Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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Ellis
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Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Thu Oct 23, 2014 7:51 am

Hi,

I know this topic has come up plenty before but I'd love to hear some more opinions before I make my mind up.

I'm planning on transplanting this system into a new case:

Core i5-2500K
CM Hyper 212+
1 x 2.5" SSD
3 x 3.5" HDDs
1 x 5.25" ODD
SeaSonic SS-660XP2

I need a new motherboard but I've decided to stay with ATX board rather than downsize, given the following rough requirements:
  • Space for at least 3 x 2.5" and 3 x 3.5" drives
  • 1+ 5.25" bay
  • Space for a fairly tall tower CPU cooler
  • Space for a large graphics card
  • Good acoustic performance
  • Cooling performance that isn't absolutely awful (not a priority)
I don't plan on overclocking the CPU (not worth the effort - no real-world impact for what I do) but I will probably add in a dedicated graphics card at some point (maybe a GTX 970).

After doing a fair amount of research, the Fractal Design Define R4 and Corsair Obsidian 550D both look pretty suitable, though the 550D is more expensive (here in the UK, it's about £100 vs the R4's £70).

I like the exterior design of both cases but the 550D seems like it may be better built (aluminium front panel, push-release side panels, and Corsair are well known for making cases that are easy to build in). At the same time, I've read reports that it's not actually well built (such as the AnandTech review). I also saw that the R4's drive cage works well for suspending drives using elastic cord, which I would definitely try if I found the drives to be loud when mounted normally. Can this be done in the 550D?

Not too bothered about the included fans - I'm happy to build the system and see how they sound, and then decide if I want to replace them.

I'd also love to hear of any other case suggestions that people have.

Apologies for the long post, but I want to avoid the hassle of buying a case that I turn out not to like :oops:

Cheers

cerbie
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by cerbie » Fri Oct 24, 2014 11:26 am

The Hyper212+ seems like an odd choice. Maybe it will be drowned out in the R4, or maybe not. I'd get something a little more sure to be inaudible and/or pleasing. I personally have found no fan from Cooler Master to be satisfactory, to date.

I would avoid LiteOn for the ODD, as you never know if you'll get one that will rattle the case, or just squeak.

With the R4, you can completely remove the center drive cage, for better air flow, and still fit everything, so long as you tuck away the SSDs a bit (for which it has mounts for at least 2, IIRC).

With the video card under load, you'll likely want to replace the case fans. But, that's easy enough to do, so deciding later is not a problem.

Ellis
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:43 am

cerbie wrote:The Hyper212+ seems like an odd choice. Maybe it will be drowned out in the R4, or maybe not. I'd get something a little more sure to be inaudible and/or pleasing. I personally have found no fan from Cooler Master to be satisfactory, to date.

I would avoid LiteOn for the ODD, as you never know if you'll get one that will rattle the case, or just squeak.

With the R4, you can completely remove the center drive cage, for better air flow, and still fit everything, so long as you tuck away the SSDs a bit (for which it has mounts for at least 2, IIRC).

With the video card under load, you'll likely want to replace the case fans. But, that's easy enough to do, so deciding later is not a problem.
I forgot to mention that I'm not using the stock fan on the Hyper 212+. I'm currently using a Gentle Typhoon AP-13 which works pretty well, so I plan on keeping that in the new case. I have a couple as case fans currently too, but they don't seem to work brilliantly noise-wise. Anyway, I can see what the stock fans are like on whatever case I buy and then always have the option of using the AP-13s or buying some totally new fans.

The drive is a Samsung which I'm happy to keep. I only use it to rip CDs, which I don't often do, and I imagine that will be noisy with any drive unless you want to wait 4 hours per disc. Having said that, I don't want to have an external drive, hence making the 5.25" bay a requirement.

Is it the R4 where the SSD mounts require the removal of the motherboard to gain access? I've been reading up about a few cases so might be getting muddled up there.

cerbie
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by cerbie » Sat Oct 25, 2014 11:41 am

Yes, it has those back mounts. But, also, with the moving parts involved, you could use tape or velcro, and put SSDs anywhere, too.

