I looked at both those cases as well, and ultimately went with the Antec. The lack of a front door was a huge factor for me, as my computer doubles as my entertainment center (TV, DVDs, etc) and therefore frequently need to access my optical drives.

So here are my thoughts, and bear in mind I have very little hands on experience with the raidmax.

#1 how often are you going to be working on your hardware that having to use tools will be a hassle? If you're building the system and letting it be aside from the occassional mod or upgrade, will having to use tools really put you out?

#2 The fans in the Antec really aren't that loud, especially on the low setting. I have mine all on high because I am OCed to the hilt. But even on high, I don't consider the noise to be excessive considering what I am benefitting.

#3 I wasn't sure about the PSU being on the bottom at first. One benefit of it I have found is that it lowers the center of gravity of the system as a whole, which seems to make it feel more stable when moving it. A drawback about it, though, is that routing cables is a bit tricky and in some instances outright stupid.

#4 I don't like "flip down" side doors such as the raidmax has. I like being able to slide the door off and just get it out of my way without having to scoot other equipment away.

just my two cents.

Coolermaster 690

I have a 900 and I love it. Having the powersupply on the bottom really didn't bother me at all setting it up. Just make sure your cables are long enough. As far as the fans I have them on medium and can hear them but it doesn't bother me. When I orded the case I thought about getting some silent high CFM fans also but decided to try out the stock ones first. They aren't that bad.

I would hate having a door on the front of my case.

I definately would not buy a case with front door on it. The designer who thought that one up, was smoking crack and it's a stupid design for someone who never uses their computer. lol.

The antec looks pretty stylish and I really like the fact that it has the USB / firewire ports on top that would be much handier than at the base or the back of the unit.

As far as the doors go... that kinda would be a pain, but you can take the doors completely off as shown in the 5th pic from the last.

The PSU in the bottom really shouldn't be that big of a deal, having it in the top can pose the same problem with cables not long enough so that is a toss up.

With all the fans the antec has could be on the noisy side, but on the flip side of this it should keep the case really cool inside. You could cut down the noise by getting some slower fans... make sure the back and top fans blow outward.

If it's too noisy you might be able to shut the front fans off, just be sure to monitor temps inside if you do that.

I've only owned screw mounted drives, and to me that's not that big of a deal because I use drive caddies anyway and you just slip and slide them in and out. You just screw the caddies into place and thats it, I can swap drives out in the time it takes to shut down and reboot.

And if that is a big deal, there are hot swappable caddies out there too.

I have had the Antec 900 for several months, and I am quite happy with it. My rig is quite cool. Dust is a factor, but nothing that a little canned air cannot take care of. Cable management can be a problem. I had to cut a hole near the psu to route my cables. But it is a great case.

with the smilodon, can u remove the door? i mean just completely take the front door off its hinges? i have the thermaltake armor 8000 series tower right now and i removed those stupid "armor" flaps they had... i took em right off the hinges... is that possible with the smilodon? is the door held onto the tower with screws and a hinge that comes off?

How about one of these two, no doors!
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6811119106

http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6811147079

neither have very good air cooling and i dont wanna run water.

The Antec 900 is a superior case in so many different ways. I don't see how you could even consider the Raidmax case. There should be no debate.

BTW...wirelessfender that is a kick a$$ rig you got!

oh... well, im not good at the modding thing... never tried and dont have any tools for the job... id love to switch out those drive bays for toolless ones and also possibly mod the case to clean up the wires... but yeah, no tools for it...

it seems like no one is really choosing the raidmax smilodon extreme... i guess that front door really is a big deal for people... especially when the antec also has great cooling and is made for the modder

hmm... that does look like a good alternative... why the 690 over the 900?

i guess the biggest difference seems to be that the antec has more stock cooling, but the 690 is toolless. id rather have more stock cooling. plus, the antec has many more vids out there on how to mod the thing... i think because of that (and that newegg price for the 900 is gonna end up being like 30 cheaper than the 690), my choice is simple... 900 it is...

With the bottom 2 fans on the front of the Antec 900 the lack of airflow or cooling for the bottom psu isn't a problem because it is always pushing air into those areas , even if the sound card is clogging it up a bit... Plus you can put another fan on the side if you want.. But with 2 other fans it cools everything nicely.

Tool less ? how hard is it to get some screws going with the phillips head???(Dont be stereotypical lol...) Once you screw it in , it's not going anywhere ? Tool less design isn't always your best option.

Antec is good quality and sturdy ..

ugg... you should have got a CM Stacker and forgot about those two cases.