Help Me Find a Case

[Kornowski]

from those links, i'm assuming that you're looking for mid towers only? are you considering full towers at all? generally, full towers offer "better" cooling since there is more room for airflow and volume. i just recently got the thermaltake armor full tower because it was FREE (after rebate of $150). all i had to pay was the shipping and tax . deals like that are hard to find, but even still, TT full towers been really cheap recently (under $100 after discounts). but i'm not sure if there are many TT discounts over there in the UK.



really? how is that so? if that's really true, then i'll probably take out the 250mm gigantic fan off my thermaltake and just leave the blank mesh.

Nope, I'm open to looking at full towers too, but they tend to be a lot more expensive don't they...

Antec 900.

lol, Biased at all Mike?

The CM690 is a great case for airflow if it's set-up correctly. The top vents also allow you to have a radiator conesealed up there.

I really like the CM690, the only thing that puts me off is the fact that it doesn't have a side window

I think you need to decide for yourself because we're never going to all agree; however the Antec 900 is good for cooling the Coolermaster is better for your graphics card because the 8800GTS unlike the Ultra has the power connector on the back of the card and since the 900 is shorter you could take out several drive bays in the process; I remember with my old Jeantech case the X1950 and power connector took out 2 drive bays.

That is true... Hmmm

 

[mep916]

lol, Biased at all Mike?

Yes, I guess so.

I really like the CM690, the only thing that puts me off is the fact that it doesn't have a side window

Yeah, that's too bad. Otherwise, it looks like an excellent case.

 

[PabloTeK]

You *can* get one according to the side of the box the CM690 sits in, but it's harder to find.

 

[taylormsj]

Yeh you can get them form the coolermaster europe shop once they get more in stock, or do it yourself or you can send it off to get cut from places like chilled pc and kustom pc

 

[mep916]

or you can send it off to get cut from places like chilled pc and kustom pc

Wow! I didn't know you can do that. Looks like I'm gonna get the CM Cosmos after all.

 

[Kornowski]

Yeh you can get them form the coolermaster europe shop once they get more in stock, or do it yourself or you can send it off to get cut from places like chilled pc and kustom pc

Can you buy pre-cut sides from them?

Wow! I didn't know you can do that. Looks like I'm gonna get the CM Cosmos after all.

Then I'd buy your 900

 

[Geoff]

You may want to have a look here if you're interested in the Cooler Master 690:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/cooler_master_hands_on

 

[paratwa]

Yeah, Maximumpc only gives the CM690 a rating of 4 out of 10. They hated it!

I qoute, "Sweet ideas combined with subpar execution: Welcome to the Cooler Master 690."

 

[PabloTeK]

It's all down to personal taste, I become wary of reviews because people will become accustomed to higher-quality products so when a budget-mid range product they often slam it.

 

[ThatGuy16]

Get a black stacker evo

I think that will be my next case..

 

[SirKenin]

If you're looking at Antec, this is one of their best:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=90511

Once you build with it, you'll quickly see why. Far superior to that 900 piece of crap.

 

[Geoff]

Once you build with it, you'll quickly see why. Far superior to that 900 piece of crap.

I still fail to see why you think the 900 is "a piece of crap".

I was able to install my 4 hard drives, 2 DVD-RW drives, 2900XT, P35 Motherboard, Toughpower PSU, and I had enough room for cable management. The drive cages are just ingenious, and having the PSU on the bottom allows for better cable management, and much more effective way of removing the hot air from the case.

The only con I can see is that you only have three external drive bays, and the conversion piece for the 3.5" drive bay.

 

[PC eye]

Yup when i removed my 25 cm fan off my panel on the old case my motherboard temperatures dropped like 4 C.

The air it pushes in stops the front intake - back exhaust flow working efficiently

What I did to counteract that was mount a 120 facing outward rather then inward like seen when using a pair of 120s there. That help pull air from the front in better. Temps for just the video card alone never see over 30C for the mid range model over the last seeing one of the enders.

I still fail to see why you think the 900 is "a piece of crap".

I was able to install my 4 hard drives, 2 DVD-RW drives, 2900XT, P35 Motherboard, Toughpower PSU, and I had enough room for cable management. The drive cages are just ingenious, and having the PSU on the bottom allows for better cable management, and much more effective way of removing the hot air from the case.

