600t vs Storm Sniper vs HAF X

[ARJY]

Which in your opinion is better all round. The sniper is cheaper than the HAF X but has less airflow and is smaller. The 600t is the same price as a HAF X but looks way sleeker and seems to be highly rated. Is the cable management in the 600t that much better than a HAF X?

[planet436]

I agree the 600T is a much better looking case then the HAF-X, I personally can't stand the industrial look coolermaster use for that line. The latter is one of the best air cooling cases on the market but does suffer from lack of dust filters (please correct if wrong).

Be warned though, the HAF-X is a large case and is really designed for 2+ graphics cards due to its size, so unless you are intending to go down this route it is probably OTT. I wouldn't worry about cable management issues, all those cases will have good routing options (pretty much all high spec cases do these days).

If you're really interested in air cooling performance then the Silverstone Raven/FT inverted MB cases are your best options. I find bittech does the best case reviews, i.e. they actually measure temps and build inside them so can research more there if you haven't done already.

[ARJY]

I see, ill have a look at some bit-tech reviews thanks a lot. The HAF X has filters on all the mesh surfaces. I've seen the raven, but it seems a bit more expensive than the HAF X, im most likely going to do a two way sli but its quite possilbe i may decide to go three way. I guess id like to know i can expand easily without having to rplace much but thanks for the info. Im leaning towards the HAF X.

[Pob255]

Yes the X version of the HAF adds dust filters

There's a new raven 3 out, the ravens are slightly cheaper than the HAF X and they are all only slightly cheaper than the Corsair 600t
Raven 3 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...window-w-o-psu
Raven 2 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...-ap181-w-o-psu
HAF X http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...w-usb3-w-o-psu
600T http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...g-case-w-o-psu

The strom sinper is slightly smaller but does have decent cooling and is slightly cheaper http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...g-case-w-o-psu

Of them the original 3, the HAF X has the best cooling, then the sniper then the 600t, but the question becomes how much do you actually need?
Have you considered water cooling?

I'm also going to throw another case into the mix the Storm Enforcer http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...usb-30-w-o-psu
This is built on the HAF 912 frame (also a cheap alternative http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...r-case-w-o-psu), so it's much smaller than the HAF X however it keeps one key feature Width
It's also a good chunk cheaper (although you will want to add a 200mm fan to the top)

[ARJY]

Thanks for the links, I like the HAF X quite a lot beacause im hoping to make this build as future proof as possible in the sense that upgrading one thing will not require me to have to upgrade a few others. And i seem to be obsessed with temperatures and it seems that thats what the HAF X is focussed on. I wanted a full size case so that no matter what happens ill never need to replace it (unless it somehow breaks) and i can keep adding to it for a while. Thank you very much for your opinions i think ill go for the HAF X if not maybe one of the smaller ones in the series.

[Ed Omega]

Thanks for the links, I like the HAF X quite a lot beacause im hoping to make this build as future proof as possible in the sense that upgrading one thing will not require me to have to upgrade a few others. And i seem to be obsessed with temperatures and it seems that thats what the HAF X is focussed on. I wanted a full size case so that no matter what happens ill never need to replace it (unless it somehow breaks) and i can keep adding to it for a while. Thank you very much for your opinions i think ill go for the HAF X if not maybe one of the smaller ones in the series.

Hi ARJy, I have got the HAF 932 and it has excellent cooling and spce for future proffing. The layout is very good and the internal features are well thought out. I swore I would never buy collermaster again (several years ago) but I spent a lot of time researching this buy (similar reasons to you - I'm cooling obsessed and I like future proof) and the HAF 932 was the best around by a mile IMO. Yes it looks industrial, but personally I like that - the 600t has two problems, firstly it is Corsair (a company I have nothing but contempt for) and it is ok but no great on air flow. I have a water cooling system and the 600t is not a very good layout for 240 rad system. For air it is decent case, but the HAF is a lot better (and not "made" by Corsair)

The Storm Sniper again did not give me the sense of airflow the HAF does, and certainly felt less future proof.

