Which case for quiet but high performance build + general advice wanted

[kalniel]

So yes, the larger PSU would generate more heat in my PC than a smaller one, but it laughs off that heat and the fans are indeed quieter (if moving at all). A lot of the cost in that larger PSU is thermal stuff, copper and bigger fans.

That's making the case (hoho) for buying a PSU that has bigger fans and better cooling, not a higher power rating. If you can say for sure that higher powered PSUs in the same series have better cooling/bigger fans then fine, but I don't know that's the situation. Take your the RM850 and imagine a RM600 with the same cooling and fan - it would generate even less heat/noise at your 350W load (but inconsequentially - as you show you're not going to hear the difference)

I guess it's hard to generalise - just have to read PSU reviews and see what they measure the noise at for your expected load.

[DanceswithUnix]

The thing is, once you've put in the fans and heatsinks to deal with 850W, you might as well just make it an 850W unit. It's going to cost much the same.

There is an argument that spending even 1W for a quieter machine is selfish. If every person on the planet wasted 1W, that's more than enough power to send a DeLorean back through time

[Kristian Hynes]

For me with cases if you want good airflow make sure you buy a mesh case and have room for a AIO on the top to exhaust.... Other than that just pic what you like the look of.... Personally I like all black mesh builds like the techware forge M... Not a big fan of RGB