A door casing is a decorative trim that hides the joins between the door frame and the wall. It consists of three pieces: two long strips on either side of a door and a shorter piece. The most widely used door casing is 2 1/4 inches in width, but can range up to 3 inches. The thickness is typically 1/2 inch but can range up to 3/4 inch thick for a more custom fit.
Casing installation requires a minimum window or door projection of 1″. The standard door frame size for exterior doors is usually 3′ 0″ wide by 6′ 8″ high, with the door width usually taken from the frame. Building codes typically require a door at least 36 inches wide for the building’s main entrance. Some main entrance doors may be as wide as 42 inches.
The most popular size for exterior casing is 3 1/2″, which is a very popular size in 85 of home designs. The wider the trim, the more it will take away from the house. In Canada, both double- and triple-glazed casement windows have a minimum size of 14.25 inches in width by 18 inches in height.
Exterior trim should include cornices, overhanging eaves, fascias, belt courses, pilasters, surrounds, gutters, leaders, half-timber work, shutters, trellises, and lap siding. A general rule of thumb is to use 5/4 (1″ actual) thick material for all exterior trim with lap siding.
For PVC trim, provide proper gapping based on ambient temperature and length of trim, and use screws for fastening. The exterior window trim style you choose can help create your home’s style and unique sense of curb appeal.
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Is exterior window casing the same as trim?
Trim and casing molding are often used interchangeably in home improvement, but they are distinct terms. Trim refers to all molding within a home, while casing is a specific type of trim that serves a specific aesthetic and functional purpose. This article delves into interior casing, discussing its purpose, door casing profiles, and window casing trim profiles. Casing moulding is the most visible trim inside a room, as it covers the gap between the drywall and the window or door frame, creating an aesthetically pleasing final look. It is generally thicker than base moulding and is often the most visible trim. Design tips and installation and maintenance of casings are also discussed.
What size should casing be?
Bud Dietrich, an architect based in Tampa Bay, Florida, recommends sizing window and door casings at about 50% of the height of the baseboard. This is not a strict rule, as casings that match the dimensions of the baseboards can also work well. Dietrich’s passion lies in transforming clients’ houses into their homes, ensuring they accommodate their lives without conflicting with them at every junction.
He aims to add curb appeal and create a beautiful streetscape, and designs any addition to look and feel like it has always been there. Dietrich’s projects have won numerous design awards and have been featured on various media, including television, magazines, and books.
While there are guidelines for sizing trim, they should not replace personal preferences and preferences. Begin by defining the story you and the room want to tell, then purchase samples and have mock-ups built. This is a small price to pay for getting the trim right.
What is the width of exterior door casing?
Door casings come in various sizes, with the standard width being 2 1/4 inches. Any wider than 3 1/2 inches requires custom-ordering. When selecting the right door trim size, consider the room size and ceiling height to ensure proportionate and well-balanced appearance. A cheat sheet can help determine the standard size of door molding. The trim should fit with surround trim and crown molding for a well-balanced look.
What size should exterior window trim be?
The Belco XT® Trim product line offers a variety of exterior window trim sizes, including 4″ and 6″ widths and 1″ to 1″ thicknesses. The trims are available in a range of thicknesses (1″, 5/4″, 2″), widths (2″, 12″), and lengths (8-20′).
How wide should exterior corner trim be?
To ensure a perfect trim installation, start by checking the width of the existing trim along the eaves of your house. If it’s 6 inches wide, plan for the exterior corner trim to be slightly smaller, about 4 to 5 inches wide. Proper measurements are crucial for a flawless trim installation, especially when working with corners, openings, or complex architectural features. Invest time and attention in this phase to avoid challenges during installation. In complex areas, take multiple measurements to capture intricacies accurately, allowing you to cut and place the trim confidently.
What is the size of an exterior door frame?
The standard dimensions of a door frame are 80 inches in height, 1 3/4 inches in thickness, and 36 inches in width. Additionally, 30- and 32-inch options are available.
What is the difference between trim and casing?
Trim and casing molding are often used interchangeably in home improvement, but they are distinct terms. Trim refers to all molding within a home, while casing is a specific type of trim that serves a specific aesthetic and functional purpose. This article delves into interior casing, discussing its purpose, door casing profiles, and window casing trim profiles. Casing moulding is the most visible trim inside a room, as it covers the gap between the drywall and the window or door frame, creating an aesthetically pleasing final look. It is generally thicker than base moulding and is often the most visible trim. Design tips and installation and maintenance of casings are also discussed.
What is the trim on the outside of a window called?
Aluminum clad is the exterior wood parts of a window covered with extruded aluminum, with a factory-applied finish to deter elements. Argon is an inert gas used in insulating glass units to reduce heat transfer and make homes more comfortable. Casing is the decorative molding or framing around a window that covers the space between the window frame or jamb and the wall. Hinged glass panels open inward to allow access to snap-in between-the-glass blinds, shades, and grilles.
Lock handles are locking mechanisms located on the jamb of a window. Operators are crank-operated devices for opening and closing casement or awning windows. Weatherstripping is a resilient material used to reduce air leaks and prevent water from entering the structure. Window combinations can be considered, including pairing standard operable windows with fixed or picture windows or even custom options.
Fixed panels are inoperable panels of a window, like the top sash of a single-hung window or the pane of glass used in a picture window. Mullions are major structural pieces that combine two or more windows together. Grilles visually divide window panels, giving the glass the appearance of multiple glass panes.
How do you trim outside corners?
The text provides instructions for the user to slide up to a mark and cut on the left side of it, subsequently adjusting the angle by 45 degrees and locking it into place.
What is the common well casing size?
Most water wells, except for large industrial ones, have casings between four and eight inches in diameter. These casings are popular for residential and agricultural users and can significantly impact the well’s performance. An eight-inch well can provide more water in a shorter time than a six-inch well, but this is a common misconception. A wider well can accommodate more water but requires a more powerful pump to draw it to the surface. On average, doubling the diameter of a well’s casing increases its overall yield by just 10%, with little effect on the well’s water pressure and gallons-per-minute.
What is the rule for trim in a house?
Baseboard height should be approximately 7 times the wall height for a solid, definable base without being too big. A comfortable proportion of baseboard to wall height is ideal. For a room with a 9 foot high ceiling, a baseboard of 8 inches tall is suitable. The 50 Percent Rule is a good starting point for sizing vertical trim elements like door and window casings, which should be smaller and less hefty than baseboards.
