Question Which has better airflow NZXT H500 or Define Mini C?

[noobpcmaker]

planning to buy a new case since my case has very poor airflow

 

[Aeacus]

Both cases have solid front panel and there's little to no difference in airflow.

I, personally, don't like solid front and top panel cases since they handicap the PC's airflow considerably. While this can be countered with high static pressure fans at high RPM, those fans also increase the noise coming out of the PC case, just to have proper airflow in such solid panel design cases.

For good airflow PC case, look towards;
Fractal Design Focus G, specs: https://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/focus-series/focus-g
Corsair 450D, specs: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categ...eries™-450D-Mid-Tower-PC-Case/p/CC-9011049-WW
Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG, specs: http://www.phanteks.com/Enthoo-Pro-M-TemperedGlass.html
or any other case with mesh front panel.

 

[noobpcmaker]

Focus G really looks sick tho but the dvd slot bothers me for some reason hahahaha. I think i get that instead since they are cheaper than h500 and define mini c

 

[Aeacus]

I too like Focus G appearance since it's the miniature version of my Corsair 760T V2 Black case (Skylake build's case).

Also, i find 5.25" external bay extremely useful since you can put basically anything into it besides ODD. All 3x of my PCs have 5.25" external bays; Skylake and Haswell builds have 3x while AMD has 2x. In there i have: external fan controller, 3.5" 9in1 card reader and ODD.

Click on spoiler to view:

Spoiler: hardware in 5.25" external bay

From left to right: Skylake, Haswell, AMD.
Full specs with more pics in my sig.

You can also put storage drives into the 5.25" bay. One 5.25" bay supports either 1x 3.5" drive or up to 3x 2.5" drives.

 

[noobpcmaker]

i have decide to buy the focus G thanks to you my man! Thank you for suggesting it!

 

[Karadjgne]

Currently have an optical in one bay and hdd + ssd parked in the other bay, all the hdd trays are removed for unblocked airflow directly at the gpu from the intakes. Customizing your setup is half the fun of building a pc. So have fun, that's a great case you've chosen, enjoy it.

 

[needhelp111111]

Both cases have solid front panel and there's little to no difference in airflow.

I, personally, don't like solid front and top panel cases since they handicap the PC's airflow considerably. While this can be countered with high static pressure fans at high RPM, those fans also increase the noise coming out of the PC case, just to have proper airflow in such solid panel design cases.

For good airflow PC case, look towards;
Fractal Design Focus G, specs: https://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/focus-series/focus-g
Corsair 450D, specs: https://www.corsair.com/eu/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Obsidian-Series™-450D-Mid-Tower-PC-Case/p/CC-9011049-WW
Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG, specs: http://www.phanteks.com/Enthoo-Pro-M-TemperedGlass.html
or any other case with mesh front panel.

what do u think of the Define R5?

 

[Karadjgne]

Best airflow case generally available is the fractal design meshify C. 3x intakes and a solid top with a single 120mm exhaust.

As a R5 owner, the airflow is decent, for a door's case. 2x 140mm in front, either 1x120mm rear with the silencer plates intact or drop the rear and use just 2x 140mm top exhaust. My fans never hit 100%, usually never exceed 60% unless I'm stress testing.

I've figured that over the years, the amount of airflow or even type of airflow isn't nearly as important as actually having decent air flow. Too many max out available fan slots and that ends up having circular flow, more than straight flow, and they end up dumping a ton of air into a case, that goes nowhere except in circles.

 

[Aeacus]

what do u think of the Define R5?

As far as my personal opinion about Define R5 goes, i see that it's just a plain black box with solid front panel. I don't like those bland, tasteless PC cases at all. For me, PC case must have it's own unique theme that makes it stand out from the rest. And as i said above, solid front panel case will have handicap in frontal airflow. Though, it has good fan support, supporting 140mm fans all around, including bottom fan mount. Also, 180mm of CPU cooler clearance is enough even for the biggest of air coolers. But where it falls is the price. At current date, Define R5 costs $126 while for comparison, Corsair 450D costs only $90,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/9JvRsY,sjX2FT/

Overall:
Aesthetics - 0/5
Airflow - 2/5
Fan support - 5/5
CPU cooler clearance - 5/5
Value - 2/5

 

[needhelp111111]

As far as my personal opinion about Define R5 goes, i see that it's just a plain black box with solid front panel. I don't like those bland, tasteless PC cases at all. For me, PC case must have it's own unique theme that makes it stand out from the rest. And as i said above, solid front panel case will have handicap in frontal airflow. Though, it has good fan support, supporting 140mm fans all around, including bottom fan mount. Also, 180mm of CPU cooler clearance is enough even for the biggest of air coolers. But where it falls is the price. At current date, Define R5 costs $126 while for comparison, Corsair 450D costs only $90,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/9JvRsY,sjX2FT/

Overall:
Aesthetics - 0/5
Airflow - 2/5
Fan support - 5/5
CPU cooler clearance - 5/5
Value - 2/5

Okay. Yeah, I bought it a year or two ago not only for its looks, but also the number of drive bays. If I remember correctly, I believe I was also looking at the Corsair 450D, and that there wasn't much of a price difference back then.

Why do you rate the airflow 2/5???

 

[Karadjgne]

It's more of a 3/5, honestly, there's plenty of space in front of the fans, unlike other cases where there's only ½" or slightly more. Most cases with open fronts would rate a 4.0-4.5/5 and there'd actually very few 5/5 such as the Meshify, a couple of Enthoo's, or the Silverstone Raven series.

Most of the R5's airflow issues derive from the hdd cages, they aren't an easy blow-through design, but since I don't have a single need for any of those, (hdd and ssd sit in the lower optical bay), they are now residing in the shipping box in the attic. No more issue. But thats going to be a factor in many older cases with plenty of hdd availability, a dinosaur from the full tower frame of mind. Modern cases designed since ssd prices became somewhat reasonable are seriously reducing airflow obstruction just by not having a full rack, maybe 1-2 bays under the psu shroud.

My R5 cost $20, brand new, scratch and dent sale, it had a small dent on the offside panel. Rubber mallet and a 2x4 cured that in 2 minutes. Was the kind of deal I couldn't pass up.

 

[Aeacus]

Why do you rate the airflow 2/5???

Like i said, it is my own personal opinion. Do read what i say.
As far as why; Define R5 has solid front panel which does handicap airflow far more than mesh front panel. Sure, you can use high static pressure fans to suck the air through front vents but that increases the noise coming out of the case.

Note: What you asked from us in someone else's topic is considered topic hijack. Either make your own topic about the Define R5 discussion or send me a PM. Any further discussion about your question will result in this topic closure!