I'm trying to decide between these cases for my new build. My only concern with the torrent is reviews saying cable management is hard. I'm mostly interested in having a silent pc so do you think the 2 180mm fans on the torrent would be quieter than the 3 120 on the 500 fx ? They both come with high quality fans. I'm also open to any other suggestions for cases that have good airflow and are nearly silent.
Darkbreeze
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Much as I am a Fractal Design proponent, in this case the Be Quiet case is probably the better option based strictly on the requirements of silent operation and the fans that come with each case. The Dynamic X2 180mm fans that come with the Torrent compact are much louder at half or full speed than the Light wings in the 500fx. However, since most case fans, when properly configured, should rarely see anything near max RPMs except when under an extremely demanding load for a fairly long time, it might just come down to what your personal preference is.
Both these are high quality cases, with half decent fans. TheTorrent compact however DOES have a significant issue with not having much room for cable management. This probably isn't a terrible problem if two criteria are met.
One, you are an experienced builder who has been doing this for a while and is very comfortable with navigating the cable management issues especially for those who spent a good many years building in cases in the old days before cable management features were even really a major consideration or were featured aspects of the case. If you've never built before, or have limited experience, especially if that case had pretty decent cable management features and reasonable room behind the motherboard tray, you might have some difficulty with this case.
Two, you are using a modular power supply so that unnecessary cables can be eliminated, which will make things significantly easier. Even a semi-modular PSU qualifies as helpful here since everybody will need to use the EPS and ATX power cables anyhow, so it really doesn't matter that those cables are not modular so long as the rest of them are.
As an aside, and again I am a big fan of Fractal designs quality, customer service and design aesthetics in most cases, but I think Be Quiet wins hands down in this comparision when it comes to how the two cases LOOK. I realize these FD cases from this series have very good airflow, but to me, the front panels are simply unappealing, and frankly, ugly. Given the choice I'd much rather have my Define S (Which admittedly I have a fully custom modded front panel on) than anything from this series but not everybody will agree, nor perhaps even care, so long as it's performance is good. Since performance is good on both of these cases, it might simply be a matter of your preference of aesthetic or fact that the Light wings have a maximum noise level of around 24db each, while the Dynamic X2 180 fans have about a 34db noise level. Significantly louder. Again, probably there shouldn't be a real need to ever see maximum speed operation except under the most demanding and extended processes, but if you should happen to need to see that, I believe the FD stock fans are going to be louder.
Both these are high quality cases, with half decent fans. TheTorrent compact however DOES have a significant issue with not having much room for cable management. This probably isn't a terrible problem if two criteria are met.
One, you are an experienced builder who has been doing this for a while and is very comfortable with navigating the cable management issues especially for those who spent a good many years building in cases in the old days before cable management features were even really a major consideration or were featured aspects of the case. If you've never built before, or have limited experience, especially if that case had pretty decent cable management features and reasonable room behind the motherboard tray, you might have some difficulty with this case.
Two, you are using a modular power supply so that unnecessary cables can be eliminated, which will make things significantly easier. Even a semi-modular PSU qualifies as helpful here since everybody will need to use the EPS and ATX power cables anyhow, so it really doesn't matter that those cables are not modular so long as the rest of them are.
As an aside, and again I am a big fan of Fractal designs quality, customer service and design aesthetics in most cases, but I think Be Quiet wins hands down in this comparision when it comes to how the two cases LOOK. I realize these FD cases from this series have very good airflow, but to me, the front panels are simply unappealing, and frankly, ugly. Given the choice I'd much rather have my Define S (Which admittedly I have a fully custom modded front panel on) than anything from this series but not everybody will agree, nor perhaps even care, so long as it's performance is good. Since performance is good on both of these cases, it might simply be a matter of your preference of aesthetic or fact that the Light wings have a maximum noise level of around 24db each, while the Dynamic X2 180 fans have about a 34db noise level. Significantly louder. Again, probably there shouldn't be a real need to ever see maximum speed operation except under the most demanding and extended processes, but if you should happen to need to see that, I believe the FD stock fans are going to be louder.
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