Best case for great airflow?

[Drizzy]

Like an idiot I spent $130 for a Lian Li case. Yes, the case is beautiful and incredibly well designed but here are a few issues I didnt think about -

1. Its TOO nice. With the nice aluminum finish I know I'll be worried at LAN parties and moving, etc...
2. The airflow isnt very good. My case temps are quite high and I've noticed the air intake isnt too great. I had assumed 2 80mm fans in - 2 80mm fans out would be fine...
3. The case fans are not nearly as quiet as I had expected.

If I replace the stock case fans will it make a difference in both sound and/or case temps? So, if I could go back and buy a different case - what would you guys recommend for good airflow?

 

[vshah]

nowadays, it seems the best cases for airflow are those with 2x120mm fans, one for intake and one for exhaust. i don't know any specific ones, but a friend of mine has one such case, its much quieter, and as cool as my case (thermaltake xaserIII which has 4x80mm intakes and 3x80mm exhausts). seems 120mm cases are the way to go from now on

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

I just bought an Antec Sonata, single rear 120mm fan and you can also clip another 120mm on the drive cage to drag in air from outside across the hard drive to the other fan. I have mixed feelings about the quality of the case, i broke off serveral cheap plastic parts while building it.

Its also very glossy and good looking,not sure if you'd want to truck it around either.

 

[JBT]

I have an older silver aluminum Chieftec Dragon case its gota side BIG side window, 2 front fans, 2 rear fans and a side fan to blow on my Video card. It works very well and with my fan speed controler it is quite quiet when not on the max voltage. My Case temp is ussually in the low 20's C. So far it also seems quite good at not getting scratches in the finish too. I had an old steel enermax case that LOVED to be scratched u could touch it with the palm of your hand and it would leave a big silver gash on the black paint.

The Dragons are pretty inexpensive now adays newegg has deals for them every once in awhile for around 60 with free shipping which is ussually the killer for cases. It is probably not quite as nice as your Li Lan it doesn't havea removable mobo tray and itsn't quite tool less either. Though it pretty much is now that I bought 30 Thumb screws on ebay for 6 bucks. I only used about 20 of them though.

I love the case for its roomyness tons of places to hide the extra power connectors from my overloaded Vantec stealth, so it looks nice and neat I also like that I have the ability to expand over all I am very happy with it.

 

[Cerb]

Sonata != LAN party case.
You might want to go for one of the Chieftec mini-mids if you can fit everything in there. They aren't too pretty, but nice cases.
Aside: does anyone else not like the recommended cases BS on Newegg now?

I'd also recommend the Evercase e4252 (black!). It's a well built case, with excellent airflow, and not too many things to break. Or the e4802 (near identical innards, with the 4802 having a larger rear fan mount, but a bit flimsier panels). It's not the most quiet right off, but is easy to mod to make quiet, and as long as you have at least a Panaflo L1a for the exhaust, it will keep all but the newest P4s (3GHz, 3.2GHz might need more than the little bit of air the Panaflo might offer--but maybe it could) cooled. And as long as you have room to put it on its side, it is easy to work on (only one normal expansion slot cover, the rest held in by a brace).
It is a much heavier case than it looks, but not moreso than the Chieftec towers.

 

[Davegod]

Antec SLK3700 is what I'd get if I was buying now, might suit you, but I'm not sure about the LAN party thing though since they're steel (i.e. heavy). They've 120mm intake and exhaust (with the intake positioned properly so its directly drawing air in). This seems to be the "bit cheaper & bit better airflow" alternative to the Sonata.

Antec Super LANboy might be choice for you, IIRC it's got 2x 120mm fans and is so Fugly (imo) you wouldnt be concerned about defacing it. Aluminium so not very heavy, and comes with carry straps etc I think.