Did I mention I quite like the HAF case.......

[ARJY]

lol thanks Ed good to get an owners opinion. HAF certainly looks like the way to go then. Out of interest why do you dislike corsair.
So i've secured the choice of chasis, CPU, RAM and cooler all thanks to you guys on hexus, thank you very much.

[Ed Omega]

lol thanks Ed good to get an owners opinion. HAF certainly looks like the way to go then. Out of interest why do you dislike corsair.
So i've secured the choice of chasis, CPU, RAM and cooler all thanks to you guys on hexus, thank you very much.

I dislike Corsairbecause:

I have had 3 PSU's of theirs fail.

I have had one set of RAM (275mhz PC4200 bloody expensive ram) replaced 5 times until a working set was aquired - how I enjoyed playing parcel tennis with my memory for 3 months!!

My most recent escapade (and the one that reminded me not to buy their stuff ever again) was having liased with Corsair over some RAM to run overclocked, I was advised by their guru to buy Dominator GT 1600 mhz ram as this had a good overclocking overhead so I could push it to around 1700mhz - I read the reviews and yes this memory would do this. So I bought some, and it crashed once it went over 1630 mhz. 2 modules worked fine, the third was flaky (bare i mind they are supposed to be matched sets). Upon getting back to Corsair about this "matched" memory set, they replied that they do not guarantee overclocked ram, despite them advertising it as such. Ok, i'm overclocking and I know that this would usually be a reasonable response, but firstly they had advised that it would, secondly they advertise this product as doing so, and thirdly, the memory they sell is not the same ram as is tested in the reviews - it is a different set of chips, but they don't tell you that when they are telling you how great it is. So the end of this was I had to sell the ram as Corsair would not RMA it despite being given evidence they had misrepresented the product - I couldnt return to the retailer as they had not themselves misreped the product.

So, as a result I can only voice my experience which is I have never bought a Corsair product without having an issue. I am sure many will tell you they have bought Corsair and its always been great - just my experience thats all.

My Watercooling rig btw started out life as an Asetek kit, who are they guys who make Corsairs H50/H70 kits - they are probably pretty reliable as Asetek built stuff I have always found to be of a good quality - and you can now buy their kits thru a few other brands too.

[Pob255]

Well then you might be interested to know that ChiefTec are the people who build the corsair cases (ok not fully confirmed but a lot of small give aways the majority of the body of evidence is pointing to chieftec)

Bad luck on the PSU's I've encountered a bad HX520w once it was DOA, but generally they have been solid, the move from seasonic to CWT and increasing prices have put me off however.

Also I'd look at a obsidian 700 or 800 for water cooling as that was designed with a eye to water cooling where as the 600T and 650D (which is the same internal frame) has been designed around air cooling rather than water cooling.
I'd say have a look at the coolermaster dominator 690 version 2 for a water cooled case.

Or stupidly expensive the Silverstone TJ11 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...oogle+shopping the only case on the market deigned to fit 560 rads 4x140mm infact I'm pretty sure you can put two 560 rads in it.

[ARJY]

Water cooling is a little out of my depth as I don't have enough experience nor the money but i guess thats why having a HAF X is good because its flexible and big enough to do that in the future, once i stop being poor.
And why are cases made so that the graphics card coolers face downward. Surely having them so the fans face upwards would ensure maximum heat release. I like that on the TJ11 its done so that they face up.

[Pob255]

No not really as the fan in cards pull air in from below the card and blow it over the card, venting ether out to the side or out of the back depending on cooler design.
Also you'll find that the back of a card gets quite hot, as the copper in the pcb itself acts as a heatsink, this is why having a fan to blow air over a card help reduce the temperatures.

[ARJY]

Oh right lol i was under the impression that the fans blow hot air away from the card, i feel a little stupid now but better now than later eh.

