What kind of case do you suggest?

So I am currently working on a building a gaming PC. I finally finished picking out some parts and now I am trying to pick out a case. I am not really sure what to look for in a case, so if I could get some suggestions on what I should get (or even what to look for) that would be great. If it helps, this is currently my computer build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LpqgXP

Also, if you have any parts recommendations to improve the performance of the PC or a cheaper part with nearly the same performance, please let me know

Here are my priorities for cases

1. Clearance and Space: Basically you need to be sure your graphics card and cooling situation are going to fit. You should be able to find measurements for both of these. I see that you're eyeing a AIO liquid CPU cooler. Those can take up quite a bit of space, mostly because of the radiator. You can also look up user reviews and see how cramped they felt it was. Also behind the motherboard tray is another spot to consider. If it's too cramped back there you'll find yourself cramming everything in just to close your case up. If this is your first build, you really want to go with something spacious or you'll end up fighting your case to make everything fit. You should focus on getting your build right and functioning the first time around. When you're more experienced you might be able to work with less space. If it's not going to fit easily you're just going to have a bad time.

2. Price: It needs to fit your budget. If your budget is large this isn't going to matter but for smaller budgets you'll have a smaller selection. Don't spend more than you need to but be willing to spend at least $60 so that you'll have a decent time building.

3. Features: This is kind of a preference thing as most cases will be at least serviceable by themselves. But there are things to consider. One thing is front side drive bays. Some of the more contemporary designs have forgone drive bays so be aware of that (I see you intend to install a BD/DVD drive). Another thing you might consider is hard drive trays. Most cases have plenty of these but you may want more or less. Some offer 2.5" SSD mounts in addition to the regular 3.5" ones. Some cases offer cable routing features that might make your build easier and more pleasant to look at. But most of the time these things don't actually make a huge difference and I wouldn't fuss about it unless you know there's something you need.

4. Aesthetic: It should look good and you should be happy with the way it looks. Of course it isn't your highest priority but you should be able to look at it proudly. Many cases feature windows so you can look inside. Some are really minimalist, pick the one that suits your tastes.



As for your build, it looks pretty solid. I would say that you don't need a liquid cooler. Probably the only situation that calls for an AIO liquid cooler is when fitting an air cooler just isn't going to work due to fat RAM heat spreaders or something. [Source 1][Source 2]

Motherboard is a little on the cheaper end but it should get the job done. It should work with the 1700X without any issues but I wouldn't expect much overclocking on it.

Your PSU has much more wattage than you actually need. You can safely go down to like 550W, if you so desire. But it's fine as is.

Do not buy a sound card unless you are absolutely certain that you need it. The common sense here is that most onboard audio is going to be sufficient for 99% of users. There are sound cards that will give you better sound, if you care enough to spend on them and that's the exception.

if you plan on using steam, than you may not need a dvd player

For the case, you need to look at where you plan to put it,
if you have room for everything to fit it.

The design you like, you have some plastic ones, metal ones, plane looking ones.
Do you want a window.

Main thing to look at it is if the GPU will fit as that will be the biggest part

What will you be using as a monitor

I really like the look of NZXT Cases.

Is there a type of air fan I should look for then? I did watch the videos, but I did not get a lot of the detail into what I should be looking for, and I'm not sure what kind of activities would really overclock my CPU (or GPU, I'm not 100% which).

But if I do plan on using the optical drive for CD-ROM games then its okay?

Does the monitor really matter? I know that there are gaming monitors and all that, but I don't really want to break the bank on a monitor

Yeah

Monitors do matter, it also comes down to how much of a gamer you are.

99.99% of users have basically no use for overclocking the CPU. It's great if you're doing professional image/video work and you want to shave some time off your renders or something but the average person who wants to play games or lighter professional workloads it's not going to make or break your build. If you do want to overclock, you'll probably need a better motherboard and a high end cooler.

Most air coolers on the market will do a fine job for mainstream CPUs. There are only a few things to worry about for coolers.

1. Size: Some coolers are huge. I mentioned this in my previous post but large coolers will sometimes get in the way of your RAM, especially if your RAM has a big heat spreader (the fat plastic that covers up the circuits). Unfortunately I think it's fairly difficult to predict whether or not your heat sink will get in the way. However if this does become a problem, you can sometimes get away with moving the fan to a "pull" configuration (so the fan is sucking air through your heatsink, rather than blowing into it). Some people will tell you that pull configurations are bad and that just isn't true. The numbers say that pull is very, very slightly worse than push [source].