This rule is also applicable to crowns, but there are many variables to consider, such as profile and picture rail. Overall, a baseboard height of 8 inches is suitable for a room with a 9 foot high ceiling.
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I’ve been using full towers but am definitely switching to mid tower with next build. I’m currently in the old Cooler Master CM Stacker, and it’s just way too big and bulky. Your article covers the reasons why perfectly. The extra space is just not needed for cooling these days and the footprint the case takes up is just too big when I can fit the exact build in a smaller case. Leaning towards the Fractal Design Meshify.
I went from a mid size Case (Thermaltake V9 Blacx) to a Full Size InwinGR-one (white) as I wanted more room for easier installation of components. The In win allows removal of the Hard Drive bays to allow better air flow. The V9 case was more focussed on Exhaust than In-take with only being room for a 120mm fan upfront and a 220mm roof mount and 120mm Rear exhaust fan where as the GR-one has room for 10 fans in total all being 140mm.. So a full size case does allow for more fans for more cooling without needing to go the water cooling path.
I completely agree with your assessment on WHY most are going after Mid Tower cases but would add another reason…..desk space. Why? Most who spend alot on their machines want to show them off. How do you do that? Place them ON the desk instead of under right? That being said, no one wants a HUGE desk because most of the time we dont have the space for one and so desk space comes at a premium. We still want to show off our desktops without losing that desk space and thats another reason for going Mid or ITX.
I tried buying the smallest case I could squeeze a build into and didn’t like it after all because cable management is very difficult and it’s also hard to clean. I prefer a mid to small-mid-sized case so you have enough room to work and also it makes it easy to clean. I have no use for giant cases unless you’re putting a ton of HDs into it as a server. I also really like handles for easy lifting. Price is the next priority before aesthetics. I do like the tempered glass and all that, but I’m not willing to pay $100 more just for a case when I could put that towards a better CPU or GPU.
i would definitely agree that full towers are going to the way side besides for full custom loops or like dual loop set ups. i have a nzxt phantom 630 windowed edition and i just ordered a phanteks eclipse p400 tg to replace it with my new build and i do not feel like im giving up on anything in doing so. of course my current build is long in the tooth at this point and this case compared to some now is pretty cramped.
Dont know what case size to get? I’ll give you the rundown. So, when you start looking for cases most people are going to recommend ATX, mainly because that’s all most PC builders know what to work with and will tell you it gives you better airflowand therefore better cooling. But let’s be honest, components have lower TDP’s these days, and having more space for air to pass through isn’t going to make much of a difference anymore, maybe 5°c difference at idle when comparing an ATX vs Mini-ITX with the same specs. They’ll also probably recommend you the NZXT S340 because why the fuck not, everyone has one so you might as well have one too. Then you’ve got people who recommend m-ATX. Objectively the best case size and the case that experienced builders will probably choose. Much smaller and looks way better on your desk. Usually supports a dual SLI setup (don’t know why anyone wants to do SLI or crossfire these days anyway, but it’s there if you want it) and if you care about airflow, again it’s there with m-ATX. Then you’ve got Mini-ITX. For either the hipster builders, or those who really want a challenge. The second smallest form factor right next to STX and the most travel friendly case, light and can fit into most suitcases. Little airflow but again, there’s little difference at idle compared to an ATX setup with modern specs. But if you’re really worried about temperatures, some cases support AIO water coolers, and there are some amazing ITX cpu coolers out there. Then there’s the weird case sizes; STX: Used for office work and home media PC’s.
My first build, which I did about a month ago, was done with the Node 202 from Fractal Design, very nice little case that does have fairly good air flow without any case fans. It’s an ITX case and I’m happy with it, looks good, it’s black, was fairly easy to put the parts in, cable management was a bit rough, but I did it. Including the case and built in PSU, the total hardware price was $600 as I went with a $80 motherboard from Asrock with fairly positive reviews, an i3 6100, a GTX 1050, and 2 4gb(8b total) DDR4 ram. For storange just got a 240gb SSD. I didn’t need it to be compact, I just really liked how the Node 202 looked which added about $100 to the total. As someone who mainly just plays one game, I didn’t need a ton of storage, just enough for that game and a few others I may play later on. Overall, perfect for my needs. Only reason I’d need to build a new PC is if I feel like in 5 years this fails to meet my needs. And when I do, I’ll probably grab a midtower case… eh, I got a bit carried away, sorry. Oh well, here’s a link to the pcpartpicker: pcpartpicker.com/user/Qwaiii/saved/np7pgs
I mostly agree with you except the use of motherboard size to categorize the kind of case : I’ve got an e-atx board in a case about the size of the Fractal Define C (45 x 17 x 45 cm vs 40 x 21 x 40 cm). I don’t think that those size of tower will disappear any soon but that case manufacturer will continue to improve on the motherboard / case size ratio.
When I built my system in August 2016, I chose the Fractal Design Define S. Beautiful case, clean, and still has room to add a custom water cooling loop, multiple GPUs, and various storage options. Mine has 1 SSD, 1 GPU, and a CORSAIR H100i v2. Overkill of a case, I know. About 2 weeks ago, I built a system for my brother using the Fractal Design Mini C, and, I fell in love. So much, that I’ve been thinking about replacing my Define S and ATX motherboard 🙂 I’ve always thought it was in my best interest to use a large case “just in case” (no pun intended), and for future-proofing. But going forward, I think my future builds will focus more in the mATX form factor. ITX is too small, and full towers are just too big for my needs.
i built a new pc about a month ago in the Phanteks P400S and had some real issues with it: 1. The front fans were being choked. (this was the biggest issue) Which caused my reference cooler gpu to ramp up the fans all the time. 2. The paint was thin in some areas (when putting the screws in the psu the paint came right off, for example) 3. It was difficult to get the psu into the basement because it had to go in on an angle from the side. 4. I had difficulty removing a 3.5″ drive from the plastic cage and when i did finally get it out i realised a small plastic stud had broken off in the thread of my drive. In the end i decided to buy a Fractal Meshify C instead (the fans being choked on the p400s was the deciding factor) and the difference was night and day in some areas. 1. The front is all mesh so you actually get better temps/airflow 2. It’s actually smaller than the P400S but is easier to work with! 3.There is a bracket for the psu that allows you to slide the psu in from the back 4.There is actually more space to hide cables in the back. 5. There are 3 ssd mounts behind the motherboard as opposed to the P400s’s 2 mounts. 6. The 3.5″ drive sleds are actually metal instead of plastic and have vibration dampeners. Anyway that’s all i can think of for now if anyone even cares.
