Case advice for silent, simple powerful hackintosh

I am building my first hackintosh which will be an audio production computer. It will have the i7 4790k, 16 or 32 gb ram, one or two ssds and 2 or 3 regular hard drives. No graphics card. What case would be the best for this? My priorities are:

powerful (allowing overclocking)
silent
size/look

i bought the ud3h motherboard but now wondering if I really need a full atx or a mini atx would be better. Not a huge fan of the look of the atx case recommended (corsair carbide 500r), would something like the fractal core 1000 work for me or is it better to have the extra space? I can return the motherboard for something smaller if necessary. Thanks!!

Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl $69.99

This case is the best looking and best value for an ATX build.
Top notch build quality.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352021&cm_re=define_r4_window-_-11-352-021-_-Product
This version has a side window for only ten dollars more.

I second the Fractal Design R4. This is an awesome case and Newegg's current price of $69.99 is an absolute steal. I would never build an ATX computer in anything else.

Is the black pearl version the same noise-wise as the "blackout"? Can't tell from the specs.

johnbosler said:

Is the black pearl version the same noise-wise as the "blackout"? Can't tell from the specs.

Click to expand...

They both have exactly the same noise dampening material etc. The blackout just has all black
fans and HDD trays PCI-e slot covers, instead of white.

The no window non-blackout of course has noise dampening material on the side panel. (where the
window is in the others).

I also have a Fractal Design Define R4 and can recommend it ... but be aware that the R5 is being released (the first wave of reviews is already out), and it looks like it will be an even better case than the R4.

YWO said:

I also have a Fractal Design Define R4 and can recommend it ... but be aware that the R5 is being released (the first wave of reviews is already out), and it looks like it will be an even better case than the R4.

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+1 I just saw a video on the new model and it looks great.

http://youtu.be/SRZIdbdcIiU

It comes down to whether to get the old model for 40 dollars less or go with the newer
model (R5) and have better fans, filters and water cooling support. So if the OP isn't going to
use large water cooling rads and can live without the extra fine tuned new model features the
R4 is an excellent choice to keep a build under budget.

johnbosler said:

powerful (allowing overclocking)
silent
size/look

Would something like the fractal core 1000 work for me or is it better to have the extra space? I can return the motherboard for something smaller if necessary. Thanks!!

Click to expand...

I've done builds in both the Core 1000 and R4 and there is a night and day difference between the
two. The 1000 cuts a lot of corners to reach a low price point, it's not nearly as quiet and the fit
and finish was really disappointing seeing how great it is on the R4. So if you're really budget
restricted the 1000 is ok but I would spend the 30-40 dollars more for the R4 and keep the ATX
motherboard.

Hi. I have a NZXT Phantom 410 Case and I can tell you it is practically silent on the lowest fan setting and only slightly audible on 2 and 3. It is sat on my desk next to my monitor its so quiet. People also comment how good it looks.
I am running an i7 4770K with 32GB Ram. Airflow is good too and temps are always around 30-35C with moderate use (graphics and web design).
Check out my sig for the rest of my specs. Hope that helps.

Here's a very Apple like video made by Fractal:

[video=youtube_share;6ZoiiqrHdcM]http://youtu.be/6ZoiiqrHdcM[/video]

In a perfect world Apple would have commisioned FD to build the New Mac Pro as an ATX
case made out of brushed Alu minium of course. You could then have all the internal HDD
storage you could ever want while still having a quiet, easy to cool case that is easy to open
up and upgrade any component.

I can just hear Jony Ive narrating this video: "The new Fractal Mac Pro, we listened to what our
customers actually wanted in a Pro audio/video editing computer and built this in partnership with
Fractal Design in Sweden."