The only con I can see is that you only have three external drive bays, and the conversion piece for the 3.5" drive bay.

I'm currently taking a serious look at replacing the one remaining ide drive and seeing an extra pair of WD Green Power 1tb drives go in once the prices come down for work with video. The 125w AM2 6000+ X2 here was initially seeing a 23C load temp when first breaking the new case in.

The main problem seems to be right behind the 5 1/4" bays if left with those on top for plugging any ide cable into the board being a little cramped in space there. Having the supply a distance away even while at the bottom of the case seems to prevent warm air from getting trapped around the optical drives.

The slide forward instead of sideways type 3 1/2" drive cages are more of a plus for ease of swapping drives out plus see the immediate cooling. So it does have both pros and cons depending on how you look at it. But that can said about a server type case for who? a gamer or networker? No bay doors found in the front like the P180 and other cases.

 

[paratwa]

I still fail to see why you think the 900 is "a piece of crap".

The drive cages are just ingenious, and having the PSU on the bottom allows for better cable management, and much more effective way of removing the hot air from the case.

Are you nuts? Those drive cages where insane! They sucked so bad it was disgusting. They were the worst designed cages I have ever seen!

The PSU on the bottom lead to many problems besides the fact that heat rises, so the added heat of the PSU could lead to more heat inside. The only good thing I saw about that case was the cooling. Otherwise it was just crap.

 

[Geoff]

Are you nuts? Those drive cages where insane! They sucked so bad it was disgusting. They were the worst designed cages I have ever seen!

The PSU on the bottom lead to many problems besides the fact that heat rises, so the added heat of the PSU could lead to more heat inside. The only good thing I saw about that case was the cooling. Otherwise it was just crap.

I can see how the drive cages may be a pain if you are always adding/removing hard drive, but it's much easier to only remove the cage once, install the drives, screw them in, and then put the cages back in the case then it is to need to remove both side panels, and trying to work inside the case.

The PSU on the bottom shouldn't cause too much extra heat as the PSU fan should pull most of the hot air out, however I feel that the extra large fan on the top of the case helps out significantly.

 

[paratwa]

The PSU on the bottom shouldn't cause too much extra heat as the PSU fan should pull most of the hot air out, however I feel that the extra large fan on the top of the case helps out significantly.

I agree with that, and they only thing that saves that case is that it does cool so well. If it did not cool so well, then I would have rated this case a 3 out of 10.

 

[SirKenin]

Yeah, the cooling is good (although Omega's temps suck pretty bad).. I've used hundreds of cases in the last decade. I've seen them all, from rackmounts, mini towers, shuttles, desktops to pedestals and full towers.

To me, the build is the most important aspect of a case. Who cares what it looks like if the build is crapola. I find it amusing how some people praise those POS drive cages. They're the worst garbage design I've ever seen. Even the HPs have better cages.

 

[PC eye]

I can see how the drive cages may be a pain if you are always adding/removing hard drive, but it's much easier to only remove the cage once, install the drives, screw them in, and then put the cages back in the case then it is to need to remove both side panels, and trying to work inside the case.

The PSU on the bottom shouldn't cause too much extra heat as the PSU fan should pull most of the hot air out, however I feel that the extra large fan on the top of the case helps out significantly.

The only awkward part about the drive cages themselves obviously is seeing the fan plugged in since that is 12v there and not one you can plug into the board to monitor directly. Drive temps however see the gain there.

The case there is meant to be flexible like the video clip demonstration brings up when viewed at their site. Those are meant to slide out forward for easy access when adding or removing any drives. That part of it is made easy by the simple thumb screws.

You still have to see both side covers come off while seeing far more access when fastening drives inplace. That's the plus factor there. As for the supply at the bottom of the case I simply added a 120 on the side cover for additional exhaust.

 

[Kornowski]

I'm torn between the Antec 900 and the CM 690...

CM 690;

I like the size of it, the pre-cut holes for the cables to go behing the MOBO tray and the two 120mm fans on the top, but I don't like the lack of a windowed side pannel.

Antec 900;

Looks fantastic! Lots of cooling, side window. Routing the cables is the only things worrying me...

 

[PabloTeK]

I'd try and source a CM690 with a side panel, you could probably find one on one of the specialist case websites.