Case Choice - Is the Fractal R5 really a good case?

[Auriok]

Hello dear Friends of silent PCs. I'm getting ready to build my first PC but I'm still unsure regarding the Case.

I'm more annoyed by electronic sounds than just fans - especially coildwinding is a nightmare for me. Because of this I want a dampened Case.
I read a lot good things about the Fractal R5 as dampaned case on this board thus I'm having it as my first choice at the moment.

But I got some questin on it. Maybe someone can give me some insight on dampened Cases:

I know Airflow is more important than dampening because otherwise the fans will spin higher and negating the damping.
But afaik the "Stack effect" is used in most Cases to direct the airflow from the front to the back.

The Fractal R5 seems questionable regarding the airflow.

It's total open on the bottom!

Doenst't this open bottom kill any directed airflow?

Also isn't it quite open for a dampened case?
I'm thinking about buying a Nanoxia Deep Silence 5 or 6 instead because these cases use the Stack Effect and seem to be more dampened. The Be Quiet Dark 900 also looks neat.

I appreciate any help or advice because I'm totally new to the topic.

[CA_Steve]

Welcome to SPCR.

One of the bottom openings is for the PSU. The other can be used as a passive intake. If you have one front intake fan and one rear exhaust fan, then most of the air going through the case will be from front to back. The open bottom intake will add a bit, but not very much compared to what's forced through via the front fan. Anyway, it's a positive benefit. More cool air for a gfx card. If you had 2 front intake fans, the positive pressure would lead to no air coming in from the bottom intake.

[Auriok]

One of the bottom openings is for the PSU. The other can be used as a passive intake. If you have one front intake fan and one rear exhaust fan, then most of the air going through the case will be from front to back. The open bottom intake will add a bit, but not very much compared to what's forced through via the front fan. Anyway, it's a positive benefit. More cool air for a gfx card. If you had 2 front intake fans, the positive pressure would lead to no air coming in from the bottom intake.

Thank you for the reply


Ok, you make it sound better!

I want to buy a Be Quiet Dark Power 11 for my build. Could or rather should I install it with the fans fans to the bottom of R5? I guess the orientation of the PSU doesn't matter at all if it get's enought air? If yes then the open bottom makes far more sense now.

The case only has 1 front 1 back fan - should I buy an additional fan to have positive pressure? Or is this rather unimportant with all the dustshields?

[CA_Steve]

Could you list your complete build? It's harder answering thermal/noise issues without knowing what's inside the case (other than the PSU) Also, if you plan to overclock/overvolt.

PSU orientation: Face the intake fan side to the bottom of the case so it can get air from the outside and blow it out the rear of the PSU/case.

[eperdos]

Hi, I found this topic about R5 case and I would like to participate in it.

I also plan on building my next build around this case. I will keep my current MB (Asrock H97 Pro4), CPU (i5 4690) and RAM (HyperX Beast 2x 4GB 1600) and also a 1 TB HHD for files only. I will buy a new GPU (waiting for 1070/RX490 or so), a new PSU (now looking for Corsair RM650x) and an SSD (looking for Adata SP550 480GB). Also want to buy a cooler for the CPU (looking for Scythe Kotetsu).

SO, question is, would a get a silent enough system (under 30dbA) under full load? Should I change any part for a better one? Should I add more fans to the case? Is there any better case? Cheaper or better silenced or better cooled or, who knows, better at all aspects?

Thanks!

[CA_Steve]

Hi, I found this topic about R5 case and I would like to participate in it.

I also plan on building my next build around this case. I will keep my current MB (Asrock H97 Pro4), CPU (i5 4690) and RAM (HyperX Beast 2x 4GB 1600) and also a 1 TB HHD for files only. I will buy a new GPU (waiting for 1070/RX490 or so), a new PSU (now looking for Corsair RM650x) and an SSD (looking for Adata SP550 480GB). Also want to buy a cooler for the CPU (looking for Scythe Kotetsu).

SO, question is, would a get a silent enough system (under 30dbA) under full load? Should I change any part for a better one? Should I add more fans to the case? Is there any better case? Cheaper or better silenced or better cooled or, who knows, better at all aspects?

Thanks!

The R5 makes for a great gaming case. I'd add a second front fan. Aftermarket GTX 1070 reviews are starting to come out. The MSI Gaming X looks great. Don't know if I'd go with Adata for an SSD.

[Irrelevant]

I'm more annoyed by electronic sounds than just fans - especially coildwinding is a nightmare for me. Because of this I want a dampened Case.

Contrary to popular belief, case dampening material doesn't reduce airborne noise (like coil-whine) significantly. The guideline for an effective acoustic absorber is that it be at least 1/4 wavelength thick, IIRC, which means you'd need >0.4" of a highly absorptive material (which Fractal's dampening material is not) to be effective below 10kHz.