With a different CPU fan already, the Hyper212+ should be perfectly fine.

Ellis
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:25 pm

cerbie wrote:Yes, it has those back mounts. But, also, with the moving parts involved, you could use tape or velcro, and put SSDs anywhere, too.

With a different CPU fan already, the Hyper212+ should be perfectly fine.
Hm, sounds like a bit of a pain. I guess if I go for the R4 I can decide once I get it whether to use those mounts or not. If I consider them extras, I can't really the fact that they're hard to access against it.

Pappnaas
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Pappnaas » Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:28 pm

Ellis wrote:Is it the R4 where the SSD mounts require the removal of the motherboard to gain access? I've been reading up about a few cases so might be getting muddled up there.
I assembled a system in the R4 some weeks ago and mounted them without removing the mainboard.

Ellis
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Sat Oct 25, 2014 2:20 pm

Pappnaas wrote:
Ellis wrote:Is it the R4 where the SSD mounts require the removal of the motherboard to gain access? I've been reading up about a few cases so might be getting muddled up there.
I assembled a system in the R4 some weeks ago and mounted them without removing the mainboard.
How do you attach them, then? It looks as though they would need to be screwed in from the front, meaning the motherboard would block access to the screws once installed.

CA_Steve
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Oct 25, 2014 3:05 pm

For the backside of the motherboard tray: I'd use a double sided thermal tape. No airflow back there and I'd like the SSD(s) to have a way to dissipate heat to the tray.

I've been very happy with the R4.

Ellis
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:53 am

CA_Steve wrote:For the backside of the motherboard tray: I'd use a double sided thermal tape. No airflow back there and I'd like the SSD(s) to have a way to dissipate heat to the tray.

I've been very happy with the R4.
I think this is something that I'll have to look at once I get the case. I can see myself not bothering to faff around with mounting the SSDs on the rear of the motherboard tray and instead just putting them with the rest of the drives in the main cage.

I like the fact that you can do this with the R4. The 550D looks nice - I like the front panel and the fact that you can open it either way, but I don't think it offers enough to be worth it over the R4, so I'll probably go for that. Just need to wait until pay day when I can order it along with the other bits I need!

Thanks everyone for your help.

antiatavist
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by antiatavist » Sat Nov 08, 2014 9:53 am

Has anyone compared Define R4 to Carbide 330R, with stock fans some results indicate that 330R cools better, and it definitely looks nicer. Both have the same isolation padding.

Ellis
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Sat Nov 08, 2014 1:38 pm

antiatavist wrote:Has anyone compared Define R4 to Carbide 330R, with stock fans some results indicate that 330R cools better, and it definitely looks nicer. Both have the same isolation padding.
I remember looking at this and ruling it out. Looking back at the specs, I assume it was due to it only having four 3.5"/2.5" bays.

I have the R4 now, but I'm waiting for one or two more things before I can build. I'll post some pics in the gallery forum once I'm done.

developer1
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by developer1 » Mon Dec 15, 2014 4:23 pm

Now that the R5 has got into the equation, this decision has got more difficult lol

falcon26
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by falcon26 » Sun Dec 21, 2014 6:41 pm

I get my R5 on Christmas It will replace my R4. Will report back how it is :-)

Ellis
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:27 pm

I've been meaning to reply to this for ages.

I'm pretty happy with the R4, though I'm slightly peeved about the fact that the R5 was announced very shortly after I got the R4 :(

The R5 fixed a fair few of my complaints with the R4, too - things like the SSDs being mounted on the back of the motherboard tray meaning the motherboard must be removed to add/remove SSDs. I'm using both of those SSD mounts, so it'll be a pain if I want to change the drives at a different time to the motherboard.

