Noctis 450 vs Phantom 410

[Bumpiest Poppy]

Hello,
I am having a hard time deciding between either the Phantom 410 or the Noctis 450 in white. I really like the look of the phantom, but I want a bigger side window. I also really like the Noctis 450, but there are no 5.25 drive bays for optical drives and a fan controller. Do I really need 5.25 bays though?

Please help me decide, I am going for the white/blue build.

 

[vmem]

if optical drive is your main issue, personally I've found an external USB DVD drive to be sufficient for $20-25 for those purposes. I don't play bluray on my PC and I almost never use discs for anything anymore (MAYBE windows install, but you're almost always better off making a bootable USB for it with the most up to date install from microsoft).

I would say if the 5.25" bay is your main issue, I would go with the noctis. especially since there are internal fan control hubs such as the NZXT grid that are really good

 

[Bumpiest Poppy]

if optical drive is your main issue, personally I've found an external USB DVD drive to be sufficient for $20-25 for those purposes. I don't play bluray on my PC and I almost never use discs for anything anymore (MAYBE windows install, but you're almost always better off making a bootable USB for it with the most up to date install from microsoft).

I would say if the 5.25" bay is your main issue, I would go with the noctis. especially since there are internal fan control hubs such as the NZXT grid that are really good

Thank you. Does the noctis come with a fan controller, or would I have to buy a separate fan controller like the NZXT Grid. The grid does not mount on a 5.25 bay, right?

Sorry, this is my first build so I have a lot of questions 😀

 

[skyewcw]

The Noctis has an 8 port PWM fan hub that plugs into your motherboard so that you can control your fan speeds in your mobo's BIOS. I wouldn't recommend the Grid or Grid+ because the PWM fan hub in the Noctis is just as good. To answer your other question, the Grid and Grid+ are mounted inside the case on any wall with the double sided adhesive that they come with, not in any bays.

On the topic of the cases themselves, I actually own a White Phantom 410 and will be selling it soon to get the White Noctis 450. When I initially got my 410, I noticed that the window was a bit smaller than I had expected and now I definitely want a case with a bigger window. Unless controlling your fan speeds is a necessity, I wouldn't even worry about the controller. On my 410 I have it set to the max nearly 100% of the time. A controller is only useful if you need absolute silence when your computer is on. It is nice to have, but very unnecessary. In my situation, I am giving up my fan controller and a 140mm fan right next to my gpu for a bigger window and a much better design.

Also, you do not need any 5.25 bays. The only time I ever used my optical drive was to install windows, which could have easily been done with an external dvd drive, like vmem said. If you have a lot of DVDs that you want to watch, get the Noctis and buy a $20-$30 external dvd drive.

Don't worry about having a lot of questions. I did my first build 7 months ago and the funnest part was talking to people about different parts and deciding on which ones to get.

 

[Bumpiest Poppy]

The Noctis has an 8 port PWM fan hub that plugs into your motherboard so that you can control your fan speeds in your mobo's BIOS. I wouldn't recommend the Grid or Grid+ because the PWM fan hub in the Noctis is just as good. To answer your other question, the Grid and Grid+ are mounted inside the case on any wall with the double sided adhesive that they come with, not in any bays.

On the topic of the cases themselves, I actually own a White Phantom 410 and will be selling it soon to get the White Noctis 450. When I initially got my 410, I noticed that the window was a bit smaller than I had expected and now I definitely want a case with a bigger window. Unless controlling your fan speeds is a necessity, I wouldn't even worry about the controller. On my 410 I have it set to the max nearly 100% of the time. A controller is only useful if you need absolute silence when your computer is on. It is nice to have, but very unnecessary. In my situation, I am giving up my fan controller and a 140mm fan right next to my gpu for a bigger window and a much better design.

Also, you do not need any 5.25 bays. The only time I ever used my optical drive was to install windows, which could have easily been done with an external dvd drive, like vmem said. If you have a lot of DVDs that you want to watch, get the Noctis and buy a $20-$30 external dvd drive.

Don't worry about having a lot of questions. I did my first build 7 months ago and the funnest part was talking to people about different parts and deciding on which ones to get.

You honestly help me so much. Noctis 450 it is. Thank you!