However, higher-frequency sound is pretty directional, so the R5's front door should do a fair amount to reduce coil whine. My Define S has a much less substantial front bezel than the R5, I believe (it's pure plastic, with no dampening material), but it still blocks a remarkable amount of the high-frequency content my 'puter makes, particularly if I angle the case right.

But afaik the "Stack effect" is used in most Cases to direct the airflow from the front to the back.

I think you're confusing convection (the tendency of hot air to rise) with the stack effect (shaping a fluid channel in a manner to accelerate convection), as no commercial PC case uses the stack effect.

Of course, most pretty much ignore convection, as well, as its effects are negligible for most users (IIRC, one guy's test showed it as being roughly 1/4 of a Noctua 140mm fan at 800RPM in his typical, midrange system). In most actively cooled systems, other factors are more important in determining fan noise, so while convection-assisted airflow patterns are usually quieter, that's certainly not always true.

Plus, it's damn near impossible to make much use of convection without severely violating form factor standards, one of many reasons why ATX and its smaller spawn all need to be put out of our misery. It hasn't been 1992 for quite some time, and it's long past time our form factors moved into the 21st century.

[eperdos]

Ok. So Adata for SSD would be a problematic choice... Why? What would be a better option? Samsung EVO 850? for 40% more money? I would spend those extra 40-50$ but is it realy worth it?

Should I understand you guys here at silentpcreview opt for MSI gaming x implementation of 1070?

What extra fan for front case would you recommend?

Do I have another option for case, besides R5?

[CA_Steve]

Ok. So Adata for SSD would be a problematic choice... Why? What would be a better option? Samsung EVO 850? for 40% more money? I would spend those extra 40-50$ but is it realy worth it?

<shrugs> For a gaming build, pretty much all of the current gen SSDs perform about the same. So, it comes down to price, features, tools, and reliability. I had a bad experience with Adata in the past where they refused to generate an RMA for a product under warranty. So, they are dead to me. If you like them, go for it. It looks like they did a decent build with the Silicon Motion controller. For my primary drive, I'd rather spend the extra $50.

Should I understand you guys here at silentpcreview opt for MSI gaming x implementation of 1070?

Magic 8 ball says ask again later. With only one or two reviews in it's too early to tell what are the optimum parts. The MSI Gaming looks nice.

What extra fan for front case would you recommend?

I'd recommend completing the build, tune it for noise and temps and then decide if you like the Fractal fans. If you do, then buy a third one. If you don't like the Fractal fans, then there's choices from the really low CFM/low noise Antec True Quiets @ $12 ea to some Noiseblockers and Noctua's that are up in the $20's.

Do I have another option for case, besides R5?

Lots of options. How much do you want to spend? If you don't have an optical drive, there's also the Fractal Define S that runs cheaper than the R5. There's also mATX options if you are looking for smaller.

[eperdos]

Great answers...

How much I want to spent? Well, even R5 is a little over my expected budget. But I find (reading your site and a few others) R5 gets it ALL done quite well: price/airflow/silence. To sum it, if it`s not cheaper than R5, I`m not interested. But...

I was advised to also look for Phanteks Eclipse P400s. That is almost 35% cheaper than R5 and I really like its looks and easy building options, but I found it to be really bad at both silence AND airflow. Do you know better? Should I consider it?

I also like be quiet! silent base 600 and 800. but don`t know much about them.

I have DVD-RW, but I would go for an external one if needed. But Define S seems a little less performing in silence arena than R5, costs 20% less that would be so spent on an external DVD, so it is pretty much same cost as R5 but a little less silent. And about mATX, I already have the MB, I won`t change it, I would rather go full tower than mini.

And my problem is I can`t see them in showrooms, as they all are only available on demand. So I have to rely on reviews and forums like this one.

[CA_Steve]

Don't know your country of origin...here in the US the price differences between the Define R5, Phanteks 400s and Define S are pretty narrow.Of course, it's a matter of what's on sale atm. Looks like the Phanteks is another no-ODD design. As for the Silent Base 800, here's a nice comparison at Computer Base. Take a look at the thermal and acoustic results at 5V as that's where you'll want to be for silent case fans.

[eperdos]

Well, after looking at those graphs, R5 is winner for me. They look mostly equal at 5v but R5 win consistently at 12v so, IF 12v is ever needed, R5 would be a better option. Anyway, I also found some review here and there (I read thouroughly the one at kitguru) for silent base 800 and R5 and R5 is the obvious choise for me. Case is a closed case for me...

I live in Romania. VAT is 20% and prices are a little higher than Germany for example. All Europe has much higher prices than US due to taxes, euro/dollar exchange rate and other factors. (higher by around 30% margin).

After 1070 and 480 GPUs will be released (aftermarket implementations) I will come back and hopefully get good advices for what will be my silent almost new build. Thanks!