We built in a Lian Li 011 Dynamic EVO last summer for my son’s computer. Very roomy, can install water blocks on the top or side.
I’ll also say my Lian Li 011 XL has been quite excellent, as well. However, it’s expensive and doesn’t come with fans. They’re coming out with an XL version of the EVO sooner or later.
Hard to go wrong with Fractal Design’s cases either. For what you’re after the Meshify 2 fits the bill (probably others as well).
Yep, totally sold on Fractal Design after my last build. So much easier to work in than the Corsair, Antec, and CoolerMasters that preceded it.
FWIW, I found that top-mounting a 360mm AIO cooled better than front-mounting, because of the better airflow through the case. CPU temp wasn’t noticeably different either way, but my final setup of two 140mms in the front, one on the back, and 360mm AIO on the top kept the motherboard and GPU cooler than front-mounting.
I second this recommendation. Really good case to build in. The separate room for power supply and cabling makes it easy to get a very clean build.
I am in deep love w the Fractal Torrent series. Incomparable cooling, but doesn’t fit the bill for @triggercut. Doesn’t lend itself to a front AiO and only has one decent HDD cage.
Is your rear fan an intake? Seems that would be better with a top mounted radiator.
Appreciate the input so far. I can probably lose one of the HDDs. I’ve realized one of the drives is a 1 TB fossil that I’ve sort of kept just because it’s got an OS backup on it that will boot and has a bunch of old Emusic mp3 files from more than a decade ago that I can easily throw over to a storage drive or cloud.
Two 140mm intake fans on the front, 140mm exhaust on the back, and 3 120mm exhaust pushing through the radiator on top.
Well, it’s not what you asked for, but if you want amazing cooling
here’s the Fractal Torrent. I like the compact model. Look at the two honkin’ big, but oh so quiet 180mm front intake fans.
Here’s a decent review:
Pair it with a nice Noctua Heat Sink Fan unit like this one:
https://www.newegg.com/noctua-nh-d15s-chromax-black/p/13C-0005-001M2
Heat problems will be a thing of the past. The front intake fans will also do wonders cooling your GPU by a few degrees while an AiO would have no effect.
The only knock I have on the Torrect compact is that the wiring side of the case is tight, so I’d get the stainless steel side panel instead of glass.
https://www.newegg.com/black-fractal-design-torrent-compact-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811352152
The Fractal Torrent is a nice case, no doubt. It’s got space for two 3.5" and four 2.5" drives which certainly isn’t bad, and it does handle a front 360mm or 420mm radiator.
It does, but if you’re going to opt for a front mounted radiator, probably best to go for a different case. The 2x 180mm fans are the Torrent’s raison d’etre.
(me with my 7950X and 4090 crammed into a SFF case alongside a 120mm AIO)
I’ll never understand you SFF folk, lol. I kind of get the people who focus on fan noise only in that I know it deeply offends the ears of some (I have less than optimal hearing and use a headset, thereby not hearing it at all). But assuming a PC is at a desk, it seems like the floor beneath (on a small riser) is a space they’re basically made for. I can see some use for LAN parties, but those seem to be a rare sight in these days of broadband Internet and capable gaming laptops.
Once I’d ditched the optical drive (like 12 years ago), replaced that chonky CPU cooler with a neat AIO, and watched my hard drives shrink from 3.5" magnetic to 2.5" SSD and finally to smaller-than-a-stick-of-RAM M.2 I realised 90% of my case was just ugly, empty, wasted space.
My last ATX case had stupid tempered glass sides which made it weigh approx. 1 shitton (imperial), a problem for me as I move my PC around a bit (for VR).
So I thought ‘fuck it’, went ITX and have not looked back. (Except maybe a bit when I had to rub some lube on this case to get the 4090 monstrosity to fit.)
I’m trying to wrap my brain around the Torrent Compact. :)
So the 2x180 fans on the front are intakes, pulling air into the case through a filter, right? The Noctua is an air cooler – albeit a massive one. It – and the GPU fans – exhale hot air into the case space. The back of the case is…2 x 120mm fans that I’d supply to blow the air through the back of the case like exhaust fans. There are no top fans, obvs. And no bottom fans either – it’s just a single wave of airflow through the case, front to back?
You’ve got it. Pretty much a massive wave of air front to back. The Noctua fans also should be oriented to blow out the back.
Here’s another good review with more technical details about the airflow.
Edit: By the way, I use the case and obviously like it a lot. However, there are a ton of other great cases out there other folks can recommend if you decide you want to stick to an all-in-one and not sacrifice room for a second full size hard drive.
I didn’t know the Torrent had a mini ITX version.
Ugh. I’d love the Compact if it was just a teensy-bit larger. It doesn’t fit a 4090 without removing one of the front intake fans, and though I don’t have plans to do that particular upgrade, I also don’t imagine future Geforce cards at the top end of the spectrum will be getting smaller than that, perhaps. And removing that front fan kind of feels like it defeats that case’s raison d’etre.
I mean, this is just gross. Why even by a nice Fractal Design Compact if you’re gonna do this with it:
