Gtx 670 or new case?

[stanistheman]

i currently have a Antec Nine Hundred Two v3 case and its a decent case no the best looking but does the job. i was thinking of getting a nzxt phantom full size case red. or i can get a gtx 670 and sell my amd 5970? thoughts?

 

[auntarie]

I'm usually an Nvidia fanboy but I am also a big fan of the 5970. It still demolishes pretty much anything out there in terms of sheer power. So if you don't mind the extra amount of heat, noise and power draw, I'd say get a new case.

 

[stanistheman]

hmm yea cause i mean the antec twelve isnt a bad case its just not good looking. nzxt phantom is gorgeous. but 670 would increase better gameplay... decisions decisions..

 

[clarkjd]

The GTX670 is only one tier higher rated than the 5970, so you probably wouldn't 'see' much gaming improvement except in running benchmarks.

A case on the other hand is rather subjective. I could care less how it looks, as long as it does the job of protecting my components and keeping them cool.

If you want a red case, then get one. At least you would be able to 'see' the difference from your old case.

 

[cyansnow]

i voted case just because the 5970 rules honestly. imo the antec is nicer than the phanotm because the phantoms exterior doesnt appeal to me :S

 

[vmem]

I own both of the cases you mention (granted an NZXT phantom black instead of red). unless you really can't stand to look at the Antec case anymore, I wouldn't change. the reason is that there isn't any upgrade in terms of case air-flow, build quality etc. the main change you'll get is looks. if you can afford it, step up to something like a Silverstone Raven 02, which has an awesome design with the 90 degree mobo flip, and it would be something different.

 

[stanistheman]

hmm.. the sliverstone is only 15bucks more so defintily a option. how does the nzxt look in real life?

 

[vmem]

hmm.. the sliverstone is only 15bucks more so defintily a option. how does the nzxt look in real life?

Exactly it does in pictures you see online actually. the build quality is very good. certainly a stunning addition to any gaming room. I get many compliments from friends, even works on non-geek girls haha.

my main complaint is that the top and front panels are plastic. they're high quality plastic, won't break at all, but still, plastic is plastic, and I love silverstone for their brushed aluminum look.

as far as performance, the NZXT is just about the same as your antec, if not a little bit worse, due to the antec having a much more linear fan set up (in the front, out the back). the two 120mm fans on the NZXT's side panel blowing at the HDD cages are a bit unnecessary and disrupts the front fan's air flow a bit. so I usually have the front 140mm blowing at full speed, and the side 120mms on low speed. there's nothing WRONG with the phantom, but it won't get you better case cooling than the antec if that was one of your reasons for the upgrade.

I recommend the silverstone raven because, well, if you want red, you can paint it yourself, there're many tutorials online to show you how. cooling wise it's a great design with bottom fans blowing cold air up (natural flow). the 90 degree mobo rotation also means your mobo's PCIe slots will be facing up. so all that hot air from your GPU's custom cooler that people complain about blowing around the case? it'll flow up and out of your case, because that's the natural flow of hot air aside from that, the raven's quiet stunning to look at as well. at least in my opinion, and since I like the NZXT phantom look as well, I'm hoping our perception of beauty can't be that different

EDIT: a word of warning. if you do decide to get the raven 02, be aware that it's larger than the phantom or the antec nine hundred. if you don't have the space, there're other cases in the raven series that are equally good. of course, there's also the NZXT case that you wanted originally

 

[cybersheep]

670 all the way unless you are showing your system to people all the time

 

[gm0n3y]

The 670 isn't much better and I personally like the look of the Nine Hundred more than the Phantom, so maybe invest in an aftermarket cooler for the 5970? Or a better CPU cooler?

Of course if you just have cash burning a hole in your pocket you can always donate to your favourite charity or throw it away into some Facebook stock.

 

[rwayne]

The 5970 is an awesome card. I would definitely replace the case instead. I know the 5970 is 2 generations old but when people see it I am sure there is still a 'wow' factor. That is an impressive piece of hardware.

 

[stanistheman]

i have a thermalright sliver arrow cpu cooler (very top of the range) so yea. im suprised some people dont like the phantom o.0. the only reason i wanted a 670 is cause i could sell my 5970 for like 350 and spend 70 and since the 5970 cant fully ultra bf3 (1gb vram per card) but yea is that a good idea? sell it and spend 70 for 670 so i can fully ultra bf3