Which Case to choose?

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AlexIrvine

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I am really debating about which case to get. The first case I really, really like and it looks like it could cool everything. However I have seen #2 "armor" and it is a strong reliable big case. Is the Antec case large enough to hold a Crossfire setup with X6800 and 2x raptors comfortably or is it to small or cheaply built? What do you think? Better alternitives than this?


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811129021

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154
 
doolittle

doolittle

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Jul 19, 2004
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you're right about the Antec nine hundred it looks like it can cool anything, if you look close there is yet another 120mm mount in the side vent

<-- click on these

So if you install the side fan 4 x 120mm fans and one top 200mm - even at the lowest speeds can keep all your components cool with a whisper.

Consider a traditional top-mount psu has to take convection heat dissapated from other components, compared to having the cool air blowing through from the front fans - which setup do you think will keep the psu temps down... Not to mention modern 120mm PSUs don't exactly have a whole lot of airflow to begin with so the lower mounted psu option is probably better.

Unless you are building a fileserver with a ton of hdd's the armor has 13 bays so that's a good choice in that case. Then again, the dual 120's in the front of the antec seems like it can easily cool 6 hdds.

Newegg is a ripoff in this case I saw it on froogle for $106 shipped from page computers, if you can stand their crappy webpage...
 
yourmothersanastronaut

yourmothersanastronaut

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Mar 23, 2006
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I have the PC-60 Plus II, in black. Amazing case for a first build. Plenty of room for a Crossfire system with the hard drive lack loaded with 3 drives.

My only qualm with it would be that I can't use the top fan with my Hiper Type-R 580W PSU, but it's modular and it sticks out too far, so that's more of a PSU issue than a case issue.

Very easy to work with, didn't cut myself at all on it, and looks great with the window lit up in green ^_^

Might want it in silver, though - the dust shows up really well on black, but I suppose that would happen on any black case.
 
R

rooophy

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Sep 25, 2006
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I just finished building my system with the Armor LCS and I love it. It only has one problem, the holes drilled to screw the pump down are wrong and you have to fight with that, but otherwise it's a sweet case and has loads of room for mods, crossfire setup or anything you wanna throw in there. Nice fabrication too, feels like quality, it's MASSIVE so you better make sure you have some room.

I can hear the fans when i use it so it's not 100% quiet but everything is modular and fans can easily be replaced. I give mine an 8 out of 10 and i'm very difficult.
 
B

BlackHeart

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Jun 5, 2004
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I am really debating about which case to get. The first case I really, really like and it looks like it could cool everything. However I have seen #2 "armor" and it is a strong reliable big case. Is the Antec case large enough to hold a Crossfire setup with X6800 and 2x raptors comfortably or is it to small or cheaply built? What do you think? Better alternitives than this?


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811129021

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154
Click to expand...

My Antec Nine hundred case should arrive tommorrow and I expect to have it up and running by this weekend. I am taking most of the internal components from a Systemax Venture case and moving it to the Antec.

I just installed an Arctic freezer Pro 7 cpu cooler in the Systemax case and was able to reduce the CPU temperature by 14 degrees Celsius and it is also quieter since I installed the Arctic Cooler.

I will try to remember to post some feedback on the Antec nine hundred case here.

I think some concerns folks have are dust in the case and extra noise (because the case is more open) and heat because the power supply is not isolated like it is in the P180 case. This case will be in my bedroom so it better not make too much noise when I am trying to get to sleep. I will let you know if it passes the "Princess and the Pea" test. :lol:
 
yourmothersanastronaut

yourmothersanastronaut

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Mine sticks out so far because the modular connections aren't just molex/equivalent-style plugs, they're keyed screw-in connections. So they stick out quite a bit. I find that to be much more secure than just molexes, but that's my opinion.
 
