Aluminum vs. Steel

brendini

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I'm buying a Thermaltake Xaser III, and I'm wondering if I should spend the extra 30 bucks for an Aluminum case instead of a steel one. Weight is a nonfactor, since the case is quite massive anyways. Which dissapates heat better? thanks to all who respond!

<Brendini>
 

svol

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Aluminium transfers and dissapates heat better... but the amount of cooling a case does is close to zero in my opinion.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:
 

Teq

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Exactly... unless you are connecting components to the case itself, using it as a heatsink, it's all just an enclosed space from which you need fans to remove heat.

Aluminium cases are a fashion statement, not a thermal benefit.



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
 

svol

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That is why I will never buy an aliminium case unless weight is important or they are very cheap. I don't want an expensive case as I like to saw holes in them.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:
 

svol

Champion
Yes, but almost all alumium cases are very expensive and I don't like the idea of cutting in an expensive case.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:
 

unoc

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______________________________________________________

Aluminium cases are a fashion statement, not a thermal benefit.

_______________________________________________________

It is absolutely true. But normally an aluminum case is built with a very high quality component. Moreover it normally allows an easy installation of fans directly ahead of the hdd and two or more exhaust fans. The hdds slots allows an easy installation of the units and externally the case can be well placed in the main room without your wife (or mother) can bother you. But an aluminum case is really expensive and sometimes the question is if it is better to buy an aluminum case or to change motherboard and CPU. The price is about the same.



Principle of the highest harassment for engineers says: having two events, one bad and one favorable, with the same probability to occur, it is most probable that the bad event will occur
 

Teq

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Take a look at this steel case line. I've used several of these (mainly the micro-atx ones) and am very pleased with them.

<A HREF="http://www.aopen.com/products/housing/default.htm" target="_new">http://www.aopen.com/products/housing/default.htm</A>

The AOpen cases look like they might be made by In-win. Nice heavy metal, rounded edges, welded joins... etc,



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
 

Twitch

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That is why I will never buy an aluminium case unless weight is important or they are very cheap. I don't want an expensive case as I like to saw holes in them.
Funny you should say that. Aluminum cases are much easier to mod. :) Aluminum is softer and easier to drill/saw than steel.

I agree the thermal properties of aluminum cases are grossly overrated. To me, these are the real advantages of aluminum:

Looks.
Modability.
Weight.

There really is only one disadvantage I can think of: Price.

That about sums it up.

As a side note, Kingwin (among others) makes a case that is an alloy, aluminum and magnesium. It has all of the advantages of aluminum, except it weighs maybe 10% more--still way lighter than steel. The alloy makes them about 30% cheaper than an all-aluminum case. One site actually mentioned that it doesn't conduct heat as well as all-aluminum! Lol! As if that's important. ANYway, there is actually a third option out there--aluminum alloy.



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AndrewT

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check the weight of both and see, having a 50% lighter case does help when you have to drag the damn thing to a party.

just got home from one and it was a biatch with monitor, case, extra bag for the rest of the stuff and sleepingbag getting up to the 3rd floor and today back down to my car. same small case on a diet would be better, but after filling a light case with all the toys it will pack a punch anyway

if somebody would make compact-mini with a decent power supply, I would change my setup to one with a decent lcd and laugh going to any party

too bad I don't have space and tools to make my own case, would make one leaving all the dead space out compacting everything together much as possible. :smile: one day, already got the design in my head using regular power supply and regular size motherboard.

any case company listening? let's get it on :wink:

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svol

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Yeah, but as I said I don't like the idea of cutting in a very expensive case.
As for the mobility of my to heavy case... I just placed 4 weels beneath it... only stairs are a real problem.

Those alloy type cases sound very interesting though... I will try to keep that in mind if someone wants a light but cheap case.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:
 

Teq

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Most people seem unaware of this but you can put a regular ATX power supply in most micro-ATX cases... it fits upside down.

I've an in-win micro-atx case sitting right next to me all loaded up with essentials; 1800+, 7zmmh, 256 ram, plus cd, burner, zip, floppy, modem, agp, network and... a 300watt ATX powersupply to keep it all sane.


