Best case for use in a room that is super hot and super dusty

[neilsabo]

Hello,

Any recommendations for a mid-tower case that will be used in a room that gets really hot (like >mid-80s F in the summer) and also gets very dusty. (Not sure why, it just gets dusty in my room a lot)

So that being said, I obviously need a case that has the best cooling, and also, if possible, very easy to clean fan filters... like ones that slide or pop in-and-out, not ones that require me bending little tabs every time I take them out and inevitably breaking after too much wear and tear... also, not having to pop off the front bezel to clean the fans would be great

I honestly don't care about the sound levels, as long as it's not like Delta fan loud.

I was leaning toward the Cooler Master HAF XM, which seems like almost a perfect case, but I've read that the filters aren't easily removable

Hoping to keep it < $150

 

[piasabird]

I was reading something the other day and the poster said they taped swiffer pads over the intake fan, then when they got dirty just put on a new one. I thought that was like wearing a diaper.

 

[neilsabo]

^LOL

I never thought of just taping some kind of filter over my air intakes... although it'd look pretty bad, I guess it's a last-ditch option if there are no perfect cases out there for me

these are only $5 on amazon, and IMO they'd look a bit more discrete than swiffer pads, haha

http://www.amazon.com/Thermwell-Prod...yurethane+foam

 

[T_Yamamoto]

You don't use ac?

I think a self contained water cooling unit would be good. Like a h60

 

[balane]

What about a completely open air chassis with no case fans?

 

[lehtv]

What components are you putting and and do you overclock?

 

[neilsabo]

You don't use ac?

I think a self contained water cooling unit would be good. Like a h60

LOL, no AC is not available unfortunately... not really considering water cooling because I'm kinda scurred about a leak happening and damaging the rest of my system... I have never built a system myself, this will be my first build, so I'm not sure how complicated a WC setup would be

What about a completely open air chassis with no case fans?

I'm too paranoid about a random mistake resulting in my internal components being damaged... I'd like at least some form of basic protection

What components are you putting and and do you overclock?

I'm planning on it being a bit on the higher-end side, since I will be doing a lot of video editing with the computer and some gaming... also since I do not upgrade very often, I'd like the parts to be very high quality, long-lasting, good customer service and all that... willing to pay a premium if it lasts me as long as my current one has (6 years) and the company is easy to work with if something goes kaput

i will not be overlcocking... and am not planning on running SLI anytime soon

here's what I had in mind so far
PSU: Corsair HX something
CPU: Intel 2700
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 (or maybe Phantek PH-TC14 for looks if my case ends up having a window, LOL)
Motherboard: asus sabertooth z77 series since it's supposed to be very sturdy... although that might just be a PR gimmick
RAM: 8 gigs Corsair Vengeance low-profile memory
GPU: not sure, I'd like to spend ~$250-$300 max, wherever a good sweet spot is... I'll be running on a 1080 monitor
+Blu-Ray burner, 1 SSD, and 2 HDDs

also if there's room I'll probably throw in a PCI slot cooler in there and maybe a fan controller... I do like the hot swap bay on the HAF XM, but that's more of a bonus than necessity

 

[dmoney1980]

OP- what do you think of this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147053

comes with 4 fans, has plenty of room, and got a good review on this site- http://www.anandtech.com/show/4648/rosewill-thor-v2-the-god-of-cooling-and-silence/7

 

[p_monks33]

I had that case Dmoney posted. Its really nice for the cost. Has 2 easy swap filters on the bottom. Top fan is exhaust so is rear fan. Plenty of room to add a filter on the side panel and front intake. The fans are quiet as well.

 

[Charlie98]

For what it's worth, I bought a CM HAF922 for my build. I realized how dusty my house is after about a month... those big 200mm fans sucking in all that crap.

I wound up going to FrozenCPU.com and bought some form-fitting magnetic filters... one over the front intake and one over the bottom. I also blocked off the side intake grate completely, trying to maximize the intake air to come through the filters... all in all it works pretty good. I have a few other mods to make before it's all done, but there is a difference now. Cleaning the external filters is a breeze... I just shoot it with a can of duster.

