am really satisfied with the 2 hrs I put in for cable management though.

View attachment 76487 View attachment 76488

Full specs are as follows-
Ryzen 7 1700@Stock
Noctua NF-U12S CPU Cooler
2x8 GB G.Skill FlareX F4-3200C14D-16GFX
Asus Crosshair VI Hero Motheboard
Gigabyte GTX 1060 G1 Gaming (Planned upgrade to RTX 2070 come October)
Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB SSD Boot Drive
Samsung 840 Evo 250 GB SSD Steam Installation Drive
Seagate 1 TB Dump Drive (8 years old and still ticking. :p)
Logitech G510S Keyboard
Razer DeathAdder Elite Mouse
24" Samsung LC24FG70FQWXXL Curved 144 Hz 1080p monitor

looks lit af..
Whoa thats a lot of homework.:eek::eek:

Set up the H500 with two Thermaltake Riing 120 Blue LED fans as front intake and 1 fan as rear exhaust and these are my temps at stock CPU profile with ambient temp of 32C at 96% CPU usage after 2 hrs of three Handbrake HEVC encodes running parallely. BTW I even set up dust filters for the rear exhaust as well as inner front intakes(i.e. on top of the actual case filter I added 2x120 filters to the front fan frame as well).

I am okay with the temps and dust is a bigger issue for me. Bought magnetic sheets off amazon to cover up the ventilated top portion of the PSU shroud and will be covering up the rear 120 mm opening as well as the ventilated PCI slot covers which are unused. The rear covers will be removed when PC is turned on though.

I am really satisfied with the 2 hrs I put in for cable management though.

View attachment 76487 View attachment 76488

Full specs are as follows-
Ryzen 7 1700@Stock
Noctua NF-U12S CPU Cooler
2x8 GB G.Skill FlareX F4-3200C14D-16GFX
Asus Crosshair VI Hero Motheboard
Gigabyte GTX 1060 G1 Gaming (Planned upgrade to RTX 2070 come October)
Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB SSD Boot Drive
Samsung 840 Evo 250 GB SSD Steam Installation Drive
Seagate 1 TB Dump Drive (8 years old and still ticking. :p)
Logitech G510S Keyboard
Razer DeathAdder Elite Mouse
24" Samsung LC24FG70FQWXXL Curved 144 Hz 1080p monitor
looks super cool.. love the red and black accent color of your case .. perfect !!
 
Whoa thats a lot of homework.:eek::eek:

Set up the H500 with two Thermaltake Riing 120 Blue LED fans as front intake and 1 fan as rear exhaust and these are my temps at stock CPU profile with ambient temp of 32C at 96% CPU usage after 2 hrs of three Handbrake HEVC encodes running parallely. BTW I even set up dust filters for the rear exhaust as well as inner front intakes(i.e. on top of the actual case filter I added 2x120 filters to the front fan frame as well).

I am okay with the temps and dust is a bigger issue for me. Bought magnetic sheets off amazon to cover up the ventilated top portion of the PSU shroud and will be covering up the rear 120 mm opening as well as the ventilated PCI slot covers which are unused. The rear covers will be removed when PC is turned on though.

I am really satisfied with the 2 hrs I put in for cable management though.

View attachment 76487 View attachment 76488

Full specs are as follows-
Ryzen 7 1700@Stock
Noctua NF-U12S CPU Cooler
2x8 GB G.Skill FlareX F4-3200C14D-16GFX
Asus Crosshair VI Hero Motheboard
Gigabyte GTX 1060 G1 Gaming (Planned upgrade to RTX 2070 come October)
Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB SSD Boot Drive
Samsung 840 Evo 250 GB SSD Steam Installation Drive
Seagate 1 TB Dump Drive (8 years old and still ticking. :p)
Logitech G510S Keyboard
Razer DeathAdder Elite Mouse
24" Samsung LC24FG70FQWXXL Curved 144 Hz 1080p monitor
motherboard mounts came with your case ?
 
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