Upgrading case and concerned about airflow

[Chuggowitz]

Hey guys,

I'm planning on upgrading my case in the next few months (I have grown tired of both the noise and appearance of my HAF 932, even though it is a perfectly functional case). The two contenders at the moment are the Phanteks Evolv ATX and the Cooler Master Master Case 5. I'm currently leaning towards the Evolv for purely aesthetic reasons, since the two appear to have similar functionality. However, I am concerned about airflow and dust, given I am currently running SLI 970s on air only. As you can see in my signature, I'm running closed loop on my CPU, so I'm not concerned about the cooling on that. I live in Canada, and my computer is in the basement, so the ambient temperature is usually solid between 18-22 degrees Celsius depending on the time of year.

If I buy the Evolv, I'm planning on moving the two 140s preinstalled on the front to the top for exhaust and adding 3 Noctua 120s to the front for intake. However, I'm not entirely certain this will be enough to offset the heat generated by SLI 970s. As you can see, the case has plenty of space and there will be no HDD mounts in the way to block airflow.



The Master Case 5 appears to have plenty of air cooling right out of the gate, so I'm not concerned about its cooling capabilities should I go that route.

I was wondering if any of you guys have had any experience with running an air-cooled build in the Evolv, or any experience running in a similar specc'd case on air? Any input here would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I'm not really concerned about cost, and I will be selling my HAF 932 once the upgrade is complete.

 

[Blaylock]

While I don't personally own either of these cases from the reviews I've read either one will provide adequate cooling.

Evolv

Master Case 5

It's no question your 2x 970's will be the warmest components in your build and you might be better suited finding a case that has a bottom fan option to help get fresh air under the GPU's. This would help with your concerns but I still feel that either case would allow enough airflow to keep your system cool enough.

 

[ITAngel]

I own the Enthoo Pro M which is pretty much like the same case. I ran it on air with 3 fans on front and 3 fan on top Gentle Tyhoon 2150rpm PWM fan and the system was kept cooled. More than enough air flow even with static fans. I ran it also with 2 on top and 2 on back with 2x 240mm rads and still more than enough air flow. I think you will be fine to be honest. I downgraded from the Enthoo Pro to the M version cause of air flow until I realized my fans were crappy to push enough good air on the big tower. However; I am pretty happy with the Enthoo pro m as it is much easier to manage even though it feels a bit more tight than the pro tower.

Personally my favorite setup is 3x 120mm front, and 3x 120mm on top.

You can see top fans there.
Air Cool Setup Prior to installing my loop again.

 

[ITAngel]

Here is with the water cooling setup
View attachment 178091
and front fan setup 3x 120mm
View attachment 178092

 

[Chuggowitz]

Yeah, I mean with a setup similar to yours I can't see any major problems surfacing. So long as I keep the thing clean and tidy, with extra fans added I shouldn't have any issues keeping the internals at a reasonable temperature. Thanks for all the input guys. You've assuaged most of my fears.

I know the Mastercase 5 would be the more sensible option for me, but dayum that Evolv looks pretty. And frankly, since I'm planning on putting it on top of my desk, I'd rather have the prettier option. I'll just make sure to just keep an eye on my temperatures.