Quick Takes: 13 Mid-Tower Cases Rounded-Up
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Page 1:Introduction
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Page 2:Antec Three Hundred
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Page 3:Antec Three Hundred Specifications
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Page 4:Antec Three Hundred Details
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Page 5:Enermax Phoenix Neo
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Page 6:Enermax Phoenix Neo Specifications
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Page 7:Enermax Phoenix Neo Details
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Page 8:Gigabyte iSOLO 230
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Page 9:Gigabyte iSOLO 230 Specifications
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Page 10:Gigabyte iSOLO 230 Details
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Page 11:Hiper Osiris
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Page 12:Hiper Osiris Specification
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Page 13:Hiper Osiris Details
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Page 14:Huntkey H201 Aeolus
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Page 15:Huntkey H201 Aeolus Specifications
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Page 16:Huntkey H201 Aeolus Details
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Page 17:Ikonik Zaria A10
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Page 18:Ikonik Zaria A10 Specifications
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Page 19:Ikonik Zaria A10 Details
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Page 20:Inwin Gundam
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Page 21:Inwin Gundam Specifications
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Page 22:Inwin Gundam Details
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Page 23:LanCool PC-K1
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Page 24:LanCool PC-K1 Specifications
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Page 25:LanCool PC-K1 Details
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Page 26:Lian Li PC-B25 Black
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Page 27:Lian LI PC-B25 Black Specifications
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Page 28:Lian LI PC-B25 Black Details
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Page 29:Silverstone SST-KL01B Kublai
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Page 30:Silverstone SST-KL01B Kublai Specifications
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Page 31:Silverstone SST-KL01B Kublai Details
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Page 32:Thermaltake M5 VJ2000
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Page 33:Thermaltake M5 VJ2000 Specifications
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Page 34:Thermaltake M5 VJ2000 Details
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Page 35:Zalman Z-Machine GT1000
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Page 36:Zalman Z-Machine GT1000 Specifications
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Page 37:Zalman Z-Machine GT1000 Details
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Page 38:AeroCool T-Gun Pro
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Page 39:AeroCool T-Gun Pro Specifications
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Page 40:AeroCool T-Gun Pro Details
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Page 41:Conclusion: Quality Has Improved
Antec Three Hundred Details
Antec Three Hundred
Conclusion : The Antec Three Hundred is an inexpensive steel case that offers a lot of room for expansion. ATX and µATX Motherboards can be installed, and the case can handle up to nine drives. There are two fans included that employ three speed settings each, and three additional fans can also be installed. The steel frame is fairly ordinary, yet robust and well-built.
- Pros
- Cons
- Pre-installed, speed adjustable system fans
- Plenty of space for drives
- Low price
- Unspectacular interior
- Only the equipment that is needed is provided
- No eSATA connectors
Summary
- Introduction
- Antec Three Hundred
- Antec Three Hundred Specifications
- Antec Three Hundred Details
- Enermax Phoenix Neo
- Enermax Phoenix Neo Specifications
- Enermax Phoenix Neo Details
- Gigabyte iSOLO 230
- Gigabyte iSOLO 230 Specifications
- Gigabyte iSOLO 230 Details
- Hiper Osiris
- Hiper Osiris Specification
- Hiper Osiris Details
- Huntkey H201 Aeolus
- Huntkey H201 Aeolus Specifications
- Huntkey H201 Aeolus Details
- Ikonik Zaria A10
- Ikonik Zaria A10 Specifications
- Ikonik Zaria A10 Details
- Inwin Gundam
- Inwin Gundam Specifications
- Inwin Gundam Details
- LanCool PC-K1
- LanCool PC-K1 Specifications
- LanCool PC-K1 Details
- Lian Li PC-B25 Black
- Lian LI PC-B25 Black Specifications
- Lian LI PC-B25 Black Details
- Silverstone SST-KL01B Kublai
- Silverstone SST-KL01B Kublai Specifications
- Silverstone SST-KL01B Kublai Details
- Thermaltake M5 VJ2000
- Thermaltake M5 VJ2000 Specifications
- Thermaltake M5 VJ2000 Details
- Zalman Z-Machine GT1000
- Zalman Z-Machine GT1000 Specifications
- Zalman Z-Machine GT1000 Details
- AeroCool T-Gun Pro
- AeroCool T-Gun Pro Specifications
- AeroCool T-Gun Pro Details
- Conclusion: Quality Has Improved
Same price range looks better and PSU at the bottom, i like that.
You could set these case up with a Q6600 @ 3Ghz, HD 4870 512Mb and a 650 watt PSU (with stock coolers) and loop 3Dmark06/Vantage for an hour and see if the cases can keep the PC cool enough for that long.
Side intake doesn't have a Dust filter. I had to use that fan as an exhaust until I can order one for it, which means that the case wont have positive airflow until then.
Its really heavy. This case weighs more then my Lian Li full tower case.
