I’m building a PC and I only need one more item, the case. I know that I need an ATX case. With the below mentioned parts, should I get a full tower or a mid tower (I’m especially worried about fitting that Hyper 212 Evo)? My budget is $200 max. Features such as noise reduction, removable storage device trays and cord management are important to me. Conversely, I would prefer the case had minimal or no LED lights (would keep me up at night).
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116504
Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131821
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card 02G-P4-2678-KR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130787
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136533
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835103099
SSD Hard Drive: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 20-148-442
Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820233186
Optical Drive: Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827106335
Power Supply: Corsair AX760i Modular 80 PLUS Platinum Power Supply (Not Yet Available)
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Professio ... 00A0HZMI8/
Case: ?
Case Recommendation
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar
Re: Case Recommendation
Hyper 212 Evo is quite small as tower coolers go. It fits handily in a great many micro ATX cases so I'd certainly not envisage any problems in a mid tower ATX. Check potential cases for a clearance height of 165mm+ and you'll be golden.
If I may query your parts list slightly - why full size ATX? It's going to be awfully empty in there with just those parts listed and you're paying for a bunch of expansion slots on the full size ATX motherboard which aren't going to be used. A micro ATX board such as the P8Z77-M-PRO - http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_S ... 8Z77M_PRO/ or for extra bling the Asus Maximum V Gene - http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_S ... us_V_GENE/
... these sort of boards look to have all the same features relevant to your parts list, allow for a small case and look to be much cheaper to boot (quick newegg shows V Gene $40 cheaper and P8Z77M Pro $100 cheaper than the Sabretooth).
I'd also suspect you don't need nearly as many watts in that there power supply. A very very rough add up of maximum theoretical (ie only possible with benchmarks) power draw from those parts would be in the region of 320 watts given the 170w graphics card and 80w CPU. Actual gaming maximum draw likely to be well under 300w. I'd be more than comfortable with a 500-600W PSU in there. If your concern is future proofing then remember that TDPs have plummeted in the last five years and are all but guaranteed to only go lower in the future. A smaller PSU like a Seasonic X Series 560W gold modular - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151098 - saves you another $100.
That's $200 saved with absolutely no drop in performance - you can pay for an awful lot of beer/pizza/computer games/energy bills/mortgage payments with $200.
Ok, moving on to your actual question. Individual aesthetics are such a big part of choosing a case and are something we can't really help with because, well, we're not you. But Antec, Silverstone and Fractal cases are all quite well liked at the moment, I'd be tempted to peruse their product catalogues then start googling for some reviews, all (most) of them make concessions to cable management and easy access hard drive bays and many are moving toward more minimalistic styling which I personally find attractive (less LEDs etc).
That said, for actual recommendations.
Full size ATX, perhaps the Fractal Design Define R4 http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... =2&prod=99, the Antec P183 http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=705436&pid=89, Silverstone Raven RV02-E http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/pro ... -E&area=en.
Micro ATX, perhaps the Fractal Design Define Mini http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... =2&prod=58, the Antec Mini P180 http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=705433&pid=89, Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.p ... 03&area=en
SCPR and countless other sites have reviews of all these up for more information.
If I may query your parts list slightly - why full size ATX? It's going to be awfully empty in there with just those parts listed and you're paying for a bunch of expansion slots on the full size ATX motherboard which aren't going to be used. A micro ATX board such as the P8Z77-M-PRO - http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_S ... 8Z77M_PRO/ or for extra bling the Asus Maximum V Gene - http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_S ... us_V_GENE/
... these sort of boards look to have all the same features relevant to your parts list, allow for a small case and look to be much cheaper to boot (quick newegg shows V Gene $40 cheaper and P8Z77M Pro $100 cheaper than the Sabretooth).
I'd also suspect you don't need nearly as many watts in that there power supply. A very very rough add up of maximum theoretical (ie only possible with benchmarks) power draw from those parts would be in the region of 320 watts given the 170w graphics card and 80w CPU. Actual gaming maximum draw likely to be well under 300w. I'd be more than comfortable with a 500-600W PSU in there. If your concern is future proofing then remember that TDPs have plummeted in the last five years and are all but guaranteed to only go lower in the future. A smaller PSU like a Seasonic X Series 560W gold modular - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151098 - saves you another $100.
That's $200 saved with absolutely no drop in performance - you can pay for an awful lot of beer/pizza/computer games/energy bills/mortgage payments with $200.
Ok, moving on to your actual question. Individual aesthetics are such a big part of choosing a case and are something we can't really help with because, well, we're not you. But Antec, Silverstone and Fractal cases are all quite well liked at the moment, I'd be tempted to peruse their product catalogues then start googling for some reviews, all (most) of them make concessions to cable management and easy access hard drive bays and many are moving toward more minimalistic styling which I personally find attractive (less LEDs etc).
That said, for actual recommendations.
Full size ATX, perhaps the Fractal Design Define R4 http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... =2&prod=99, the Antec P183 http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=705436&pid=89, Silverstone Raven RV02-E http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/pro ... -E&area=en.
Micro ATX, perhaps the Fractal Design Define Mini http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=pro ... =2&prod=58, the Antec Mini P180 http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=705433&pid=89, Silverstone Temjin TJ08-E http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.p ... 03&area=en
SCPR and countless other sites have reviews of all these up for more information.
Re: Case Recommendation
There's also the Corsair 550D, though I prefer the Fractal Design Define R4 over the Corsair.
The hard drive you've chosen will most likely create a lot of noise caused by the vibration of the hard drive. You could either set up a DIY suspension system or you could buy an aftermarket suspension system. I could find one on newegg, but here's a product that sells in Europe:
http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/node/915
The hard drive you've chosen will most likely create a lot of noise caused by the vibration of the hard drive. You could either set up a DIY suspension system or you could buy an aftermarket suspension system. I could find one on newegg, but here's a product that sells in Europe:
http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/node/915
Re: Case Recommendation
The parts I listed, I've already bought.
I don't have very much technical knowledge on what I'm doing so I'm trying to use process of elimination to whittle my choices down.
With the motherboard that I bought (Sabertooth Z77), would I be able to use USB 3.0 ports that are on the front of some cases?
Is there anything I'm not thinking about in regards to a case that I should be?
I don't have very much technical knowledge on what I'm doing so I'm trying to use process of elimination to whittle my choices down.
With the motherboard that I bought (Sabertooth Z77), would I be able to use USB 3.0 ports that are on the front of some cases?
Is there anything I'm not thinking about in regards to a case that I should be?
Re: Case Recommendation
Yes, there's a USB 3.0 header on that board just next to the sata ports and three USB 2.0 headers at the bottom of the board.majax79 wrote:With the motherboard that I bought (Sabertooth Z77), would I be able to use USB 3.0 ports that are on the front of some cases?
Most case constraints only really appear when looking at micro ATX sized and smaller cases but the main ones are generally heat sink height, graphics card length and PSU length. The components you've selected are all quite modestly proportioned and I envisage vast swathes of space available with really any ATX case. Your chosen heatsink will fit within c.165mm clearance with ease, your PSU is 160mm deep, and your graphics card looks to be c.250mm long. Check case reviews for those clearances and you're golden, but I'd be extremely suprised if any recent ATX tower case doesn't accomodate those sort of dimensions with ample room to spare.majax79 wrote:Is there anything I'm not thinking about in regards to a case that I should be?