New Case / Fans needed !

[psyklone2k7]

I am in dire need of a new case and some cooling and my knowledge is very limited in this area. my PC is for gaming @ 1920x1080 and i can barely run games like tf2 on high settings for longer than 20 minutes without dropping below 25fps

My current specs:
HD 4870 1GB
Q6700 Quad core Processor 2.66ghz
4gb Ram
22" Samsung
Res: 1920x1080
Vista 32-bit
Case : Unknown, overlooked it when i bought components and regret it.

My budget for Case + Cooling is about £120 because im tired of soaring temperatures within 10 minutes of gaming.

Thanks guys for whatever you can help with.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Last December Tom's Hardware published a technical review of four gaming cases. The review included results for thermal performance. Here's a link to the review:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/full-tower-case,2105.html

I have the Coolermaster HAF 932. Ventilation, airflow, and cooling are outstanding.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

The Antec Twelve Hundred is another excellent case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043

I don't know what prices might be like in your part of the world.

 

[LePhuronn]

How big a case?

Antec 300 is pretty good for a small one, Antec 902 is great, Antec 1200 is probably too big.

The HAF 922 and 932 are good too but not to my style, the CM Storm Sniper and Storm Scouts are also good.

You also have the Lancool Dragon Lord (it's still Lian Li but steel not alu to save some cash).

 

[psyklone2k7]

i've heard good things bout the Antec 300, i don't require alot of bays for hard disks etc so i think the HAF 932 and Antec 1200 are too big for me.
The 902 looks like a decent option as well.

Say if i bought the Antec 902 assuming my hardware wouldnt have any problems.
Fans included: Rear : 1 x 12 cm - ( 1 installed) Top : 1 x 20 cm - ( 1 installed) Front : 2 x 12 cm - ( 2 installed) Side : 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed) 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed)

what other fans would i need to buy for this and can anyone link me any good fans ?

Since i can snap up an Antec 902 for about £80-90 i have about £20-30 to buy any additional fans .

Is a stock heatsink on a Q6700 alright as well for gaming?

I am a complete noob in building PC's and thank you for your input so far !

 

[ulysses35]

I would go for the Antec 1200 as the cooling set up is near perfect using the provided fans on low setting. Yes its a big case, but then that helps cooling anyway because of the larger free space inside.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The Antec Three Hundred is a very popular case with gamers on a tight budget.

 

[avatar_raq]

I own the 902. It's good. But the CM Storm Sniper is the best!
If you look for fans with a decent CFM/dBA ratio , I recommend scythe fans. I suggest you visit their website and determine which one best fits your need.

 

[Zinosys]

Hmmm.. What I think (strictly an opinion!)

The Antec 902/1200 is best for air cooling. You can control the speed of the fans without additional hardware, great cable management, good aesthetics...

I have a 1200 myself and could not be more happy.

The HAF 932 is another great case, but I think it would be a better choice for water cooling than the 1200, and the 1200 is a better choice for air.

You should also check out the CM Stacker 830/832. That's a huge case, but very user-friendly and has great airflow.

I also have nothing against the Antec 300, but in that price range, you have to go for the original: The CM RC-690.

SO...

Full towers:

1200/902 for air.

HAF Series for Water cooling.

Stacker 830 for all that fancy pants motherboard tray, fan tray, and hdd tray stuff

Midtowers:

CM RC690 - best bang/buck case all around.
Antec 300 - second best bang/buck case all around.

---------------

BTW, the 902 includes all the fans you could ever want except the side window fan (great cooling comes with great noise) and the INTERNAL HDD rack fan.

I wouldn't really get another fan. It has enough.

 

[Zinosys]

i've heard good things bout the Antec 300, i don't require alot of bays for hard disks etc so i think the HAF 932 and Antec 1200 are too big for me.
The 902 looks like a decent option as well.

Say if i bought the Antec 902 assuming my hardware wouldnt have any problems.
Fans included: Rear : 1 x 12 cm - ( 1 installed) Top : 1 x 20 cm - ( 1 installed) Front : 2 x 12 cm - ( 2 installed) Side : 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed) 1 x 12 cm - ( 0 installed)

what other fans would i need to buy for this and can anyone link me any good fans ?

