- Aug 2, 2009
- 23
- 0
- 18,510
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Before the end of the month BUDGET RANGE: $1700 total, <$250 for the case
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Surfing, Music Listening, DVD/Video Watching, Student-Level AutoCAD/Inventor Projects, General Low-Impact Tasks (Surfing, word processing, etc)
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard (Logitech G15), Mouse (Logitech G5), Speakers (Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1), Monitor (Samsung Syncmaster 204b)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg, FrozenCPU, or anywhere else that has a good reputation.
PARTS PREFERENCES: Anything with a high Price-to-Performance ratio
OVERCLOCKING: Yes; Air-cooled and minimal voltage tweaking. SLI/CROSSFIRE: Not planned.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1600x1200, will eventually upgrade to 1920x1200
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:Okay, basically, I've gotten my build all sorted out, but as the subject says, I'm trying to figure out a good case to throw it all in. I've got a couple ideas kicking around, but I'd like to hear some ideas from other people.
Below is a list of the requirements I've set out for myself, in roughly descending order of importance:
#1: Excellent cooling performance above all else.
#2: Budget is <$150 preferred, $250 hard limit for something absolutely, mind-bogglingly awesome.
#3: Needs to fit a Radeon HD 5870 and a CoolerMaster Hyper 212+
EDIT: The 5870 is 10.75"/274mm long, and the 212+ is 6.34"/161mm tall.
#4: Filters on all intakes due to shedding pets in residence.
#5: Bottom-mount PSU w/ external intake opening.
#6: Black interior if windowed.
#7: Exposed bays preferred to a door.
Just to keep people from bringing them up, let me note that I've considered he HAF 922 and 932 and have discarded them as options. I've been informed by an owner of one that, while they do blow a lot of air around, the fans aren't well positioned to deliver the flow to the hot-spots making it a wash compared to cases with lesser, but better situated, airflow. Combine that with failing to meet #4 & #6 and those two cases go out the window.
I'm currently looking at the Lancool 'Dragonlord' PC-K62 as my favorite choice. I've also been considering going to a full tower and getting an ATCS 840 instead, but the size may be a bit much for an air-cooled, single-GPU system.
If I was told wrong about the HAF 922, or if there's anything else out there that I've missed that's better, I'd be most grateful for the corrections.
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Surfing, Music Listening, DVD/Video Watching, Student-Level AutoCAD/Inventor Projects, General Low-Impact Tasks (Surfing, word processing, etc)
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard (Logitech G15), Mouse (Logitech G5), Speakers (Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1), Monitor (Samsung Syncmaster 204b)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg, FrozenCPU, or anywhere else that has a good reputation.
PARTS PREFERENCES: Anything with a high Price-to-Performance ratio
OVERCLOCKING: Yes; Air-cooled and minimal voltage tweaking. SLI/CROSSFIRE: Not planned.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1600x1200, will eventually upgrade to 1920x1200
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:Okay, basically, I've gotten my build all sorted out, but as the subject says, I'm trying to figure out a good case to throw it all in. I've got a couple ideas kicking around, but I'd like to hear some ideas from other people.
Below is a list of the requirements I've set out for myself, in roughly descending order of importance:
#1: Excellent cooling performance above all else.
#2: Budget is <$150 preferred, $250 hard limit for something absolutely, mind-bogglingly awesome.
#3: Needs to fit a Radeon HD 5870 and a CoolerMaster Hyper 212+
EDIT: The 5870 is 10.75"/274mm long, and the 212+ is 6.34"/161mm tall.
#4: Filters on all intakes due to shedding pets in residence.
#5: Bottom-mount PSU w/ external intake opening.
#6: Black interior if windowed.
#7: Exposed bays preferred to a door.
Just to keep people from bringing them up, let me note that I've considered he HAF 922 and 932 and have discarded them as options. I've been informed by an owner of one that, while they do blow a lot of air around, the fans aren't well positioned to deliver the flow to the hot-spots making it a wash compared to cases with lesser, but better situated, airflow. Combine that with failing to meet #4 & #6 and those two cases go out the window.
I'm currently looking at the Lancool 'Dragonlord' PC-K62 as my favorite choice. I've also been considering going to a full tower and getting an ATCS 840 instead, but the size may be a bit much for an air-cooled, single-GPU system.
If I was told wrong about the HAF 922, or if there's anything else out there that I've missed that's better, I'd be most grateful for the corrections.
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