It doesn't have a removable Motherboard tray.
One thing that was well thought out was the 3 fans that were not included. While this sounds like a draw back, it isn't. The 3 optional fans that are availible are the 3 most visible fans in the case. Which means that you can customize the color of LED fans you want in it.
I used 3 green antec led 120 mm fans in this case and the air flow is phenomenal.
However having owned the Lian Li B25 I disagree with your comments regarding complexity of installation of the hard drives. Having only built one other system I can say that it takes perhaps 30 sec more than normal to figure out what to do. Also I would have liked to see more details about noise regarding all cases. i can't say for the other but the B25 had sound dampening foam on the front door and on the top cover, the side panels were hollowed out further dampening the noise, the hard drives were connected using rubber (grommets I believe) and there were additional anti vibration features (cant remember) and the feet of the case also used rubber.
1) You could've made a few pictures of the packaging. Cases are things your visitors can see, and you'd want them to be transported to you without taking any, visible or otherwise, damage. Silverstone do an outstanding job at this, and so does antec, but I don't think zalman or thermaltake would care much for the packaging quality (they care about flash stuff, not quality stuff after all). Also I'd have liked a list of noise levels for the cases.
Perhaps you can make another roundup, without limiting yourself to a specific case size and color, of potential gamer cases. And at the end of the roundup make a comparison list with external dimentions, motherboard orientation, weight and noise levels. I'm still using an old thermaltake lanfire chassis for a lan gamer, cause though it's ugly, it's very very light (3kg) and rather well built.
On another note - does anyone know if it is possible to only buy the side panel for that aerocool chassis ? I'd like to built such a door into a new top cover for my custom desktop system ...
Not sure why you would base a recommendation on this information however.
Throw a couple overclocked 4850s and an overclocked C2D in those cases and measure the various temps and get a decibel reading from a fixed point. Those are the things I should know before buying a case.
Some recommendation can be at use for many folks.
On a side note, I think coolermaster may not be represented because they didn't send in any case in time - it's entirely possible they were asked to take part.
One example would be an antec sonata (forgot version). Sleek looking piano black chassis. But the plastic front felt like it was gonna come off any second (still hasn't though), and the power supply they supplied, while brilliant in specs, featured too short cables for the sata drives. So before I was done building it I had already broken a sata power connector as I thought brute force would help make it long enough (it usually does with antec problems). Also the chassis was rather tiny once a motherboard, two harddrives, a dvd and a graphics card were installed.
Anyway I've heard a lot of good stuff about the 900 and p150 apart from noise, so perhaps the bigger cases are good. But I don't really like the small ones except for the value they sport when comming with a psu installed.
Also, is it better to have positive or negative pressure in a case? I.e should more fans be pulling air in, or pushing air out? These cases differed in their approach (some had two 120s pushing air out, while the AeroCool as a giant 400 pulling air in).
I was always under the impression pulling more air in, and directing that air onto the components, was better than pushing air out, and allowing the air to cut its own path in and around the components (where it might miss some).
Pretty good article though. I like the screen shots of the loaded cases as well so you can get an idea of how much space is in the cases.
Surprised by the build quality of the Hiper case, very nice.
Myself settled long ago for the Antec three hundred. It was a tight budget decision.. but geez did I get alot for my bucks!!!
Corsair support say the clearing of about 1 inch between the fan and the bottom of the case is enough for sufficient airflow to the PSU.. In this case it was in regards to a TX650W. I've got a HX520 there turned right side up. So probably need not to worry install the PSU with the fan down.
There was only two tri-cool fans included with the Three Hundred, one 120mm facing back and one 140mm in the roof. They are quiet at the low setting and a bit noisy at medium.. but way to audible at the highest speed! The Tri-Cool 140mm was vibrating a bit so I eventually decided to replace it with a Fractal Design 140mm fan, this lowered the vibrations though I did not use the rubber mounts.
I can second Toms recommendation for the Antec Three Hundred.
Some cases have eSata ports, and this is listed as a plus, but some cases with the eSata ports do not have a listing in the Pro Column. Some cases with out eSata ports do not have that listed in the Con Column.
One of the things I do not like are propitiatory plastic fittings made of crap plastic easily broken and expensive to replace.
My take on the review of the Antec Three Hundred.
Complained about no eSata port, umm so what, the motherboards I buy have that. If I want that feature.
Completely left out the fact that this case has great air flow through for a case of this price point. In the same class as the 900 and 1200. The 300 has a filter behind the bezel that easily removes and gives you access to the add on fan cages.
"The power supply in the Antec housing sits on the bottom. However the case does not have any ventilation openings for the power supply there". Umm WTF A PSU vents out the back, pulling air from the inside of the case. The PSU can be mounted with either the top or bottom of the PSU facing up or down. There is 3/8 of an inch of clearance between the case floor and the PSU.
But hey for $170 I can get a key chain with a serial number on it.