--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
 

svol

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Yeah I've saw a comparison of them. They are often more noisy and difficult to install (and get dirty fast) but look very cool.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:
 

Teq

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I cold see using one in a showroom as a "what's inside" thing. But I really don't think I'd want the guts of my computer hanging out in the open all the time... Plus I would think static could be a real problem in a plastic case.



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
 

AndrewT

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see I didn't know that, guess at next upgrade I'll be looking out for one of those. can imagine dude's face in the store when I try to install a real ps into one of those to see if it fit or not. :D

thanks

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Teq

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Well, I use In-Win and AOpen cases and in both I can put an upside down ATX supply... The drill holes are in the same places, just upside down, and the dimensions are the same side to side and top to bottom... the ATX supply's case is bigger front to back. The thing is the front of the supply gets kinda close to the back of the CD-ROM drives, about an inch, but there is enough room. I suggest you look for a supply with extra venting on top (well, bottom actually) to be sure the PS gets enough cooling.

But it should work...

Here's a link to the cases I use...
<A HREF="http://www.aopen.com/products/housing/h450-series.htm" target="_new">http://www.aopen.com/products/housing/h450-series.htm</A>

Nice case... two floppy sized bays, 2 CDrom bays, heavy finished metal and lots of ventilation.


--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
 

svol

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Well the interference from outside is hardly shielded by a normal case. Just take a mobile phone and let someone call you near your PC... bug chance it will start acting weird.
And everything on the motherboard is grounded with the PSU... so in theory that wouldn't matter much.
But those cases tend to attract dust very fast.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
No, most aluminum cases are cheap trash. You don't realize that the most popular aluminum cases are the ones that cost around $50 and would collapse under any kind of stress.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
No you can't. The two most common styles of mATX cases use either the tiny power supplies, or a short power supply. The larger supply is far too large for the location of the tiny supply, and if used in place of short power supplies, often prevent you from inserting CD drives!

As for the upside-down thing, wrong again. Many full ATX cases also used upside-down supplies. It's a defect in the design and has nothing to do with size.

I should add that not all mATX cases are limited to short nor small supplies, some mATX cases are shorter in height but not length than stadard ATX mini-towers.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>
 

AndrewT

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I was talking about <A HREF="http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/20030131/index.html" target="_new">this</A> not the bigger ones. :) if it's called mini then it better be a mini. ;)

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Teq

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Yes, I can... and I do it all the time.

I've got a micro-atx system sitting right beside me with a 300watt ATX supply and two CD drives in it.

Here's a link to the case:
<A HREF="http://www.in-win.com.tw/home/detail.php?show=features&event=Micro_ATX&class=Mini_Tower&type=V-Series&model=IW-V500" target="_new">http://www.in-win.com.tw/home/detail.php?show=features&event=Micro_ATX&class=Mini_Tower&type=V-Series&model=IW-V500</A>


It also works in these:
<A HREF="http://www.aopen.com/products/housing/h450-series.htm" target="_new">http://www.aopen.com/products/housing/h450-series.htm</A>



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
 

Twitch

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Well, modding is not exactly my hobby. I bought a pre-modded case. If I tried to mod one myself, it would probably end up looking like something done by a three-year-old.

Actually, I would like to put wheels on my case, (even though it's light, it still gets fairly heavy with everything in it.) However, knowing me, I'll find a way to short out my motherboard and set the entire neighborhood ablaze if I do that.

<-----Insert witty sig line here.
 

svol

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My latest case was before the modding started... it is an Codegen Bigtower... very cheap, with bad PSU and difficult to work in.
Now I changed the PSU and use 2 of them in dual PSU setup, also difficult to work in isn't a big problem for me.

I sawed (often by hand) so many holes in this case it isn't funny anymore. I made a fanhole in the bottom (92mm), top (80mm), back (60mm), left side (80mm), motherboard panel back (60mm) and second PSU.
I also painted the case darkblue with black CDROMs and added some LEDs to it so I can see which fans are on... I also made lights that I can switch on in the dark to find my CDROM drives.

This case could only hold 3 HDs... but I needed 4 HD places and one 3.5" bay for some switches. So I made my own drive bay with a large space between the dricves for extra cooling.

Here are some pics of my case: <A HREF="http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~svo/rig/" target="_new">http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~svo/rig/</A>

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek: