Need some case advice

Dayve

Well-known member
I just ordered a PC which is still in the processing phase - nothing extreme, i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 6GB GTX 1060, nothing extreme, nothing overclocked. I kind of fell in love with the CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ AIR 540 GAMING CASE, it's just so sexy. But it's way overkill for my components and I feel like I'm wasting money, so I need to decide on another.

Would the InWIN 703 BRUSHED EFFECT DARK GREY CASE be an acceptable case for the hardware I'm buying? Cooling-wise, I mean. It's £50 cheaper than the first one I chose, looks nice, has space for a disk drive (I hate external ones, I've had several in the past and they've all either not worked at all or stopped working after only a week or two). Could anybody find any faults with it?

Actually, the InWIN 703 says it has USB ports on the front, but it has a * next to it, and in the pictures I can't see any USB ports on the front. Does it definitely have them? I need those for my proliferal goodies that go on my head (such as headphones).
 
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Yardem

Silver Level Poster
I've found that YouTube reviews are awesome to see the ins and outs of hardware, particularly for cases. Even if you don't listen to the reviewer, just watching the video on mute will give you a lot of information about the product you want to buy. Better than photos, that's for sure.
Here's one for the InWin 703.
 

Dayve

Well-known member
It's all academical now, it has gone to the building phase. I stuck with the super awesome Corsair carbonite ultra flow cool air extreme breezy case. Gonna look awesome on my desk, even if it is mostly designed for 16-core processor, 3x 8GB GTX 1080's +64 jiggawats RAM setups.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
EDIT: ..was posting this before the above appeared. In short if you can live without those £50, I doubt you'll regret going with the Carbide Air 540 for a moment.

Although bear in mind that much of the info is largely irrelevant as case reviews tend to focus on the build experience rather than the temps/performance, and PCS are building it for you. Kitguru usually includes temps in is articles but often doesn't really compare them to other chassis so you don't really know whether a GPU temp of 79 degrees for a GTX 970 (for example) is any good. Half of them time when you find a review of a case on the web it doesn't even include any thermal or acoustic measurements, or even comments like 'cool and quiet'.

The Carbide Air is an excellent case, with great temps and decent enough noise levels (probably because the air flow and lower temps help keep the GPU etc fans running slower).
There's a video here of the Carbide 540 fans being switched on - http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013...s_air_540_computer_case_review/7#.V_eapuT6uHs
And note you won't normally have your face stuffed into the case like that camera is. Or maybe you will, each to their own. :)
 
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Dayve

Well-known member
EDIT: ..was posting this before the above appeared. In short if you can live without those £50, I doubt you'll regret going with the Carbide Air 540 for a moment.

Although bear in mind that much of the info is largely irrelevant as case reviews tend to focus on the build experience rather than the temps/performance, and PCS are building it for you. Kitguru usually includes temps in is articles but often doesn't really compare them to other chassis so you don't really know whether a GPU temp of 79 degrees for a GTX 970 (for example) is any good. Half of them time when you find a review of a case on the web it doesn't even include any thermal or acoustic measurements, or even comments like 'cool and quiet'.

The Carbide Air is an excellent case, with great temps and decent enough noise levels (probably because the air flow and lower temps help keep the GPU etc fans running slower).
There's a video here of the Carbide 540 fans being switched on - http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013...s_air_540_computer_case_review/7#.V_eapuT6uHs
And note you won't normally have your face stuffed into the case like that camera is. Or maybe you will, each to their own. :)

Yeah I watched Youtube reviews for pretty much every single case PCS sells (the ones above £45 anyway) and I noticed that all the pros/cons they were talking about were regarding the actual building of a PC, so no use to me.

Regarding any noise the fans may make, I don't particular care about that, as long as it doesn't sound like a jet engine. I'm always wearing fairly expensive headphones with big rubbery cups that go around the ears and block outside noise. And if it is bad I'll just put it on the floor under my desk. Not on the carpet, I'll put some lino under it or something so it's actually sitting on wood or plastic sheet. For dust purposes, ya know.
 
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