smilingcrow wrote:
I actually bought a Fractal Design Define R4 but I was hearing a noise at times which I had never heard with the Antec so when it developed 2 faults within a week of purchase I returned it for a refund; shame as it had some good features.
Too bad your experience with it, this is what i was going to recommend.
smilingcrow wrote:
Ideally I would like to avoid these but appreciate that I will likely have to work around them:
Fans larger than 120mm.
Here is what I am investigating: mATX
Silverstone Temjin Evolotion SST-TJ08B-E
For these two comments im going to suggest you to check the
Silverstone Tek Micro-ATX Mini-DTX, Mini-ITX Mini Tower Plastic with Aluminum Accent Computer Cases PS07B (Black) similar to the TJ08-E, but has a few changes that might be better for you, the TJ08-E has an open front grill with alluminium finish, the PS07 has a plastic front with closed door (intakes from the sides of the front), instead of the 180mm fan comes with 2x120mm, the rest basically the same, i just did a build for friend on it, and its a fine case. Btw on the TJ08-E, i have my gaming machine on it, check my sig, and the 180mm fan is very loud, even at 900rpm (low setting on the case fan controller) its very noticeable, i placed an Fanmate2 in between to lower it more, around 600rpm start to become decent (you can still hear it though on quiet room, but for me its tolerable for the amount of air that it moves), it can be taken lower from what i remember, i think someone in OCN got it to 450rpm after that it turns off. One thing worth mentioning about both is that the HR02 is a great cooler for it, but its very tight withe the frist PCIe slot, if i didnt use the hdd cage in both builds (TJ08e/PS07) the gpu will have touched the heatsink because of the gravity pulling the cards down, but with the cage its all good, this is worth it cause might affect what cpu cooler you go into pair with the GTX650.
Out of the cases you are considering, and some others, here some comments,
Antec P183v3,
Solid case and proven for years here, so its sure bet, specially since you liked your P180mini. The v3 already comes with usb3 heather for the mobo, 120mm fan support. There are some very nice builds i seen here, like
Boring but silentAntec P280,
Seems to fit a lot of what you are looking, like USB3 on top, power button n reset on top, etc. Supports 120mm fans (two on top, two on front and one on the back). The case seems big and has a large cpu cutout, good cable management holes... seems solid, i would just remove the top fan and close the top vent, and probably swap all fans for Nexus basic / Scythe Slipstreams and undervolt them.
Antec SOLO II,
Another worth considering, specially since you are picky about mechanical hdds, it comes with a hdd suspension mechanism for 3.5 hdds, has the same poly as the P280 on the doors and top, has decent airflow supports 120mm fans (2 front and 1back), but its tricky on the cable management as there is no room on the back of the mobo (i used the 5.25 slots and the back of the hdd cage), i did HTPC on it with x400, check my sig for pics and other stuff. The PSU is not mounted on the bottom, but has a top vent on the case for it, but this might also leak noise, in my case all fans are so low on rpms that i dont hear a thing, even under load.
Corsair 550D,
Also a nice option, supports 120mm fans, can place two on front and one on the back, with a lot of expansion if you need more cooling (you can add 4x more 120mm fans if you feel like it taking the covers off), but with close vent in all in case you want a more silent setup. Large CPU cutout, good cable management, the usb n power are on the front/top, as the 280 fits what you looking. A little expensive though, but also comes with a lot of magentic fan filters.
Another thing is if you are happy with your P180mini, and if you dont find anything that its worth it over it, then just add 5.25 usb3 add on, like
5.25" PC Media Dashboard Front Panel USB 3.0 HUB SD MS MMC CF XD TF M2 Card Reader SATA ESATA, given that its not ideal cause of the door... but worth considering if you dont find anything you like as with the R4.
Btw have you bought all the components? just wondering more about the mobo since you are also considering mATX case.