Case buying decisions

LeRoy_Blanchard

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Just trying to gather some information here and curious to know what other people look for when reading case reviews.

What kind of information is important to you when buying a case? As in, if you search for reviews on cases, what are you looking for most?
 
After many cases, I have a few things I look at now

1. Material used. I prefer Aluminum (Old Lian Li) or a mixture, like my Jonsbo U5.
2. Cooling setup. Are fans only at the front, rear and top? Can they be installed on the bottom for intake? Front or bottom intakes, are they unobstructed? The whole minimalist look NZXT and others do, with having just a little slit at the front for intake is BS, and should be banned worldwide. :ROFLMAO:
3. Side window - Plexi or Glass? If plexi, why? Cost?
4. How panels are attached. Locks, slide on, or thumb screws
5. This is more of a personal preference, after having used Lian Li for so many years.
https://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?tid=wh_chessis&area=usa

How is the rear fan (or top fan) grill configured? Why would you have 3 fans blow air INTO the case, but give the air tiny holes to be exhausted out of. Wire grill is almost totally open, I prefer that, or something close.
 
Well having more intake than exhaust is supposed to create a positive pressure within' the case which in turn is supposed to help minimize dust build up. Though, you'll need/want filters on the intake fans to block the dust the fans suck in.

As for the grill preference. That's an interesting article about the grill design. Would it really matter though if the case can still adequately cool the internal components? Most shrouds these days are blocked, hidden by front doors or top panels anyway so from a pure aesthetic stand point I don't think it matters.
 
THUMPer said:
After many cases, I have a few things I look at now

1. Material used. I prefer Aluminum (Old Lian Li) or a mixture, like my Jonsbo U5.
2. Cooling setup. Are fans only at the front, rear and top? Can they be installed on the bottom for intake? Front or bottom intakes, are they unobstructed? The whole minimalist look NZXT and others do, with having just a little slit at the front for intake is BS, and should be banned worldwide. :ROFLMAO:
3. Side window - Plexi or Glass? If plexi, why? Cost?
4. How panels are attached. Locks, slide on, or thumb screws
5. This is more of a personal preference, after having used Lian Li for so many years.
https://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?tid=wh_chessis&area=usa

How is the rear fan (or top fan) grill configured? Why would you have 3 fans blow air INTO the case, but give the air tiny holes to be exhausted out of. Wire grill is almost totally open, I prefer that, or something close.
Click to expand...

Good article btw
 
LeRoy_Blanchard said:
Well having more intake than exhaust is supposed to create a positive pressure within' the case which in turn is supposed to help minimize dust build up. Though, you'll need/want filters on the intake fans to block the dust the fans suck in.

As for the grill preference. That's an interesting article about the grill design. Would it really matter though if the case can still adequately cool the internal components? Most shrouds these days are blocked, hidden by front doors or top panels anyway so from a pure aesthetic stand point I don't think it matters.
Click to expand...
In my mind these things make sense, but in practice, like more intake than exhaust may be fine. Right now I have 3 in and 2 out as it is. I think when I see a case with 3 in and 1 out, with a restrictive fan grill, I think "why", but maybe it doesn't mater.
 
Well the science behind the positive pressure isn't so much with keeping dust out of the active heatsinks on the CPU and GPU; its more about keeping the dust out of the various ports and crevices in the case. When you have negative pressure (too much exhaust) the dust particle begin finding their way into these parts of the case and dust builds up. With positive pressure (more intake than exhaust) the extra intake air has to blow out of those small holes, ports, etc... thus preventing the dust from building up within' them.
 
Yes I am curious to know what people want to know about a case in a review.
 
A theory to practice article on positive pressure - if you could rig up a couple of identical cases and put them in some dusty test environ (my garage for instance, it’s a pit) - let ‘em run a few weeks then compare the buildup

could do it with a before/after temp evaluation to see effects on HSFs as well as an objective tear down with pics

I’ve always heard it’s great but never seen any sort of data or review to back it up - could be an interesting article. Not really a case review per say but has a lot of the same elements
 
Brian_B said:
A theory to practice article on positive pressure - if you could rig up a couple of identical cases and put them in some dusty test environ (my garage for instance, it’s a pit) - let ‘em run a few weeks then compare the buildup

could do it with a before/after temp evaluation to see effects on HSFs as well as an objective tear down with pics

I’ve always heard it’s great but never seen any sort of data or review to back it up - could be an interesting article. Not really a case review per say but has a lot of the same elements
Click to expand...
Linus did a test like this. I think they let the cases sit in the warehouse for a year with different fan configurations. Not a bad couple of videos.


 
THUMPer said:
Linus did a test like this. I think they let the cases sit in the warehouse for a year with different fan configurations. Not a bad couple of videos.


Click to expand...
Nice. Wish it were not a video though.

Doesn’t really pronounce positive pressure as a clear winner though... it was still just as dirty, just in different ways.
 
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The information that I look for in a case review is component compatibility, material quality, and noise/performance.

Oh, it'd also be great if there was a sizing chart, or showing an image of the reviewed case against a common item (ie: a banana). Just to give an idea on the dimensions of the case.
 
I'm big on airflow. The ability to use either 120mm or 140mm fans is nice as well. I agree with SeymoreGore on the sizing charts. Saying something is a mid tower, but is actually the size of some full towers may be misleading to some people. I bought my Asus TUF GT501 thinking it was more along the line of a mid tower and when it came it wasn't much smaller than my Corsair 780T. Not complaining, but others may be caught off guard.
 
Airflow, and hardware compatibility.
Really thats the big two for me, what hardware can I buy for the case and can it work without throttling.
Case build quailty, included features, and ease to build in.
 
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