this is it, the wife (she who must be obeyed) has allowed me to get my new system but I am still dithering between two cases. I was going to go for the antec 900 but then saw the review on xtremesystems that someone here linked to pointing out how horrendous it looks with all the cabling without modding the case.

my second choice therefore is the thermaltake armour.

what do people think on this one?

being unable to see either case before I buy, I'm having to rely purely on reviews online.

I must admit, I'm a bit wary about a case that reverses layout . ie antec 900 with the psu on the bottom when I've always had cases with the psu at the top.

consdering the size of the case, doesn't this present an issue over length of cables being able to reach the hardware to power it in the top bays?

also, regards PSU, I'm looking at Hiper 580W Modular PSU HPU-4B580 which in blue looks quite nifty.

what are peoples opinions here? I must admit, I'm a bit in the dark when it comes to PSU's the last time I bought one they just a grey lump with cables built in.

I'm looking at getting

Asus P5WB
intel duo conroe 2.4
2gb ddr2 dram
ati 1950 xtx

already have

4x250gb eide hard drives
1x250gb sata hard drive
2x dvd writers
1 pci eide 133 controller card
1 pci soundblaster 5.1 platinum soundcard + 5.25" bay inputs.

to cram into whatever case I do get.

would a 580w psu be sufficient for this lot?

i just got my thermaltake armor with 25cm fan yesterday tho im waiting for the R600 2 be released b4 i start building but i was also looking at the Antec 900 VS thermaltake armor, i think i took the armor because the 25cm fan and with a tuniq tower 120 it would probably cool really good and the 25cm is silent so that did it for me. and im gonna go for a modular PSU anyway so cabling wont me such a big mess

i was thinking about getting a TT Armor (and i did, but it isnt here yet) so i asked somebody who had the case what they thought about it

I just picked up my Antec ninehundred yesterday, and put it together.
I had a Lian Li PC60 case before and the cabling was a dream in the Antec case compared to the Lian Li. I have an Enermax Liberty PSU.
This case so robust it is not even funny. Antec did a really nice job designing it. It is extremely quiet as well. The loudest thing in my case is my hard drive now. I also have an 8800 GTX card and 3 hard drives and 2 DVD writers. So i have a few cables to deal with. I did not organized my cabling yet and still have excellent air flow compared to the Lian Li case. My video card is running about 10 Celsius cooler than before, and all my case fans are spinning on the lowest setting.

If you want to see the most complete picture galleries for cases on the Internet go to Newegg.com! They take the items they sell out of the box and take pictures of every view you can imagine. In most cases Neweggs pictures are better than the manufacturer galleries on their own web site. Check them out!

krisz what cpu cooler do you have? thanks a lot.

I have a Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu. When i turn my PC on in the morning the first 10-15 minutes the fan is not even spinning on the cooler it is just idling.
Thats how well the case is ventilated. I have an X2 4600 AMD dual core CPU S939

I'm a big fan of the Armor! Yeas it is huge, but man the airflow is nice and the more the better! Also upgrading in the case is a snap! You don't worry about cutting your hands to shreads while working in this case. Also if your going the 8800 rought, remember these cards are huge and will not fit in just any ole case! it's also the only case recommended for AMD Quad FX...

Now there is the Armor Jr. if you don't ned all the space of the big boy!
And just to confuse you even more, there is the Armor LCS (Built-in Liquid Cooling System).... you won't sleep at all tonight

I'm thinking my next PC that I build will be my entertainment center. Which will live in the living room, so it's got to look good next to the 47" LCDTV. So the only choice left is the Thermaltake Mozart 8)

I second the Armor, one of the best full tower cases. Got the Kandalf version and it has plenty of airflow and space.

Lancer, can I ask what other reasons are that you've limited your options down to these two cases? What drives will be going in the computer?

I tend to lean towards HTPC cases more and more nowdays, albiet not that compact ones. I want something I can toss a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray drive in, along with a tv-tuner card and use in my living room when it's too outdated for games. When I build a computer I also want it mobile...something you just can't really achieve with most full tower cases (speaking from experience I know the Armor isn't something you'll want to move around much).