2. Performance: Just look up some benchmarks, find out how well the cooler you want performs in real world testing. The Hyper 212 EVO is one of the most popular fans on the market. You can use its benchmarks as a baseline for comparisons if you like. [review]

3. Price: It should obviously fit your budget.

Some other things to consider:

The ambient temperature in your room is ultimately going to be one of the biggest factors in how well your cooler works. It is physically impossible to cool your CPU below ambient temperature. That's a limit dictated by hard science. The only way you can possibly cool below ambient temperature is if you're using an alternative setup like phase change or liquid nitrogen. If you live in a hot climate and have no air conditioning, don't expect to get amazing results no matter what cooler you have.

If you overclock you will void your warranty. I've never had to use my warranty but if you value it, don't overclock.

As long as the response time is ~3ms/under you're not going to have issues, slower response rates will lead to a "tracer" effect in high-motion scenes like those in video games, but you certainly don't need to bust the wallet on a 1ms response time monitor.

I'm guessing that it also depends on the game. So if I playing games like Nier: Automata or even the Honey Select Unlimited, while I should consider a monitor with a 3ms/under response time, would a monitor like the Acer - H236HLbid 23.0" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor with a 5ms response time, work for the time being? Or should I just wait until I can afford such a mointor?

It's not nearly as noticeable in 3rd person games as it is in first-person games. 5ms isn't too bad, I can notice it but I also have been playing on 2ms response time monitors for many years. 7ms+ is generally where it gets really noticeable even to the average gamer. 9ms+ is cancer.

I tend to look for anything under 5ms as most people will not be able to see a difference.
Plus gaming monitor tend have better colour reproduction over standard monitor.

@mikukuma
in monitors you will find IPS nad VA screen
IPS = better viewing angle, better colours but response time will be 5ms or higher
VA = better response, mostly around the 1ms time

Than you will 10 bit panel which mean the monitor will produce 1 billion shades of colour
8bit which produce 16.7 million shades of colour
you also get 8 bit with 2 bit frc which is a cheaper way of making 10 bit screens.

than you have brightness of the screen general they will be around 250/350, higher ends will get higher.
other things to look out for is light bleed.
Look at reviews for monitors that have been left by gamers.

have you picked a case yet

Yes,though I am stuck between two similar cases, but I would be satisfied with either one.

Honestly, the only thing left for me too consider is the CPU, which then I would be able to choose a proper motherboard. Honestly I was thinking the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, as it does better than I7-5550U in my laptop and well to the I7-8700K that I am also considering. But I'm so used to Intel CPU's, I'm not sure if I should go with the 8700K (the more powerful chip) or the 1800X (the chip more suited to my current needs).

Other than that, I'm pretty much good

gaming go for intel,
photoshop, video editing go with R7

both are good CPU, and AMD have got their arse in gear now, which has forced intel to get their finger out of their arse.
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/mjYwV6

This is what am looking at, just waiting at the moment.
swapping jobs, car insurance is due in a few months.
once car insurance s paid off, i will have proper look.
The plan with the thermaltake core P3 is wall mount the case.

Okay, I kinda wanted to update this thread, since it is getting closer to the summer and its getting about time to decide on what to build.

After taking the advice you guys gave me, I finally came up with two builds that I am very satisfied with:
Build 1:Intel Build
and an
Build 2:AMD Build

I like the Intel build for its gaming prowess, but it is also the more expensive build. Plus there is supposed to be a better CPU coming out later this year or next year, and I really don't want to make the build knowing there the better chip sometime in the future. Neither do I really want to wait for the chip to come out,so for now this is the build that I will go with.

I am actually leaning toward the AMD build. It is the cheaper build and it definitely improved on the 1800X CPU chip. Plus I think it would be more of a Play-And-Work kind of computer. I just don't how much other work I would do on the computer to justify the lost of gaming performance, especially if my gaming preferences change. While I might do some work on it, I was doing just fine with the Intel i7-5500U I have in my laptop even the Mac's at college, but in any case, this is the build I'm going with.

If you have any opinions, please do leave them. If there is any improvements I can make, let me know as I have about $150 left in my budget. Thank you for following me on this journey.

i prefer the intel build,
in real life figure the intel is better at gaming.

AMD is better as a workstation (only good if you plan to do photo/video editing)

if you plan to overclock go for a better air cooler cooler or for all in one water cooler.


There is always better CPU coming out.
Nvidia will be announcing their new GPU soon, so i would what for them to come out and the 10 series GPU should go down in price