Best Case For AirFlow, and Minimal Dust.

[nehalpatel30]

I'm looking for a case that has excellent airflow, since i'm not watercooling, but also does not build up dust quickly. I currently have the Rosewill Blackhawk, and the filters on it are horrible. I'm looking for a mid tower case preferably.

 

[Leonell12]

There are 3 HDD bays in the P530, you can move them around inter-changeably to allow maximum airflow from the front 200mm intake, theres also a fan on one of the drive bays



The case has a SSD-mount behind the motherboard tray as well and a 10-fan hub

 

[nehalpatel30]

450D is an okay case. Filters are a nice feature but have to be maintained to work. The second 140mm should have more open airflow. Front fans are nice but not really usefull if there being restricted by the frame. I recommand getting a case you can mount fans to the front of case and back of hdd cages for good airflow. Its really tough to find a good air cooling mid tower. I recommend finding one on the bigger end of midtowers. More room equates to more airflow. If you get the 450D I would get a pci slot cooler to move air under your graphic card.

This is not entirely accurate. I read multiple reviews, and the thermal performance of the 450D is actually pretty good. My temperatures with a 3570K @ 4.3ghz and a GTX 770 SC are fine.

The 450D is actually a better performer than the 750D according to this article, in part because the 450D changed the front to a mesh with dust filter, so it runs slightly cooler and slightly louder.

http://techreport.com/review/26219/corsair-obsidian-series-450d-enclosure-reviewed/4

When it comes to cases, bigger does necessarily mean better. A smaller case with better airflow will outperform a huge case with hot spots...

I have one small question regarding front filters. Is the filter the removable top that comes off, or is there one under the panel that's magnetic. Pictures show magnetic filters, but videos show that its just the front panel that's the filter.

 

[Adroid]

And MkGriff if you have some reputable information or reviews showing the 450D to run hot, please post them. Everything I have read and watched said it is a really strong performer as air cooled cases go. It also will fit a corsair H110i in the top, and room for 2 more 120mm fans in the bottom. I'm pretty convinced it is a excellent air cooled case from both my readings and my personal experience with it.

 

[nehalpatel30]

There are 3 HDD bays in the P530, you can move them around inter-changeably to allow maximum airflow from the front 200mm intake, theres also a fan on one of the drive bays



The case has a SSD-mount behind the motherboard tray as well and a 10-fan hub

It's full tower though. I wish the made this case in mid tower, with same/close specs.

 

[Adroid]

450D is an okay case. Filters are a nice feature but have to be maintained to work. The second 140mm should have more open airflow. Front fans are nice but not really usefull if there being restricted by the frame. I recommand getting a case you can mount fans to the front of case and back of hdd cages for good airflow. Its really tough to find a good air cooling mid tower. I recommend finding one on the bigger end of midtowers. More room equates to more airflow. If you get the 450D I would get a pci slot cooler to move air under your graphic card.

This is not entirely accurate. I read multiple reviews, and the thermal performance of the 450D is actually pretty good. My temperatures with a 3570K @ 4.3ghz and a GTX 770 SC are fine.

The 450D is actually a better performer than the 750D according to this article, in part because the 450D changed the front to a mesh with dust filter, so it runs slightly cooler and slightly louder.

http://techreport.com/review/26219/corsair-obsidian-series-450d-enclosure-reviewed/4

When it comes to cases, bigger does necessarily mean better. A smaller case with better airflow will outperform a huge case with hot spots...

I have one small question regarding front filters. Is the filter the removable top that comes off, or is there one under the panel that's magnetic. Pictures show magnetic filters, but videos show that its just the front panel that's the filter.

There are 3 filters that are held on by magnets - top, bottom, and front. They are easy to pull off and replace (just be careful with the front one with the front one because you are exposing fan blades when you pull it off).

The filter design is very intuitive and one of my favorite features of the case. Google Linus tech tips video on the case if you want a better picture of how the filters work.

 

[Adroid]

Actually the front one may have some plastic clips holding it on now that I think about it.. I'll have to check when I get home. At any rate it pops off really easy and easy to put back.

 

[nehalpatel30]

Actually the front one may have some plastic clips holding it on now that I think about it.. I'll have to check when I get home. At any rate it pops off really easy and easy to put back.

Yea. Linus reviewed the case and showed its just clipped in, not magnetic, not a big deal as long as all filters are great quality, unlike my Rosewill Blackhawk, which are already starting to break.

 

[Adroid]

The filters are made of metal. Honestly the build quality is a touch flimsy of the case overall - but I'm comparing to the Antec 900 I replaced... That Antec was built like a tank (and was quite heavy as a result).

The handfull of times I've pulled the filters off I haven't noticed any sign of wear. The filters on top/bottom I think will last for a really long time. If I had to guess the front plastic clips holding the front filter would be the first to go, but that's if you bend them too far or something.

Considering I'm not planning to take my PC to lan parties twice a week or anything I expect the case to last me years and years (hopefully through another build or two).

 

[nehalpatel30]

The filters are made of metal. Honestly the build quality is a touch flimsy of the case overall - but I'm comparing to the Antec 900 I replaced... That Antec was built like a tank (and was quite heavy as a result).

The handfull of times I've pulled the filters off I haven't noticed any sign of wear. The filters on top/bottom I think will last for a really long time. If I had to guess the front plastic clips holding the front filter would be the first to go, but that's if you bend them too far or something.

Considering I'm not planning to take my PC to lan parties twice a week or anything I expect the case to last me years and years (hopefully through another build or two).

Hmm, seems like Im sold to this case. Thanks for being informative.

 

[MkGriff1492]

And MkGriff if you have some reputable information or reviews showing the 450D to run hot, please post them. Everything I have read and watched said it is a really strong performer as air cooled cases go. It also will fit a corsair H110i in the top, and room for 2 more 120mm fans in the bottom. I'm pretty convinced it is a excellent air cooled case from both my readings and my personal experience with it.

lol When did I say it runs hot? It's cool Adroid if you like Corsair I have ram and a PSU. But not everything Corsair makes is top notch. The air flow around the video card isn't the best but this isn't the only case that suffers from this flaw. I would recommend a PCI slot fan to anybody using a mid tower that doesn't have side fans to blow on the gpu. An example AOC FC-2000 PCI Slot Case Cooler. If you want to look up case reviews on youtube use HardwareCanucks and not some others. I find him to be the most informative and unbias. For the money and built quality I find the 450D a bit overpriced so try to get a good deal on it. But that's my opinion it's totally up to you and wouldn't blame you for paying whatever you want. I'm an air cooler and from my experience the GPU cooling is the biggest issue if ambient temperature is a problem. If you have a decent heatsink you will never have problems with your CPU but GPU's are a different story. And if you want you go SLI or CF it becomes even a bigger issue . Good Luck.

 

[Adroid]

I'm not a corsair fanboy, I just like the case. I own some corsair RAM also, but only because I bought 16GB of DDR3 for 79$ when the prices were bottomed out (GSkill or Crucial would have been fine had they been cheaper). Corsair doesn't make power supplies, so I don't recommend them.

And yes running sli is always an issue, need good airflow and I recommend the reference / blower type cards that exhaust they hot air out the side.