At the moment, I’m using a full tower case (NZXT Phantom 820) in my gaming rig, and my next build will either keep the same case, or move onto a newer full tower such as the BeQuiet Dark Base Pro 900. While I don’t necessarily need all that extra space a full tower offers (at least at this precise moment), once I get back into some of my older hobbies (especially the audio related ones) I’m going to be back to running 2 SSD’s and 3-5 hard drives alongside dual article cards. I sure love how a full tower case looks next to my desk though! HTPC is currently in a mid-tower (Fractal Designs R4), and when we upgrade it to newer specs odds are it will be upgraded to a full tower case unless there’s a decent mid-tower out there that can handle 6-8 hard drives without taking on any compromises. For this rig though, preference is to stick with mid tower simply because we don’t want it being taller than the TV – I suppose we could upgrade to a bigger TV 😛
After moving to a much warmer climate and incredibly hotter summers I decided to move my system to a Thermaltake Core v21 for better cooling. IDK what it is but I simply love cube cases with horizontal motherboard trays. I’m considering building a Threadripper workstation and even then, my first thought was whether I could find a cube case with a horizontal motherboard tray.
When I built my first PC 1,5 years ago i fell in love with the Corsair 780t in white. When I first saw this one I knew i had to buy it for my build and I stil don’t regret it, even tho it’s a very expensive case. Sometimes i feel like a smaller case would have been better but hey.. I still love it! Buy what you like and love, hence you have to watch it every day! 🙂
Not the best organization. I would start based on your requirements… 1. Where is the PC physically going to be? (Under your desk, on your desk, under a monitor, in a cabinet, do you move around a lot, etc.) 2. What is the PC going to do? (Home, gaming, basic productivity, media box, media network, development, databases, etc.) 3. How much time/effort are you going to spent on the build? I see little reason to spend time on a mini-ITX case if it is going to sit under a desk which has tons of room. I see little reason to look at a full-sized tower if it is supposed to sit behind a TV and run Netflix all day. I see little reason to look at a mini-ITX case if you are trying to run a article editing company and have massive storage, power, and rendering issues.
We are going from a Thermaltake Commander MS Snow eddition to the Thermaltake 71 Thmpered Glass RGB Edition. I know my motherboard, Asus P-8Z77V is going to get lost in the case. I’m hoping in the future to look more into water cooling and upgrading the motherboard at a later date. I went full because the case looked cool and the sides have hinges for the glass.
My family lives in China and I study in UK. So I just built an ITX system with 7700K and 1060 (machine not only for gaming but also for productivity and server hosting). This way I have the option to pack my entire system into my luggage and carry it back home during long holidays. The enthoo evolv itx isn’t exactly a small chassis, but it strikes a good balance between being small enough to fit inside my luggage, and being spacious enough to accommodate for my drives and other hardware.
You know what i miss the most on recent full towers? Front drive bays. I have a HAF 932, front drive bays are populated by a dvd burner, card reader, fan controler, vfd media display and a little set of switches i made to control the lights inside, If i were to transfer all these equipment to most of the modern, “not gamer” looking full towers in the market, i would probably have to give up on almost everything. since most of the cases rarely have more than 2 bays up front. Seriously, if i’m buying full tower, i’m buying it because i want usable space. “but ultra towers have what you need…”, yeah, i heard that before, but they are also twice the price budget i’m looking for, and twice the footprint i’m willing to work on.
Cases that are good for certain purposes: EATX: Hardcore Water-cooling or if you want to mess with High End CPUs or OVERKILL Battle stations ATX: Standard PC if you want nice airflow and less noise while having large compatibility with any PC part mATX: Want less space on your desk being taken up so buy these types of cases. Choose wisely though since certain cases wont support certain GPUs Mini ITX: If you want to go to LAN parties or have a Go Anywhere Do Anything PC than this set up is for you
Dmitry, tell these manufacturers we need an eatx case that isnt the size of a house. So many advancements have been made in case design, yet our eatx cases are still massive simply because they’re still putting the power supply below the board. Surely it can be slid forward or relocated to save some space?
I’m looking forward to build two ITX systems: One, for my father, using the Cooler Master Elite 130 and one, more content-creator-oriented, on a HTPC ITX form factor either on a Fractal Node 202 or a Silverstone ML08 (I’m still undecided and open to suggestions). Yes, I’m more ITX oriented since the added practicality of the small form factor.
I have a Mid-tower and an empty Full-tower, I’m leaning towards building in the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv once I can afford it, if I had to say anything about it, I’d think that full towers would be more of an aesthetics thing, or as you brought up, for those enthusiasts (like me) who’d want to custom water cool their system, but even then you don’t need to have a full tower case in order to do so.
I personally am looking at moving from standard computer cases to 19″ racks just because having 3 different computers in 3 different cases is so much less space efficient than to grab a rack and some 3U ATX cases and move everything there. There’s also a 3U double ITX case available that I could use at some point too. I just hope more people join the 19″ ServerRackMasterRace…
I want to point out about the temperature for P400 as I have one myself…the reason P400 runs hotter is due to the air being drawn. Unlike Define C and S340 or any other case which the dust filters sit right infront of the fan while the P400 does not. The Dust filter is very far away from the fan and resulted choking the fan as no direct fresh air, the fan could be drawing air existing within the chassis. What I did to make my case being cooler in temp is to remove the stock dust filter and bought magnetic fan filters from Silverstone and place it right infront of them and resulted cooler in temperature as the setup is no difference with any other case.
I chose the corsair air 240, a cube case that I could fit in a tiny nook back when I was living in an apartment. I chose it because it was the most compact mATX case with the greatest room for expansion. As time has gone by I really don’t think I will be replacing it any time soon. I personally find that ATX builds mid or full have too many features for my needs and in the process, their size feels wasted. ITX don’t have enough for me no matter how much I adore their absolute minimal footprint. If I could, I would definitely go smaller. but the mATX cube case is perfect for me.
Our needs shift away from needing storage space? What. SSDs are still far to expensive especially if you’ve already got a few TB of files that you need access too. The storage options on recent cases are absolutely pathetic. By all means, enable people to install water coolers, but damn, at least find a creative solution to allow us to keep our HDD drives.
I have both m-atx and atx cases.. m-atx GD09 has a p8z77-m pro / i7-3770 / Gemini cooler / gtx 670 direct CU. Super for article perusal, but gaming will create some noise. No room for water cooling. Atx case is the 460 crystal, H170 pro gaming, i7-6700 / captain 120 ex AIO / gtx 1080. This case is super quiet even while gaming. I love both cases.. its a about simple lines and modern looks without being over the top.