I think having the PSU on the bottom is a good idea except that screws and stuff can fall into it. Make sure you get some sort of mesh cover for the fan, as you don't want a screw or hair or something shorting out your PSU or starting it on fire. Having the PSU on the bottom means excess wiring (even modular cables are extra long) won't hang down over your motherboard and get caught in fans and snagged so much on components. When they're laying on the bottom of the case it seems to me that it'd be easier to zip tie them or something. Give the Nine-Hundred a try, I don't think you'll hate it.

chuckhissle, is this you pc on sli of the month in june? It looks a lot like the one in the video... heheh

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_rotm_june06.html

Here is a review of the Antec case with some pictures.
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews/antec900/

why just the armour or the antec? fair question

basically because I've had a dull boring cream standard atx midi under the desk for 7 years. this case has had 3 rebuilds in that time and I want something big enough for the years ahead, cooling and looks good.

the antec and armour are two cases that have caught my eye, look quality, not cheap and generally seem to be well regarded

the armour seems to be edging it for me at the moment in relation to build quality and psu placement.

I've never heard anything seriously bad about any of Thermaltake's more modern cases. I think they've listened to feedback and are computer lovers themselves. I have the Kandalf, basically the same thing. The doors on these cases make the case look nice, but they can be annoying too. Do yourself a favor and get a case like the Tai-Chi that has wheels on it, or modify it before you build. I'm saying this because moving the case with doors on it means they tend to flap and can get caught when you set it down. I met a guy at a LAN party recently, who broke the front of his case as he set it down once, so he just took the doors off. Which you can do. Full tower cases are great for builds, they're roomy and they have a lot of bays. It would be nice to see companies like Thermaltake make more stackable bay compartments to set on your desk though. I think it'd be awesome to have my DVD writers (provided they're quiet), fan controls, power button, and temperature displays on my desk. Connect them with a single thick USB cord or something. They'll get around a competing market segment of that sort someday here I'd imagine. Oops, should've just marketed it myself. Oh well.

I hesitated for a while between these exact two cases.

To me it's gonna be the Armor case. It's even bigger, looks better also (at least to me 8) ) and you can add a 25 cm side fan.

Also, the construction looks more solid on the armor model. It's not that the nine hundred looks "weak", just not quite as solid as the Armor. And on a finishing note, the regular placement of the PSU makes for a easier/better building of your computer.

If you get the black one, I'll sell you my matching side fan panel. I found that it's too far away from the CPU to help it much, as it disrupts all my front to back airflow. I've got 3 fans in the back and 2 in the front of the case pushing air right through. I switched out the orange ones for blue LED ones and my entire system is blue/black/silver. G15 blue-led keyboard, Samsung 215tw monitor with it's little blue on button, etc. I even got the Razer Copperhead mouse in blue (which I love). Anyway, the big fan disrupts this good airflow I've got going through my case, so for me it's a waste. I'd just buy the extra front drive cage instead if I were you.

Well all i can say is that i am very happy with my Antec case. The armor is a nice case as well, but i would still pick the Antec over the armor. I love robust look of the Antec case and i can be care less about the falling objects into the PSU because it is pretty much impossible since my sound card is blocking the fan on my PSU. Also i think it is a way better design to have the PSU on the bottom so all the heat can exit on the top of the case, instead of get trapped by the PSU.

Again picking a case is more of a personal choice than a technical one, and i fell in love with the way the Antec case looks

One thing to note about that 900 case and the PSU placement is that a silent, fanless PSU wouldn't get the extra rising heat from components in it...so a silent option (if it's ever a good one) is more viable in a case like that. Who knows what the next year might bring in silent PSU's, although it's questionable if they'll continue trying to make them as they've been recommended against by so many people. I love the idea of a fanless PSU really. If they start using liquid filled copper tubes to help cool them to an external heatsink and actually produce some really good ones we may end up with an even quieter system. People say that some PSU's are "inaudible" but every vibration and noise adds up to an overall hum, regardless if you can hear them independently.

I'd go with this case, I have the Thermaltake Armor steel version and it's much heavier.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811133155

Haha, you mean you stole it? I think you meant STEEL version. :-D At least you didn't stay steal virgin. LOL You're right though, the materials are different for the colors.