Silverstone FT02, HAF X, or Rosewill Thor V2

[ChrisUlrich]

Looking for the best air cooling case available! I seem to have it narrowed down to these three. I found 1 (ONE) review only where it shows the Rosewill Thor V2 actually cooling better than the FT02 (which is really on par with the HAF X). But I can't find anything else verifying that. Only thing for sure is that it's a great cooling case. But I really want the best cooling case out of there is!

I appreciate any help you can offer!

 

[davcon]

I'd question the long term quality of Rosewill fans.
Not in the same league fan quality wise to Silverstone AP's or CM's.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

Just the fans? I planned on replacing them anyway. They flow about 70cfm a piece (aside from the 140mm). I would put higher CFM fans in.

 

[davcon]

Just the fans? I planned on replacing them anyway. They flow about 70cfm a piece (aside from the 140mm). I would put higher CFM fans in.

Rosewill has increased their quality on alot of products in the last year.
However the build quality of their cases isn't as good as Silverstone or CM.
Stick with a quality case and you don't have the added expense of replacing fans.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

I honestly, had planned to replace the fans of either case I was going to purchase. Right now I am pretty much obsessed with getting the best air cooling possible. At first I thought it was the HAF X, then possibly the FT02. Turns out that there is a review showing that the Thor V2 is? That's all I am really out to find. If bad fan quality is the only thing I have to worry about, then I am not worried at all. I really just want the best air cooling case.

But if you're saying that their OVERALL quality lacks big time and their air cooling isn't worth what I might lose in longevity (say, 3 years?)... then i'll opt for the FT02 or HAF X.

 

[davcon]

A while back Tom's did a budget case review and the Challenger won.
It beat the Antec 300.
I'll say for certain the Challenger is no where near the quality of the build materials or fans used in a 300.
Challenger cases arrive with damaged everything,check out the feedback.
Never heard of a 300 arriving with anything damaged.
Blame it on the packaging = i don't think so.
I bought a 300 that arrived just fine from over 2500 miles away ground shipping.
Build quality!

 

[pacioli]

I'm using the HAF X's little brother the HAF 932. It is a very cool and quiet case with just the stock fans. It is built like a tank and was worth every penny. It sits in between my legs when I am playing games and creates a nice cool breeze down there.

The HAF X is of similiar build quality and should do nicely. My 932 is huge and heavy. The HAF X is quite a bit bigger.

Cases are largely about aesthetics. After finding a few quality cases, you should go with what you like the best. After all, you have to look at it.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

These are the 3 cases that I have chosen throughout my search! I will be satisfied with either of the 3 but I am just checking around to find the best of the 3 for air cooling. So far, I can't really seem to find an answer.

 

[vollman1]

I have the HAF X and air flow is not a problem and I would easily recommend it.

However...

Someone pointed out the CM Trooper to me the other day and I think that you should look at it if you haven't already:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119245

Check out the Newegg TV vid on it.

If I had to buy again, I would take the Trooper over the HAF X.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

But why would you get the CM Trooper over the HAF X? Or either one over the Rosewill or FT02...?

I like the Trooper, that is a nice looking case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147158

That case is beautiful! I would love that case purely based on looks but I am far more concerned about functionality aka keeping my hardware as cool as possible.

 

[vollman1]

For one, look at the size of the cpu cut outs for both...

Advantage Trooper. The Rosewill will most likely not be big enough to remove/add future coolers without removing the mobo.

Also, Look at the HDD cages. They can be rotated and/or removed in the Trooper which gives you a bit more control over the space inside your case.

And, the dust filters are a huge plus (in my house anyway lol) extremely easy to maintain.

The above in addition to all the other features.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

For one, look at the size of the cpu cut outs for both...

Advantage Trooper. The Rosewill will most likely not be big enough to remove/add future coolers without removing the mobo.

Also, Look at the HDD cages. They can be rotated and/or removed in the Trooper which gives you a bit more control over the space inside your case.

And, the dust filters are a huge plus (in my house anyway lol) extremely easy to maintain.

The above in addition to all the other features.

Man you're making it real tough for me to pick the White Edition Thor V2... damn!

http://www.techspot.com/review/461-cooler-master-storm-trooper/page4.html

HAF X beats the Trooper pretty handily in these comparisons! But I can't seem to find anything consistant. I also found this, which is what sparked this entire dilemma.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4648/rosewill-thor-v2-the-god-of-cooling-and-silence/6

This does better than the Silverstone cases (which are very comparable to the HAF X). But again, I can't find anything else agreeing with that article.

And I am not worried about adding a new heatsink to my CPU anytime soon. I love my Thermaltake Frio. This thing is an animal!

 

[vollman1]

It seems that all have the features that you want. So it may come down to style and price.

As I said before though, I would go for the Trooper over the HAF X if I had to do it over again. The HAF X is great! But, it is just... huge! definitely bigger than I expected. And the air filters are good, but not as easy to clean as the Trooper (have to turn the HAF X over to clean the bottom filter which means unplugging everything and pulling it out from beneath the desk )

 

[vollman1]

One last thing, I don't think that those reviews take into account what adding one or two side fans to the Trooper will do. They are reviewing 'stock' not upgraded.

The Trooper would probably be the winner with those extras.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

One last thing, I don't think that those reviews take into account what adding one or two side fans to the Trooper will do. They are reviewing 'stock' not upgraded.

The Trooper would probably be the winner with those extras.

Nooooo... you really think so? Those 4 optional 120mm fans? I think you just sold me on the Trooper dude! I didn't realize that it was that close of a test MINUS 4 possible fans... and you can buy some SICK 120mm fans! I plan to buy 3 more of these then (already have 1 now) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

Think it'll be cooler then? Dude... so pumped now! Thank you so much!

 

[vollman1]

Definitely.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

Best answer selected by ChrisUlrich.

 

[LevKulago]

Definitely.

I disagree, and would expect a drop of GPU delta by 5 degrees and CPU by 3 degrees or so by adding 3 fans. That would take us to 7 fans and after that only God knows how much additional ones can take off due to deminishing returns

Reasoning:

The big air investigation helps to estimate the boost from extra fans
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cooling-investigation/1
If we are to use their results, we can knock 4 degrees off the GPU by installing a side fan (no CPU or chipset gain).
Another review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4690/corsair-carbide-400r-succeeding-in-reverse/6
showed that the addition of a side fan (120 or 140) reduced GPU temp by 3 degrees while barely raising the noise level ( +0.2 db). CPU and Chipset temps remained the same.

Hence, I'm guessing a GPU temp can drop 3 degrees.

Using the Bit tech review scale of the Trooper:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2011/11/18/cm-storm-trooper-review/1
we'd achieve 39-3=36 degrees delta on GPU, and 50 (unchanged) delta on CPU.

We could probably improve this by installing a second side fan, but due to diminishing returns and being conservative in expectations, I'd think it can knock off another 2 degrees of GPU (CPU unchanged).

So, 34 delta GPU and 50 (if we're lucky - 49) delta CPU on Bit-tech review scale. That would put Trooper GPU-wise on top of the list, and CPU wise just behind Raven03 on SLOW fan setting.

Adding bottom intake fans (#7 and #8 by now), we may hope to knock off 2 degrees off the CPU, whereas the increase in noise level will be taxing.

That would result in GPU delta 34 (top result on bit-tech scale, next best Fortress 02 - 37) and CPU delta of 47 (on par with Raven 02 (high fans)). Still , far from best CPU result by Fortress 02 (42 degrees)

Phew

PS ChrisUlrich, I've been following your footsteps in search of the best cooling case, and feel your pain since I'm in a similar situation. Make sure you post on this thread when you have more info.

 

[vollman1]

It would be great if some of these sites would review cases with optimal upgrades so we can compare apples to apples. Anything short of that is really anyone's guess

 

[ChrisUlrich]

I disagree, and would expect a drop of GPU delta by 5 degrees and CPU by 3 degrees or so by adding 3 fans. That would take us to 7 fans and after that only God knows how much additional ones can take off due to deminishing returns

Reasoning:

The big air investigation helps to estimate the boost from extra fans
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cooling-investigation/1
If we are to use their results, we can knock 4 degrees off the GPU by installing a side fan (no CPU or chipset gain).
Another review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4690/corsair-carbide-400r-succeeding-in-reverse/6
showed that the addition of a side fan (120 or 140) reduced GPU temp by 3 degrees while barely raising the noise level ( +0.2 db). CPU and Chipset temps remained the same.

Hence, I'm guessing a GPU temp can drop 3 degrees.

Using the Bit tech review scale of the Trooper:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2011/11/18/cm-storm-trooper-review/1
we'd achieve 39-3=36 degrees delta on GPU, and 50 (unchanged) delta on CPU.

We could probably improve this by installing a second side fan, but due to diminishing returns and being conservative in expectations, I'd think it can knock off another 2 degrees of GPU (CPU unchanged).

So, 34 delta GPU and 50 (if we're lucky - 49) delta CPU on Bit-tech review scale. That would put Trooper GPU-wise on top of the list, and CPU wise just behind Raven03 on SLOW fan setting.

Adding bottom intake fans (#7 and #8 by now), we may hope to knock off 2 degrees off the CPU, whereas the increase in noise level will be taxing.

That would result in GPU delta 34 (top result on bit-tech scale, next best Fortress 02 - 37) and CPU delta of 47 (on par with Raven 02 (high fans)). Still , far from best CPU result by Fortress 02 (42 degrees)

Phew

PS ChrisUlrich, I've been following your footsteps in search of the best cooling case, and feel your pain since I'm in a similar situation. Make sure you post on this thread when you have more info.

Excellent post! But unfortunately the results you got aren't consistant. Not because of you, but because of other websites and their reviews. The only thing I find to be consistant is that the FT02 is not a great GPU cooling tower. And your post states why, no side fan. But there is no question the FT02 has great CPU cooling.

I can't seem to find a website that does a large test with the "best" air cooling cases. I do searches individually and compare those results. But when you're not looking up that particular case, the results vary from test to test.

I find a new case to be the best at air cooling everytime I look up a seperate case.

For example:

Thermaltake Level 10GT, HAF X, FT02, Rosewill Thor V2, Raven 03, Cosmos II, CM Trooper, TJ11, Win-Buc, Corsair 600T, Lian Li PC90, etc...

All these cases have tested excellent when they are the ones being reviewed. And if not the best, better than they normally do when "thrown" in with other reviews.

I am down to these cases though.

Rosewill Thor V2, FT02B-W, HAF X, and Thermaltake Level 10GT.

The Thermaltake Level 10GT only seems to do well when it's the one being reviewed. So that one is a long shot unless I can find more reviews showing it's air cooling capabilities.

If I could mod the FT02 for a side fan, i'd probably get that one. Because the CPU cooling seems top notch. That's very key in what I am looking for. Along with cool DIMM and Chipsets of course. Only thing unconsistant is it's GPU cooling.

 

[vollman1]

One drawback that I found with the HAF X is that the cpu cut out is smallish. I had to remove the mobo to change the cpu cooler back plate.

Another minor inconvenience is that the bottom dust filter is not removable. Not a problem, just annoying.

Other than that, I am very happy with the case.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

One drawback that I found with the HAF X is that the cpu cut out is smallish. I had to remove the mobo to change the cpu cooler back plate.

Another minor inconvenience is that the bottom dust filter is not removable. Not a problem, just annoying.

Other than that, I am very happy with the case.

You ended up going with the HAF X? I thought you wanted the CM Trooper?

Also, the heatsink could be frustrating but I don't plan on swapping out heatsinks often! I like my Thermaltake Frio!

What kind of temps are you getting? What kind of CPU/GPU you have?

 

[vollman1]

I have the HAF X and a 650D

Next case = Trooper

I am using an H100 and temps are ~60-62'C at 100% load with low fan speeds. i5 2500k OC to 4.5GHz @ 1.36V.

GPU is about 56'C when it is running 3 monitors @ 1080p under full load. Asus HD6950 DCUII 2GB OC to 890/1350.

 

[LevKulago]

I can't seem to find a website that does a large test with the "best" air cooling cases. I do searches individually and compare those results. But when you're not looking up that particular case, the results vary from test to test.

I find a new case to be the best at air cooling everytime I look up a seperate case.

