New Case help

[PotGoblin]

I am gonna be building me a new pc in the very near future- the main thing I am still torn on is the darn case

here are a few requirements

1) must be able to fit a 8800 gts (to start) or gtx size as a possible future upgrade
2) superior air cooling - I will be overclocking the beast - I know I will be sacrificing some noise at the expense of heat transfer out of the case. but that isn't an issue since it sits on the opposite side of the house from any bedrooms
3) must cost less than $150

some choices i am deciding at now - but open to others

1) antec 900
2) antec 180b
3) thermaltake armor

of course if you can think of any others that have better cooling capabilities than these and fall in my budget feel free to comment

 

[choknuti]

You might want to look at the thermaltake Mozart that was reviewed today.

 

[PotGoblin]

nice case but it is $60 out of my pricerange

 

[TenGig]

I got the antec 900 with a 8800gts and Noctua NH-U9F heatsink.
I had no problem with room

 

[choknuti]

ooops sorry my mistake. i saw a price list here stating the mozart is available for 100$. Turns out it is a different model

 

[PotGoblin]

1 other area of concern. cable managemet and also the front panel connectors including usb, firewire etc being able to reach the motherboard without killing the airflow

(ideally would not need to hack up my system to obtain the cable management yet everything reaches)

my current setup is shaping up like this

cpu: e6420
hsf: enzotech ultra-x
mbd: gigabyte ds3 rev 3.3
ram: G.Skill 2x1gb ddr2-800 4-4-4-12 timings
vid: evga 320mb 8800gts superclocked
psu: fsp 500w

then the standard assortment of 2x sata hd, dvd burner, sound blaster x-fi etc

 

[TenGig]

I haven't had any issues with airflow with the 900. But there is one thing you should consider (just thought of it) before getting a case that has a PSU on the bottom. Make sure you have a PSU that has a long enough power cable for your Mobo. Mine (OCZ GameXStream 700W) was long enough, but if it was an inch or two shorter it wouldn't have made it. It had to go over the videocard and such.