If you’rebuilding a PC from moolah , one of the most significant thing to consider is how your case is run to impact how hot your ironware get under one’s skin . With how potent most modern ironware is , the internals of a personal computer can get very red-hot , and one of the only ways you’re able to make do with that heating plant is to pump as much atmosphere through your case . Even CPU and GPU radiators figure out on a exchangeable principle , relying on good air flow over the cool down fivesome to keep temperatures down as the computer hardware does its practiced to flex your PC parts into liquefied metal .
Of naturally , there are dozens , if not 100 , of different kind of casing designs fare from manufacturers , and it can be a mo voiceless to beak something that equip well for your needs . That ’s why we ’ve seem between all the good options and pick thebest PC casesfor flow of air in various sizes , from full - tower ATX cases , to tinyMini - ITX casesas well .
Best overall PC case for airflow
NZXT H7 Flow
One of the big problems when it comes to airflow is getting cable television service in the way of it , which is why good cable television management is important . The NZXT H7 Flow is plan around this concept , with a raft of groove and spaces for you to run cables and tie them to places so you are n’t block the flow of sports fan from every side . NZXT has also made the top panel open so that you could also take reward of having airflow die in or out an additional opening , as well as just having additional space for radiators .
verbalise of which , the NZXT can handle quite a lot of them . The front and the top of the example can accept up to 360 millimeter radiators , which is more than you probably need , so if you want to go for more fans , the front panel can also fit three 140 millimeter fans if you need to go that itinerary . You also get two NZXT F Series lover that add up with the case , so you could deliver a turn on that , although if you ’re look to increase your performance , you ’ll likely be getting some third - party ones .
One thing to keep in mind , though , is that this is a very minimum design , which intend you do n’t get a good deal of hooey for the I / O panel , just two USB - A and one USB - hundred port wine , and that ’s it . Now , that ’s needs a dealbreaker , but it is something to study if you require to plug in a lot of stuff in the front of the PC .
Best budget PC case for airflow
Cooler Master MasterBox NR600
While it ’s not always easy to see a budget - friendly case that also has good airflow , the Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 does a relatively good job of it . It does n’t have a good cable management system , which is certainly a shame , but it does have a top and front opening , which yield you a lot more airflow . That said , these are mesh openings , and there has been some anecdotal evidence that meshing screenland disrupt air flow to some extent , although they do also serve decrease the amount of dust that is sucked up into the information processing system , so it ’s very much a matter of compromise .
Either way , you have a lot of air flow openings to work with , and in terms of radiators , you may outfit two of them : up to 280 mm in the front control panel , up to 240 millimeter on the top panel , and a 120 mm one in the back which is often used for the CPU but will be a blind drunk burst . you may also fit two 140 millimeter fans or three 120 mm fans in the front board and either two 140 mm or two 120 mm fans on the top instrument panel . So , theoretically , you could have up to six fans if you admit the 120 millimeter buff in the back venire .
As for what computer hardware it can fit indoors , well , it can do both a Micro - ATX and ATX motherboard , a PSU with a maximal length of 180 mm , and a GPU with a maximal duration of 410 mm . It ’s very important that you bivalent - go over those last two dimensions because there ’s nothing bad than buying something and not being capable to tally it in a grammatical case , which is dependable with mid - towboat like this one and smaller .
Best full-tower PC case for airflow
Corsair 7000D Airflow
The Corsair 7000D Airflow is a full - pillar font , which means that it can basically outfit jolly much any case of ironware that you could think of . For object lesson , it has a 450 mm GPU length limit , which should even clear larger GPUs like the RTX 4090 , although unlike models have different sizes , so it ’s always good to double - verification . The Corsair 7000D can also take a central processor cooler with 190 millimeter , which is actually quite telling and more than enough , specially if you plan to go for a liquid chilling option .
One of the most telling things about its sizing is that it can accommodate up to 12 fans , which is a psyche - boggle number and means that you could potentially gibe three 360 mm radiator in the eccentric , although we ’re not quite sure what you ’d do with all that cooling . You could also go for a exclusive 480 mm radiator on the front venire , which would be everlasting for a high - death GPU like the RTX 4090 , and the top panel up to a 420 millimeter radiator , another good selection for cooling a high - end GPU . As for the back panel , it can take either a 120 mm or 140 mm fan and an equally sized radiator , so it ’s a good selection for cool off a mainframe .
Of naturally , there are sure downsides when dealing with a case so bombastic , with the chief one being that it ’s openhanded and clumsy , so it can be hard to maneuver , particularly if you require to lift it up . That ’s because it count an eye - watering 41.2 pounds , so you should dead have somebody helping you with this because it ’s not going to be an soft build . in the end though , that is the price of having so much internal space , and for a mint of folks , it ’s well worth that extra try .
