Help With What Tower to Choose?

[nerdyotter]

I don't know if this thread is in the right place. If not, could someone please move it/inform me?

I currently have an InWin GRone ATX full tower that fits all my needs. It's just that... it's huge and I can't bring it anywhere. I'm looking to buy an ATX mid tower case, but I want to make sure I can fit all of my hardware components inside of it without the universe blowing up.

List of hardware I would like to keep in the new case:

• MSI Z87-GD65 Motherboard (ATX)
• GeForce GTX Titan GPU
• Asus Xonar Essence STX (sound card)
• (1) SSD Drive
• (1) HDD Drive
• (1) Blu-Ray player/burner

The case also needs to have:

• Good support for 140mm fans

If it could have water cooling support for the future, that would be great, too. But I have a feeling that's a bit of a pipe dream, and I don't truly need that anyway.

Plus, it's not absolutely necessary, but the "boxy" look of many NZXT cases looks very pleasing to me. I don't have a preference for a side panel.

So... is it possible? If so, what should I get?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I don't know if this thread is in the right place. If not, could someone please move it/inform me?

I currently have an InWin GRone ATX full tower that fits all my needs. It's just that... it's huge and I can't bring it anywhere. I'm looking to buy an ATX mid tower case, but I want to make sure I can fit all of my hardware components inside of it without the universe blowing up.

List of hardware I would like to keep in the new case:

• MSI Z87-GD65 Motherboard (ATX)
• GeForce GTX Titan GPU
• Asus Xonar Essence STX (sound card)
• (1) SSD Drive
• (1) HDD Drive
• (1) Blu-Ray player/burner

The case also needs to have:

• Good support for 140mm fans

If it could have water cooling support for the future, that would be great, too. But I have a feeling that's a bit of a pipe dream, and I don't truly need that anyway.

Plus, it's not absolutely necessary, but the "boxy" look of many NZXT cases looks very pleasing to me. I don't have a preference for a side panel.

So... is it possible? If so, what should I get?

Look at these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...MATCH&Description=Corsair+C70&N=-1&isNodeId=1

One member posted his project for the C70 with a Corsair H80 AiO mounted in rear exhaust with extra, ducted airflow, and 140mm intake fans wherever he could put 'em. It kept his i7-4790K below 60C with stress-testing and the clocks set to the default turbo 4.4 Ghz. This means also that a compact heatpipe tower should work for you together with the C70.

But you'll have to get some dimensions to assure that the Titan card will fit. I see that it's about 10.5" long -- no more than any of the less expensive NVidia cards available. It should fit OK.

The forum member -- WGusler -- decided to paint the entire case a flat military olive green, to include the case-sidepanel window. He then made a stencil of the usual type of lettering you find on military Ammo boxes, so the case was tricked out as a 50-caliber machine-gun ammo box.

I think there are a lot of things you could do with that case. Maybe it's not your cup of tea -- and others may have better suggestions.

Of course, you could stick with your INWIN case; spend $25 on braked double-caster wheels from Lawless Hardware (Ohio or Indiana I think -- they have a web-page); get a couple 12"x2"x1/4" aluminum bars from the local metal shop; do some drilling and hopefully use the 6-32 screw-taps for the rubber feet of your INWIN to secure two pairs of wheels.

Then go to MNPCTech:

http://mnpctech.com/pc-case-lan-party-gaming-carry-top-server-tower-handles/

and bolt an aluminum handle or similar to the top of the case so you can drag it along on the sidewalk like airport luggage.

You could also do that with the C70, giving more ventilation from the bottom of the case (and extra fan).

 

[nerdyotter]

Thank you so much for your quick response.

 

[DigDog]

Fractal Define R5

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Fractal Define R5

From recent recollections of things like Egg photo-gallery, I can see that also as a possibility.

Usually I reserve judgment on units for which I can't see fan and airflow prospects from the photos.

Now that I look more carefully, there should be option for at least 1x 120/140mm bottom fan, 3x 120/140mm top fans, 2x 120/140mm front-panel fans, and the ubiquitous rear exhaust -- probably either 120 or 140mm.

All these cases, such as the Corsair C70 I also mentioned, will only allow for 140mm intake fans. But the limited volume of the case should make that scenario more than reasonably effective for various configurations of heatpipe-tower or water-cooling.