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Case questions

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I'm thinking about making a new pc over the next little while, mines about three years old, and id love to upgrade.
It's not bad by any means, I just want something newer.
I'm thinking about getting a new case to slap my old components into, and do a slow upgrade.
I want a full tower, or large mid, and I have a few picked, but i'm not sure what the best option would be.



Here are a few i've narrowed it down to:

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MjQwNA==

http://www.corsair.com/products/800d/default.aspx

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=...

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id...

http://lian-li.com/v2/tw/flashpage/a70f&a71f/a70f/



I'd love some pro's and con's from people who have any of these cases, or even from people who want to input their opinion.
Thanks!

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Here's my two cents. If you want large spacious room with the great cable management and the ability down the road. Go with the 800D, its not as good as other cases for air cooling but has tons of room for water cooling

The soon to be released 600T is a smaller case but looks like it has better air cooling but has less room.

The Lian-Li looks like the best option aside from the corsair case.

Ive been a computer gamer for years now, but i've always been wary of water cooling. the thought of something leaking and frying all my hardwork and money just scares the crap out of me. i've always gone fan cooled, but maybe its time to switch. is water cooling something i should try?
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Power supply Master

lannmann said:
Ive been a computer gamer for years now, but i've always been wary of water cooling. the thought of something leaking and frying all my hardwork and money just scares the crap out of me. i've always gone fan cooled, but maybe its time to switch. is water cooling something i should try?


Short answer: no.

A liquid cooled cpu is still really fan cooled; the radiator needs to go somewhere and is still run by fans. Current top air coolers are just as effective if they are in a case with adequate airflow. Air cooling is less expensive and requires no maintenance.

To that end, I like the Lian-Li A70F best among your choices. It has two 140mm intake fans for superb ventilation. The quality of lian li is most satisfying.
Power supply Expert

I recommend either the CM 690 II, NZXT Tempest Evo, or HAF X if you are willing to spend that much. CM 690 II=most customizable case, great possibility for both air cooling and LCS, Tempest EVO=one the best air cooled cases, as well as good build quality and features, and HAF X=a fairly ugly case, only in my opinion, but also one of the best, and at a very good price too. Lian Li loses in full towers in my opinion.

those cases all look very nice aswell.
i think the cm 690II is my fav out of those, but the dimensions are pretty similar to my Antec 900.
I love my 900, ive just had it since it came out (about 4 years now) and im planning on upgrading my system and i want a bigger and better case to house all the huge new components coming out.\
I think im gonna have to go with a full-tower
Power supply Master

lannmann said:
better case to house all the huge new components coming out.
Are you under the impression that components are bigger now than a few years ago?
Even the HD 5970 fits in the Antec 900.

not really. everything is pretty similar in size to the cards out now, but im running an 8800gtx OC2 in my 900 and there isnt much space to move.
i just want more room to play with inside the case
Power supply Master

lannmann said:
that raven is goregous, but i want to upgrade to something a bit bigger than the case i have now.

I have the antec 900

The Raven's a full-size case man!
Btw i have a 902 and a CM 690II.

Best solution

Power supply Expert

Yeah, the RV01, and RV02 are most definitely full sized. However the unorthodoxness might throw you off. Can always count on silverstone to think out of the ball park, sometime too out, but its a very good and simple concept. Heat rises, so make it so that the heat can rise. Also, in what way are you cramped in the 900? Height, width, depth? If you really need the space, some of, IMO, the "best" full towers are the Thermaltake Speedo at number 1:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

HAF X at number 2:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

700D:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And a few Lian Li and silverstone. To be honest about Lian Li, they are high quality. They look professional. HOWEVER, I have never really been terribly impressed with their interiors and interior design. Some have the mistake of not being able to pull the HDD out while the PSU is installed. Others dont have very good cable managment. The rest are fairly average. While the are extremely high quality, the interiors, if you ask me, are generally average high quality interiors. The cooling can sometimes be not the best, but they have improved it lately. Lastly, the price. If you dont plan on moving the case around on a consistent basis, the aluminum generally isnt worth it. Im sure everybody will hate on me for going against Lian Li a little, but they really are over rated, and over priced if you arent going to LAN. Quality is king with Lian Li, but who wants a quality made bike when you can have a car? :lol: 

Totally didnt realize the ravens were fullsize!
thats rad, because they look quite nice.

The 900 just has absolutely nothing for cable management. everything is just jumbled, even with zip ties on everything. It all seems crammed in there. Maybe my heatsink, vid card, and psu are just huge haha, who knows. I definitely want a larger case for better air flow though.

Whats everyones take on the new antec dark fleet (df 85)?
Power supply Master

"Maybe my heatsink, vid card, and psu are just huge haha, who knows. "

No, it's not. Cooling and airflow are great, but the cable management in the Antec 900 truly sucks. The only way around it is to put some work into the case cutting some extra holes.

Antec 900 case mods for cable management:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264112-28-antec

I really like the airflow in the 900, but if I were standardizing on cases today, I' d look at something like the CM Sniper.
Power supply Expert

lannmann said:
Totally didnt realize the ravens were fullsize!
thats rad, because they look quite nice.

The 900 just has absolutely nothing for cable management. everything is just jumbled, even with zip ties on everything. It all seems crammed in there. Maybe my heatsink, vid card, and psu are just huge haha, who knows. I definitely want a larger case for better air flow though.

Whats everyones take on the new antec dark fleet (df 85)?


Antec is like Nvidia now, 1 generation behind if ya ask me :lol:  The antec 1200 was a classic case that thought ahead to what enthusiasts wanted then, and still want now. Yes it had a few flaws, dust magnet, so so cable management (pretty good), no CPU backplate cutout, and not terribly massive for a full tower. If antec had the exact same case, and fixed it, and released a 1202, it would be another hit. Problem is, the DF-85 is the exact thing, except they made MORE problems, and charge more for it. For 1, there are these obnoxiously little things covering the DVD drives, and you have to remove them everytime you want to open it. Next is the fact it looks EXTREMELY UGLY!!!! They have made it look terrible! They didnt fix too much, and they used to charge more for it, but now they get the idea that it isnt wanted over the 1200. Now, both cases are a bit out of their league.

Yeah when the 1200 came out I almost bought it. It's like the 900, but a million times better. I agree the dark fleet is ugly as hell, but I like that you can put a tonne of fans in there and still have room. I'm not into liquid cooling. Fans are the way to go in my opinion, unless you overclock, which I rarely do. I didn't realize that you have to take off those plastic things over the drives just to use them. that's super lame. I just want something huge and full of fans, with great cable management, and decent features. I guess I just went with the DF 85 because of how happy I was (at the time) when I got my 900. I just know that antec used to be rad. its sad to hear they are falling behind a bit.
Power supply Expert

Antec is falling behind a bit. The formula for a good enthusiast case isnt that hard:

  • Good Cooling
  • Fairly Big
  • Cable managment
  • Room for water cooling
  • Black Interior
  • Bottom mounted PSU
  • Tool less
  • No flimsy parts
  • Removable mobo tray/CPU backplate cutout.

    It really isnt that hard :lol: 
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