Looking for a mATX case with a little sizzle

[gus6464]

You can buy a Thermaltake Core V20 and take it apart and paint it all snazzy. All the panels come apart and raw skeleton so you mod to your hearts content.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Favorite off the shelf mATX case is bitfenix pandora

 

[lehtv]

@gus6464 You mean Core V21? I own it and can't recommend it.
- The HDD rack is terrible and its part of the case has no cooling (caused my WD Black 3TB drive to overheat). They could've easily put an 80mm fan slot back there.
- the window is pretty ugly and scratches easily. If you want "sizzle", buy a case with a tempered glass window
- the dust filter behind the front panel is very low quality
- 7mm thick SSD's (standard these days) do not fit snugly into the 2.5" slots that are meant for 9mm drives
- the fan/radiator mounting rails are incredibly annoying to use
- the bottom panel would be much better if it was identical to the two other filtered side panels, but with feet under it
- stock cooling is poor (no exhaust airflow)
- and it's huge, you can find ATX cases that are smaller

The case has lots of good things and ideas going for it, but it really should be higher quality and smaller to be worth it (and higher priced, of course)

 

[gus6464]

@gus6464 You mean Core V21? I own it and can't recommend it.
- The HDD rack is terrible and its part of the case has no cooling (caused my WD Black 3TB drive to overheat). They could've easily put an 80mm fan slot back there.
- the window is pretty ugly and scratches easily. If you want "sizzle", buy a case with a tempered glass window
- the dust filter behind the front panel is very low quality
- 7mm thick SSD's (standard these days) do not fit snugly into the 2.5" slots that are meant for 9mm drives
- the fan/radiator mounting rails are incredibly annoying to use
- the bottom panel would be much better if it was identical to the two other filtered side panels, but with feet under it
- stock cooling is poor (no exhaust airflow)
- and it's huge, you can find ATX cases that are smaller

The case has lots of good things and ideas going for it, but it really should be higher quality and smaller to be worth it (and higher priced, of course)

I have no issues with the exhaust and cooling the hdd on mine. I have an H100i v2 above the cpu, and then 2 noctua nf-p14 on the other rail exhausting the air out. I have no rear exhaust fan. I did keep the giant fan in the front.

My CPU temps are 19C idle and don't get past 40C on load. HDD temps are 30C idle dont see it going up much more in load. GPU temp idles at 40C with the fan usually never on unless I play a game but I do have the Zotac AMP Extreme with the massive cooler. All temps are through corsair link.

 

[Valantar]

Favorite off the shelf mATX case is bitfenix pandora

At least in my book, that doesn't quite hit the mark of "a little pop" or "some wow". The Pandora is essentially minimalist, just rounded instead of squared off. OP's opinion might of course differ ...

 

[monkeydelmagico]

At least in my book, that doesn't quite hit the mark of "a little pop" or "some wow". The Pandora is essentially minimalist, just rounded instead of squared off. OP's opinion might of course differ ...

True that but this is what it is replacing:

Good case but pure vanilla. The pandora is certainly more elegant and eye catching.

I suppose if you want retina searing the phantom gets the job done

 

[bbhaag]

Just wondering, did you see my post on the Bitfenix Aegis? Should tick all your boxes nicely (although design preference is of course very subjective).

Yes I saw it. It looks nice but the only place I can find it for sale is on overclockers.co.uk and the price for shipping is outrageous. I want to say keep the suggestions coming but at this point I think I've settled on the Corsair that z1ggy suggested. I know it's not the form factor that I want but it has the look that I want and any build is all about compromise so this is mine.

Just want too say thanks too everyone who replied. I read all of your posts and I appreciate all the feedback that was given.

 

[lehtv]

I have no issues with the exhaust and cooling the hdd on mine. I have an H100i v2 above the cpu, and then 2 noctua nf-p14 on the other rail exhausting the air out. I have no rear exhaust fan. I did keep the giant fan in the front.

My CPU temps are 19C idle and don't get past 40C on load. HDD temps are 30C idle dont see it going up much more in load. GPU temp idles at 40C with the fan usually never on unless I play a game but I do have the Zotac AMP Extreme with the massive cooler. All temps are through corsair link.

I don't see how any of this disputes what I wrote. Of course your temps are all great with such overkill exhaust cooling. Also, the HDD rack supports up to three hard disks - you're probably using a single standard WD Blue/Green or similar. Doesn't come close to determining if the HDD area is adequately cooled or not. I had two WD Black 3TB drives, the drive closer to the motherboard would go 56-57C in light load, while 55C was the max temperature it tolerates according to specs. Now imagine putting a third WD Black there and running them all at full load - the case simply doesn't work, it's designed to hold three 3.5" drives but cannot cool them.

Also, idle temps are irrelevant. Any modern CPU or GPU with a half decent cooler will idle a few degrees above room temperature, regardless of case.