Which Case - Antec vs Thermaltake

[Synh]

Hello there,

I'm in the process of assembling components for a new gaming system which I'll be upgrading over the years. Now i'm a first-timer, but I'll be OCing my CPU / GPU, and eventually upgrade the GPU to a 9 Series or 10 Series.

This entails I need some excellent cooling (won't be watercooling though) and PSU. Looking at the cases, three struck me as potentially worthy:

The Antec P182 - I hear the 3 fans are silent and up to the task, and its spacious enough. (21x52x51 cm)
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81820

The Antec P190 - Has an interesting interior design, allegedly optimizing cooling. Comes with two PSU's, and my main worry here is whether these PSU's are up to it, or if I'm better off with another brand (Corsair?) (Size: 20,5x59,3x51,5 cm)
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81900

The Kandalf VA9003 SWA - This one is my favorite design wise, I think its pretty suave and very sizeable as well(perhaps too much so: 22x63x54 cm).
Only problem is I hear that the three fans are way too noisy, and to be replaced. Also the alluminium could be a little thin. This is all hear-say so I'd appreciate input a lot
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/kandalf/va9003swa.asp 22*63*54

Also to be taken into consideration, I'd like to have the Thermalright IFX-14 as a radiator, and its apparently pretty huge. So I don't exactly know if it can fit into all of these. Once again, Input appreciated.

I remain opened to any suggestions on other cases though, although being in Europe I don't necessarily have access to all cases. (Price range is up to around ~300$)

Thanks a lot, & cheers

Synh

 

[yipsl]

The Antec P190's PSU's are good. I'd e-mailed Antec about them, as they were listed under AMD certified PSU's for two 3870x2's. The 650 handles the GPU's and the 550 the rest of the system. They're listed as the Neo Link 550S with Neo Link 650P on ATI's website:

http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/buildyourown2.html#1

I'm sure they'd handle any ATI or Nvidia Crossfire or SLI coming out this year.

I almost got that case myself. Instead of paying that much, I got an Antec Neo 650 and a separate Antec Nine Hundred case. This was the first case I've used where the PSU is in the bottom:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&Tpk=Antec%2bNine%2bHundred

It's very quiet overall. Generally, Antec products are good. Anandtech has a review of 650 watt PSU's that include the Antec Neo 650, and it's very efficient in the 100 to 500 watt range.

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3231&p=2

I should have gotten the "blue"model, as the Nine Hundred has a side window, but with all the fans glowing blue, I'm probably maxed out in that department.

My CPU limited system:

legacy Athlon X2 4600+
MSI 690V board
MSI factory overclocked 3870x2
2 gigs Kingston DDR2 667
Antec Neo 650
Antec Nine Hundred case
3 legacy hard drives; 100 gig SATA for Vista Home Premium, 2x 160 WD SATA for games and anime
17" Viewsonic A71f

I'll upgrade the monitor and the CPU/mobo later this year. Right now, my 3DMark 06 is over 9000, but since I'm at work and Photobucket's blocked, I can't access the image I saved. I did post it on threads related to the 3870x2. It might be CPU limited, but it's far better then the 3042 I got with the 7600gs!