Good Looking High Airflow Case?!

Associate
Joined
9 Oct 2011
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109
I know this is extremely subjective, but I'm looking for suggestions for decent looking high airflow case please...

The system I am looking to build will have AMD Ryzen 3950X, 64GB 3600MHz RAM, NZXT Kraken Z73 LCD AIO Cooler, ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 Super. No HDDs or optical drives. I will mainly use it for gaming, but I also occasionally do 3D rendering which means the computer can be under load for long periods so needs good cooling.

I'm a fan of the stylish brushed aluminium + tempered glass aesthetic, such as Thermaltake A500, Phanteks Evolv X, MSI Sekira 500P cases, but sadly these cases apparently have poor thermal performance - unless someone has had a different experience?

On the flip side, cases that are regarded as having good airflow generally tend to look a bit cheap and plastic to me! So I was hoping to find a middle ground with good thermals, dust filters, acceptable noise levels and looks stylish. Such as the 'Be Quiet Dark Base 900 Rev 2' or 'Corsair Obsidian 500D RGB SE' case perhaps? Or any other ideas. My budget is around £300 max, and am happy to buy additional fans for the case to improve performance.

Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Associate
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31 Jan 2008
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927
I purchased the Be Quiet Dark Base 900 Rev 2 last year after reading a few good reviews on it but within an hour of doing my build I began to regret it.
There are different set up options which is great but the instruction manual was very vague.
Two of the chassis screws rounded off because they were very tight \ poor quality screws. I had to drill them out in the end when I should have just sent the damn thing back.
I found out the screw problem was a common occurrence after doing a bit more in-depth research.
Mounting the psu was a total nightmare as was the shroud covering it.
There wasn't much clearance at the back for cable management either.
I was quite disappointed with the temps too.
I decided to buy the Corsair Obsidian 1000D two weeks ago and I can safely say.......
WOW!
Great case!!
It is BIG!!
Loads of set up options and mega room to do it in.
It's a bit pricey but worth every penny.
You will have to buy fans for it as they aren't included. I am using the ones out of the Be Quiet case at the moment.
Airflow is great and my temps are a lot lower.
There is a fan \ lighting controller included.
Cable management is first class as is ssd \ hdd storage space.
I could go on and on.
I suggest you watch some youtube videos and do some online research on the case to make your own mind up.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Jul 2005
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64GB RAM is a literal waste of money, you only need max 32GB. Spend the extra money on something on else that you need. :)
It literally isn't though.

For normal usage, yes it's a bit much but for 3D rendering (which OP clearly states they do), image and video processing, more is certainly very useful.
 
Caporegime
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8 Sep 2005
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Utopia
It literally isn't though.

For normal usage, yes it's a bit much but for 3D rendering (which OP clearly states they do), image and video processing, more is certainly very useful.
Nah, even dedicated 3D rendering websites recommend 32GB on their high-end 3D rendering builds. https://www.easyrender.com/a/what-performance-specs-should-your-pc-have-to-handle-3d-rendering

Please find me one example where 64GB is recommended for an "occasional" (as the OP describes himself) 3D renderer? :)
 
Soldato
Joined
29 May 2005
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4,899
Nah, even dedicated 3D rendering websites recommend 32GB on their high-end 3D rendering builds. https://www.easyrender.com/a/what-performance-specs-should-your-pc-have-to-handle-3d-rendering

Please find me one example where 64GB is recommended for an "occasional" (as the OP describes himself) 3D renderer? :)
really depend on the software. some 3D modelling softwares are extremely inefficient or extremely badly written those programmes itself require massive amount of memory. the rendering process might not eat up much but for the programmes to read model files and parametric I think 32GB might be a bit difficult.

I got 32GB, if I open a large project file in Revit (autodesk software are really poorly written), most of my ram will be gone. I wouldn't imagine opening multiple instances of model files or having a third party rendering process take place.

so it all depend on what software you use and what you are actually rendering, if the OP thinks and knows he needs 64GB then fair dos. it is an overkill for sure as the "rendering" seems to be oocasional. I am not sure if he is better served by VPN into work and using those resoures or using cloud services for the occasional stuff. who knows.

That CMH500 is horrendously ugly. haha
 
Caporegime
Joined
8 Sep 2005
Posts
27,425
Location
Utopia
really depend on the software. some 3D modelling softwares are extremely inefficient or extremely badly written those programmes itself require massive amount of memory. the rendering process might not eat up much but for the programmes to read model files and parametric I think 32GB might be a bit difficult.

I got 32GB, if I open a large project file in Revit (autodesk software are really poorly written), most of my ram will be gone. I wouldn't imagine opening multiple instances of model files or having a third party rendering process take place.

so it all depend on what software you use and what you are actually rendering, if the OP thinks and knows he needs 64GB then fair dos. it is an overkill for sure as the "rendering" seems to be oocasional. I am not sure if he is better served by VPN into work and using those resoures or using cloud services for the occasional stuff. who knows.

That CMH500 is horrendously ugly. haha
Ok sure, we can all invent use cases based on pure conjecture, but I work on common sense principles so no need to discuss this any further. :)
 
OcUK Staff
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26 Nov 2014
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2,473
Location
Stoke
P600S is probably the best case in it's price range and ideal for your needs. As a side note I own the Evolv X and whilst the thermals aren't as good as a mesh fronted case, they are much better than the previous iteration and my temps are very good in general.
 
Associate
Joined
2 Jul 2019
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379
Location
London
Some of the larger (and older) Lian Li cases had excellent cooling.
Although they are no longer in production, they can be be obtained for a reasonable price on a well known auction site.
I bought a large Lian Li case with 5 x 140mm fans last year for £16 (it was local so no postage either)
The case is excellent, the fans went in the bin and were replaced with Noctua 140mm fans.
 
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