I would pick a case you like, then check and see if they make external filters for it (if they aren't already built into the case.)

 

[weez82]

Have a look at this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147161 $70, has removable front and top dust filters, fan controller, quiet, and looks good. I've been using it for about 2 months now and love it. My home gets hot cause we too cheap to use AC. This case works great. Newegg has a vid showing the case.

 

[_Rick_]

As long as you have intakes on the front, it doesn't matter how easy the dust filters pop off - just use a vacuum cleaner to get the dust out of the filters.
Bottom intakes (bottom mounted PSUs, flipped designs like SilverStone Fortress etc.) are a bit trickier to deal with.

 

[lehtv]

i will not be overlcocking... and am not planning on running SLI anytime soon

Right. Your 85F room temperature in the summer is only 30C, so it's going to result in around 5-10 centigrade higher temperatures compared to a 'normal' room temperature of 20-25C. That is a much smaller effect than what overclocking can have. It's not unusual for overclocking to increase CPU or GPU operating temperatures by 20C compared to the baseline of high performance cooling at stock clocks.

That means that you don't really need a case that's particularly well cooled, a case with a few standard speed 120mm/140mm fans will do fine. Given the dusty room, a case with filters in front of all intake fans is necessary. Clean the filters with a vacuum cleaner (or wash them if removable) every couple of weeks. The case should also have positive air pressure so dust doesn't enter via passive intake of air through minor openings like the expansion slots and such. Dust that still that gets inside the case will be easily removed with canned air, use every month or two.

I'd recommend a Fractal Design Define R4 with an additional front 140mm intake. The top fan slots are blocked by default so you won't have dust falling into the case, and with 2x intake and 1x exhaust you'll get adequate cooling with positive air pressure. There's a side fan slot to cool dual graphics cards.

here's what I had in mind so far
PSU: Corsair HX something
CPU: Intel 2700
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 (or maybe Phantek PH-TC14 for looks if my case ends up having a window, LOL)

D14 is great but overkill. If you want it to be relatively quiet and cool at stock clocks, get something like a Scythe Mugen 3 or Cooler Master Hyper 612.

Motherboard: asus sabertooth z77 series since it's supposed to be very sturdy... although that might just be a PR gimmick

Since you're not planning to overclock or SLI, I'd recommend a H77 motherboard like Asrock H77 Pro4/MVP.

RAM: 8 gigs Corsair Vengeance low-profile memory

If you're editing HD videos, you may want more RAM than that. 4x4GB if your OS is a Home Premium (supports up to 16GB), 2x8GB if you want to have room to upgrade to 32GB.

GPU: not sure, I'd like to spend ~$250-$300 max, wherever a good sweet spot is... I'll be running on a 1080 monitor

Can you wait for GTX 660 Ti to be released? It should be $300 or so. It may also affect AMD pricing. If you have to buy now get a MSI 7870 2GB $260 AR or MSI 7950 3GB $305 AR. Both are great bang for buck. FYI you can also build the rest of the system as soon as you want to and just use integrated graphics until 660 Ti is released.

also if there's room I'll probably throw in a PCI slot cooler in there and maybe a fan controller...

That won't be necessary, really. BTW Define R4 comes with an integrated 3-speed fan controller for three fans.

 

[neilsabo]

wow, this is a lot of great info guys... very thorough and helpful responses

I'll definitely be spending the next several days researching all of these case and components... seems like I have more options than I thought I had, LOL

also, the option of using some sort of external filter solution rather than depending on a case's built-in filters sounds like a very good idea

again, thank you guys for taking the time to help me out, it is much appreciated for someone who's never built a system before and has been out of the hardware loop for some time

 

[MoInSTL]

I just ordered the R4 today. It also has a bottom PSU dust filter. That should come in handy since dust is a concern. (Have to remove it from the back though).

Edit: The R4 has a window option in all 3 colors.