I would say that maybe there is a slight shift towards more compact cases. But I also think there is a shift in our needs as we grow up… Or grow old. I used to have a very big full tower in my 20s but now as family man with limited space I’m much more interested in compact designs. Of course I am not a content creator or a professional.. So I don’t need too much storage space.
If you are space limited an ITX is a nice choice but if you are not there isn’t any benefit with going small. My case is probably 2x as big as I need but I wanted a case that I wouldn’t have to worry if my GPU was too large or heavy or if I wanted to go custom loop in the future. So no I won’t be going small and for me mid towers all look more or less the same, Everyone has an NZXT, Phanteks or Fractal case it seems.
Why Corsair spec-03 is not there? It is the best case i have ever used/seen on market. It’s pretty. It offers 2 fans. It costs around 60-70euros so it’s also cheap. It has everything you need. It offers 2 front spaces for DVD-ROMs a “feature” most of these “top-end” cases are lacking. It offers good cable managmend. It has 2 useful specific spots to install 2 SSDs easy way. Has good air flow. Has leds. It’s compact but can easily fit a full-atx motherboard. And you can even fit an hydro cooler into it (although i use noctua’s air coolers myself) So I really do not see why it is missing from your top list. I currently own 2 of them myself, got them over 2 years and they rock. And I built a system for a friend where i also used one there. For me it is the no1 case in every way. I plan to get another one soon in order to be futureproof because I have a feeling they might stop selling it not because it is bad but on the contrary, it is that good that probably Corsair loses money since people prefer that one over their more expensive models. If you haven’t tried it yet please do and tell me what you think.
from an aesthetic point of view I love mini itx cases. But I think I will buy a micro atx because of the better airflow and space. What I don’t know (I’m REALLY ignorant) is how many sticks of Ram I can use in a micro atx configuration. The prices of ram are super high right now, I don’t want to pick just one stick but I don’t know if with the matx I will have other slots if I want to add other ram in the future. An answer about this would be truly appreciated.
Loving my little gaming rig in my NCASE M1. I’d love to get a chance to build in the new DAN CASE A4 SFX too. IMO, SFF is the way to go. 99% of people don’t really need all the extra room in their computers, so why have a massive box of a PC when you don’t need it? I prefer mITX, but every now and then I think I might have preferred mATX, simply for the extra PCIe lane. But usually that doesn’t really matter.
im rocking a rosewill rise glow slim atx tower. i current am using an aio to cool an i5 4590 (i will go to a 4790k or switch to zen in the near future) with an asus z97-a and a msi gtx 980. the i had a great building experience with the case and would recommend it when there is a sale for it. it can go down to 60 dollars. (though I would recommend changing the fans)
I have a Fractal Node 804 at the moment. m-atx 4790k and a Gigabyte G1 970 (yeah, that monster fits in there with a fan in the front after some modding). Considering a new build this year when ryzen has been out for a bit but want to go bigger this time, ATX size. the 2 chamber in the 804 is great for separating the AiO radiator from the heat the GPU and the other components make, but cable managing is… let’s say… it could be easier. i have 1 SSD and 3 3.5″ drives crammed in there so the space is fought over. So cable managing is one reason i want to go bigger, a little for SLI/crossfire reasons but i also want to give the next build some more show of factor, if that makes sense. Thinking of using a IN WIN 509 or similar size for the next build.
to me? its really down to the death of spinning disk storage… Optical drives are huge as well as 3.5″ HDD’s especially compared to 2.5″ n M.2 SSDs.. and when you can get 6-8TB 3.5″ why would you need a second large 3.5″ HDD? data redundancy is a niche market that normally has its own computer soo u can have ECC Ram as well as RAID
I’m an mATX as it offers the most options at various price ranges, does not take up a ton of space on my desk, and still allows me to fit all the hardware I need inside, but I still build with 1 Blu-Ray/DVD-RW drive in my system so I don’t have to dig out my USB 3.0 2.5in Blu-Ray/DVD-RW drive when say burning an ISO to a DVD/CD that won’t work on a USB thumb drive, or when I want to play one of my older PC titles I have on DVD/CD.
My current build is housed in a Corsair Graphite 600T. I love the case. Its on the larger end of the mid-tower scale, so its nice and roomy to work in with excellent cable management. It’s not a box. I like that someone actually designed the exterior, as opposed to just looking at a shipping package and saying, “Yep, that’ll do.” for design, yet isn’t an overwrought silly looking thing like some “gaming” cases are. Importantly, it has 5.25″ drive bays. It’s annoying that so many new cases don’t come with these. Yes, we’re going digital, but I has a legacy CD/DVD drive for perusal movies, hard copy software, or if I need to burn a disc. Plus I use another bay for my NZXT card reader and a third has a storage drawer. Seriously, having a place to keep a few USB cables, flash drives, and my 2200 mAh power back when space on my metal/glass desk is at a premium is wonderful. Really, its only downsides are small window and lack of a “showcase” location for SSD. A little creative engineering with the drive pedestal and a Corsair SSD mount fixed that. iTX cases are cool, but I would one if I were building some sort of media machine, as I like the room and cooling potential of a mid or full tower case. If ever I replace this Corsair or build another machine, it would likely be mid-tower as they’re the best balance of space and size, especially now as you discussed. With that said, that Panzer MAX looks really interesting and in that shot it really didn’t look that much bigger than the Master Case 5T, so it doesn’t seem outrageously sized.
I’ve gone from large tower, to now wanting as small and compact as possible. I’d like to see more, more compact mATX case options and even mini ITX case options.I’d also like to see more cases that use riser cards. also almost all mATX cases are tower type, like to see more slim type than can be mounted horizontal and or vertical.
what is the best case for a fully air cooled mATX build that is silent but powerfull in mind with ASUS STRIX Z270G GAMING, ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 Turbo 8GB DDR5X 256-bit, be quiet! Straight Power 10, 80+ Gold 800W (and what cooler would be compatible for air cooling a i7-7700K for an at least 4.7GHz minimum?)
Started full tower with Phanteks Enthoo Luxe, and then got tired of it’s size even though the case was awesome. Then I got the Fractal Design Define S and loved how it was smaller, but found that there was lots of unused watercooling space (I use an AIO), then finally got to the S340 Elite and finally hit a sweet spot with no other compromises and have not regretted that.
