[SOLVED] Custom PC. Which one cases to choose?

Apr 24, 2021
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I have been researching into building a gaming PC. Which one cases to choose? How to choose water cooling and color RBG?
 
Solution
3080ti isnt out yet and it will likely eat most or all of that budget alone.
RTX 3090 msrp is supposed to be $1499.
Ive seen mixed (guesses) of the MSRP on the RTX 3080 ti at $1099 and also several at $1499.
And, hats only if you can even get it at msrp.
The end of may is likely the soonest it will even be available.

Normally that would be a good time to grab a 3080 as people rush to buy the latest and greatest. This time wont be that way as we are all trying to get whatever we can find
Well first of all you need to give us a budget.
Second, what are the components that are going to be put into this case?
Third, do you prefer RGB show-off cases, or are you a more professional type?
Fourth, are you planning on doing a full custom loop (CPU and GPU water cooling and such)?
Preferred brands?
How many and what storage devices do you have?
Are you looking for a Mid or a Full tower, or are you looking for a really small case?
 
Apr 24, 2021
2
0
10
Well first of all you need to give us a budget.
Second, what are the components that are going to be put into this case?
Third, do you prefer RGB show-off cases, or are you a more professional type?
Fourth, are you planning on doing a full custom loop (CPU and GPU water cooling and such)?
Preferred brands?
How many and what storage devices do you have?
Are you looking for a Mid or a Full tower, or are you looking for a really small case?
1000-1500 $

ASUS TUF AM4 Gaming X570-Plus + Ryzen 7 5800x

RTX 3080ti

Prefer enclosures for RGB demonstration.

Water cooled processor and GPU.

3x HDD - 10 TB

1x SSD - 1 TB
 

TommyTwoTone66

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"How to choose" is a very strange question to ask. The concept of choice isn't something there's a right and wrong answer to. You choose whatever parts make you feel good. If you like the look of a case, and it fits all the things you want to fit in it, then that is the choice for you.

Fortunately, PC building in 2021 is very very easy. These days nearly everything is compatible with everything else. So long as you pick a "normal" case, it will fit pretty much any "normal" components inside it without any issues.

Generally, Antec, Corsair and NZXT make excellent computer cases which are budget-friendly and have all the watercooling support and extra features you could ever want or need. I like Corsair cases, but that's just a personal preference, I like the way they look.
 
For a full custom loop, most people are going to be going with a bigger case to have as much space as possible.
I personally love the Lian Li Lancool II Mesh.
It has a lot of space, a full mesh front panel, 360mm AIO support on the front and 280mm AIO the top, 3x 3.5 HDD bays, comes with 3 RGB fans on the front and much more.
Building a full custom loop in it shouldn't be hard in terms of space.
 
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TommyTwoTone66

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I would never build a custom loop personally. By the time you have it all perfect and running the way you want it, which can take months, then the hardware is already out of date and you need to start over. Whenever you see these elaborate "builds" in magazines or whatever they always have a GPU thats about a year out of date, because they designed their whole PC around this stupid GPU that was cutting edge at the time. But actually, if they just swapped in a GPU from this year and air cooled it, it would be faster.
 
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I would never build a custom loop personally. By the time you have it all perfect and running the way you want it, which can take months, then the hardware is already out of date and you need to start over. Whenever you see these elaborate "builds" in magazines or whatever they always have a GPU thats about a year out of date, because they designed their whole PC around this stupid GPU that was cutting edge at the time. But actually, if they just swapped in a GPU from this year and air cooled it, it would be faster.
Not to mention the maintance...
 
People often watercool their PC's because of the big overclock's they apply on them.
And in order to keep them cool under such high clock speeds, they need to watercool them since the air coolers are simply not enough (especially with GPU's).
So unless you are planning on achieve some massive overclock record, there is no reason for you to do a complete watercooling loop since the stock air coolers are usually enough.
A full watercooled pc does look really good, but in order for it to look good you need a lot of money, luck, time and patience.
 

TommyTwoTone66

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People often watercool their PC's because of the big overclock's they apply on them.

It's a fool's errand. By the time they finish their masterpiece, the exact same performance is available at stock speed.

Lets say I purchase the very fastest CPU available to me now, on earth. an i9 11900K. I get a top of the line, tuner-spec motherboard and the fastest RAM money can buy. I pair it up with a beastmode RTX 3090.

Now. Rather than actually USE that equipment, I set about crafting a custom watercooling loop for it, so that I can run all the components 20% faster than intended. The entire process takes start to finish around 8 months. Just as I complete the final leak test of my custom loop. intel announces the i9-12900K with 30% more performance and Nvidia announce the RTX3590 with 30% more performance.

The net cost of the i9-12900K and the RTX3590 turns out to be quite a bit less than what I paid for the i9-11900K and the RTX-3090 plus all the watercooling gear I used to overclock them, and if I run them at stock, I get BETTER performance than my overclocked, last-gen hardware, and it doesn't take 8 entire months to build.

Ultimately, any elaborate overclocking project will always be overtaken by just running newer stock hardware, a few months down the line. So to me it's such a waste of time and effort.
 
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TommyTwoTone66

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Water cooled processor and GPU.

Water cooled processor, yes. Just buy something like a Kraken X53 and you're done. Easy to install, fit most cases. Great product.

Water cooled GPU, no. Makes your PC into a "project" that you need to spend a lot of time and money on. Gives you very little improvement in games. Won't give you more headshots or improve your K/D. The cost of watercooling equipment is usually more than the cost of a faster GPU, so unless you're watercooling a 3090, there's no point.
 
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Bassman999

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3080ti isnt out yet and it will likely eat most or all of that budget alone.
RTX 3090 msrp is supposed to be $1499.
Ive seen mixed (guesses) of the MSRP on the RTX 3080 ti at $1099 and also several at $1499.
And, hats only if you can even get it at msrp.
The end of may is likely the soonest it will even be available.

Normally that would be a good time to grab a 3080 as people rush to buy the latest and greatest. This time wont be that way as we are all trying to get whatever we can find
 
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