Case confusing madness

[Confuzion]

Hello all you OC3D members!

I'm stuck with my thoughts since I can't find the right answers and I was hoping you guys could help me.

Just want to say sorry for bad english at some points but I think you guys will understand most of it

The two cases that I have in mind is between the Fractal R3 and the NZXT Phantom.

I'm looking for the most cool & silent between the two or even if you could give me better ideas I'd apreciate it alot.

And my conclusion was that the Phantom is a winner, explained further down after the reviews.

So well, I actualy first of all decided for the R3 but then I saw two reviews that "TTL" had made and after that I got this mindfreeze and couldn't come up with the final decission.

So i'd be super happy if the man/reviewer himself aka TTL could post here since I presume he's the one with the answers!

Anyways, as we move on with the thoughts of which being the best case of the two!

I'm gonna link you the reviews that TTL made of the Phantom and R3

Here's the Phantom Review :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjhL_OHjyts&feature=player_embedded#at=15

And this is the R3 Review :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5vh86FnB4Q&feature=player_embedded

As you can see it's almost the same setup, diffrences are CPU and GPU but not huge.

The better GPU in the Phantom is even 10 degrees more hot than the one in the R3 but Phantom still manages to win in CPU temps by also 10 degrees!

Shouldn't higher temp GPU result in a higher overall temp inside the case?

Answer is No, atleast in theese reviews.

And also, shouldn't a 6 core at even higher clocks become more hot/warmer than the 4 core?

Doesn't seem like it in the reviews so I wonder what's doing this magic?

Is it the case or just me being a newbie, since I can admit that it's my first build aswell

So I'm sticking with the logics.

Anyways, on the Phantom there's 2 unknown fans on the left side panel

and on the R3 everything is Noctua's I'd think.

He's doing the same things in both of the reviews but still manages to get the Phantom 10 degrees lower in any test / situation with everything running silently.

So my conclusions was that the Phantom is a better cooling case by 10 degrees!

And after looking at the reviews I started to search for more information then I found this! -.-

This is a graph made by bit-tech which puts the two of them quite equal? :

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2010/10/29/fractal-design-define-r3-review/2

So now I totaly have no clue what to think..

WHERE DO I GO WROOOOOOOOONG?

Are there more people out there that could agree with me and help my brain to sattle from this confusing madness or even prove me where I'd go wrong about the thoughts, I'd be very glad either way cause I like the R3 just as much, just that I'm looking for the best of the two.

Or also lead me to an even better case at same price without any bigger confusions!

Thanks for reading and kind regards!

 

[dugdiamond]

your decision will be answered by your choice of GPU

the long 6990 cards will not fit in the R3, and the slightly shorter 590 cards will be a squeeze in there too.

if you want either of those GPUs then the phantom is your only choice

if you are thinking of smaller cards then the R3 is the quietest of the two cases.

 

[ruthless_villain]

well the phantom will probably fall apart in 13 months so i would get a R3

 

[Confuzion]

your decision will be answered by your choice of GPU

the long 6990 cards will not fit in the R3, and the slightly shorter 590 cards will be a squeeze in there too.

if you want either of those GPUs then the phantom is your only choice

if you are thinking of smaller cards then the R3 is the quietest of the two cases.

Going to use a 6870 and a Phenom 2 x4 955BE and aiming for 3.8 - 4k clocks.

Probably gonna CFX^ in a couple of months too.

So overclocks is gonna increase the temps in the case so I'd like to know the coolest too, the sound ofcourse doesn't matter as much as the cooling, it doesn't need to be inaudible but atleast so I could catch some sleep with ease incase I'd want it runnin over nights.

 

[dugdiamond]

the R3 is the way to go dude

 

[sheroo]

well the phantom will probably fall apart in 13 months so i would get a R3

Ruthless got shut of his Phantom. I've still got mine but if you value silence then get the R3. The only reason I didn't go for the R3 was that It reminded me too much of my old Antec P180. I was swayed by the seemingly endless supply of good reviews for the phantom, but tbh the airflow ain't that great and the noise leaks out through all that mesh on the side.

I've bought a replacement case for the Phantom as well. It'll be going on ebay when I can motivate myself to tear my rig down....

 

[AMDFTW]

what about the arc?

 

[Confuzion]

Hey guys, thanks alot for all the replies but I still havn't gotten any answer to like why the Phantom case

is 10 degrees cooler than the R3 according to the reviews.

I mean I still remain confused tbh, still questions un-answered ;(

 

[Runebeard]

The only explanation I can think of is that the GPU's are reference design with practically ALL of the ait being pushed out the back, this means most heat from it inside the case will be radiative which won't have a massive effective on the cpu cooler. The Phantom then has a massive 200 mm fan just above the NH-D14 which I'd guess is the major reason it's cooler as that should be sucking a lot more heat away than the single 120 mm in the roof of the Fractal.

 

[tinytomlogan]

I wouldnt use the phanton tbh - get the R3 and the 590 bung an extra fan in the front and one in the roof and booom job done.

 

[Confuzion]

I wouldnt use the phanton tbh - get the R3 and the 590 bung an extra fan in the front and one in the roof and booom job done.

Alright, guess I'll stick with the R3!

Also, I was thinking of using 5 fans for it, 2x slip streams (thinking of 1300 RPM's) in the front, noctua 120 bottom and stock FD's in top and rear

Would that be good enough or you got other fans to recommend me?

Also while we're at it I'd like add another question and it's about PSU choice.

I got a couple to choose between so here they go :

Corsair TX 650W V2 80+ Bronze

Corsair Gaming Series 700W 80+ (Was told it's a bit noisy) =/

XFX Core Edition 750W (About $15 bucks more than the 650W)

Thanks alot for all the answers so far!

 

[dugdiamond]

4 fans will be ample - any more fans than that will create enough noise to render the noise dampening useless

 

[AMDFTW]

4 fans will be ample - any more fans than that will create enough noise to render the noise dampening useless

or use noctuas

 

[kilobravo]

650w is a little bit on the low side if you go with gtx590 or x-fire 6870.

Corsair tx850 v2 is more like it or if you can afford it, hx850 or ax850.

 

[SieB]

For PSU I would go with what Kilo said the HX850 or the AX850 I have the HX and it's silent, can't even hear it on load.

As for fans, 1 more fan when you have already got 4 ain't gonna make much difference noise wise especially if you run a couple of them at 8v.

 

[ruthless_villain]

dont get the XFX i think OC3D had two explode whilst testing