Which case?

[skaertus]

I am building a desktop PC and I am trying to choose an adequate casing. I want something that will accommodate a good and somewhat powerful PC without exchanging too much heat with the environment. As I live in Brazil, I have far less choices than in the U.S., and they would be basically the following:

• Aerocool Aero 500
• Aerocool Aero 800
• Aerocool Project 7
• Cooler Master MasterBox MB600L
• Corsair Carbide SPEC-01
• Corsair Carbide SPEC-02
• Corsair Carbide SPEC-03
• Corsair Carbide SPEC-04
• Corsair Carbide Air 540
• Corsair Carbide 275R
• Corsair Carbide SPEC-Omega
• Corsair Crystal 460X
• GameMax Infinit M908
• GameMax Rainbow M911
• GameMax Onyx II GGM
• NZXT S340
• NZXT H500
• Thermaltake Core G21
• Thermaltake Versa C21 RGB
• Thermaltake Versa C23 TG RGB
• Thermaltake View 22
• Thermaltake View 27
• Thermaltake View 31 TG

Among these, the Corsair Carbide Air 540 looks good and big enough for avoid dissipating too much heat. Some of the RGB models look nice, but I looking more towards functionality than looks actually. And my main concern is to avoid heating the room.

Any recommendations? Or does it not really matter?

Thanks.

 

[UsandThem]

Among these, the Corsair Carbide Air 540 looks good and big enough for avoid dissipating too much heat. Some of the RGB models look nice, but I looking more towards functionality than looks actually. And my main concern is to avoid heating the room.

Any recommendations? Or does it not really matter?

I've never used any of those cases, so I can't recommend any of them, but I just wanted to point out you want the heat to quickly be moved from the case into your room. Otherwise, all that heat would build up in your PC, and you don't want that. It's your component selection that will dictate how much heat is produced into your environment.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, what you are asking for is, "poor case airflow / cooling". Which will make your PC run hotter, crash/ throttle, and generally not behave well.

What you need, are lower-powered components inside, that generate less heat.

 

[skaertus]

I've never used any of those cases, so I can't recommend any of them, but I just wanted to point out you want the heat to quickly be moved from the case into your room. Otherwise, all that heat would build up in your PC, and you don't want that. It's your component selection that will dictate how much heat is produced into your environment.

Yeah, what you are asking for is, "poor case airflow / cooling". Which will make your PC run hotter, crash/ throttle, and generally not behave well.

What you need, are lower-powered components inside, that generate less heat.

Thanks.

I suspect that I will have to add lower-powered components anyway. But a good case does not help as well?

 

[Freddy1765]

Thanks.

I suspect that I will have to add lower-powered components anyway. But a good case does not help as well?

It's hard to find a case for your needs without knowing what those needs are. Are you looking to build a computer for gaming or productivity? Or is it just a machine for browsing and e-mails?
If by "somewhat powerful" you mean a reasonably high-end CPU (Ryzen 5 or 7, 9600k/9700k) as well as a GPU,
I'd definitely choose something with good airflow.

I assume Brazil gets very hot in the summer, so you want to be able to move a lot of air to maintain decent temperatures inside the case. This means you probably want something with an open front (i.e. just a dust filter) as opposed to something closed off.
Fractal Design generally make very good cases; I've got their Meshify C which has very good airflow. I'm not sure about the specific cases you listed, though.

 

[skaertus]

It's hard to find a case for your needs without knowing what those needs are. Are you looking to build a computer for gaming or productivity? Or is it just a machine for browsing and e-mails?
If by "somewhat powerful" you mean a reasonably high-end CPU (Ryzen 5 or 7, 9600k/9700k) as well as a GPU,
I'd definitely choose something with good airflow.

I assume Brazil gets very hot in the summer, so you want to be able to move a lot of air to maintain decent temperatures inside the case. This means you probably want something with an open front (i.e. just a dust filter) as opposed to something closed off.
Fractal Design generally make very good cases; I've got their Meshify C which has very good airflow. I'm not sure about the specific cases you listed, though.

I am building a computer for productivity, but I want it to run fast. As I want to drive two high-resolution monitors (3840x2160 and 2560x1440), I need some video card to not penalize CPU performance. I may use it for casual gaming, but I will not spend tens of hours in immersive gaming.

The thing is, it is very hot here. Now it's 86o F and it is still Spring. I am writing this on a laptop (athough one with a quad-core Core i7 and a dedicated video card), and I am sweating. All I don't need is a computer that makes the room any warmer than it already is.

I was thinking of buying a Core i7-8700, 16 GB RAM 2666 MHz, a 480 GB SSD, a 4 TB HDD, and a GTX 1070. It may sound overkill for a productivity desktop, but I really like having the additional horsepower to run everything very smoothly. However, I can give up some power and downgrade the machine if it is required to keep the room cooler. I would gladly change any additional speed with the comfort of having a cooler room. I could get a Core i5, and a GTX 1060 or even a GTX 1050 instead. I currently have a mini desktop with a Core i5-7500T and an integrated video card, and it is cool enough, but the performance is not up to par. My main drive here is to keep the room cool while significantly improving the performance.

Does the case, the cooler, and air flow change anything in the room temperature and in the perception of heat? I was thinking of the Carbide Air 540 as it seems big enough to dissipate the heat.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I was thinking of buying a Core i7-8700, 16 GB RAM 2666 MHz, a 480 GB SSD, a 4 TB HDD, and a GTX 1070. It may sound overkill for a productivity desktop, but I really like having the additional horsepower to run everything very smoothly. However, I can give up some power and downgrade the machine if it is required to keep the room cooler. I would gladly change any additional speed with the comfort of having a cooler room. I could get a Core i5, and a GTX 1060 or even a GTX 1050 instead. I currently have a mini desktop with a Core i5-7500T and an integrated video card, and it is cool enough, but the performance is not up to par. My main drive here is to keep the room cool while significantly improving the performance.

Honestly, there isn't going to be a huge difference in performance / watt, between your i5-7500T, and an i7-8700.

Not until 10nm (Ice Lake) or 7nm (Zen2), are we going to get any significant improvements in performance / watt, I feel.

 

[skaertus]

Honestly, there isn't going to be a huge difference in performance / watt, between your i5-7500T, and an i7-8700.

Not until 10nm (Ice Lake) or 7nm (Zen2), are we going to get any significant improvements in performance / watt, I feel.

That I can understand. I can also see that Apple managed to put Intel 8th gen desktop-class processors (Core i5-8400 and Core i7-8700) inside its new Mac Mini. And I guess the new Mac Mini does not produce excessive heat. I have a hard time imagining a Mac Mini making a whole room much warmer. So, I suppose a good casing can make all the difference in handling temperatures and heat dissipation.