Case Recommendation

[Ceyan]

I'm looking for an Aluminum case. Price isn't too big of a deal (translation: I would buy a high quality Lian Li case), but there are a few things in specific I'm looking for.

1) Pull out motherboard tray
2) Pull out, or easy access 3 1/2 drive slots
3) At least front and rear fans (in place or not, I just need a place to put ones I've got)
4) Either no window, or a plate covering the window, nor any other mods aside from something productive (like temp sensors, extra fans, etc...)

I don't care about any connections up front, they are pointless to me (built-in USB hubs (in keyboard/monitors/etc...) are the way to go.

Normally I wouldn't bother anyone and do my own research on this, but I can't find any good case review sites. So if anyone has any case review sites I'd appreciate links to them as well.

 

[upec]

I have 6 computers and I have case from Lian Li, Kingwin, Cooler Master, and Antec. I think Lian Li is the best.

 

[hmm]

but also the most expensive

 

[lhgpoobaa]

I think that Atlas/Dynatron/Superflower make cases that are even better than Lian Li.
Plus they make a beautiful black one.

my SB-201 has
A. slide out mobo tray
B. 3 x 3.5" drive bays accessable from the outside
C. removable vertical mounted 5 hard drive bay at the bottom right behind the front 2 80mm fans.
D. can come with plain side sporting a side 80mm fan or a window without the fan.
E. room for up to a whopping 6 80mm casefans. - 2 at the front cooling the hard drives, one side cooling the graphics card/cpu area, 2 exhaust behind the cpu area and one at the top. Im running with just 2 rear and 1 top fan sucking out and it still runs super cool.

U can find pics of it & links to reviews here:
<A HREF="http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/show_product_info.php?code=CA-CSSF201B" target="_new">http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/show_product_info.php?code=CA-CSSF201B</A>


<b>Anyone claiming they can see the difference
between 450 and 500 FPS in Quake3 deserves to
be severely beaten with a rock. </b>

 

[Twitch]

My Case, and I love it. I have the black one.

Here's sharkyextreme picking it as their choice for high-end systems:

<A HREF="http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/EGBG/article.php/1562341" target="_new">http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/EGBG/article.php/1562341</A>

Here's some very good pics and a review over at modthebox.com.

<A HREF="http://www.modthebox.com/review149_1.html" target="_new">http://www.modthebox.com/review149_1.html</A>

This case is virtually identical to the Lian Li's but less expensive, since it is made out of an aluminum alloy, rather than 100% aluminum. The case is still very light, though, and has plenty of fans and looks great. Price is excellent.

By the way: 50% of choosing a case is personal preference. So even though I love this case, you might think it's hideous and go with some other company's even uglier product.






I want to move to space, so I can overclock processors cooled to absolute zero.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Twitch on 02/19/03 01:43 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Twitch]

Sheesh! Could the Kingwin case to which I linked and the one to which you linked be any more similar?



I want to move to space, so I can overclock processors cooled to absolute zero.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

LOL apart from the silver buttons, they ARE the same case... (mine are gold)
As you saw in my post i allready know of 3 different company names its sold under...
atlas in oz, superflower in asia, dynatron in the US (possibly) and now i can add Kingwin to the list hehe

i see the version there is the windowed version that lacks the 6th side fan.

damn good products anyway

<i>"Revenues were less than robust"</i> - QWEST
<i>"The company applied its accounting policies incorrectly"</i> - WORLDCOM
<i>"Certian financial adjustments may be required"</i> - AOL+TW.

 

[error_911]

Hmmm, nice enough case, but too similar to the one I've got now (Nikao X-Jazz... payed CA$65=US$40 and I modded-it up enough... check it <A HREF="http://www.tradexinfo.com/case/xjazz.htm" target="_new">http://www.tradexinfo.com/case/xjazz.htm</A> ... well, ohk, not THAT much the same, but close enough that I'd at least like another color, heh). I dunno, looking around so much, I've realised that its quite hard to find a case with 120mm fans on it - and even cases i'd hvae to modify, most hard drive cages prevent this, and then don't get me started with that bloody I/O panel and how that doesn't fit ANYTHING. But I have found a nice in between I guess... Coolermaster's ATC-710 <A HREF="http://www.coolermaster.com/case/p710.htm" target="_new">http://www.coolermaster.com/case/p710.htm</A> ... i can put a 120mm in front after modding and two 80mm in back (which will definitely be panaflo or paspt)... i want a quiet computer already, and I'm just not willing to put all that money up-front on water-cooling... especially when I'm paying in the "best" (bahahahhahaa, lol) currency, Canadian dollar (mind-you, its not at CAD$1.50 = $US$1.00 anymore, luckily, which it had been for a good year now) - oh well...

<b>Moore's Law:</b> <i>Processor speed doubles every 12 to 18 months.</i>
<b>OverClocker's Law:</b> <i>My processor went that fast 12 to 18 months ago.</i>

 

[lhgpoobaa]

well mine is quiet, specially if you consider that im only using half of the available fanholes and am still getting really good cooling. 3 panaflo's is hardly any noise at all.

<i>"Revenues were less than robust"</i> - QWEST
<i>"The company applied its accounting policies incorrectly"</i> - WORLDCOM
<i>"Certian financial adjustments may be required"</i> - AOL+TW.

 

[error_911]

and not even so f*cking special if you ask me ... the quality is there, the look is, well, ehhhh.

<b>Moore's Law:</b> <i>Processor speed doubles every 12 to 18 months.</i>
<b>OverClocker's Law:</b> <i>My processor went that fast 12 to 18 months ago.</i>

 

[error_911]

Hmm, thats what I'm aiming for... the ability to cool a lot, when and if i need it (thats why i've got my Vantec fan controller, heh) and QUIET. I mean, I've got my Enermax dual-fan PSU, two HD (Maxtor 40Gig, WD Caviar 2.5Gig), DVD, 1x120mm TopTech fan (104cfm @ 52db) and my HSF, which is a Vantec Aeroflow... its a good heatsink, but the fan is not on the controller and its at about 50db (mind you, i can hit sub-30*C temperatures on my Athlon XP1600 @ 1.4)... I dunno, I had two Toranods in it before (80mm) and they were killing me, and now I realised that its a pain hearing the fans while watchin a movie or whatever, so yeah... i'm lookin for a nice case i can cool quiet, you know, and then either an SLK-900 (if it fits my MSI KT3 Ultra) or a Swiftech MCX462 with a Papbst (12db)... mind you, I'm going to test this out with my heatsink to start with, but I've been thinking of whether I could properly cool my CPU just with a window-mounted fan instead of a heatsink mounted one... we'll see, I'm not worried about trying it with mine now, since I've already forgot to replug the fan on my HSF and it hits ~50*C so yeah, no worries.

<b>Moore's Law:</b> <i>Processor speed doubles every 12 to 18 months.</i>
<b>OverClocker's Law:</b> <i>My processor went that fast 12 to 18 months ago.</i>

 

[lhgpoobaa]

yeah... 3 pabst/panaflo casefans and another on the mcx-462 wuld be a great combo.
nice and quiet

<i>"Revenues were less than robust"</i> - QWEST
<i>"The company applied its accounting policies incorrectly"</i> - WORLDCOM
<i>"Certian financial adjustments may be required"</i> - AOL+TW.

 

[error_911]

x-actly... and overclockable ... besides, i've got tornados lying around, so if the need ever arose, you know... heheheh

<b>Moore's Law:</b> <i>Processor speed doubles every 12 to 18 months.</i>
<b>OverClocker's Law:</b> <i>My processor went that fast 12 to 18 months ago.</i>