Recommendations for decent cooling PC case?

vyle

I have a Dell desktop which I bought reduced and stuck a lovely graphics card into it (ATI 5850) and it's been running well for my gaming, but seemed to underperform for some games, such as Witcher 2 and Skyrim (with the mods ramped up), and skyrim kept crashing.

When I looked at the temperature readings on my card, I realised that it idles at about 50degrees, when others report it idling at 40ish.

Anyway, long story short, it turns out that I completely forgot to consider the airflow in my case, and my graphics card is creating a hot-pocket if you like, at the bottom. Oops.

So I'm going to lift everything out and dump it into a tower that doesn't suck where air-flow is concerned.

I don't really want to go the liquid cooling route, because I have a friend whose cooling tubes leaked and broke everything, and I can't get my head around "liquid" inside computers, however awesome it's reported to be.

I've looked at a number of cases, but it's not a market area I know much about, and would like some pointers if possible.

Criteria:

Front-mounted headphone out.
4 USBs on front if possible (pref USB3)
SD card reader
Plenty of ventilation
1x optical drive slot.
Possibly sound muffling but not too fussed.

My budget isn't set in stone (within reason...probably £200 max but might be able to go further), because I just want something that will keep my computer ice-cool, and with any luck this case will stay with me as I upgrade in the future.

Thanks

Toxteth_OGrady

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/antec-p280-performance-series-pc-tower-case-nine-expansions-slots-xl-atx-standard-1341055

vyle

Ooh that looks tempting and at that price I may be able to get a nice powerful power supply.... In fact I think this is the winner as far as cases are concerned. I was considering this chap:

http://www.ebuyer.com/222943-coolermaster-haf-x-case-rc-942-kkn1

or

http://www.ebuyer.com/291428-coolermaster-cm690-ii-white-with-600w-silent-pro-gold-psu-eb-692a-wwg600

But no.1 seems a bit....gimmicky in some ways? While I'm concerned about the size of the second, but like that it comes with a psu.

vyle

I've decided to go with the antec and a 500w psu off ebay. Total came to £126. Hopefully this will get my pc running to its full potential. Thanks for the advice.

almillar

Good luck with that. Don't Dell (and other PC makers) use non standard motherboards and header connections, meaning you can't simply move them into other cases (or other mobos into their cases)?

vyle

almillar wrote: »

Good luck with that. Don't Dell (and other PC makers) use non standard motherboards and header connections, meaning you can't simply move them into other cases (or other mobos into their cases)?

Umm.... didn't think of that. My flatmate just moved an acer into another case..... if not, I guess I'll be sending the stuff back under DRSs...

The Mobo doesn't look unusual to me... how would I be able to tell?

Toxteth_OGrady

vyle wrote: »

The Mobo doesn't look unusual to me... how would I be able to tell?

This link shows the standard mounting holes spacing for an ATX motherboard and case:

http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/513/mobotray.jpg

vyle

It's quite fiddly to get in and measure, but I think the holes are in the right place. I guess time will tell.

almillar

I guess the holes will be in the right place, I was more worried about the pins that you connect wires to for the power switch, light, reset switch, HDD light etc. These are pretty standard on mobos and cases that you buy, but I've definitely seen an HP that has a completely non standard single connector for all these things, meaning that the mobo is stuck with that case, and that case is also stuck with that mobo. You'll have to watch out for the power supply too, even if complies with standards, a few extra connectors have crept in over the last few years with extra connections for motherboard, CPU or graphics card. Depending on how powerful your PSU is you might have been looking at changing it anyway...

Cisco001

SilverStone Raven RV03 ?

Toxteth_OGrady

Cisco001 wrote: »

SilverStone Raven RV03 ?

I have 3 Silverstone cases, Temjin TJ09, Fortress FT02 and Raven RV03 but didn't recommend because the are pricey (but well worth every penny). Quite possibly the best air cooling cases you can get. The Fortress is my favourite.