R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case?

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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neocodex
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R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case?

Post by neocodex » Tue Jun 13, 2017 1:44 am

I was just wondering why isn't H440 mentioned here more as a contender to silentpc builds. It still has sound dampening installed and looks similiar to Define series, so I wonder what your opinions, experiences or recommendations for a long time satisfied R4 user would be?

I'm in the process of making a new quiet air cooled gaming build but this time I am thinking about something different. Define series is great and all, but maybe I want a change?

First there is the window. I didn't care much for this in the past, although my builds were very tidy and pretty on the inside, I prefered silence over functionality, and closed, sound damped cases like the R4 were exactly my style. But with all these new components coming with Aura Sync these days now it almost seems like a shame to just hide it all away, again.

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And when I thought about using the window version of the Define series it always seemed to me a bit too... small and... blocky? Don't know what it is, but I liked the closed off basic version much more. H440 on the other hand, makes it look better somehow... It feels like H440 was designed completely with the window in mind, while on the Define it's just cut out and attached onto it, feels a bit off there imho, or it could be just me.

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When I first saw the H440 I didn't know yet what it was, but I really liked the closed of PSU part. This alone just made the whole case feel on another level.

But I'm not sure how it helps with cooling. It does seal the PSU away from the GPU and prevents the two of them to exchange hot air between them which seems great, but this way it completely blocks the top part from the PSU venting holes and I'm a bit concerned about this, is that ok?

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Or do I just turn the PSU upside down?

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So I'm pretty much just concerned about the PSU part. I made another thread looking for the most efficient, quietest PSU that would not cause noise up to 500W loads and I was willing to go up to 1000W titanium series, because right now the only problem I have in my current R4 build is the power draw and heat caused from the 1080 Ti that makes my 700W ASM XZero hot and unacceptably loud (but this wasn't the case with GTX 970 which has 1/2 of the power draw).

Would this setup with closed off PSU bay in H440 work for better or worse? In my theory it should be a lot better, since GPU and PSU won't be sharing same hot air, probably both of them running cooler, as long as PSU won't be choking below there - will it get good airflow?


NeilBlanchard
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Re: R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case

Post by NeilBlanchard » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:15 am

The close up of the PSU bay shows one of the problems: the slots for the air intake are about 50% CLOSED. A larger hex opening grill is far more open.

neocodex
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Re: R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case

Post by neocodex » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:43 am

Wow... Ouch.

But.. how is fully closed R5 with just 2 front and 1 exhaust better than this then? Does it really have that much better airflow?

And for the PSU, maybe the lower front fant blowing in PSU direction would help keeping it cool? (or moving a fan closer to it), the airflow would go straight horizontally.

What I'm thinking is, what point is having top exposed if it's sharing hot air coming from GPUs in regular cases anyway?

Also, why is there an air filter and opening below the PSU area, is it meant to be turned upside down?

Abula
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Re: R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case

Post by Abula » Tue Jun 13, 2017 6:22 am

The H440 has been considered not very good in airflow, given that that R5 is also restrictive, i dont think it starves as much as the H440.

vishcompany
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Re: R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case

Post by vishcompany » Tue Jun 13, 2017 11:52 am

neocodex wrote:Also, why is there an air filter and opening below the PSU area, is it meant to be turned upside down?
Yes.

Abula
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Re: R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case

Post by Abula » Tue Jun 13, 2017 2:02 pm

In case you go with H440, but want better airflow, NZXT H440 FRONT PANEL BEZEL AIR FLOW GRILL MOD.

neocodex
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Re: R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case

Post by neocodex » Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:02 am

I just turned psu in my current build upside down, and to cut long story short (I posted whole story in the PSU forums), the reason I had problems was the fan facing upwards. It's way better now.

But I'm still excited about H440... I don't know why, I just want a change from Define series, and I really love the idea of closed off psu compartment (although it's not really required).

But I guess I should trust SPCR that this thing just doesn't perform for a quiet build, the last thing I would want to see happening is having to turn my gpu fans from 40% to 60% to reach the same temperatures, well that would be a disaster. Is it just really that bad?

Maybe some other, similar case recommendations..? White color w/ window is preferred.

lodestar
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Re: R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case

Post by lodestar » Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:14 am

You could consider the Silverstone White PM01 Primera - read the review.

neocodex
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Re: R5 vs NZXT H440, could this be a cooler and quieter case

Post by neocodex » Wed Jun 14, 2017 2:26 am

What about Bitfenix? Those look really sweet.

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