[Ed Omega]

Well then you might be interested to know that ChiefTec are the people who build the corsair cases (ok not fully confirmed but a lot of small give aways the majority of the body of evidence is pointing to chieftec)

Bad luck on the PSU's I've encountered a bad HX520w once it was DOA, but generally they have been solid, the move from seasonic to CWT and increasing prices have put me off however.

Also I'd look at a obsidian 700 or 800 for water cooling as that was designed with a eye to water cooling where as the 600T and 650D (which is the same internal frame) has been designed around air cooling rather than water cooling.
I'd say have a look at the coolermaster dominator 690 version 2 for a water cooled case.

Or stupidly expensive the Silverstone TJ11 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...oogle+shopping the only case on the market deigned to fit 560 rads 4x140mm infact I'm pretty sure you can put two 560 rads in it.

Hi Poj, doesnt surprise me its cheiftec or similar, Corsair make nothing of their own as far as I know, they are just a re-badging outfit for most of the stuff they sell.

Going from Seasonic to CWT would not have been a bad thing aa few years back, but I have seen a lot of critical reviews of some of the CWT oem PSU's over the last year or so, they seem to be losing their way a bit which is a shame as they have produced good quality kit for yonks. But like a lot of the OEMS, a lot of this is down to the component spec that the end brand (i.e Corsair OCZ etc) specify. I do hope they return to their previous levels as was a time where you could guarantee a CWT PSU was decent quality.

[Ed Omega]

Oh right lol i was under the impression that the fans blow hot air away from the card, i feel a little stupid now but better now than later eh.

Hi Arjy,

Pob is fairly well on the money there. There have been a few cards with coolers that do encompass the back of the card, but these are quite rare. Also, with AGP cards (PC's from about 1997 to around 2005 ish) the AGP slot was quite high up the board, so any structure on the back of it would have interfered with the RAM and probably large CPU coolers.

PCI Express would also have a similar problem with a single graphics slot motherboard to a certain extent.

As for water cooling, there are some good entry level water cooling products like the oem ones made by Asetek for various people i.e Corsair H50/H70/H80, the new Coollt Eco is an integrated unit with a 120mm radiator for very sensible money. Antec have the kuhler, and there are other similar ones. These will give you better cooling on overclocked PC's vs top end air cooling.

After that, once you feel richer there are kits like the EK range which go from around £120 to about £180. These give you better water blocks, bigger radiators, bigger pumps, you can add GPU cooling as well, even motherboard cooling as you can get some motherboards now fitted with water cooling heatsinks.

[Pob255]

Hi Poj, doesnt surprise me its cheiftec or similar, Corsair make nothing of their own as far as I know, they are just a re-badging outfit for most of the stuff they sell.

Going from Seasonic to CWT would not have been a bad thing aa few years back, but I have seen a lot of critical reviews of some of the CWT oem PSU's over the last year or so, they seem to be losing their way a bit which is a shame as they have produced good quality kit for yonks. But like a lot of the OEMS, a lot of this is down to the component spec that the end brand (i.e Corsair OCZ etc) specify. I do hope they return to their previous levels as was a time where you could guarantee a CWT PSU was decent quality.

The same can be said for the majority of "brands" very few companies manufacture their own stuff.
However the level of input does change, many "brands" ether design their own things or work closely with the manufacture designers to develope a product.
Where as others take an existing OEM product and just put their own stickers on it or customize the housing.

CWT is pretty much the same as always, they make both high end units which are good and low end budge units that are so corner cut that I'm surprised they are not circular.

good example is thermaltake psu's they've always used CWT (AFAIK) and while the top end tough power series is good the budget ranges can be a rather naff.

[mac84kellar]

I just got a HAF x and its amazing. Moved from Antec 902- so as soon as i got used to the size i was happy. Def worth looking at if your gonna water cool in the future.