Question All Cases Suck?

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DefinitelyNotTom

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So I guess all cases suck? Doing research it looks like you flat out must have either noise or bad temps, no way around it.

And here I spent a lot on the r6, with all those rave reviews about how oh it's so quiet and it's good enough temps.... Yeah, those are different people saying those things as it doesn't have both at the same time, the more I research it.

Basically you have to either take the front panel off and have it be a loud case or if you leave it on the testing on gamersnexus shows over a TEN DEGREE increase in cpu temps and I think like an 8 degree increase in gpu temps.

So what do I do now? This is the last day I can decide whether to return it or not (haven't opened it yet). I had decided on a fractal design regardless, only to find out every one of them has issues either with temps or noise.

And no I am not going to spend hundreds for "better fans" when I am already out over $2k on a pc I budgeted $1200 for.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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"all cases suck" ?
Mine doesn't.
not helpful and also subjective, as I bet its noise level is above what I want. fractal is the only brand that cuts out on noise AND is rated highly and then they suck for temps.

Too bad Iistened to people about building a pc instead of a prebuilt, as prebuilts have never given me issues, but when building apparently they end up even worse, not better, where people say you must get the top parts in every regard or it will be trash.

There's really no choice. The phantecs ones aren't built as well and are noisier. corsair ones are rated poorly all around. Fractal will be too hot or noisy.
 

USAFRet

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Yes, it is subjective. Just like your initial comment.

I think maybe you listen to too many people with weird opinions.
If assisting someone with a parts list, I certainly wouldn't say "you must get the top parts in every regard or it will be trash".
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Yes, it is subjective. Just like your initial comment.

I think maybe you listen to too many people with weird opinions.
If assisting someone with a parts list, I certainly wouldn't say "you must get the top parts in every regard or it will be trash".
well that is about what happens. any part I mention, even high end ones, people say "you should get the next one up". then when I do that, people say it was overkill...

Anyway, either way, I am in a mess and only 1 day to figure out what to do. It sounds scary to have a 10 degree increase in temps. Unless that 10 higher temp is still within reason which I am not sure about. I think it said around 55 above temp.

Looking further, looks to me like there are NO cases or setups that will be SIGNIFICANTLY cooler at around the same noise levels EXCEPT a Silverstone RL06 with fans running at high RPM. Other than that, nothing else seems to have much cooler temps while still maintaining low noise.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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and the Silverstone has side window which I don't like and very weird that it would be so good in noise with it being all open like that.

Looking at gamersnexus testing, it looks to me like I should have top open, but front panel on. That makes it where gpu is less than 1 degree warmer, noise is only about 1 db higher, and then cpu temps would be a few degrees cooler, but still much warmer than with front panel off.

MOST of the time I don[t do much on the pc. It's rare I'd game or edit. So would a few degrees warmer even matter for me, since it would be rare I'd be pushing the system? After all, these tests are extreme tests they do which cause those higher temps.
 
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USAFRet

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A case is a case is a case.
Most medium to upper end cases are pretty similar temps at similar sizes.
It is a metal/plastic/glass box to hold your stuff. Given rational airflow (nothing blocking it)...they're quite similar.

"Oh this one sux"
"Oh, that one is too loud"

Context. You have little idea of their environment, parts inside, ambient temp, etc, etc, etc...
Given all else identical, if one case shows 10C higher temps than another, then that particular one does indeed "suck".
However...things you read from other people are never "identical".

Not sure what you're expecting.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Look at Lian-Li cases
way too expensive.

Mine doesn't. Corsair 500d
stock it has even worse cpu temp than the r6. And stock is all that matters to me, since I am not going to sink more money into fans.

I edited my previous post, if anyone can comment on that last part. Basically r6 with top open and front panel closed tests at 52 above ambient temp for cpu. How bad is that for someone who doesn't often do anything to strain the pc? With front panel it's 45.5.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Just looking at the following chart of specs, it looks to me that not a lot out there can be a better combo of noise and temps than r6 with top open: View: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/9uvcyt/pc_cases_thermals_vs_noise_scoring_table/


Notice the 52 above ambient temp... anything close to the same noise level has about the same or higher cpu temp numbers there. And the lian li is worse in temps in that chart.

If you judge by that, there's just not a better choice EXCEPT maybe that Silverstone, but I don't like the side panel.

Also, seems like gamersnexus tested a r6 with SIDE WINDOW, didn't they? that throws another wrench in.

ps I am not basing this on his formula or rankings. I am just eyeballing them and seeing the best balance. nothing ahs MUCH better temps out of that whole chart, without sacrificing noise level. Silverstone rl06 shaves off a measly 2 or 3 degrees on cpu temp, but then is a couple db higher so about a wash there. Everything else is either much louder or warmer.

GPU temps look much worse on r6 with front panel on, but like I said, I will rarely push it. And even then it's only a few degrees above what it would be with panel off.

Regardless, my point still stands. All of these are still far from good combos of noise and temps.
 
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DefinitelyNotTom

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So get the R6 and leave it closed as stock. Slightly quieter, and only a couple degree 'warmer'.
still not good temps, though. my point is there is no choice even much better across the board of silence and temps, and it seems to me there should be a way to do so. Or I could change fans, but I would much rather not do that.

Also, though not just a couple degrees warmer. At stock it's like 8 degrees warmer and gpu quite warmer too. So there's just no good choices. :(
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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There is no "perfect".
Everything is a tradeoff.
well what sucks for me is since I have never built it's going to be really hard predicting just how much difference a few db of noise makes and what affects it. For instance I am probably going to use no hdds. So I wonder how much HDD noise is figured into db figures? I assume under LOAD fans would be louder than hdds, but idle the hdds would have been the biggest noise maker?
 
