What medium sized Case has:
1. Good airflow - Phanteks
2. Is suitable for silent pc build -Phanteks
3. Can have its default fans replaced - Phanteks (but why would you ?)
4. Without a lot of lighting. - Phanteks
And yes, you can have a silent case with GREAT airflow. Im using a Enthoo Primo with 16 fans (6 case / 10 rads) under stress test it is dead silent. You an not tell if the PC is on or not using your ears.
Phanteks has taken home "Case of the Year Awards from Computex just about every year since 2013. They introduced case lighting but it's never been blingy designed primarily for accenting the build rather thn being the "look at me, loom at me'"thing. And if used, its an option, with an off switch.
You don't replace the fans in Phanteks cases because they are the best on the market. Scroll down to the chart here to see how they stand up
Are you looking to buy a cooler for your precious CPU? You want it to be capable enough and look good, but also quiet; who wants loud fans droning in their ear all day? But how much do you need to spend exactly? Can you afford both decent power and near-silence within your budget? In
www.silentpcreview.com
Since that review came out, tI would say the only fan on par with the Phanteks is the Silent Wings 3. here's what happens when you take Noctua fans off a Noictua cooler and replace them with Phanteks ... CPU temps drop by 6C at same rpm...
Their cases are particularly known for wide water cooling support, plenty of fan mounts, superb cable routing, built in fan hubs, abiity to fit tall / large heat sinks and large GFX cards, and quiet operation.
PWM used to have an advantage with low speed control but Phanteks invented the concept of controlling DCV fans with a PWM hub... providing the same low speed control at half the price.
Regarding Air-flow direction I was thinking
In front air comes in, .... yes intake
In back air goes out ... yes, exhaust
On top Does air go in or out? ... depends
In bottom i will suck air in (which makes me think in top it should come out? .... intakes
If you have a radiator on top, intakes. If it's all air cooling, it will depend.
Three concepts cause trouble here...
1. We all learned in 8th grade earthe science that hot air rises. While that is significant concept in open atmosphere it is insignificant in a closed space.
2. A case is a closed box. Air in must equal air out or the box will implode / explode.
3. Ins and outs should be close to equal .... in summer when you open two windows and put a fan in one ... when you turn the fan on, doesm't air come in thru the other window all by itself ? When y use an attic fan or stive exhaust fan, did they install another fan to bring air in ? ... of course not
Intakes have air filters, and hese restrict air flow. This means that two fans one blowing in and one blowing out will create a negartive air pressure condition inside the case. As the filters become clogged with dust, this gets worse and worse. While most will point to dust as being the primary concern here, it's not. When negative air pressure exists, air will enter the case thru the path of least resistance. In most cases this is that large grille in the back of your case. So lets day you have:
(3) fans in front blowing in
(1) Fan at rear blowing out
(3) fans on top blowing out
Thats 3 in / 4 out. No Good. Let's do the math assuming a not so anal user who cleands the filters every 3 months when you can see thru them anymore. The air restriction is significant (I have measured as high as 30%). let's call "EAF"
the equivalent air flow from a fan with no filter
Front (3) EAF x 70% = 2.10 EAF
Rear (1) EAF x 100% = 1.00 EAF
Top (3) EAF x 100% = 3.00 EAF
Bottom (2) Empty fan mounts
So that's 4,00 out and 2.10 in meaning you have 1.9 EAF coming in thru open vents spaces in the case. Again, the biggest area with the biggest holes is generally the rear case grille. If your case is like most on a desk or floor with rear up close to wall, that air intake will come from the air space between the rear grill and the wall. So what's going on there ?
You hot air exhaust exiting the rear case bottom from your 750 watt PSU and your 250 watt GFX card is coming out and is getting sucked right back in. Your not removing hot air from the case as much as recycling much of it.
Here's how Id do that case:
Front (3) EAF x 70% = 2.10 EAF
Rear (1) EAF x 100% = 1.00 EAF
Top (3) EAF x 100% = empty
Bottom (2) F x 70% =1.40 EAF
Now we have 3.5 EAF in and 1.0 out ... the extra 2.5 EAF will go out hru the 3 empty fan mounts all by itself.
You didn't mention budget ... Look at the 400s and 600S depending on budget needs. If ya have the budget, the Evolv X is wide;y considered the best case available < 4200
There's ATX and mATX versions
I must mention that many folks have 'looked' at the case fron panel and concluded it has poor air flow. It has great air flow ... the 600S is a less expensivee version and the air flow was tested here
As designed, outta the box so to speak the air flow is 271 ft/m
Angling the front panel to provide a huge open area, we see a minimal increase to 281 ft/m, Clearly the panel has little effect
Taking the panel off entirely, the air flow is still 281 ft/m .. again, clearly the panel has little effect
Taking off the mesh, the air flow is 300 ft/m
Taking off the dust filters, the air flow is 311 ft/m
The Lux 2 is also a great case.
Most Phanteks cases come with the built in PWM / DCV fan comtrol hub which converts the PWM signal to DCV allowing low speed control at 1/2 to 1/3 the fan cost ... In addition you don't need t replace any fans as the one that come w/ the case, as the chart shows, are best in class.
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