Cant choose between two cases, help me pls

[RetroDude]

Specs:

-MSI K9A2 Platinum, AMD 790FX, AM2+, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR2 533/667/800/1066, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX
-AMD AM2 Athlon 64 6000+ AM2 , Windsor Core, Dual Core 3.0GHz, 1MB x 2 Cache
-Sapphire HD4870 512Mb PCI-Express graphics card
-Western Digital Caviar 500GB SATA 3GB/S Internal Hard drive
-2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12
-Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, SATA, Black, OEM

The PSU i have picked out so far is 750W TX Corsair PSU, single 12V rail, energy efficient, quiet & cool

And i have two cases in mind.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=644041 -recommended by aevm
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apevia-X-Plorer-Black-Gaming-Supply/dp/B000Q5JVQS/ref=pd_sbs_ce_5 spotted by me

So which would better suit my purposes in your opinions, or which is the best from your experience.

 

[Grimmy]

CM-690 has my vote.

Edit:

Only reason why I'd pick the CM... airflow.

 

[RetroDude]

Much appreciated, thats the one i had a better feeling about. Mainly cos i didnt pick it.

 

[geofelt]

I am not excited about either case. What purpose do you want it to serve?
Do you want good cooling?
Do you want quiet?
Do you want "bling"
---etc---

 

[RetroDude]

Good cooling, obv i want it to look nice but im just as happy with a plainish black case such as the CM-690, quiet is always a bonus too of course.

 

[aevm]

Hey, check out the Antec 900 and the NZXT Tempest. They have excellent cooling and lots of blue lights, like that Apevia.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/NZXT-TEMPESTAIRFLOW-14CMX2-12CMV4-OPSU/dp/B0016L3FDG
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Antec-Nine-Hundred-Ultimate-Gamer/dp/B000JMJS7A

The Tempest is very quiet. Read these reviews if you want:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047

The Antec 900 lets you switch fans to lower speed (and noise) when not gaming.

 

[geofelt]

Well, then, how about the Antec300?
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=811571
It's cheaper, has better cooling, and is plain black.
It is also reasonably quiet if the fans are on low.

 

[Grimmy]

I'd choose the NZXT TEMPESTAIRFLOW over the CM 690. I never did like the HD bay to be sideways, but that NZXT looks pretty good.

 

[Onus]

I had an Apevia case with major quality issues. Among other problems, a factory drone put a screw through the power switch cable. I do think some of their cases look nice, but they just about earned a spot on my personal "Do not buy" list.
I have a CM-690 now. I love it. It is cool, roomy, and has a good arrangement. I even like the subdued blue glow of the front fan, and got a similar fan for the top. I don't need a window, but I like the glow.

 

[RetroDude]

Both the 900 and the Tempest look really sweet, so ill definetly get one of them. A few questions though

Does having the hard drives on the side affect their performance at all? Ive never seen a set up like that.

And ill probably need to look for another PSU, since the 750W TX has its fan on the bottom? Is that right? And any suggestions on a new PSU, if thats the case,preferably £~85 or under.

 

[Grimmy]

. o O (screw through the power switch cable?)

Ya, I like my CM 590, but the HD bay is in line with airflow. But then when I have 2 HD's in a bay.. heh not much airflow going through it anyways. I did end up buying another HD (icage) bay with a fan, so I can have extra airflow for the video card on the bottom.

That was the only reason why I converted one top fan as an intake for the CPU HS. But I keep that fan on my 5v/off/12v switch for my fan controller.

The price on the NZXT and CM 690 are pretty close though, in pounds.

 

[Grimmy]

Both the 900 and the Tempest look really sweet, so ill definetly get one of them. A few questions though

Does having the hard drives on the side affect their performance at all? Ive never seen a set up like that.

And ill probably need to look for another PSU, since the 750W TX has its fan on the bottom? Is that right? And any suggestions on a new PSU, if thats the case,preferably £~85 or under.

The way the HD's are mounted shouldn't effect the performance on write/read. You could install them upside down, and it shouldn't affect them.

Just to me, the airflow is kinda more restricted. But I've read that other people say the airflow is fine. Perhaps jtt283 mention more about the airflow, which I'm guess it's fine.

 

[Onus]

I've not used a Tempest or 900. The CM-690 has fan grills all over it; one in front, two on the side, two on top, one on the rear, one on the bottom (plus the bottom PSU fan opening so the PSU has its own airflow), and even one 80mm on the mobo side. With quiet and/or slow fans, it isn't noisy. Mine came with 3x120mm fans (front, rear, and side), and I added a top fan.
And yeah, Grimmy, the power switch lead had a screw through it, shorting it out. It was a screw holding the front fascia on.

 

[stevozilik]

I've just purchased the NZXT Temptest and I'm very satisfied with it. It comes with 6 120mm fans, so it provides a lot of cooling for your HDs and mobo of course, and runs very quiet. The 4870 is going to make much more noise if you run the fans a little faster then stock .