Sure, I'll play:
  1. If you are on doing air cooling, noise vs temp is an unavoidable battle. There is no magic case that is silent and cool with air cooling only. The closest you can come is aluminum, which you will pay up for.
  2. If you are doing air cooling, fan direction and space are important. If you are using a CPU and video card that you know are higher up on the temp scale, get a large case if you don't want to go aluminum.
  3. Water is great. Shopping for an AIO unit with relatively low fan and pump noise will almost always trump water in the noise to cooling ratio.
  4. Don't be afraid to buy a few extra fans and play with the pre-installed fans. Most manufacturers have software that comes with their motherboards to control fan speed, so as long as you are using the motherboard connectors you can still get a loud fan down to a temp vs noise level that works well for you.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Sure, I'll play:
  1. If you are on doing air cooling, noise vs temp is an unavoidable battle. There is no magic case that is silent and cool with air cooling only. The closest you can come is aluminum, which you will pay up for.
  2. If you are doing air cooling, fan direction and space are important. If you are using a CPU and video card that you know are higher up on the temp scale, get a large case if you don't want to go aluminum.
  3. Water is great. Shopping for an AIO unit with relatively low fan and pump noise will almost always trump water in the noise to cooling ratio.
  4. Don't be afraid to buy a few extra fans and play with the pre-installed fans. Most manufacturers have software that comes with their motherboards to control fan speed, so as long as you are using the motherboard connectors you can still get a loud fan down to a temp vs noise level that works well for you.
I'd rather not fool with fans beyond stock ones. I know most say that's dumb not to, but I haven't built before, so the less to figure out installing the better and also I have spent nearly double my original plan. I'm also not comfortable with the idea of water-cooling, which a few others are hesitant in that area too.

I guess I am just wondering how much the temps are overblown. I have used prebuilts ONLY. In all the years of using them (decades) I had 1 psu go bad and as far as I know nothing else that temps would affect went bad. Surely a prebuilt case of a cheap model isn't going to cool as well as cases sold on the market.

On the flip side I may have gone overboard on the noise front because I have rarely had pc noise on prebuilts bother me, either. Only when it was running at 100%.

Anyway, so looks to me like the best I can do without water-cooling or changing fans out is r6 with top open and front off. I wonder if they had an optical drive installed, too, though... so my temps may be even higher from that being in there. Would top off even matter when an optical drive is in?
 

USAFRet

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well what sucks for me is since I have never built it's going to be really hard predicting just how much difference a few db of noise makes and what affects it. For instance I am probably going to use no hdds. So I wonder how much HDD noise is figured into db figures? I assume under LOAD fans would be louder than hdds, but idle the hdds would have been the biggest noise maker?
Exactly.
There is no "prediction", especially with a different pile of parts.

All SSD is much better than HDD's. But, good HDD's can be almost silent.
Good fans can be pretty silent. Of course, under load they spin faster = more sound.
All sound is not the same. Different freq's or combination of freqs (different fans and RPM) can sound different for different people. What might be acceptable to you might not be acceptable to me.

And - You have no point of reference. You're building your very first system.

Quiet
Cool
Cheap

Choose 2.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Exactly.
There is no "prediction", especially with a different pile of parts.

All SSD is much better than HDD's. But, good HDD's can be almost silent.
Good fans can be pretty silent. Of course, under load they spin faster = more sound.
All sound is not the same. Different freq's or combination of freqs (different fans and RPM) can sound different for different people. What might be acceptable to you might not be acceptable to me.

And - You have no point of reference. You're building your very first system.

Quiet
Cool
Cheap

Choose 2.
even picking 2 of the 3 there you still have to choose cheap as one because you won't get truly quiet and truly cool even if you forget cheap. Not like the r6 is exactly cheap too, other than compared with really high end cases.

Oh well all I can do is a tad more looking and then do my best and hope for the best. If my prebuilts last, I doubt this one will suddenly have high end parts go bad due to temps.

What sucks is it may have been that a build not designed to be extra quiet would have not bothered me and I went through this for nothing. I bet r6 with front off WOULD be too loud though. That is approximately 40db!

I still have the phantecs p400 unopened, as well, but figured it would be too loud and also hate side windows. I can't seem to find a measurement on its sound right now.
 
I certainly do not think so...With a good set of fans and a decent case you can have the best of both worlds and there are many good cases out there. I use the Cooler Master H500P Mesh which is an airflow case with 2 large 200mm fans spinning slowly and matched to an AIO with some Corsair Mag Lev fans that run very quietly and when setup in quiet mode the sound is not an issue at all and even when ramping for normal tasks including gaming it is still good.

You have cases like the Phanteks P600s which is also very good that allows for both closed and open setup configs at it does a great job too...as it with all things it really just depends on your tolerance but on the whole you can get a good case which can bet setup for the best of both worlds..
 
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I agree cases don't matter much.

Unless you are building a system with a top tier components, the airflow isn't much of a concern unless it is truely horendous. Avoid cases with less than 1 intake and exhaust unless you plan to add. Avoid cases with a blocked off front with no front airflow.

My NZXT S340 is not a very good case airflow wise, yet airflow is not an issue. My hardware all stays cooler and the case fans are the arctic f12/f14 fans i have are not loud at all.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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I agree if you work at it, but I was talking stock cases. Also no matter what fans you get, your gpu is going to be loudish if a case isn't made for silence. And vibrations from HDDs.

So really the only way to have everything ideal would be get a case meant for silence, keep it set as such, get good enough fans to keep it cool that way.
 
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