Since i can snap up an Antec 902 for about £80-90 i have about £20-30 to buy any additional fans .

Is a stock heatsink on a Q6700 alright as well for gaming?

I am a complete noob in building PC's and thank you for your input so far !

Instead of buying case fans (which you probably won't need as the 902 is very well equipped already), go for a CPU Heatsink/Fan.

Good luck with your computer-building endeavors!

 

[avatar_raq]

Another cheap, but good option is the NZXT m59.

 

[flaminggerbil]

The NZXT Blackline, while being a bit bling for some people, has pretty good airflow when setup properly (but the fans which come with it, while dead silent, move ah heck all air). Pretty decent cable management etc as well.
Although that's rather biased due to owning one and being a fan of it's big black shinyness.

 

[rambo117]

a cheap case i use (waayy too big, i regret buying it actually) that is PACKED with fans is the Sunbeam Transformer case. this will cool just about any rig. i HIGHLY recomend a fan speed controller though cause its louder than a jet engine

 

[TheOnion]

I just picked up a CoolerMaster Storm Scout. I am very happy with it. One note you will need to mount any tower cooler with a 120mm fan to vent up. No room for it to vent out the back .

 

[Zinosys]

Mmm. True. NZXT and The CM Storm series will not disappoint.

 

[jsc]

For serious overclocking, you cannot use the stock fans.

Here are two popular under $50 choices:
Sunbeam
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004
Xigmatec Dark Knight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

The HDT style HSF's require a different approach to applying thermal compound.
Suggestions for applying thermal compound:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=5

And get a utility like RealTemp that will monitor both CPU and GPU temperatures.

(To everyone that wants to write to tell me that CoreTemp is better, I know. But CoreTemp does not look at GPU temps.)

 

[Zinosys]

I think the Scythe Mugen II has a 775 bracket. That's a great cooler, and for the price too.

Just make sure your memory modules don't have huge heatsinks!

 

[obsidian86]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160367

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165414

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/170041

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144802

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164961

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131551

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/155939

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161662

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/118268

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-LN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-002-TR&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-028-ZA&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

pick one

as for a cpu coolers

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158603

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-029-CM&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-008-TI&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

 

[TheOnion]

I have the Xigmatec Dark Knight Cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029&cm_re=dark_knight_cooler-_-35-233-029-_-Product

Installing the fan was a pain in the ass but it cools like a champ. Highly Recommended.

It is compatible with 775 and 1366 CPUs.

 

[Zinosys]

The MUGEN II is a very good one, but is HUGE. The AC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 is also a great cooler.

 

[TheOnion]

Pssh. The Hyper 212 Plus isn't really a good cooler...

The MUGEN II is a very good one, but is HUGE. The AC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 is also a great cooler.

I had the AC Freezer Pro before my Xigmatec Dark Knight. It still is an amazing cooler if you do not need 1366 or 1156 compatibility. It's been around forever and still cools as well as new coolers. The only reason I replaced it is one of the platic clips on the mounts broke. Even mounted with 3 clips it still kept my CPU cool.

It has something like 2000+ 5 Egg reviews on newegg.

 

[obsidian86]

the 212 is ok according to this http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2419

 

[JohnnyLucky]

^5 +1 what obsidian86 said.

I did a case mod last year. Intsalled the original Hyper 212 in a modified HAF 932. The results were outstanding.

 

[Zinosys]

I had the AC Freezer Pro before my Xigmatec Dark Knight. It still is an amazing cooler if you do not need 1366 or 1156 compatibility. It's been around forever and still cools as well as new coolers. The only reason I replaced it is one of the platic clips on the mounts broke. Even mounted with 3 clips it still kept my CPU cool.

It has something like 2000+ 5 Egg reviews on newegg.

The AC Freezer 7 Pro's second revision has 1366 and 1156 clips...

And fine, obsidian and Johnny. I didn't do my research. Sue me