ok so ive been flying whoops for about 8 months and finally decided to just commit and build a proper 5 inch freestyle quad. problem is every time i start researching frames i go down a rabbit hole and end up more confused than when i started. like right now i'm looking at the iFlight Nazgul frame and the Diatone Roma F5 but i honestly dont even know if those are still considered good choices or if everyone moved on to something else

also the stack sizing thing is killing me. i bought a 30x30 stack from a sale a few weeks back (Speedybee F405 v3 with their 50amp ESC) and now im second guessing whether that limits my frame options. i know some frames are designed more around 20x20 stacks and some are flexible but i cant find a straight answer on what fits where without just buying stuff and hoping

im not trying to build something race-tuned, just want something that survives crashes and flies nice for park freestyle. budget is around 150-180 for frame and any remaining components i still need. any direction would be appreciated

the Speedybee stack you have is fine, actually a solid choice for a first build. 30x30 mounting fits basically every 5 inch frame worth buying so dont stress that part. the Nazgul v2 frame is still totally relevant, people just like to act like anything older than 6 months is obsolete. it's a proven design, decent arm thickness, and replacement parts are easy to find which matters more than you'd think once you start binning it into concrete

Roma F5 is also good but i found the build quality on my unit was a bit inconsistent, one of the standoffs was slightly stripped out of the box. not a dealbreaker but annoying. if you want something that just works and you dont want to babysit the build process the Nazgul is probably the safer pick for a first 5 inch. either way your stack will drop right in, standard 30x30 with 20mm height clearance on both those frames should be no issue

yeah im kind of in the same boat, did my first 5inch like 3 months ago and the frame decision paralysis is real. i ended up just going with whatever had decent reviews and wasnt out of stock everywhere. one thing nobody told me until after i built it - measure the motor to motor diagonal before you buy the frame if you already have motors picked out, because prop clearance can get weird depending on the arm layout. probably obvious but i didnt think about it and had to dremel one of my arms slightly which was nerve wracking