I used to really like the ITX platforms, offering great performance in a very small form factor. But I’ve since lost faith in it, since both AMD and Intel have “denounced” it for desktop use, and prefer to reserve it for embedded-ish applications only. I believe this was due to the size restrictions on the mITX platform, there really is no place to put beefy VRM’s needed on the mid-higher end CPU’s and PCI-E (well not in a sane manner anyways, see Z87I-DELUXE for example). Maybe some day we will see the rise of mITX again, but I’m sure it wont be during this decade. Until then, I’d really love to see more care put into the mATX solutions. There really isn’t much offering that takes into consideration the special dimensions of the mATX platform, it’s usually just some dwarfed versions of mid-ATX cases instead of something innovative built around the special dimensions around the mATX.
These days I prefer micro ATX chasis over Mid and Full towers. With the decreasing need for SLI and Cross Fire (not to mention cost). I can see more people heading for more portable or desk friendly options. Plus HDDs sizes are quiet good these days. No reason to have 4 or more drives for RAID anymore. M.2 and SSDs can provide better speed and reliability, while even as a photographer and articlegrapher 2x 8TB HDD’s in RAID1 are more then enough. Which BTW, most mATX chasis support 2x SSDs and 2x HDDs.
My case is in the mid tower range (H500P Cooler Master) but I’m not actually satisfied in the slightest. The clearance on the back for cable managing is less than one would think (less than what I need, anyways) and assembling a pc in that thing is way too tricky. In a couple of months a friend of mine will switch from the Lian Li 011 Dynamic to the NXZT H700i Elite and will give the Lian Li to me. So yeah, I will remain in the mid tower range, even though my tastes make me fall in love with those massive full tower cases (one of my absolute favorites is the Cougar Panzer Max, along with the Dark Base 900).
I started with an ATX, just bought a MicroATX, and the next computer I build will 100% be a ITX. I honestly would’ve went for an ITX this time, but I had recently replaced my GPU and it would’ve been too big for an ITX case, so I settled for a smaller ATX. I honestly agree that we’re moving away from these huge ass towers down to as small as possible.
I think more people need to realise that they don’t really need a midtower. For most people SLI is out of the question and they only use an SSD (m.2 even) and maybe a harddrive (some even have a NAS). That leaves them with a pretty empty case that requires fans to move air to the fans inside. I think an ITX case with support for a 150-160mm long ATX PSU, a tower aircooler or 240mm rad and a long GPU is the sweetspot. I recently found the Lian Li PC-Q10 which is basically what I think most people need. The specifications on their site are wrong, so you can actually fit a 150mm PSU (basically any EVGA G3 model), a long GPU (270mm+) and a 160mm tall air cooler. The only thing it is missing is support for larger AIOs, but not everyone likes them (mostly because the pumps can be quite noisy).
I would definitely go smaller for my next build. I just built my first mATX computer and it is way bigger than I thought it was going to be. I think it would be a fun challenge to organize all my parts into a small mini ITX case, and I believe it would have a rewarding feeling of fitting so much power into a small space. The only thing I would be worried about are thermals and future expansion.
I’m moving from a Corsair 750D to an NZXT S340 Elite. Mainly because over time I have grown to like compact designs and my aesthetics preferences have changed to favor NZXTs minimal style more. I want my case to be a show piece in my room and the 750D is just too big and open to really look pleasing. I’m also going from all black to white and black so The S340 will help bring in more white
I believe with how easy it’s now become to build your own PC, and with less & less need for optical drives many more people are going to start building their own a lot more often. Also, as peoples lifestyles are leaning towards downsizing we’re going to see a massive upsurge in micro & mini builds. I’d love for you to follow up like you had mentioned & see just where PC case sales sit, because I also believe the change is coming
mini-itx cases are great if you want to place the thing in some restricted space, otherwise they’re pretty much irrelevant to me. What I look for when buying a case is cable routing options, the better a case can hide cables the more likely I’m going to buy it. That being said, I still use optical drives and HDD, so I need at least 2 bays for optical drives and 2-3 cages for HDD.
If you want a great but cheap case for custom watercooling…..there is no better case then the Fractal Design Define S. Total open space in the front and deep enough to put a large Tube res in it…….and still have space (in the back) for 3 hdd`s & 2 ssd`s. There is NO other case that can do this for this price.
I’ve been running an mATX setup since I sold off my last Full Tower in 2009. Sometimes I find it cramped to work on but it works well and love the smaller space it needs. I wish there were some better options though for space, such as for cable management, perhaps something with an added 5th slot to accommodate a dual slot GPU for mATX SLI configs..
I am on Corsair 780T full tower (was bought with plan of SLI and Watercooling) but I will be switching in next 2-3 months to Phantex Evolve ATX Tempered Glass. Reasons: 1. Space efficiency- SLI failed me too many times. I stick with one powerful GPU card. Less hassle 2. Watercooling is not for me, I change to many things in my PC so going around the tubes can be hassle. Besides I prefer AIO collers for PC and built in water-cooling in GPUs (sea hawk, Hybrid etc.). Which are more and more popular. 3. Desk space. I have big desk but still 780T takes sooo much space, making everything hard to place. I wanna go back to mid-towers. 4. I like when space inside case is full. Right now my 780T has so much unused space that it hurts me.
Have had a mid-tower for a very long time (the terrible Antec “Dustsucker” Ninehundred), and switched to a tiny mini-ITX a year ago, the Silverstone RVZ02 Windowless. I haven’t regret the choice for a moment despite cooling being a bit more difficult and leaving something to be desired. I can now put it in my suitcase with screen and peripherals and take it to a LAN party easily, I can really recommend it. The case’s price isn’t even that bad and since I prefer a good PSU anyway, the premium on that would be the same for a full size one pretty much. (The Corsair SF600 is also a beast of a PSU!)
I guess the way I look at the trend you posted for M-ATX is that I’ve seen the M-ATX motherboards for a given Mobo manufacturer often have the same features at a much better price. I think also it is the “sweet spot” for PCIe expansion slots. Most folks don’t ever use all the expansion slots on an ATX platform and for ITX, having just one slot often isn’t enough. I also firmly believe that the future for anything but large bulk storage will be M.2 NVMe PCIe. It is already the case for the M.2 SATA ones are pretty much starting to be priced the same as the 2.5 inch SATA cabled drives. It should be cheaper for the disk drive manufacturers to just manufacture PCB type SSDs and not have to also have drive container metal or plastic. I believe this also helps the M-ATX trend in that you can get M-ATX motherboards with dual M.2 already on the board that support both SATA and NVMe PCIe cards. Many of the large tower cases also setup for several full size 3.5″ drives which are going to be less and less necessary in modern PC systesm. Lastly on the case front, my case is a HAF EVO XB cube case. I actually like the wide aspect of the case as I prefer a wide stable case on my desk/table rather than a tower style as I don’t want the height and this cube case is never ever going to tip over. In my case I do a lot of stuff so I want all the PCIe slots so I went full ATX. Nice article, I hope you do one on cube style as well. It would be interesting to have your opinion on this.
I just want a horizontal ATX case without too many compromises (silverstone GD or fractal Node 605 is short for big air cooler) in case if the X300 ITX chipset for Ryzen will turn out not good. If i end up with Z270 then Corsair 250D is a no brainer for me but if Ryzen then maybe ATX is the only option so I’m thinking buying a mini tower like S340 or anything without airflow at the right side so I can just lay it down and buy rubber stands to the side panel and use it horizontally
Goodness, smaller form factor options are so limited for those who need pint sized HEDT. X99, X299, and X399 all have limited options for mATX boards (I don’t think an X399 mATX board exists yet). X99 only has a handful of ITX boards and X299 only has one ITX board so far. Plus, thermals get in the way. The CPU can be liquid cooled to get around this, though.
Well well well.. me here with a Cosmos II for several years now. It’s cool to have space for a bunch of cheap 3.5 HDD’s the whole thing weighs a TON (figure of speech), it’s like a bloody tank! I bought it originally for watercooling but I have stopped that some years ago… I’m done with the hastle of maintenance with all the risks of leaks. and trust me, getting rid of air bubbles out of this massive behemoth is no easy task! So, big case, lots of traditional harddrives for my huge movie/music/TV show collection and now pure air cooled. Regrets ? Not really no, one might think such a large case has a lot of room for creative watercooling builds but nah… it isnt much watercooling friendly like some other cases. I love the design of it, it looks very intimidating and premium but its pretty limited in what you can build inside of it. I could of kept the money and bought a more cheaper yet practical case and used that extra money for something else… likewise for all the money wasted on watercooling. It’s a pitty but the experience made it somewhat worth it all…. I still have this massive case in operation right here right now it can hold a bunch of HHD’s that most modern cases seem to be alergic of and I always get awesome reactions from guests that see it for the first time. It’s kind of like owning an old Lamborghini, you know all the downsides to it but those who dont live with it are still thinking its the coolest thing they’ve ever seen lol Next case I buy might very likely be a mid size but that would be in another 5 years cause the Cosmos II still has a useful purpose.
I’m late to finding this website, but to add my take I’ve decided to make my first custom build with a phanteks evolv shift case. while i may be spending more for some water cooling than fans and have a potentially fun/challenging time routing cables, I think the smaller footprint is great as it means it can fit on my crowded desk no problem and be safely tucked away on the floor if needed. I really dig the small size of the itx cases that take a considerate mind to build in and don’t suffer too much on the performance side (never mind some of their wonderfully unique case designs). A very rewarding build once finished.
Hey Dmitry, I know you have done article for best Cases of 2016(Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro). But I was wondering if there is best case for a certain build. Lets say ASUS X99-E-10G, i7-6950X, Titan XP x2, CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 64GB, I am planing on doing water cooling NZXT Kraken X62 and EK Titan X Pascal Nickel waterblock. I was thinking about Be Quiet! case but now I am not to sure. Ta
i have atm the corsair obsidian 750D airflow, full populated with 16x 2-6TB HDDs(with 2 aditional HDD cages and SATA PCI-e cards), 4x 512GB SSDs (back mount) + 2x 256GB M.2 drives on MB … and i am still in lack of harddrive space, so i have 4 external 8TB HDDs + 1 NAS with 4x6TB (around 130TB in total)… i just always need more -..- … (for article editing, gaming, archiving and download the f*cking interwebs 😛 )
Hi, Let me begin, this is my first comment and I just subscribed. I want to show my support and appreciation of all the amazing well thought out articles and information you have provided me in the past year(s). So I recently downsized from a Fractal Design R5 (only had for about 2 years) to Phanteks Evolv mATX With the release of Ryzen 1800x I am looking to build a mITX and am strongly considering Lian Li PC-05 or Node 202 Except I find that in the ITX space, trying to find a decked out UBER COOL ITX motherboards are hard to come across. Motherboard Manf. such as Asus, MSI, Gigbyte, Asrock are pushing ATX more (which supports your claim in the article) with a wide range/tiers of price, grades and selection. I would love to get the Lian Li PC-05 but for a $300 Case I want a motherboard I can show case, with IO Shrouds, some optional RGB lighting, or even a motherboard encasing like Asus Tuf.
Well, my “main” system is an HP Pavilion laptop, and my “backup” system, (used to play Diablo and Diablo II), is a Dell Optiplex GX260. LOL. I know, right? Actually, I just got the GX260 running again recently. I want to build a PC, and my plan is to build using the ATX mid-tower platform. That may change at some point, because I really want to build a desk PC. That won’t happen for about two more years.
I bought an 800D years ago which housed my last build. Now, I’m am very much more interested in mATX and ITX builds I have more desire for space efficiency. Too, I don’t have need to dual GPUs or very elaborate liquid cooling. Since my Asus X99-A died I will certainly downsize this go around. I’m finding it tough to choose between the i7 7700K vs Ryzyen 7 1700 in either the mATX or ITX form factor.
TL;DR: I’ve bought/used 5-6 cases throughout my main builds lifetime and I’ve found myself harking back to a Mid tower case. You’re welcome. My main build has gone through many changes. When I first built my PC, I bought an NZXT Phantom 410. I loved that case while I had it, it was a decent size, slightly larger than a standard mid tower. From there, my friend kept rubbing this case he loved in my face, the Phanteks Enthoo Pro, you might’ve heard of it. 😛 That thing was massive, weighing nearly twice as much as the NZXT one I’d had previously. After that, I felt I wanted to go a little smaller with my case’s profile so I opted for the Thermaltake Core V21, which is a Micro ATX, Mini tower, cube chassis. My friend and I (same friend from before) both bought one because we wanted to try the combining feature, which we never did. At this point I was somewhat satisfied, but in the back of my mind, I was always thinking, “could I go smaller?”… and thus I bought the Silverstone Raven RVZ02B HTPC case. Now at the time, I knew I would have to make compromises to my build. I had to dump my PSU, my AIO liquid cooler, two of my four RAM sticks, and all of my fans, except for one which I HAD to affix to the outside of the case to keep the GPU from overheating. Speaking of overheating, that’s when I chose to dump the Raven. From there, I briefly used an old case a different friend of mine had lying around. A VERY cheap case called the DIYPC “Gamer Storm”. I was using it temporarily to house my main build since I was so worried about frying all of my components whilst in the HTPC case.
