Discussion Best case style for keeping CPU cools - mesh front or closed front?

[fobos8]

Hi guys

I'm going to be doing a new build and need to choose a case. Do I go with a full mesh front like a Meshify C like this

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/meshify/

or will a case with just vents on the front be okay like this

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/

Will one case have better airflow than the other? I'll be putting a 360mm AIO in the case and an a AMD 3960x threadripper.

Cheers, Andrew

 

[madmatt30]

The meshify instantly has better airflow capabilities.

That said the define 7 (not the compact) allows a 360 aio as an exhaust in the roof (the case is extra wide to accommodate space between the top of the motherboard and radiator)

In your scenario that's the case I'd go for personally.

You'll be fine with the stock included fan configuration with the addition of that aio.

 

[RyzenNoob]

The Define case has side inlets, which will more or less be mesh

 

[madmatt30]

The Define case has side inlets, which will more or less be mesh

They do an OK job but in no way are they close to a mesh fronted case for intake airflow.

The defines are built around silence more than cooling, own one myself, built in a few.

The define 7 is absolutely excellent for fitting a 360naio as a roof exhaust though, not many cases have this capability.

 

[Phaaze88]

Mesh front chassis, all day, erry day!

Fractal's Define series is well built, but that silence thing is a gimmick, IMO. Their Meshify should be able to cool better all while running the fans at even lower rpms, making it capable of being even quieter, although, that's getting past the point of redundancy...
All that sound dampening crap isn't needed if the chassis allows enough air through to keep one's hardware cool.

I won't completely dunk on the Define series and other silent chassis: those sound dampening features apparently help with certain levels of pitch from very specific parts.
I've never used a silent chassis before, so I don't know how true that is? @madmatt30

 

[HerrKaLeu]

If you use the AIO exhausting on the top, those fans' sound will radiate out of the case no matter what the case is made of.

I think the main advantage of the Define is that is has better filters that are easy to clean. Less dirt on the heatsinks (especially if you had an air-cooler) will make it cool better when it is old. i assume the radiator fans also will collect dist and the fins will get dirty. If you have quiet intake fans, it probably doesn't matter much to have that baffle. the problem with all the case tests is, they test it when new. After 1 year in a dusty house, i bet the Define performs still as new, while the cases without good filtration will do worse than when new.

I have the Define R5, but no graphics, but have an i7700K. I have 2 bottom fans and 2 front fans. Even when I opne the door and remove the filters, the temps stay the same. This shows me I already get enough air no matter what. Also when i disabled the bottom fans, there was no difference, so I'm overcooling. My fans are all controlled by CPU temp and never get audible.

The only thing I hear are some coil whine noises (the thing with silent PC is, you hear everything else. More pronounced). when i sued to have an HDD, it was the loudest item. But I replaced that with an SSD.

For a new case i would consider a Meshify, but I'm concerned with the filters, or lack thereof.

 

[madmatt30]

The Defines are incredibly quiet, not silent because that's a claim that couldn't be fulfilled unless you remove any and all fans from the build.

Built in the 4, 5 and 6, own the 5 myself.

All incredibly similar airflow wise, pretty much the only thing you'll hear is the exhaust fan and maybe the GPU if it's at full tilt.

Keep my fans at 7v, they're pretty much inaudible at that.

Ryzen 7 never hitting over 60c (fortis 3 malik custom), red dragon 5700xt never topped 70c.
This is under stress testing.

Thats with 2 x gp2 140mm intakes in the front and a lone Arctic Cooling p14 in the back.

The front venting system seems to work incredibly well for intaking air considering the solid door, maybe because the fans are set back a good inch and a half from the actual front of the case, it allows them to pull plenty of air in.

I'd not normally recommending a 360 aio but with that thread ripper it's kind of a necessity in all honesty.

I pedsonally would always fit an aio as a top exhaust when possible.

And that's the main reason for going with the define 7, there are few cases that will successfully fit a 360 in the top, the Define 7 is one of them.

I know the meshify allows that configuration too but with a few concessions on board component and ram height.

There's an extra 30mm clearance on the define 7 because the rad tray is offset towards the left of the case.

The meshify I'm sure would do a good job with the aio as a front intake, just wouldn't be my personal preference.
Would almost certainly be a whole lot noisier though for the sake of maybe 5c on cpu temps and increased gpu temps.

Drop a 360 aio in the define 7, leave the stock intakes and exhaust as they are, run them down to 7v, run the rad fans at low rpm and I honestly think you'd get wholly acceptable temps with very little noise.

 

[GarrettL]

There is usually a trade off between pc case performance for cooling the cpu vs the gpu.

The gpu tepms are as important as the cpu to prevent thermal throttling. It's best to find a case with a good balance between the two.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3604-best-gaming-pc-cases-for-airflow-in-2020-right-now

 

[vMax]

If you are going to be overclocking GPU/CPU then go mesh. Mesh fronted cases are excellent at cooling and do make a significant difference. I just bought the Lian Li Lancool II Mesh and it made an instant difference to temps though I do overclock fairly heavily...Downside are dust build up but a good cleaning every month with a can of compressed air does the job...

If no overclocking, then not an issue either way...just go with what looks best to you...