Best bang-for-buck quiet case?

[MajinCry]

Been progressively renovating my computer, after I bit the bullet and upgraded from a 965 BE a couple of months ago. Fancy motherboard, fancy CPU, fancy RAM, fancy hard drives, fancy cooler, and a fancy power supply. Fancy GPU comes later when miners stop eating all the RX 580s.

Now it's time for a fancy case, because this trashy Galaxy 3 case is just poor. Cheap plastic, side panel doesn't fit snugly, thin metal, and a case fan that collides with my Hyper 412S. Had to mount the 92mm fan outside the case, but lo' and behold, the crummy plastic cracked so I duct taped it.

Been googling, and the R4 was recommended in older threads. Saw the youtube video, and it's got spaces for all sorts of fans, which is pretty cool. Might be an awful tight fit in my desk's computer-storage-space-thing:

Length - 50cm
Width - 23cm
Height - 53cm


And what I'm looking for:

Midi-ish cases, can't fit a full tower.
Got an ATX motherboard, so no mini-atx cases.
Don't need any radiator fittings.
Prefer 120mm fan mounts over 92mm fan mounts.
Got 3 hard drives & 1 SSD, more HDD bays are always good tho.
Holes for tucking away PSU cables would be good but aren't a necessity.
USB 3.0/2.0 not important, as long as there are one or two front ports.
Don't need mic/headphone case inputs.

As for budget...Let's say £70. Don't want to break the bank here. The Define R4's £74 over on Ebuyer: http://www.ebuyer.com/391898-fracta...MI39uEwoiF1QIViL3tCh0mMAF7EAkYAiABEgKdd_D_BwE

 

[UsandThem]

I say the Fractal Design R5. It's available for 82.96 from the site you linked. For a 9 Euro difference, it's the way to go. Basically the R5 fixes the complaints about the R4.

http://www.ebuyer.com/675950-fractal-design-define-r5-black-pearl-computer-case-fd-ca-def-r5-bk

The best way is to read a few R5 reviews. All of them I read talk about (and show) the difference. I think after doing this, most people would choose the R5 unless the R4 happens to be on sale, and is significantly cheaper. Just remember this will be case you likely keep for several builds, so don't let a few less Euro sway you too much.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6834/fractal-design-define-r5-mid-tower-chassis-review/index.html

 

[EXCellR8]

Fractal makes great cases... but you can make many very quiet if you carefully pick your cooling bits

 

[ElFenix]

the fractal R5 is a pretty good case, and a good deal when on sale. (speaking from having 2 R4s) but the metal and fitment on it feels a bit cheap compared to my old antec cases ( :heart: P180, wish they'd update it properly). some of the screw holes on the back for the sides weren't properly tapped, and the hard drive mounting grommets are hard rubber compared to the soft silicone of the antecs. on the R4 the front was really easy to accidentally pop off if you picked up the case. maybe that's been fixed.

i'd think almost any case could be quiet if you pick your other parts properly - quiet GPU, quiet CPU fan, quiet case fans, quiet PSU, and SSDs so the hard drive mounting doesn't matter.

 

[MajinCry]

I say the Fractal Design R5. It's available for 82.96 from the site you linked. For a 9 Euro difference, it's the way to go. Basically the R5 fixes the complaints about the R4.

http://www.ebuyer.com/675950-fractal-design-define-r5-black-pearl-computer-case-fd-ca-def-r5-bk

The best way is to read a few R5 reviews. All of them I read talk about (and show) the difference. I think after doing this, most people would choose the R5 unless the R4 happens to be on sale, and is significantly cheaper. Just remember this will be case you likely keep for several builds, so don't let a few less Euro sway you too much.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6834/fractal-design-define-r5-mid-tower-chassis-review/index.html

Comparing Linus' review of the R5 to the official Define R4 "walkthrough", I don't really see any differences except for the changeable hard drive mounting style, and the extra hidden SSD slot over the R4.

Ebuyer's reviews also say that the R5 has vibrations (w/e that means). Ehhh.

Then again, apparently the R4 has an awful setup for the front fans.