For example:

Thermaltake Level 10GT, HAF X, FT02, Rosewill Thor V2, Raven 03, Cosmos II, CM Trooper, TJ11, Win-Buc, Corsair 600T, Lian Li PC90, etc...

Sums up my thoughts exactly.

I also tried, for experiment's sake, to collate results from different sites, calculating the % advantage of one case over the other to build a master list. But the thing is that a case shows different cooling (uh, duh) for different systems, jumping around 5% ahead or behind the closest competitor, so no definitive answer here.

Hence, "life lesson 1037": don't base your choice of a case on any one review.

On your list of top performers, Corsair 600T and Lian Li PC90 came out on top fewer times than the rest from your list. And like you said, there are those isolated articles where Antec Sonata, Cubetek XL-Tank or Aerocool XPredator somehow beat the usual champions. Further checks do not assertain those conclusions but, as well as did not SEEM logical.

To your list of frequent winners I would add the Antec DF-85 (cool, but noisy and lower build quality) and In-win Dragon Rider (wins clearly only once on the reputable silentpcreview.com, but by a large margin! it's pretty much a mesh box with fans in it though, which makes sence )

I am down to these cases though.

Rosewill Thor V2, FT02B-W, HAF X, and Thermaltake Level 10GT.

I've observed that Lvl10 GT and Haf X rarely took the 1st prize, while FT02 or RV03 often did. Although, as you said, this may be due to how reviewers select the comparison chassis

And, the few reviews of Rosewill Thor v2 that I saw all put it on top of their charts. Again, RV03 or HAF not there, except on anandtech.

Now, since I live in Australia and we don't have Rosewill cases here, I find the following news pretty exciting and sure you'll find interesting:

Tom compares Thor v2 and Enermax Fulmo GT. Thor loses by 1 degree on CPU and wins by 3.4 degrees on 4-way SLI GPU cooling, while being 2db louder.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fulmo-gt-thor-v2-vh6000bws,3072-7.html

Now, if I read it correctly, you can only add one 140mm fan at the bottom of Thor v2 on top of the stock configuration:
http://www.rosewill.com/products/1798/productDetail.htm

With Enermax Fulmo GT though, you can install additional (!) 2x18cm left side fans (on top of the existing 2 , additional 12cm (20mm deep) right side fan, one more 23cm fan on top, 23cm fan on the bottom and 2 optional 14cm fans inside the case if after all this your HDDs are running hot
http://www.enermax.co.uk/fulmo-gt.html

If I had no issues with Enermax's size (D 674 x W 235 x H 640) my dilemma would be over with this discovery.

Which leads me to my next point: Why did RV03 come off your list while Haf X remained? If because of the bit-tech review where Haf is 6 degrees ahead of RV03, then I found this was not entirely consistent and Raven was beating the Haf X lot of the times. Again, correct me as I feel I may be a little biased here.

However, I do agree that RV03 has very limited potential to make the case cooler except only for the HDDs (the fan on the right side blowing in the back of the motherboard). Adding the 2 front and 1 rear fans, according to one forum on OC Club, did not make a noticeable difference to a 3-way SLI set-up. I wonder if Haf is much better in that sense.

 

[ChrisUlrich]

I might have misled my interest for the RV03. I know it's great at cooling the CPU but I never had any interest in getting it because it never did well in cooling the GPU (in comparison to the others of course).

The HAF X has 2 optional fans to install. A 200mm up top and a 120x38mm for the GPU inside the case (a duct as they call it). The 200mm up top should hopefully bring the CPU down another 2-3 degrees while on load. Not to mention, that the blue edition available from newegg.com have upgraded fans. The 200 and 230mm fans all flow at 110cfm.

I REALLY want the Rosewill Thor V2 White Edition. To me, that's the best looking case. But I prefer functionality over looks.

But it's hard to find enough concrete information that the Rosewill actually is very similar to the HAF X in CPU/GPU cooling. I usually find that the Rosewill does very will on the CPU, but not so well on the GPU. I might be mistaken since I haven't checked in a couple of days but pretty sure that's how it went.

So that's why I am pretty much on the Rosewill Thor V2, FT02B-W, and HAF X.