All-in-all though, I'm happy with my decision. The airflow and temperatures are good enough for what I need, and the noise is pretty quiet, enough that I'm happy to have it on my desk now. I have generally quiet components anyway (GPU and PSU fans switch off at idle, as do the hard drives, so in that situation it's only the CPU fan and two case fans making noise, all of which are the same model and downvolted) and I feel like the dampening materials make a difference there. They would probably not be very noticeable if I started with noisy components.

kater
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by kater » Wed Jun 10, 2015 1:16 am

hehe, seems this topic touches on all cases that I'm planning for my next build- R4 (obsolete now), R5 (current favorite), 550D (a little over my budget), 330R (not up to comete against Fractals); I've also ruled out P100 - lackluster aoverall and P280 - too expensive and a bit oldish

So, with R5 being the most likely choice I have one question to R5 owners - can you fit a control panel (3,5" Scythe) behind the door? Will the door close ok with the panel's knobs protruding?

Ellis
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Fri Jun 12, 2015 11:14 am

kater wrote:hehe, seems this topic touches on all cases that I'm planning for my next build- R4 (obsolete now), R5 (current favorite), 550D (a little over my budget), 330R (not up to comete against Fractals); I've also ruled out P100 - lackluster aoverall and P280 - too expensive and a bit oldish

So, with R5 being the most likely choice I have one question to R5 owners - can you fit a control panel (3,5" Scythe) behind the door? Will the door close ok with the panel's knobs protruding?
There's a P380 out now, too! It looks nice and I can't claim to know too much about it but I did read a review or two when it came out and can't say that it massively appealed.

kater
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by kater » Sat Jun 13, 2015 10:13 am

Yeah, P380, way too big and expensive, I'm afraid, plus I think I would want a case with a door. I'm now giving P280 second thoughts cause it's on sale right now in some shops, and is priced considerably better than R5. Also, with R5 I will not be able to install Kaze Station 3,5" as its knobs protrude quite a bit and in R5 (and other Defines) there is virtually no space behind the door to accomodate the knobs. And in P280 there is plenty of space. So, back to obsessing about the case, I guess :)

Ellis
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by Ellis » Sun Jun 14, 2015 7:20 am

kater wrote:Yeah, P380, way too big and expensive, I'm afraid, plus I think I would want a case with a door. I'm now giving P280 second thoughts cause it's on sale right now in some shops, and is priced considerably better than R5. Also, with R5 I will not be able to install Kaze Station 3,5" as its knobs protrude quite a bit and in R5 (and other Defines) there is virtually no space behind the door to accomodate the knobs. And in P280 there is plenty of space. So, back to obsessing about the case, I guess :)
Haha, good luck with your search. I know it took me a while to decide on the R4 but I can't say that I have any regrets. The only issue I have is that, with more than one mechanical drive running (I have 3 but they spin down after a certain period of inactivity), I can get weird vibration sounds which are quite annoying. I did try elastic suspension at some point but didn't have much luck getting it to work properly. I think it may be due to the SATA power cables plugged into the drives also making contact with the side panel, I just need to look into it a bit more and haven't bothered yet. Not a fault of the case, though - it has happened with others too.

schuberth
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by schuberth » Mon Jun 22, 2015 7:20 am

kater wrote:<snip>
So, with R5 being the most likely choice I have one question to R5 owners - can you fit a control panel (3,5" Scythe) behind the door? Will the door close ok with the panel's knobs protruding?
I'm not sure about the controller but I was able to fit X-Fi front bay unit without problems.
Details about my build: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=68232

Image

kater
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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by kater » Mon Jun 22, 2015 9:40 am

Sounds (excuse the pun) promising! The knobs on my panel are a little longer, but perhaps I could replace them with sth else... Could you perhaps upload a pic of the front of your PC with the case door open?

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Re: Define R4 vs Obsidian 550D vs ???

Post by MikeC » Mon Jun 22, 2015 9:59 am

You could just mount the control panel slightly inset. Might need no modding at all (ie extra screw holes in the right place), esp if you use double sided tape (or similar) to fix it in place.

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