[SOLVED] Looking for some of the best air cooled tower cases...

[Phaaze88]

I'm not interested in water cooling in the slightest(with my clumsy streak, it'd end in a disaster at some point). I know cases are biased to one end or the other, but which isn't always clear.
Hoping for some options that will have better thermal performance than the air cooled setup in my phantom 820, which I believe is actually designed more so for water cooling.
Budget is $400. Noise isn't an issue either. The goal is to achieve better air cooling than my current case, if possible.

 

[jankerson]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Cooler Master - Trooper SE ATX Full Tower Case ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $159.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-27 22:18 EST-0500

 

[jankerson]

No full tower buy good cases for airflow.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase MC500M ATX Mid Tower Case ($169.99 @ B&H)
Total: $169.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-27 22:27 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase H500P Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case ($158.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $158.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-27 22:29 EST-0500

 

[Phaaze88]

No full tower buy good cases for airflow.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase MC500M ATX Mid Tower Case ($169.99 @ B&H)
Total: $169.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-27 22:27 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase H500P Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case ($158.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $158.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-27 22:29 EST-0500

Isn't the front panel on the MC500M detrimental to airflow? I do see those top and bottom slots, but they don't appear very large.

 

[gogi]

Just ordered a cougar panzer s...so....

 

[Phaaze88]

So I did a little more looking around(Tom's, TPU, GN...), and narrowed it down to these:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Cougar - Panzer Evo RGB ATX Full Tower Case ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $179.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-28 11:50 EST-0500
^From Tom's best cases list

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase H500P Mesh White ATX Mid Tower Case ($140.75 @ Amazon)
Total: $140.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-28 11:55 EST-0500
or H500M mesh, which shares similar specs, with a few extra, at ~$179.99

And finally, this ancient beast as taken from GN reviews:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Silverstone - Raven RV02B-W-USB3.0 ATX Full Tower Case
Total: $0.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-01-28 12:04 EST-0500
^this particular one is no longer available, but a slightly updated - but still old - E model is available on amazon, ~$220.
Alternatives to this are the more recent, but still a few years old, Raven 5 and Fortress 5 models, $130 and $245 respectively.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-MasterBox-MB511-Tower/dp/B07CYBQWYQ

I have this case. I put 3 led fans in front, 2 on top, 1 for rear exhaust.

 

[Phaaze88]

Thought I'd at least share how I got to the final pick.
Knocked out the Cougar Panzer Evo RGB first due to having more glass than I was actually comfortable with, and weight. I didn't mention this before, but I'm having 'back issues', and a case lighter and smaller than my current one would be less of a burden.

Next was all the Silverstone cases. I read and watched good things about their products, but what killed it for me is that I wouldn't really be able to use my noctua fans in those cases, save for just 1 as exhaust...

Finally down to the last 2, the H500P Mesh and H500M. They are almost identical, save for some slight differences.
The Gamer's Nexus video, Best Cases of 2018 helped me with this decision. I don't really care for RGB, and paying $50 more for features I likely won't use, plus it's about 2.7kg(6lbs) heavier than the H500P mesh... thus, I'm going with the H500P mesh.

I was also considering Lian Li's PC-O11 Dynamic, but unfortunately, there wasn't enough clearance for my NH-D15S. A bummer, as that would've been a nice one to work with.


TL;DR: H500P Mesh wins.