HardwareCanucks I want to build a new PC for myself but I really have a problem. I want to build a gamer PC.. As a mainboard I wanted to use a ASUS Z270H and an i7 7700k! ( GPU Gtx 1080 ). My problem now is, what case should I use and what CPU cooler? I don’t know what fits best in which case. I really really hope you can help me. I asked many other youtubers but no one is answering 🙁 🙁
to all the people with HIGH END pc’s! comment what you hate most about people getting into pc gaming and building a pc for the first time! Ill start you off. when someone wants to get a PC that can run 3 4k monitors and gta 5 at ULTRA SETTINGS WITH REDUX MOD ON but isnt willing to invest money into buying good parts and wants out this world performance for like 300 bucks
Hate SFX PSU’s. Mainstream needs to embrace DC to DC. HDPLEX-300W its glorious.Why waste all that volume in the case for a sfx psu? Go DC to Dc with external powerbrick. There is a reason why consoles and all in one pc’s use power bricks. Honestly using something like the HDPLEX-300W you could make a slim ATX case that is smaller than most of the mainstream ITX cases on the market right now.
I will go smaller from my current 750D to a Fractal Define Mini C for my next build ( Already mid-build, piece by piece, got a mATX board and a i5-6500 ATM, waiting for Vega to swap my 780 ). I really loved the 750D size for 3 years now but I feel like it takes too much space and is too heavy to move around. And my mATX board looks ridiculous in a ATX case. Great content as always !
Biggest case i’ve owned was the Corsair 800D, most cases i’ve owned were midsize, and atm i have a Streacom FC8 Evo (Mini-ITX) for my HTPC, a Fractal Design Define R5 for my server, and a Fractal Design Core 500 for my gaming rig. I have no plans to change any of my cases. They all perfectly fullfill the role they’re meant to play. If i were to change my gaming/main rig case, it would almost certainly be for another MINI-ITX case.
I have been thinking about a new build for casual couch gaming, something that would fit in my living room and get connected to my TV, a ryzen 5 build, but surprisingly the options are very limited. Here’s the thing, I wouldn’t mind something that’s mATX size, but needs to be horizontally oriented. I also want a case that’s not very flashy, and subtly elegant for a living room setup. There’s always that node 202, but I feel it’s too difficult for me as a less experienced builder, and I don’t have the budget to upgrade my R9 390 with its needy PSU yet. The Silverstone z02 supports ATX PSUs, but it’s not a very attractive case, and I’m not sure about the build quality. Thermaltake core G3 is an option, but terrible cable management and still SFF PSU requirement. Inwin 301 looks good, but can’t be horizontally placed. Lian-li O5s looks good, but is above my budget. I’m surprised that in 2017 I still can’t find a suitable case to my requirements. Give me a case that can be horizontally oriented, not very big that it can be placed under my TV, subtly elegant that it can fit my living room, and with support for an ATX PSU, and doesn’t cost above 100 dollars.
I’m looking to replace my Cooler Master Storm Sniper Black Edition with something slightly larger (Had to mount fan outside of the top of the case with my H220 X2 rad coz of clearance issue with power connector on top of my Asrock Z77 OC formula, just like 2 mm . . . I want something that also has equal or better airflow/cooling performance though and i can’t find any recent reviews or comparisons that bother comparing airflow and internal case temps anymore . . . Any suggestion for a worthy successor to the mighty CM SS BE 😛 EDIT: I’m also using 4 HDD and 1 SSD and 1 DVD/Bluray drives so new case need to allow this as well 😛 And although the CM SS BE is labeled Mid Tower, its larger than a conventional mid tower from what i’ve seen.
It is baffling why full-size towers aren’t considered more often when you’re going to need storage for the rest of your life. Myself, I would purchase a case with as many 5.25″ bays as I can find and purchase as many 6×2.5″ enclosures as I can with a 12-port RAID card. In fact, I would go for two RAID cards so I can do a RAID 60 and significantly improve redundancy. Would that mean every time I want to add onto my RAID array I would need to purchase disks by the two’s? Yep. But that also means if one of my RAID cards were to fail, I have the other; I can do a full shutdown of the system, wait for new RAID cards, replace the faulty one, mirror to the other RAID card and wait until failure strikes again to mirror once more the RAID 6 config. One would believe 24 SATA ports is beyond overkill until you realize that four 6×2.5″ 5.25″ bays would equal 24 disks at full cap. At minimum cap it would be 8 drives. And to begin with it would be 1x 12-port SATA with 1x 5.25″ bay. But the point here is that you’ll need to store all of your crap somehow and if you have the bones to do it, why not own your own data?
Agree that the more open interior space (due to less space “wasted” on CD/DVD-readers and 3,5″ HDDs) makes mid-towers much more attractive than before. It’s also more common to keep a server or NAS at home now, which further reduces the need for bulky 3,5″ HDDs in the case itself. The full tower is more for the enthusiast multi-GPU and watercooling people now, whereas it used to be for the average PC-guy which needed some space for GPU and/or storage. Cable management used to be a lot harder in mid-towers too, but since most manufacturers focus on space for cable management and modular power supplies it is now easier to get a clean and good-looking build in a mid-tower. My own current system is in a Storm Stryker full-tower, but the stock watercooling capacity is actually quite poor compared to many recent mid-towers! I will expand on the watercooling-part of my PC-building and will keep running multi-GPU systems, which is why I will advance to a huge tower like CaseLabs SMA8 or possibly Enthoo Elite.
@HardwareCanucks Right… Now fit a Asus Rampage VI Extreme EATX Board in each mid-tower case you mentioned and tell me how badly cable feed holes are blocked. I was kinda hoping that you would talk a bit more about ITX, ATX, EATX and XL ATX board formats. This isn’t just about how you cool, sometimes your case choices are restricted by board size. Most of your viewers would know that, but even pro’s get it wrong. Bitwit had made a article where he ahem “BUILT” a PC on a yacht and selected a board that was too large for the Mid Tower case he selected, and he admitted that he selected an EATX board and a mid tower case it couldn’t fit in. He could only install it by damaging the case to make more space available. This isn’t just about aesthetics. Your component choice plays a huge role, and your motherboard in particular. The case size can also restrict your PSU selection too, not least its legth and height. A article Titled “What case should you buy?” should cover this absolutely critical basic fact buddy. Please you’re better than this.
