HardwareCanucks "Worst Case Trends of 2017"

[UsandThem]

While I don't agree with all of his thoughts, there is a lot I do agree with. Especially about designing cases with less restrictive airflow in the front because of solid fixed panels. On my Fractal Design R5, I can fix this by cracking the door a little before gaming/F@H, but for many of the cases the fronts are not a door.

Plus, I am sure I am in the minority opinion on this, but I could really care less about PSU shrouds.

 

[bfun_x1]

The restricted airflow in the front is a questionable trend. I like the aesthetics of a solid front panel but of course it's a trade-off. All the wasted interior space is really just the trend of making drive cages optional. Personally I think having 1/3 of the case taken up by empty drive cages is worse. I have mixed feeling about the PSU shroud. It can be a good option for HDD storage but I wonder how much it affects PSU temps.

 

[UsandThem]

The restricted airflow in the front is a questionable trend. I like the aesthetics of a solid front panel but of course it's a trade-off. All the wasted interior space is really just the trend of making drive cages optional. Personally I think having 1/3 of the case taken up by empty drive cages is worse. I have mixed feeling about the PSU shroud. It can be a good option for HDD storage but I wonder how much it affects PSU temps.

The problem with a good portion of the PSU shrouds (at least for me) are they are solid with no holes. So a person has no option other than facing the PSU downward. For people like me, I like leaving my PSU facing upward and running all the time at low RPMs (keeps my case and my PSU cooler).

Some cases like the Fractal Design R6 as least have perforated shrouds that will allow air flow, however I imagine it really restricts the air flow if facing up.

 

[Crono]

Steve of Gamer's Nexus also makes a point about all the bad airflow trends. I think sacrificing airflow for aesthetics is fine if you aren't running a system that requires the cooling, and enough people are choosing aesthetics over performance that the industry seemed to go maybe a little overboard by sacrificing some of their established higher airflow designs.

I don't care that much about PSU shrouds, either. I'm all about having as many bigger fans (140mm and 200mm) as possible, preferably front mesh, and tempered glass side panel. Beyond that I want solidly constructed cases. Fan controller hubs, integrated RGB, USB type C ports, etc are all bonus features.

My most recent build uses this case. Yes, the body design is a bit dated, but 3x 140mm front intake fans (I have inexpensive Rosewill Hyperborea fans mounted currently) even at less than 50 percent speed provides very good, whole system cooling, and is especially good for cooling GPUs.

 

[UsandThem]

My most recent build uses this case. Yes, the body design is a bit dated, but 3x 140mm front intake fans (I have inexpensive Rosewill Hyperborea fans mounted currently) even at less than 50 percent speed provides very good, whole system cooling, and is especially good for cooling GPUs.

I was actually looking at that case last night. I want to get a better case for my youngest son's PC, and I was deciding if I wanted to get a new one for myself and give him my R5. The ability to have 3 x 140mm in the front is very nice.

 

[bfun_x1]

I was actually looking at that case last night. I want to get a better case for my youngest son's PC, and I was deciding if I wanted to get a new one for myself and give him my R5. The ability to have 3 x 140mm in the front is very nice.

That case made it to my short list. Would you consider getting a limited edition version with an ice or fire unicorn side panel?

 

[UsandThem]

That case made it to my short list. Would you consider getting a limited edition version with an ice or fire unicorn side panel?

LOL.

I saw that and thought that had to be the ugliest case I had ever seen.

A fire unicorn. I don't know what they were thinking when they green-lit that design.

 

[fleshconsumed]

I actually like solid front door so long as there is adequate ventilation access on the sides like in Antec P18x and P280. It just needs to be done right. I chuckled at some of his suggestions though, mirror panels inside? Different materials like cloth? Sorry, but uhm, no.

 

[ao_ika_red]

That's why if I need to build E-ATX system, TT Core v51 and v71 are still my go-to choices. Just don't have enough fund and excuse to build one.

 

[BSim500]

Plus, I am sure I am in the minority opinion on this, but I could really care less about PSU shrouds.

You're far from being alone on that. I haven't seen a single test that demonstrates any significant difference in shroud vs non shroud case temps for most typical mid-range PC's. They screw up semi-passive / passive PSU's that run much cooler when facing upwards with fan off whilst what little radiated heat downward-facing PSU's that draw cold air in and exhaust it out the back makes virtually no difference to case temps. It's almost comical people pay the same premium for this stuff vs upgrading a Gold to Platinum / Titanium PSU that would further halve waste heat generated from PSU's in the first place that has a far greater impact than the shroud "insulation" ever will...

- Totally agree with him about the chronic lack of design variety here. Personally one of the best PSU placement designs I've seen is top-mounted PSU's facing up directly onto a dedicated exhaust / intake grill on the top of the case. Fan on = sucks cold air direct from outside (just like downward-facing, floor mounted PSU's) but fan off = warm air gets passively vented straight up and out of the case (which can't happen with floor mounted ones no matter which way they face). So the PSU stays much cooler fan on or off. Other gripes:-

- I had a Sharkoon MA-M1000M and loved being able to use all 4x front ports at a time (eg, leaving a game controller + FLIRC permanently in the USB 2 ports without needing to unplug them to insert a USB stick into the USB 3's). I miss that simple efficiency on 99% of "you'll get only 2x front ports and like it" cases.

- He's totally right about junk "silent" cases. The intakes for some can be so restrictive it can cause the fans to become starved of air. They then spin faster, making more noise defeating the whole point of the "indirect air path" in the first place...

