Budget 0-20k New Case Help

A

apurva512

Disciple
Hello, I would like to get some advice on getting a new case for my computer. I have so far been very happy with the Corsair Obsidian 550d that I bought sometime in 2013 I believe. The case still works great for most of what I do, but of late the enthusiast in me is itching to try custom liquid cooling and has also been partly bitten by the RGB bug(*sigh*). I would love to get some firsthand information on what would be a good case to go for. The ones I am looking at are as follows:

Fractal Design Define R7 Dark - This seems to be the most logical upgrade for me as for the most part it seems to have most of the Obsidian 550d's classy and simply persona, but with the required support for Liquid cooling along with some amount of RGB bling.

Lian Li o11 dynamic XL - Damn, this is basically THE most common case that seems to be used for liquid cooling. It seems to have almost everything I want, other than an optical drive slot(hyuk hyuk, I know, its obsolete, but having one in my desktop still feels right to me). Has a little too much tempered glass, but no major drawbacks. Just not fully convinced on it due to it being so different from the Lian Li v650 I have for my secondary system. That is a super classy compact all aluminum case, this one seems to be mostly steel with tempered glass and aluminum panels. When did Lian Li switch from being a completely full aluminum manufacturer? It seems like a downgrade to me.

Phanteks Enthoo 719 - This is the joker in the pack. The idea of combining both my systems in 1 case somewhere in the near future is extremely appealing. However, not sure on what kind of support structure there is for Phanteks in India, and also can't seem to find a place where the case is available.

Any other recommendations are most welcome.

My current setup is as follows:
Ryzen 7 3700x
MSI 2080 Ti Ventus OC / nVidia 3070 FE - Not sure which of these I will be keeping, as I just got my hands on the 3070 FE, and need to see what works better for ai video enhancing.
4*4tb WD Red
4x sata ssd
4x nvme ssd
1x Blu-ray writer
Seasonic Prime 850W Titanium
 
So I'm assuming that if you want to go water cooling, you'll most likely want your hardware to be displayed. That's where the Lian Li shines compared to the rest of the cases you mentioned.
It acts as a display cabinet and if you have some fancy fans, you can show them off as well.

The Define R7 is definitely better choice to build in, but it doesn't have that aesthetics which the Lian Li can provide. The Phanteks has too much space wasted inside it and realistically speaking who keeps 2 desktops next to each other/in a single case unless you and your SO is WFH in the same room(its just pain to work in the same room).

But practicality is where both of these cases fare better than the Lian Li. So pick your poison wisely.
 
Chhotu uttam said:
So I'm assuming that if you want to go water cooling, you'll most likely want your hardware to be displayed. That's where the Lian Li shines compared to the rest of the cases you mentioned.
It acts as a display cabinet and if you have some fancy fans, you can show them off as well.

The Define R7 is definitely better choice to build in, but it doesn't have that aesthetics which the Lian Li can provide. The Phanteks has too much space wasted inside it and realistically speaking who keeps 2 desktops next to each other/in a single case unless you and your SO is WFH in the same room(its just pain to work in the same room).

But practicality is where both of these cases fare better than the Lian Li. So pick your poison wisely.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your response. Could you elaborate a bit on how the Define R7 is better to build in vs the Lian Li? My primary doubt about just going ahead with the Lian Li is that while I may find the RGB phenomenon attractive now, I will probably want to tone it down for sure sometime down the line. So having a good tempered glass window to show off the wares might suffice, especially if the build quality and ease is better in the fractal.
 
apurva512 said:
Thanks for your response. Could you elaborate a bit on how the Define R7 is better to build in vs the Lian Li? My primary doubt about just going ahead with the Lian Li is that while I may find the RGB phenomenon attractive now, I will probably want to tone it down for sure sometime down the line. So having a good tempered glass window to show off the wares might suffice, especially if the build quality and ease is better in the fractal.
Click to expand...

Build quality of the fractal is better. I have a define r6 and a Lian Li o11 dynamic (not xl) and a phanteks evolv ATX. Lian li has the poorest build quality of the three and fractal has the best. The r6 is also the quietest with vibration absorption panels everywhere. The Phanteks is hands down the most classy looking of the three.

Lian li is very easy to build in however - the most convenient in fact. It also has a few corners cut like not having any fans and missing thumb screws for pci brackets.
 
Chaos said:
Build quality of the fractal is better. I have a define r6 and a Lian Li o11 dynamic (not xl) and a phanteks evolv ATX. Lian li has the poorest build quality of the three and fractal has the best. The r6 is also the quietest with vibration absorption panels everywhere. The Phanteks is hands down the most classy looking of the three.

Lian li is very easy to build in however - the most convenient in fact. It also has a few corners cut like not having any fans and missing thumb screws for pci brackets.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. Any good site for Phanteks cases?
 
apurva512 said:
Thanks for your response. Could you elaborate a bit on how the Define R7 is better to build in vs the Lian Li? My primary doubt about just going ahead with the Lian Li is that while I may find the RGB phenomenon attractive now, I will probably want to tone it down for sure sometime down the line. So having a good tempered glass window to show off the wares might suffice, especially if the build quality and ease is better in the fractal.
Click to expand...
Fractal has a better build quality than Lian Li for most of the part. Lian Li has got all these plastic latches/plugs which might break/wear off as time goes.
The Fractal is also a bit longer than the Lian Li so more room to work with. It also seems that it'll be hard to get a push-pull going on at the top of the Lian Li whereas it might be possible on the Fractal.
As for the RGB side, you can always dial it down a bit with addressable RGBs if you don't really like it.
 
I am also looking for a 2nd cabinate and an alternative to CM TD 500 MESH. want case in that budget only with 360mm rad support on both sides like td 500 mesh.
 
Wow, great input all around. Will go with Fractal I believe. I think CM makes good cases, I loved the CM 690 and used it for a long time, however I do not think it quite compares to Fractal/Phanteks or Lian Li quality. However, I am basing the Lian Li quality on the basis of the v650 case I have, and not the new ones everyone seems to be talking about, so it might not be far off from that.
 
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