Case quality matters: Why a good case can help with overclocking

Not many people talk about this, but the painful truth is that most temperature tests done for hardware is for the worst case scenario. Personally, I don't want the worst case scenario so I try to get a good combination of hardware for my desktop PC. Recently, I dumped Intel's stock cooler in favor of a Cooler Master Hyper TX3 and reduced my CPU temp from 75 C to 49 C. I also threw in a couple of fans for my case before this upgrade and the heat difference has been day and night since I first built this machine back in August. However, this does show me a painful reality that this case was not intended for higher end hardware like this.

With this in mind, I'm going to state the painful reality of what people should look at with regards to cases. First, seek out one that has good airflow. Second, seek out one that has features that your motherboard can take advantage of like USB 3.0, Firewire, a certain amount of drive bays, or whatnot. Third, and by far the post painful reality, the prettiest case is not necessary the best case. I have seen this reality firsthand as my current setup is running cooler than a liquid-cooled PC from somebody else who I have worked with recently as his case was a mid-tower that wasn't really made for high end i5 and i7 processors and while my case wasn't the best, it did allow me to accommodate my processor with ease.