Need a case for around £100?

[spat55]

My Rig is in the sig. I would like a side window, but that isn't a 100% requirement. I have been thinking about this for awhile and the ones I like the look of are the, NZXT Phantom 410 and Corsair Carbide 500r.

The Requirements are;

Excellent cable management, so I can tuck it all out the back.

Plenty of cooling for the crossfire setup, at the moment my GPU fans are on overload.

A side window would be nice, and needs to be under £100 if possible please.

 

[DavidT99]

Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, approx £75. Loads of space, 3x 140mm silent fans included (all filtered) with an inbuilt fan controller, side window, watercooling support, ticks all the boxes.

David

 

[spat55]

Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, approx £75. Loads of space, 3x 140mm silent fans included (all filtered) with an inbuilt fan controller, side window, watercooling support, ticks all the boxes.

David

Another one for the list, out of all of them, I think that one is my favorite, the others look slightly childish. Thanks.

 

[DavidT99]

Another one for the list, out of all of them, I think that one is my favorite, the others look slightly childish. Thanks.

Its a great case, I have just moved my home server into it and even with 7 HDDS it is very quiet. The cable management is excellent with plenty of space behind the mobo to hide cables. There are two locations behind the mobo location for installing SSD's.

David

 

[lehtv]

I just want to post here in order to +1 DavidT99's recommendation. Cheapest I can find is at dabs.co.uk for £71: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcaarcr2blwhttp://www.dabs.com/products/fracta...4_1376666276_8ec2337cbfde2f85a38b191fc18af738

 

[spat55]

I just want to post here in order to +1 DavidT99's recommendation. Cheapest I can find is at dabs.co.uk for £71: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcaarcr2blw

You have a similar one don't you? What is it like?

 

[CAxVIPER]

Corsair air 540. It is like £92.

 

[lehtv]

You have a similar one don't you? What is it like?

Mine isn't actually that similar to the Arc Midi R2. What I have is pretty good but the Arc Midi is not designed as a silent case but more as a performance/airflow case. Arc Midi doesn't have a front door, or any noise reduction apart from the fan controller, but it supports 140mm fans all around (like Define R4, and unlike my Define R3) and ships with three fans instead of two.

 

[spat55]

Corsair air 540. It is like £92.

I had been looking at this one awhile back, when it was on preorder, but I didn't like how fat it was, will add it to the list though.

Mine isn't actually that similar to the Arc Midi R2. What I have is pretty good but the Arc Midi is not designed as a silent case but more as a performance/airflow case. Arc Midi doesn't have a front door, or any noise reduction apart from the fan controller, but it supports 140mm fans all around (like Define R4, and unlike my Define R3) and ships with three fans instead of two.

Yours doesn't seem to be what I am looking for like you said, although I would like mine to be quiet.

 

[Freddy1765]

I've got the Arc Midi R2, quite happy with it. Cable management is excellent, but I did have issues with the HDD cage causing the entire front cover to vibrate noisily. Removing a metal bracket attaching the front to the drive cage fixed it.
In terms of noise it's very nice, especially when the fan controller is set to 5v, although I did replace the stock fans with some Corsair AF140s.

 

[spat55]

I've got the Arc Midi R2, quite happy with it. Cable management is excellent, but I did have issues with the HDD cage causing the entire front cover to vibrate noisily. Removing a metal bracket attaching the front to the drive cage fixed it.
In terms of noise it's very nice, especially when the fan controller is set to 5v, although I did replace the stock fans with some Corsair AF140s.

I have this with my case now, it is terrible, I shouldn't of cheaped out of it really, but it was my first build, and still is. You could fix it if you got a 5.25in to 3.5in converter, but then it won't be getting airflow from the case fans...

 

[Freddy1765]

Drove me crazy within a few days of using the case, but fortunately removing a couple of screws is an easy fix. I don't think you'll be disappointed with the Midi R2, although the lack of a side intake/exhaust might not be optimal for Xfire? Just a thought.

 

[spat55]

Drove me crazy within a few days of using the case, but fortunately removing a couple of screws is an easy fix. I don't think you'll be disappointed with the Midi R2, although the lack of a side intake/exhaust might not be optimal for Xfire? Just a thought.

If I can get enough out take through the back and intake through the front it shouldn't be to bad.

 

[lehtv]

I think even with the default three 140mm fans you'll be fine. Adding a top exhaust may improve temps by a degree or two

 

[spat55]

I think even with the default three 140mm fans you'll be fine. Adding a top exhaust may improve temps by a degree or two

I have two intakes, one on the front and one on the side, both rather low airflow though, then one outtake of the back. The cable management hasn't helped though.

 

[DavidT99]

I moved the top 140mm fan to the front of the case so I have two 140mm intakes and one 140mm exhaust. My drives idle at about 30°c or slightly less, my CPU idles at about 29°c and under light load server duties no more than 35°c. The FD Arc midi will take 6 140mm fans so cooling is not going to be a problem.

David