New ATX Case?..

[Tenebrarum]

Good Afternoon,

I wanted to ask for some guideance on what comes to Computer Cases, as i'm not exactly an expert about Cooling... and i'm having some problems with my PC temperatures...

Ok... so, to sum it up in a few points so i don't delay myself for too long...

1: Atm i have a Coolermaster 532 case (front-panel as a metal mesh version) with (Intake) 3x 120mm Noctua fans (2x front, 1x side panel, directly pointed at the gfx cards (SLi 2x 9800GS2 1Gb), 1x 120mm Noctua rear exaust fan, 1000W Arkangel LC Power PSU, and i removed the HDD bay (lower-front area of the case) and set the 2 Hdd's on the 3.5" Bays where the CD-R's should be + 2 DvD-r/rw reader/writer...

(i'm only putting it that detailed so u guys can also provide some feedback on my setup)

2: i'm thinking on buying a new case, as mine is kinda tiny, when u compare it with the PSU that takes about 15% of the case just by itself........

3: i was REALLY looking forward into either the Thermaltake armor extreme with the 250mm side fan, or... the one reviewed in these forums, the A Plus Wind Tunnel with the 2x 210mm fans... also a friend of mine has a CoolerMaster Stacker 830 (note that i want an extremely silent case, not exactly a cooling monster with fans louder than a blow horn :P)

I REALLY have no idea on which one to buy... really out of ideas... i'm more inclined into the A+ as i have several extra 120mm fans... however i don't want a very noisy case, nor do i want a 120$+ case that is probably as good as mine... lol


PS: i have a Quad Q6600 2.4ghz @ 3.0ghz with a Noctua cooler (NH-C12P) and mobo: Asus Extreme Striker, this, just to explain how my CPU runs @ 40-46ºC Idle, and the rough part... my gfx cards @ 60-70ºC Idle!!??...

PS2: Note that with an ambient temp of 22-25ºC, my case temp is around the 40's, and mobo 50-60's (no probe on it right now)

PS3: would it be worth it to buy a new case like one of these for 100$+ considering my current set up?

Thanks!

[Kelainefes]

Hey again, i guess that 9800GS2 is just a typo and you meant 9800GX2, yes?
if it is so, you are basically using two of the cards that actually have the higher power consumption record, so it's no surprise they are hot and your case and cpu are too.
I would suggest a case with intakes on the side, either one big or more but smaller.
You could buy a case with plain side panel, and mod it to accomodate four 120mm fans over the video cards area and (eventually) another one over the cpu/nb area.
I know it sounds a lot but if you want to cool those cards properly on air, you need over 200 CFM, and 4x low noise 120mm fans can easily provide that.If you are not into modding, you could get the A+ i reviewed, or some similar case, although it will not be easy to find a better deal if you are on a budget.
If you can spend more, there are ofcourse better cases, have you thought about 200+ USD models, like some of the Lian Li lineup?

[affiliate13]

The windtunnel does exactly what its supposed to do and it is long eneough to support larger VGA cards too.
The best thing about it is the price, I got mine in the UK for £58 and given the size and side intake fans i think that was the best case at that price point.

Oh and welcome to the forums.

[Clunk]

Welcome to the forums

What size screen do you have?

[gandlers]

My mate has the windtunnel, while it isnt subtle with those huge side fans, it certainly shifts plenty of air and keep his setup a lot cooler than my case. It doesnt have the build quality of a lan-li, but you get's what you pay for and there is plenty of space inside.

G

[Skinny]

The windtunnel shifts a huge amount of air. I stuck my head inside the case where the drive bays are (don't ask why) and the air shifting around that case was immense. Admittedly, the two huge side fans were on full. Can be quite noisy when they are on max though. The windtunnel does the job with cooling, it's just not very subtle like gandlers says.