Tbh surprised you're dissapointed with the Lian Li, most people seemed to really like them. Maybe worthwhile swapping the fans for Panaflo's or something, but 4 of them might be expensive. Personally I wish more motherboards had elegant solutions like auto adjusting fan speeds based on temps.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Take a regular desktop case.
Cut out the front and back.
Line up 120mm fans across entire front and back.



- M4H

 

[Drizzy]

Originally posted by: Davegod
Antec SLK3700 is what I'd get if I was buying now, might suit you, but I'm not sure about the LAN party thing though since they're steel (i.e. heavy). They've 120mm intake and exhaust (with the intake positioned properly so its directly drawing air in). This seems to be the "bit cheaper & bit better airflow" alternative to the Sonata.

Antec Super LANboy might be choice for you, IIRC it's got 2x 120mm fans and is so Fugly (imo) you wouldnt be concerned about defacing it. Aluminium so not very heavy, and comes with carry straps etc I think.

Tbh surprised you're dissapointed with the Lian Li, most people seemed to really like them. Maybe worthwhile swapping the fans for Panaflo's or something, but 4 of them might be expensive. Personally I wish more motherboards had elegant solutions like auto adjusting fan speeds based on temps.

Yeah I actually looked at the Super LANboy cause it is quiet, light and has all that I would need. My friends said they would mock me everyday if I bought it though cause its so ugly. I wish the damn thing had a different front.

You know, like I said the Lian Li is BEAUTIFUL. It is perfect for the person that just wants something to look good in an office or den, but for me I need functionality more than just looks. I want something that looks decent but also performs awesome... Kinda wishing I'd have gone with the Super LANboy.... I'd have saved myself $70 and could use that to mod the case to not look so bad.

 

[Drizzy]

Originally posted by: vshah
nowadays, it seems the best cases for airflow are those with 2x120mm fans, one for intake and one for exhaust. i don't know any specific ones, but a friend of mine has one such case, its much quieter, and as cool as my case (thermaltake xaserIII which has 4x80mm intakes and 3x80mm exhausts). seems 120mm cases are the way to go from now on

I'd agree. I've read articles about how 1 120mm fan moves a lot more air than dual 80mm fans. They are more quiet as well. I was actually shocked at how big they seemed compared to an 80 mm...

 

[laurenlex]

Simple math here. Area = pi x radius squared.

80 mm fan 3.14*(40*40) = 5024 sq mm 2 fans = 10048 sq millimeters.

120 mm fan 3.14(60*60) = 11304 sq millimeters.

1 big fan better than 2 little fans.

 

[Brian48]

The best cases I've ever used for MAX airflow has been the Maxtops. These are dirt cheap and PSUs that come with them aren't that great, but I generally rip those out anyway. Sure, they don't take a beating like the Antecs or Lian-Li's, but you generally don't want to beat on the case anyway.

Here's a good example.

 

[Drizzy]

Originally posted by: laurenlex
Simple math here. Area = pi x radius squared.

80 mm fan 3.14*(40*40) = 5024 sq mm 2 fans = 10048 sq millimeters.

120 mm fan 3.14(60*60) = 11304 sq millimeters.

1 big fan better than 2 little fans.

you're pretty smart for a junior member.

 

[Drizzy]

Originally posted by: laurenlex
Simple math here. Area = pi x radius squared.

80 mm fan 3.14*(40*40) = 5024 sq mm 2 fans = 10048 sq millimeters.

120 mm fan 3.14(60*60) = 11304 sq millimeters.

1 big fan better than 2 little fans.

you're pretty smart for a junior member.

 

[Drizzy]

Originally posted by: laurenlex
Simple math here. Area = pi x radius squared.

80 mm fan 3.14*(40*40) = 5024 sq mm 2 fans = 10048 sq millimeters.

120 mm fan 3.14(60*60) = 11304 sq millimeters.

1 big fan better than 2 little fans.

you're pretty smart for a junior member.

 

[laurenlex]

LOL. Smart at 7th grade math. Dumb at most everything else.