Mid ATX vs. Full ATX for my needs

[chiefkikaho]

Hey yall,

Back at it like a crack addict... looking to upgrade the rig again. I use my rig for gaming, HD HTPC mostly... would use it for video editing if i even knew a lick about it.

Current rig:
z68-ud4 mobo
I5 2500K running at 4.5 stable
EVGA GTX 680 (haven't oc'd this at all and haven't been keeping tabs on full load)
cooler master hyper 212 heat sink (keeps the cpu under 40c full load)
Antec 300 mid atx
some crappy asus xonar sound card
a few scythe intake and exhaust fans
850w thermaltake 80 bronze


i think thats all that is really pertinent but ask away if i'm forgetting anything thats important for my question.


Summer is coming soon and I just want to keep my rig cool enough. My rig is cooled all by air... may go hydro for the cpu only not graphics cards but I think my temps are pretty reasonable for air.

I wanted to go full ATX only because I "thought" that all the room would allow for better air flow but I could be completely wrong. Is it better to have a mid atx case with good fan flow to draw out hot air or a full atx. Keep in mind that I am not going full hydro cool. I have two choices that I want to buy....

FULL SIZE:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=815878


MID SIZE:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=913293



All advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance!

 

[ksham]

It's not a fact that a ATX full tower is cooler than a ATX mid tower. From the 2 choices, I'd go with the Chaser.

 

[DarkSable]

Unless you NEED the space of the full tower, go mid - it just makes everything so much easier.

The size of the case has basically no impact on cooling in this scenario, as a mid-tower is going to be far from packed. (Micro sized cases cool just fine - it's things blocking the airflow that cause problems.)

Just use reliable fans with a slight positive pressure and you'll be just fine.

 

[unksol]

There's nothing wrong with the antec 300. You're going to be going through a lot of work and money for probably very very little difference in cooling.

 

[assasin32]

Your fine, temps are good. And if your running under 40 now under full load I am pretty sure you be fine during summer too. The Antec 300 is a good case, you won't see any temp drops going to a different case most likely unless your case is cluttered with cables and you clean that up in the new one.

The CM 212 is a good heatsink, you see maybe a couple celsius drop going with something like a h100i, but if you wanted lower temps I would just toss a second fan on there which should drop temps a little bit (couple celsius). It's not worth upgrading this in my opinion. The only worthy upgrade is custom water cooling and that will set you back a bit in terms of funds. The pre-built heatsinks like the h100i are not a big enough difference to warrant the cost since you have the CM 212.