Hey guys,
I recently purchased and installed a Noctua NH-U14S CPU cooler into my system to replace a Zalman cooler with a non-replaceable (and dying) fan. This cooler is awesome and is great for supporting the 4.4GHz overclock I currently have on my FX-8350 (Yes, I realize that's not that high, but for less than an hour of tweaking, I'll take it). However, I now have a problem: The cooler is JUUUUUUUUUUUST a little bit too tall to fit in my case! :-(
So, I come to you for help selecting a new case. I have very simple requirements:
-ATX Mid-tower (due to space restrictions)
-Front-panel USB 3.0
- CAN FIT MY DAMN COOLER :-)
- Can fit a full-size GPU
- Has 5.25" bays (Still use an optical drive for DVD's and Blu-Rays)
If you have any questions about my rig that might influence your suggestions, a current list of specs can be found on my profile. Thanks guys!
CASES UNDER CONSIDERATION:
Fractal Design Define R4
Corsair 450D
Cooler Master N600
Silverstone TJ04-EW
hahahaha I wish I'd made a bet with someone as to what the first suggestion would be. Definitely a good choice. I'm personally a big fan of Fractal's aesthetics, so the R4 is definitely in the runnings.
NZXT H440 if you can ditch the 5.25"
+1 on the Define R4
Phantom 410, perhaps
Sadly, my PC is really the only way I can watch disk media, so ditching the 5.25" isn't really an option. I'll give the 410 a look though.
It's a really well designed well built case. If you can get it on sale (and it goes on sale often) there's really no case better for the price. My one and only gripe with it that I think some newer cases do better is the SSD mounting. Aside from that one thing the rest of the case is great.
Well at least in my case, I actually have a 3.5" SSD, so I just mount it in a regular HDD bay anyway. lol
heheheheh... "case".... No pun intended, but still amusing.
If you haven't been over to pcpartpicker.com you should check that out. You can punch in all your requirements and it'll show all the cases that fit your needs. (yeah, I do like the fractal design r4 a lot, too)
I would personally recommend the Fractal Design Arc Midi R2. I have an Arc Midi with two graphics cards, a plethora of case fans and an FX-8350 and I still managed to get my system whisper quiet, despite the Arc Midi not being "silence optimized." I also think that it looks nicer than the Define, but thats just a personal preference thing.
I love pcpartpicker.com and recommend it to EVERYONE I talk to when they're first thinking about building. That's where the Silverstone and Coolermaster cases I'm considering came from.
Alright guys after some research, I ended up going with the Define R4. Thanks for the help!