Cases HAF X vs Raven RV02-E

[mattmock]

My gaming rig has outgrown my current case, a Silverstone TJ02. The GTX 570s in SLI and i7 920 @ 3.5 GHz just produce too much heat for the limited airflow in the TJ02. I need some advice on getting a replacement case. The most important factors are
+Good airflow, esp. to GPUs
+Low case fan noise
+Low noise transmission from the components inside
+Must fit my 190mm deep PSU (rules out Raven 03)
+Must fit Long graphic cards

The nice to have features
+8 or more expansion slots
+Fits EATX and other larger than ATX motherboards
+Built in fan controller

The two cases I am considering now are the Silverstone Raven 02-E and the Cooler Master HAF X. The Raven 02-E has the nice Silverstone AP fans and seems like it might offer the lowest noise levels. The HAF X supports larger motherboards and more expansion slots, but seems like it might let a lot of noise escape from the case. Both offer plenty of airflow. Can anyone comment on the relative noisiness of a rig built in these two cases, offer an opinion on which is better, or suggest an alternative?

 

[ghost_florian]

The HAF X has 200mm fans, which are very very quiet but push a lot of air. It's got almost everything you could ever need from a case, + you can find it at a very reasonable price.

 

[Emperus]

The Raven is quieter of the two.. As for cooling, both will perform similarly.. You can't go wrong with either.. I too was facing the same dilemma sometime back and ended up getting the RV02.. Reason being, it looked more cooler to me.. And I fancied having a case with an unorthodox design.. In your case though, i'll suggest going for the HAF-X as it fits your criteria list (will give you more satisfaction) and as it looks like, you will be better served with the slightly more amount of space..

 

[mattmock]

Best answer selected by MattMock.

 

[mattmock]

I decided on the RV02-E, it isn't as big as I would like, but after thinking about it, quietness was really the most important factor to me. Amazon only had the white version (RV02W-EW) in stock, so I ordered it with overnight shipping. Since I have a prime account it cost $4 instead of $120. If I ever really need more expansion room inside, I can switch to water-cooling for the GPUs.

 

[DoomsWord89]

I decided on the RV02-E, it isn't as big as I would like, but after thinking about it, quietness was really the most important factor to me. Amazon only had the white version (RV02W-EW) in stock, so I ordered it with overnight shipping. Since I have a prime account it cost $4 instead of $120. If I ever really need more expansion room inside, I can switch to water-cooling for the GPUs.

I was trying to decide between those two cases when I built my PC aswell.
After looking around, I actually settled on the Silverstone FT02.

 

[mattmock]

I was trying to decide between those two cases when I built my PC aswell.
After looking around, I actually settled on the Silverstone FT02.

I decided against the FT02 because it used the older regular 180mm fans instead of the newer AP 180mm fans in the RV02-E. This may turn out not to make any real difference (they are just both big fans) but I got sucked in by all of Silverstone's flashy promotion of the AP fans. I saw a review on bit-tech for a red limited edition of the ft02 with the AP fans, but I didn't find it for sale online.