Just wanted to leave a really A++ Comment here about HardwareCanucks! You guys really helped us pick a case for our editing computer…we noticed that we kept going back to your reviews before picking the case we finally decided to get. So THANK YOU for doing such an amazing job reviewing cases, you guys really helped us choose! It’s kind of sad that it is over. Guess we are going to have to build another one, since it was so much fun picking the first! Thanks from Sneaker Artist, MAG, and everyone at Punk Your Chucks dotcom!!!!
I’m finally replacing my rig which is in a Corsair 600T White, and I think I’ve decided on the Be Quiet 900 Dark Pro. For a mid tower, the 600T is actually a little on the big side, but it’s pretty easy to work in. I’ve decided to go with the 900 Dark Pro because it’s a little bigger (hopefully not too big) and I like it’s modularity. I like the small extras like a Qi charger and included LED strips/controller too.
I have the Node 202 and love the size. My only issue is the cooling. I tried the stock cooler for awhile before it died playing Civ VI, which is very CPU intensive. I haven’t purchased any small CPU cooling. Right now I am using an H100i v2 to cool my CPU. I will probably bump up in size and try to wall mount my computer. I am looking at the Thermaltake P3.
I want to know which one opt between NZXT S340 Elite mid tower and Fractal Define C. Basically i want my rig to look coolest with all that RGB set up. but ofcourse no one can compromise on gaming performance or heating issues. Hence please suggest which is the best option. I have a gtx 970, I3 rd gen, 12gigs of ram. I may change the specs later but for now. This is what i might be using.
As much as you don’t wanna hear it I think the main drawback of ITX cases is the limited HDD space. Successful Tec tubers like you often have easier access to hardware and thus high capacity SSDs and also different requirements for Hard drives. It might be feasable for you to archive footage to external HDDs and your workplace likely accomodates for that. On the other hand I suspect that many enthusiast gamers just like to have one SSD for the OS and then lots of internal storage for games, movies and the likes and keep the desk clean while they’re at it. I personally have 3TB HDD space and it’s never enough so I’m opting for two 4TB HDDs since one 8TB would be more expensive and more prone to failures. And that wouldn’t be possible with your average ITX case. I use an mATX case, btw with 2 SSD and 2HDD slots.
My current build is in a Corsair 650D. I loved it 5-ish years ago when I bought it but the design really shows it’s age now. I have an incoming Ryzen7 build which I already have all the components for besides the motherboard & CPU – and that’s going in a Fractal Design Define S. The thing is smaller than my 650D but I can fit a 60mm wide, 360mm radiator in the front, and another thin 360mm radiator on the roof. There’s just so much space to work with in the what is a relatively small mid tower.
i currently am using a full ATX cube case, so none of the above? I wanted something lighter than my previous full tower steel case and i wanted something with more room for my hands to fiddle inside than my previous mid case. Its only 9 lbs and with it opened up its basically a test bench in terms of room. The only problem I have with my current case(other than thinking it would be nice to be even smaller), is i’ve been thinking about getting a AIO CPU cooler and there is only 1 place for it, the front, it can’t be larger than 240mm, and the ek predator is just barely too thick to use with my 12.2″ articlecard. I think my next case will be a SFF, something premium like the NCase M1. As i’m starting to look to replace my CPU cooler, my mobo, and my articlecard in the upcoming years i’m keeping in mind to buy smaller form factors of everything.
I have a big, medium tower (Define R5) because I needed to fit a 280mm radiator and wanted it to be silent. The define mini couldn’t fit the radiator at the front so I would have to remove the dampening foam at the top to fit the radiator. My media PC (under the TV) is an ITX build. With 120mm radiator at the front and dual fan config it is around 70C under heavy load with a GTX970 ASUS card. ITX is much more satisfying to build imo
Just depends on ur outlook down the line as far as upgrades. Im running an 8th gen i5-8400/GTX 1080/Asus z370 and the Corsair 600c just seemed way too overboard for me. Even if 5 yrs down the road i upgrade my case, im fine with that. I exchanged the 600c for the 400c and am waiting for it in the mail now. If for some reason down the line i upgrade to a 2nd gpu and need a liquid cooling unit then maybe I’ll need a full size tower for cooling. But as of now im good with a mid
I personally love my Corsair 500R Carbide Mid-Tower. Going from an OEM Acer case to this beauty saw temps on my CPU and GPU drop off drastically due to the more open design and extra fans. When it comes time to rebuild I can throw in the best mother boards available to get the most bang for my buck now.
I would say it would take around more 3 years until most people change build because people e.g. in India have 750ti as a GPU and the common desktop buyers are nowadays gamers they would proceed until their PCs can’t run dem modern titles e.g. I have a fx4100 and 750ti 720p and I will do fine until I won’t be able to run games @ low* settings.
Currently rocking a Full Tower system. I love the ease of working in it but it’s too big for what I need. I’m not doing water cooling and I’m currently looking at the S340 Elite (I resisted the S340 hype for a while fyi.). It looks to be the best of what I want aside for that solitary 120 exhaust. Lame
Hey, guys. What are your mATX cases of choice? I’m just putting together a new build and I can’t really make up my mind. My only requirements would be to not have fans smaller than 120mm in the front and in the back and for my 2 hard drives to be actively cooled. What have you used so far, what are your experiences?
A full tower (original Phanteks Enthoo Pro) was nice for my first build – and then again when it became my first watercooling build. It gave me plenty of room to work with and really lay out where everything was to go. Now that I have the experience I think I’ll trend towards smaller cases in general, and possibly even mATX. I did a mATX build for a friend a while ago (in the Thermaltake Core v21), and it was a lot of fun getting everything in cleanly.
I wanted a Define R5 or something like a P400 for my system, but my local dealers had nothing similar. I ended up buying a Source 530, didn’t know it was that big, however my cooling setups is practically silent do to the amount of grill area that lets air move passively. The only thing I hate is the window’s shape, since it covers half of the Republic of Gamers LED logo on my Strix 1060. I will soon mod it, ill try to get some acrylic full window on it instead of the side panel.
This article is a little old, but I still have an HP optical drive that I use once in a while. It is in great shape, looks like new, and I want to keep it. But, my old Lan Boy Air is really starting to show its age, and I just recently swapped out the old 650 TI article card for a new 1660 TI. The system still benchmarks as a lower-end workstation (in the 70th percentile range). It’s just a matter of time before I will have to replace this 8 year old system. Would a Fractal Define R6 suit my needs if I Just want something new and secure, yet fairly reasonable in cost?