B

BlackHeart

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Well, I missed the shipment and had to go out to the Fedex place to pick up the case. I just got it home an hour ago and took it out. The case had a couple of dents in the side toward the top on the right side (like a philips screwdriver was placed against it and hit sharply with the palm of the hand). Looks like it had to have happened at the factory because the shipping box and foam inserts were in great shape. No paint is missing where the dents are and I tried to pop them back out the best I could. The back and top fans are pretty quiet on the high setting but the front two fans are louder on the high setting. I may have to run the front fans on the medium setting. The case and fan power connecters are not the best quality I have seen when compared to other cases I own or have owned. The side covers metal thickness is pretty thin and the sides flex a little when I have them off ( but I will not say its made of beer cans ). The case is not up to what I expected quality-wise. The firewire and USB connectors on top of the case also appear to be low-quality. I had to work at getting the fans power connectors hooked to a spare power supply that I used to test the fans. I will start looking at the motherboard standoffs and see what I have to do to prepare moving the guts from the old case into this one. One of the reviews that I read said that $150 was too much for the case and that it should sell for around $100 (which is what I bought this one for) and I think I know why that statement was made now. Maybe Antec will release another version of this case with thicker metal and some quality connectors in the future. I guess the case is ok but I cannot give a whole hearted stamp of approval to others based on my opinion of the case. I am hoping I do not experience any case vibration noises when I get the system built.

More opinions later...
 
B

BlackHeart

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I got most of the guts transferred from the old case to the new Antec nine hundred case. This case is running lower temperatures than the old case and I cannot even feel heat coming out of the power supply anymore. Here the comparison, same Intel D945GPM motherboard, 1gig ram with an Intel Pentium D 840 dual processor chip.

Room temperature 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

All temperatures below are Celsius...

..................CPU temp...Internal temp...Remote temp...Hard Drive temp

OLD(fans high).......64................53..................39...................33

New(fans high).......59................34..................26...................26
........MAX CPU

New(fans low)........60................40..................28...................28
........MAX CPU

New(fans low)
.......(CPU idle)........45................35.................28....................27

The Antec case is really quiet with all the fans set to low. The CPU fan would run around 2900-3000 rpm constantly during the stress test with the old case but it only runs around 900-1100 rpm in the new case with all the fans set to low.

When the CPU is idle the CPU fan runs around 400 rpm.

I really like this case now but I still have reservations about the top pci express slot on my motherboard as that is where I will be putting a PCI express video card. It looks like I might not be able to plug the video connector on the video card but I will not know until I make a decision on what video card to buy and actually buy it. It will just be inconvenient to have to take everything back out of the case and take my metal cutoff wheel to remedy this situation should it occur.
 
A

atp777

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Jul 21, 2006
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I agree with enforcer22. I have a Lian Li and it keeps everything very cool. Highest CPU temp ever logged was 129F or 54C. Lian Li I would highly recommend to anyone building.
 
enforcer22

enforcer22

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Holy cow your cpu gets hot D: i start thinking about new thermal paste if mine hits 45c D: With the 3500+ i normaly wouldnt go over 35c and could idle at around 25 to 28c but this damn x2 idles more around 35c and gets up as high as 45c :-/ if it didnt have two cores i would be irritated D:

Gah please dont take this as rude but that is one ugly case D:
 
celewign

celewign

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May I suggest the Silverstone Gloria model? I have one and I am very pleased. I cut a hole for a top fan and now I have a 120mm fan in the case. It took 15 mintutes to do and now my case is very very cool.
-cm

Oh yeah, the Gloria only cost 100 bucks I think. Ill have to check my receipt.
 
B

BlackHeart

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I think the power supply from the old case does not like running with the fan pointing upwards. At first I thought It was a transformer because the new case is so quiet but I stopped the fan in the power supply and the buzzing stops.

I am keeping my eye on one of those Enermax Galaxy power supplies. I need to find out if someone is running one with the fan pointing up and would also like to know if the Galaxy is quiet. I am having a hard time justifying $250 for a power supply though.
 
yumi_cheeseman

yumi_cheeseman

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Aug 30, 2006
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apart from what everyone else has said, one thing I always prefer in a case is metal.

Plastic see through sides are cool, but they let through electromagnetic radiation, which won't DAMAGE anything, bt can interfere with signals to monitors and speakers.
 
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