Sexiest Case Ever?

[esuckq]

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&prod=32]

I think so (for £80 at least).

Anyone else got it? What do you think?

 

[jerreece]

Seriously? It's a blank black box. LOL There's nothing interesting about it to me at all.

It does have cable management though...

 

[Pailin]

8x 3,5 inch HDD trays, compatible with SSD!

What!? Really?? nahh...

I reckon they be conning us on that one

 

[Pailin]

Stunning front panel design

and why is there no picture there of this Stunning feature hidden away behind that P182 looking door LOL

 

[megamanx00]

WTF are you smoking? It's a black box with a blue light!!!

So I have to say esuckq, my answer is

NO

 

[esuckq]

What's not to love about a plain black box?

Yea ok, it is a copy of the P182, but so is the Lian Li PC-B10 and that's twice the price of this.

My other option was the Silverstone FT01, but again it's twice the price. The window's cool, but understated definately beats millions of LEDs in my book.

 

[ulysses35]

bland.... boring.... featureless styling..... waste of money

 

[ubernoobie]

I'll buy it for 10 dollar and if a similar lian li is 200 dolllars more expensive
Edit: I like their power supplies.

Every manufacturer claims to have this, but we have real life numbers to show: less than 1% in RMA rate is an impressively low number.

That's because no one buys it

 

[seerwan]

fugly.

looks like a box.

sry.

 

[esuckq]

lol, at least it gets a reaction I guess!

Come on though, someone else must like it- you can't all love pimped up neon monstrosities covered in knobs, dials, light tubes and glowing fans!

It's understated elegance people... (or maybe it's just me)

 

[Pailin]

well...

I have to say I do have the P182 myself and love it


This case is an badly thought out copy (almost thought it was not bad at 1st glance):

Comes with 1 less fan
Fan controller - seems to be simple single rear mounted rehostat controlling all 3 fans
"While the poor thermal performance is impossible to overlook" from a review they listed (another review thought it was good to be fair)
Only has 1 5.25 bay if using a floppy (or similar)
...so no space for a Real fan controller + DVD/RW
Bad airflow over HDD stack IMO Most PSU's will suck "dusty" air from underneath case (under PSU is 120mil fan grill) - some might like this "feature"
Cheap tacky(maybe not literally) bitumen sound deadening coating on side panels (works well though)
Bad paintjob (thin layers) (according to one review)
Don't like the cheap looking foam stuck on back of door (hidden from almost all pics - even in reviews - except 1)
I'd like to see you fit a 290mm GFx card in there that it claims it can take! (best hope its pwr connectors are not on the end LOL)

Well, thats the bad...
...not a fan of this one I guess


This case should cost £40 to £60 at a real push, not £80

I will be buying a P183 / P193 for my next case and easily prefer my P182 over this one

 

[Ancient_1]

I like the looks of it and bit-tec just did a review of almost that exact case here. I would not take it over my FT01 even with the price difference, but to me the extra I spent on the case which will last for many years made it seem less important.

 

[LePhuronn]

There's elegance and then there's dull.

Lian Li Tyr X-500 is elegant. Lian Li A05 is elegant. Antec P182 is elegant. NZXT Hush is very nice too.

The Fractal Design cases are just dull.

Best-looking case IMO is either Silverstone Temjin TJ07 (inverted ATX with window of course) or Silverstone Raven RV01

 

[Guest]

Some people like this stuff. It's minimalist, I like it a lot. I wouldn't pay whatever they were asking for it however, If I was really that bothered I'd make my own.

 

[outlw6669]

Not necessarily a bad look, very minimalistic.

The front fans are very useless though.
Once you close that insulated front panel they become nothing more than glorified noise makers

 

[esuckq]

Well, thanks everyone for your opinions ;-)

I agree airflow could potentially be a problem, and it does tread the line between elegance and meh, but I'm going to give it a go... I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

^5 +1 what outlw6669 said

Forget the looks. The door on the front bezel is a very major flaw. The door, foam, and air filter severely restrict airflow to the two fans at the bottom front. It is a very very bad design.

Another very major flaw is the drive cage. The absolute minimum in a modern atx mid-tower case is three external 5.25 inch drive bays. There are no drive bays for extra devices that gamers and enthusiasts install.

 

[esuckq]

I would have thought the front door would be ok for airflow. Ok, it's not ideal, but it looks to be set forward 20mm or so to allow air to come in from the side. It's pretty much the same as the Antec P series in this regard. In any case, the fans aren't blocked so you may just have to install a fan with a higher pressure rating to overcome the losses accociated with the convoluted flow path. Of course if all else fails, there are another 5 fan positions to choose from!

I agree more drive bays would be nice, but it's not an issue for me particularly. As for the excessive number of harddrive bays, I'm considering removing them all so I can suspend one harddrive in front of the lower fan. Should free up airflow a lot and help with noise reduction, which is really what this case is all about.

 

[Guest]

This used to be the designs that they made in the 04's, Its neither evolutional like the BMW's nor does it provide promising VFM.

 

[headcrabs]

i love it

 

[Pailin]

But look how thick that door is!

and it is recessed when closed, won't allow that much room for airflow - and certainly not anything like the space the Antec cases have.

My Bro just ordered the Antec P183 tonight from http://www.ginger6.com/ for £109.76 including VAT and comes with free delivery.

Horrible site to browse for stuff though

 

[mopkop]

Can I have a Input. I think the sexiest case ever is the Cooler Master CM Storm Scout

 

[LePhuronn]

it's certainly up there if lighting's your thing

 

[esuckq]

Not really my thing, but then I do like plain black boxes...

 

[jive]

I Like plain box too ... I got a tj09 with windowless panel. Like that style.