- Lack of small SFX based M-ITX cases that actually have smaller footprint's than M-ATX towers and don't just trade height for width (like the "fat cube" stuff). Not everyone needs 2x 280mm radiators to cool a 65w CPU. It's sad the nCase had to be crowd-funded instead of being a mainstream design. The Silverstone Raven & Sugo 05 are also popular for similar reasons - both are absolutely tiny yet can still take a 600w silent PSU + dGPU + slim optical drive if needed. Other advantage of SFX vs ATX PSU's for M-ITX is sane cable lengths that actually match the case size. Corsair SF450/600 PSU's get it right yet are still waiting for M-ITX cases to catch up...

 

[UsandThem]

Well, I think I solved my temp concerns while running Folding@Home. I have always kept my Moduvents on the top of case closed because:

A. It would allow extra noise to come out.
B. When my PC is off, dust and pet hair might get into my PC since there are no dust filters on top.

So I came across this guy's video and did a slightly modified version of this: https://youtu.be/vKOSFzUO_YY?t=2m57s

Instead of slanting all 3 separate panels like they did in the video, I just did the one at the back, and installed a Noctua NF-A14 ULN on top, and what a difference it makes. I can't hear anything with the Moduvent slanted, but I can definitely feel the air being pushed out of the gap. My modified version of this used Noctua rubber vibration compensators instead of a screw they used in the video.

I guess now that I have that figured out, I will just try to find a high-airflow case on sale for my son's PC, because I really do like everything else about the R5.

 

[Glo.]

In essence all of the concerns can be summed in one sentence.

Without innovation in Case market, and truly out-of-the-box thinking, we will be seeing problematic trends in case designs.

We can design case that SFF, and has a lot of air movement, and is aesthetically very well designed: Mac Pro 6.1 case, for example. Companies have to start thinking about Industrial design, more than they do right now.

 

[mdram]

while its not a perfect solution
modular design for cases are coming out now that allow changing things around to suit your needs

i am hunting a new case, i have a thread here about my requirements
with sime help and searching i found one that should work due to it being modular

 

[dlerious]

while its not a perfect solution
modular design for cases are coming out now that allow changing things around to suit your needs

i am hunting a new case, i have a thread here about my requirements
with sime help and searching i found one that should work due to it being modular

I consider my Caselabs Mercury S8 fairly modular, but it's not cheap.

 

[XavierMace]

I think the problem is that the case designers and people like the ones in this thread have two different viewpoints and there's a disconnect. This "restricted airflow" is only a problem if you make it a problem. They've been making servers who's front panels are completely filled with drives for years now but manage to keep not only a dozen hot drives sufficiently cooled, but two processors with small-ish heatsinks, a buttload of RAM, etc. This is where the disconnect comes in. It's not that you can't get enough airflow through these case designs. It that you don't want your computer loud enough to do it.

While it's understandable that nobody wants something that sounds like a vacuum under their desk, I think people have gotten a little carried away with trying to completely silence their PC's. Even if my computer was silent, I've still got a ceiling fan that squeaks, neighbors cats who love to mate in my yard, kids with fart cans on their cars, etc. At no point in time is my room going to be silent and if it was, that would honestly be more distracting at this point than some background noise. You need to find a balance between noise and cooling capacity. Can I hear any of my computers over the speakers I'm using? No? Then mission accomplished in my book.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I think the problem is that the case designers and people like the ones in this thread have two different viewpoints and there's a disconnect. This "restricted airflow" is only a problem if you make it a problem. They've been making servers who's front panels are completely filled with drives for years now but manage to keep not only a dozen hot drives sufficiently cooled, but two processors with small-ish heatsinks, a buttload of RAM, etc. This is where the disconnect comes in. It's not that you can't get enough airflow through these case designs. It that you don't want your computer loud enough to do it.

While it's understandable that nobody wants something that sounds like a vacuum under their desk, I think people have gotten a little carried away with trying to completely silence their PC's. Even if my computer was silent, I've still got a ceiling fan that squeaks, neighbors cats who love to mate in my yard, kids with fart cans on their cars, etc. At no point in time is my room going to be silent and if it was, that would honestly be more distracting at this point than some background noise. You need to find a balance between noise and cooling capacity. Can I hear any of my computers over the speakers I'm using? No? Then mission accomplished in my book.

Hearing-loss-like typing detected.

 

[XavierMace]

Hearing-loss-like typing detected.

If you say so.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I generally don't care about computer fan noises, unless they're "clicking" (and could be a HDD). My A/C overpowered the slight whoosh/hum whenever it turns on anyways.

 

[Chaotic42]

I tend to prefer simple cases which are easy to work in. I won't want windows, doors, RGB, or aggressive styling - it's going to sit under my desk and only come out when I have to work in it. I'm not sure who the leader in that regard is, but I do like my Corsair 540 sans the window.

 

[Excessi0n]

Hearing-loss-like typing detected.

As someone with a hearing loss, I value silence quite a bit. I'm sure the loss helps with that, though.

I do live in the country, though, and my house has sound-dampening insulation. I actually can achieve silence, something that I would imagine is much harder for town people.

 

[XavierMace]

I actually can achieve silence, something that I would imagine is much harder for town people.

Which was my point. It's kinda moot if my PC is silent because nothing else is. If I can't hear it over the ambient noise, it's quiet enough.

 

[Jimie]

isnt this placing a bit too much emphasis on the case? if you really care about the noise, choose parts that are quiet and of course a case that will dampen the noise...you cant expect to buy the loudest parts or overclock the heck out of them and expect the case to bottle up the noise...

 

[DigDog]

but I could really care less about PSU shrouds.

 

[ao_ika_red]

I don't expect seeing David here. Not without Rob and Lee.

 

[WilliamM2]

I hate the trend of no front 5.25" drive bays. They aren't just for optical drives, but things like hot swap bays, fan controllers etc. Although I consider any PC that can't even rip a CD/DVD pretty weak. I like a PC that can do anything.