[Advice needed] Silverstone TJ08 vs PS07 vs Fractal Define Mini

[ckdubois]

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking here for a few days, finally wanted to chime in to get everyone's take.

I'm building the following rig and only have the case left to buy:

i5-3570k (plan to OC to 4.2)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Asrock Z77 Pro4-M
8GB Samsung 30nm low profile DDR-1600 (plan to OC to 2133 or so, just for kicks )
Gigabyte GTX 670 OC (may or may not OC further)
Seasonic M12II 520W PSU (modular)
120GB Kingston HyperX 3k SSD
1TB WD Caviar Black
Generic Optical drive

I've been going back and forth in my head between the Silverstone PS07 ($79 Amazon Prime + $10 MIR), Fractal Design Define Mini (on sale right now for $80 at NCIX, free shipping) and of course the TJ08-E ($100 Amazon Prime).

I constantly read about the TJ08-E being the best, but I haven't quite determined if it's worth the extra $20-30... a few questions:

-Have you found the differences between the TJ08 and PS07 (different front fans, some minor tweaks here and there) to really be worth $20-$30?
-I've read conflicting info on the impact of the "upside down" nature of the Silverstone cases on thermals. I plan to do moderate overclocking on my rig (definitely the CPU, possibly the video card and RAM) and want to be sure that despite this case getting great reviews, it's really up to the task. I've also read that PS07 runs hotter, true?
-Does anyone have experience with the Define Mini and have a good argument for/against it vs the Silverstone cases?


Thanks everyone!

 

[k1114]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1276-page7.html This has a comparison of all 3 of those cases. The ps07 is the hottest, loudest, and the tj08 is the coolest, most expensive. The fractal was tested with the hdd bays pointing to the side. It would probably be better if it was pointing inside as it can be rotated. It also only comes with 2 fans, 1 front and 1 rear leaving the top and 1 front empty. Filling those spots would put it up to the tj08 price but would also make it cooler (although possibly louder). I have an antec 300 illusion and don't find it loud at all. You never mentioned sound but I don't think that is a concern with any of these cases.