Best Micro-ATX PC case for airflow
Lian Li Lancool 205M
If you have emergence with infinite and do n’t really roll in the hay where to put your PC , then going with a Micro ATX case is an excellent pick . While this smaller form factor gives you a lot more placement selection , it does somewhat hamper the sort of hardware you’re able to match inside . For example , you’re able to only fit a Micro ATX or Mini ATX motherboard in here , so you involve to take that into accounting . You also only get 375 millimetre of GPU clearance , so some of the bigger GPUs will have a unvoiced sentence here .
On the other helping hand , you do have some sound options , such as the power to match up to a 240 mm radiator on either the top or front instrument panel . You could potentially do both , but that ’s going to be unmanageable to fit in all the tube , and you probably do n’t need two big unity anyway . The back panel can fit a 120 mm fan but not a radiator , so if you plan to chill both your GPU and your CPU , you ’ll likely have to make some combination of top and front panel radiators of various size .
As for line management , there are spots behind the motherboard for them , which is just since the case is so small you ’re going to postulate somewhere to put the cables . The bottom instrument panel where the PSU give-up the ghost is also removable so that you may hand thing a bit easy , although again , the smaller outer space does make it hard to do some material .
Cooler Master NR200P MAX
The Cooler Master NR200P MAX is a bit unlike than your average case because it already comes with some things pre - install , which also helps explain the high-pitched terms . For starters , it has it ’s own 850w 80 Plus Gold PSU that also has its own usance - made cable . Cooler Master did this because the display case is so minuscule that you ’re not going to be able to fit a traditional PSU , so having something custom - made that ’s smaller and account for in the internal space makes a lot of signified .
Another thing the NR200P MAX has pre - installed is a 280 mm radiator with two 140 millimeter fans , with all the tubing already pre - made for you . In this case , it ’s specifically an SFX CPU cooler , so if you were plan to chill a GPU with a radiator , you ’d have to off the pre - installed one and do your own . However , chill the central processing unit will be almost impossible since you ca n’t put a radiator anywhere else , and the C.P.U. sit down below the GPU , so this is n’t really the pillowcase for liquid cooling a GPU . as luck would have it , the airflow is still pretty good , even for a pocket-sized case , and the GPU you’re able to tally in there probably wo n’t make that many issue since there ’s only a 336 millimeter length clearance and a 140 millimetre elevation clearance .
Yeah , it ’s a tiny cause , but that ’s part of its spell . It will be a moment harder to crop with , especially give the pre - installed hardware , but you could , thankfully , move out all the panel to make easier 360 - level access . Also , the GPU has a riser you may expend that puts it on a hinge so you may drop it in and out for leisurely access . Of course , the of import matter to remember is that this only takes Mini - ITX motherboards , so be certain to pick something that agree your needs since most Mini - ITX boards have fewer PCI - e and RAM slots .
How We Chose These PC Cases for Airflow
Case Design
It ’s likely not a surprisal to hear that the way the pillowcase is design , in term of the numeral of possibility and their situation , can greatly sham airflow quality . Beyond just arrangement , receive mounting maculation for more fan or radiator also makes the case easier to custom-make around your hardware , which can be unmanageable the modest the case grow . Either way , we did our undecomposed to focalise on cases that had as many openings and mounting fleck for fans and radiator , and that includes some gargantuan 480 mm radiators as well . You might not end up needing that , but having the option is always nice .
Also , one more matter to note is that slip sizes correlate with the type of motherboard they can tally , which in turn will decide what sort of computer hardware you may use , except for the GPU and CPU cooler , both of which are constrained by internal sizing . Either path , the great cases will ordinarily be able-bodied to fit the smaller motherboards since it ’s easy for manufacturers to sum up the screw holes for smaller sizes . We mention this because it does give you a bit more build options if you want to fit a small motherboard in a large case , especially if you already have one , but it ’s always good to dual - check that it can wield it so that you do n’t waste your money .
Cable Management
While there ’s no clear scientific consensus on the thing , and case manufacturer do n’t really release their research , there has been a mint of anecdotical evidence that bad transmission line management can bear on airflow just as much as the case conception . It sort of make sense when you think about it because the more hanging and random cables you have , the more hard it is for melody to line up pathways through the pillowcase from one side and out the other . It may not seem like much , but when your heat dissipation is a function of how fast you could dump air into and out of a display case , it starts to sum up up . That ’s why we ’ve done our best to blame case that take cable length management into account , with the only exception being the budget option , which still has a skillful case design regardless .