Fractal makes great cases... but you can make many very quiet if you carefully pick your cooling bits

I'm partial to using Be Quiet! Silent Pure Wings 2 fans, but the main issue with noise is that my £40 case is just cheap and nasty. Looking for a solid case that keeps noise down, and keeps the cables tidy. I don't need a gajillion fans, but at least one on the side and one on the back would be preferred. Top fan mounts seem kinda dumb.

the fractal R5 is a pretty good case, and a good deal when on sale. (speaking from having 2 R4s) but the metal and fitment on it feels a bit cheap compared to my old antec cases ( :heart: P180, wish they'd update it properly). some of the screw holes on the back for the sides weren't properly tapped, and the hard drive mounting grommets are hard rubber compared to the soft silicone of the antecs. on the R4 the front was really easy to accidentally pop off if you picked up the case. maybe that's been fixed.

i'd think almost any case could be quiet if you pick your other parts properly - quiet GPU, quiet CPU fan, quiet case fans, quiet PSU, and SSDs so the hard drive mounting doesn't matter.

I'm pretty sure that it's just that my current case is shoddy. And the side panel only allows for a single 92mm fan, which collides with tall heatsinks, as it's placed just a bit to the right of the CPU socket.

Like, if there's a quality £40 case that doesn't support radiators, only has two or three chassis fan mounts, has a couple holes for cable management, and actually has side panels that fit together, I'd take that.

Don't need 8 fan mounts, removable anti-vibration HDD cages, radiator mounts, swingy doors, LEDs, etc.

 

[bfun_x1]

What kind of storage space is it? Sounds like it's boxed in on all sides. Top, bottom, and side fans might not work well. Is the back of the space open?

 

[rchunter]

I have both R4 & R5 and can tell you that in certain areas the R4 is slightly heavier and better built. The drive trays for one on the R5 seem a little thinner and not as heavy duty as R4.

I still prefer R5 though because some things were fixed like the way the dust filers are removed, much improved compared to R4.

 

[UsandThem]

Comparing Linus' review of the R5 to the official Define R4 "walkthrough", I don't really see any differences except for the changeable hard drive mounting style, and the extra hidden SSD slot over the R4.

Ebuyer's reviews also say that the R5 has vibrations (w/e that means). Ehhh.

I'm partial to using Be Quiet! Silent Pure Wings 2 fans, but the main issue with noise is that my £40 case is just cheap and nasty. Looking for a solid case that keeps noise down, and keeps the cables tidy. I don't need a gajillion fans, but at least one on the side and one on the back would be preferred. Top fan mounts seem kinda dumb.

The R5 has more upgrades than that. Just a few off of the top of my head: Improved filter (and bottom filter is now removable from the front, instead of the back), more modular with cages, and the front door is reversible. The filter being removable from the front was a big deal to me because this case (and the R4 which is slightly "lighter" are both heavy). Having had back surgery, I did not want to move it away from where I have it to remove the filter out of the back. As far as vibrations go, that's not one I have seen in reviews before. I have never had any vibration issues, but the again I don't run Noctua Industrial 3000RPM fans at full bore. All my fans stay under 850 RPM at max.

For this case, the best cooling setup for the majority of people are 2 x 140mm quiet fans in front, and a quiet 140mm exhaust in the back (I also have a 140mm in the bottom - (lots of positive pressure + filters = very little dust gets in the case).

 

[MajinCry]

What kind of storage space is it? Sounds like it's boxed in on all sides. Top, bottom, and side fans might not work well. Is the back of the space open?

It's under my desk. There's space on the left side, back and front. Top and right side probably won't be of much use, if the box is super tall.

 

[bfun_x1]

A ThermalTake Suppressor F31 might be worth considering. It's a bit on the large size for a midtower but it has modular sound dampening panels on the top, sides, and front. It also has 1.5 inches behind the motherboard tray to hide cables and mount up to 3 drives. A PSU cover with SSD trays and a tempered glass window are optional. On the downside it might only come with 3 drive trays unless you order more or get the PSU cover.