CM centurion 5 or the CM ELITE 330....whats the diffrence?

[deathrage4life]

whats the diffrence between the two?? Will a 8800gts (g92) 512mb fit in any of them?

centurion 5: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068

Elite 330: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119115

 

[San Pedro]

I believe the difference is that the centurion 5 has a fan in the front to intake air. I have the centurion 5 and I really like it. Simple, good air flow, and does a great job keeping out dust. It will definitely fit a gts. I have 3870x2 in mine, though I did have to my hard drives.

 

[halcyon]

My daughter has the Centurion 5, its a good basic case. I think the big difference is that the Elite 330 has a significant amount of plastic in the front bezel where as the Centurian 5 is all aluminum and steel.

 

[Andrius]

My daughter has the Centurion 5, its a good basic case. I think the big difference is that the Elite 330 has a significant amount of plastic in the front bezel where as the Centurian 5 is all aluminum and steel.

Just make sure you get the 120mm front intake model. The 80mm gets quite loud with time.

"Elite" has no front intake but has room for a 120mm fan.
With a Centurion 5 the harddrives may be very close to the GTS's heatsink. Cabling will be difficult.

 

[skittle]

My only complaint with the centurion 5 is the orientation of the HDD cage, check out the pictures and youll see what i mean. I ripped mine out (required a hammer) and have the HDDs placed on silicone gromets on the case floor, and one suspended by industrial rubber bands in the 5.25" bay.
It also has no cable management features... but other than that its really nice! Best case for the money IMO.

I think next time Im going to go for the CM-690 instead.

 

[Onus]

I've used the Elites. Yes, they'll take a 120mm fan up front, but don't come with it. Other than some minor QC items, I've been happy with them on basic builds. They are quite roomy.
My current system is in a CM-690 though. Fantastic case.
My only general gripe with CoolerMaster cases is you may need to properly tap some of the mobo-standoff screw holes before you can actually screw the standoffs into them. Forcing a regular case-screw into them takes care of it easily enough.

 

[quaduser]

Do you need to mod the case significantly to replace the 80 mm front intake fan with a 120 mm fan? (Centurion 5) Or can you just stick it in with some glue?

Also, would you recommend an extra fan on top like a blowhole or one on the side if I am worried about a hot north bridge?

 

[Andrius]

You need to tear/cut apart out the hard/floppy drive cage to mount a 120mm fan in a Centurion 5 (CAC-T05 or similar).

I have a nForce4 board inside the Centurion. The northbridge is passively cooled with a Zalman NB32J heatsink. Airflow is quite okey. Temperatures are in the 38-42°C range depending on load.

 

[halcyon]

Having to mod a $50 case to support a 120mm front fan seems pointless. Time is money. Just choose a different case.

 

[Andrius]

^ +1.
The Elite cases are cheaper so you just need an extra 120mm fan to mount in the front. The Elite 334 even has an eyefriendly design.

 

[quaduser]

So the elite cases have a front intake grill meant for 120 mm while the Centurion 5 has a grill and space only for an 80 mm??

The Elite appears to be lighter and made of cheaper material than the Centurion 5..

 

[halcyon]

Not to oversimplify, but you could just get this and be completely done with it...while having an enclosure that will last a long, long time: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112068

 

[Andrius]

Yes, CM Elite cases have a mount for a front 120mm intake fan.
The Lian-Li is excellent value for $100.
However it competes aginst the CM 690 or CM Centurion 590 (has a front 120mm fan on the drive cage) at that price point. The Antec Nine Hundred also comes close to that pricepoint. But the Lian-Li is in a different class build quality wise.

I use CM for my builds but if I happen to find a Lian-Li A77 anytime soon I might get it to replace my aging Stacker.