Fractal Design Focus G Black ATX Mid Tower - SSD and Fans Questions

[dalaran]

Hi, I'm picking parts for a build for a friend and so far the only good affordable case for which I didn't get a "that's ugly" comment is this one
Fractal Design Focus G Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

But I do have a few small things I'm wondering about

First, I intend to use two mechanical hard drives and one SSD, from what I'm seing the SSD drive mount is placed behind the PSU, would having no ventilation at all in what looks like a very small enclosed space be an issue?

Second, how loud are the included fans?
The only info I found is 24.8 dBA. I assume that's only if the fan is going at full speed but still I'm wondering what it might sound like. I'd like to keep the build as quiet as possible.

Otherwise I'm also open to other case suggestions, so far the ones that got denied are
Corsair - 200R ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair - SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case

Requirements are
- Under 100 $ CAD (approx. 60-70 US)
- at least 1 external 5.25 drive bay
- Room for 2 mechanical HD and 1 SSD
- Dust filters (2 cats in the house)
- At least 2 front usb 3 ports, I also looked for cases with usb Type C (future proofing) but so far haven't found anything in my price range, and I'm assuming the motherboard would require a specific USB header for it.
- Fans with LEDs (if it weren't for that I'd go for Noctua fans)
- ATX Mid-tower or smaller

If it makes a difference this is the build I came up with so far (still haven't nailed down the motherboard and video card brands but it's a good start.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($274.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock - B450M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($96.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($182.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($98.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SSC GAMING Video Card ($364.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Optical Drive: Asus - DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($29.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($119.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case Fan: Fractal Design - FD-FAN-SSLL-120-WT 41.8 CFM 120mm Fan ($12.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $1431.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-24 23:34 EDT-0400

Thank you very much

 

[Darkbreeze]

The Focus G is probably about the best case in it's price range. I would not hesitate to use it and have done so on one build for somebody already. Nothing wrong with it for the price.

As for the SSD mounting, ALL five of my SSDs are mounted on the backside of the motherboard tray in my highly overclocked 6700k machine, with an overclocked graphics card using the Define S case. There are no thermal issues with any of them. That is pretty standard these days especially on systems designed for water cooling. I don't water cool, I use air, but I like the case for the lack of interference with airflow from front to back with no damn drive cages in the way. ALL drives are on the backside of the motherboard tray in that very small space. No issues.

Having a slightly negative or equal pressure cooling configuration is also helpful to help pull heat out through the nooks and crannies. Be sure to populate all the fan locations with decent quality fans. I'm pretty sure that case only comes with a single fan. You will want more case fans than that.

 

[dalaran]

The case comes with the 2 front fans pulling air into the case, I plan to add 1 at the back pushing it out. I had never worked on a case with SSDs on the backplate, so I wasn't too sure about it, but based on your comments it I understand that is pretty standard these days, thank you! Issue resolved then! I'll stick with that case, thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

That case has fan locations in the top as well, so in addition to the two front fans and the rear exhaust fan, I would HIGHLY recommend also installing a 140mm fan in the top fan location closest to the rear of the case as a second exhaust fan. If the budget will allow it, then populating BOTH of the top locations, AND the rear location, with exhaust fans would be a good idea as well.

 

[dalaran]

I will not be overclocking (intended user is not very technical) so I would hope having 2 intake and one outtake fans would have been enough.

I'll stress test the build a little bit if the temperature get out of control I'll add an extra fan at the top. (I usually aim for system temps under 50 C). It's mostly a matter of price and noise level. Also I might end up short on fan headers on the motherboard as well, so I'd have to look into getting 3 pins fan splitters which I'd rather avoid if I can.

I've had issues in the past, so as far as I'm concerned splitters are evil!
Thank you for your advice.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you want that drive, or drives, behind the motherboard tray to stay cool, I would advise two exhaust fans and only one front intake fan, rather the other way around, although two and two would be a lot better.

The reason being, with two exhaust fans you have a negative pressure arrangement that will result in PULLING hot air out from behind the tray rather than allowing it to sit there as a dead spot, unaffected by the intake airflow being brought in by the intake fans. It might not be an issue, but the configurations I've outlined would be a better choice regardless of any overclocking considerations.

It would also help the system to operate more quietly overall, because the CPU cooler, ANY CPU cooler, is only as good as the rate at which you are exchanging internal case air (hot) for external ambient air (cooler).

 

[dalaran]

Ok I'll give this a try thanks! (~15$ ain't gonna make that much of a difference at this point.)