Which case would you get out of these?

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dan_plus_o

New Member
Well it has come to that time when I get to make the easy decision... Or is it that easy???

I have landed on three different cases.

Here are the links to them:
http://www.anitec.ca/product/6410/antec_lifestyle_solo_black_quiet_mid_tower_case_*no_power_supply*/
http://www.anitec.ca/product/6820/t...atx_full_tower_case_silver_*no_power_supply*/
http://www.anitec.ca/product/6966/c...r_case_worfront_usb,_audio_*no_power_supply*/

I like the Antec LifeStyle SOLO because it is apparently a quite case although the Thermaltake Eclipse has two 120mm case fans appose to the one 120mm case fan the Antec has. The Thermaltake also looks really cool. And the Cooler Master one I just threw in there because it was my favorite case for around $50. Just not sure if it is worth paying 2x as much for the other two.. and if it is what would be better? Two 120mm fans or the quiet case.. I am going be using my PC for aduio recording so a quite case is really important to me, but is it more important then two 120mm fans? The Antec case has two spots for 92mm fans, so if I got two 92mm fans for it would it have as good cooling as the two 120mm fans? Are 92mm fans a lot more noisy then 120mm fans?

The main thing I am thinking about is... Just how quiet is that Antec case? Because if I put in two 92mm fans and that ends up making it louder then I might of been better off going with the two 120mm fans.

I have been thinking about which one to get for over an hour now so I hope someone can post something that will help me decide. Thanks
 
The two 120s seen on two of the cases are front and rear one each while the Antec case allows for 3 fans not 2 with twin 92s in front. Drawing in cooler air from the front always makes a big difference in seeing low temps over having none at all.

The case caught during a summer sale for a new build here is the Antec 900 model seeing twin 120s in the front over the one single 140mm on the old Aero Cool Aero Engine II model seen at http://www.xoxide.com/aerocool-aeroengine-2-black.html

The case before that for an old Socket A build had no front fan or even front or side vents seeing high board temps with the 939 board now in the Aero Cool model. Those were 48C idle down to 31C just by moving everything into a better cooled case at the time. The 900 now sees 30C with more drives added and a larger supply(from a 430w in the old case through a 550w for the 939 and now a 700w).
 
You could have a case with 1 fan that makes a ton of noise, and another case with 5 fans that makes almost none. It depends on the fans. If noise reduction really matters to you there are accessories you can get (anti-vibration kits, muffler pads, padded cases, etc.) that will reduce the sound of your case as well. You could also have a very loud case with some fan controllers, so when you are ready to record sound, you can turn the fans on low, and do your thing, then turn them back up.
Personally, I would get the thermaltake with the window in it, because the current coolermaster case I have has a window and you can do some really neat stuff with it. Have you looked at newegg.com or xoxide.com for cases? They have a larger variety and more pictures, sometimes cheaper products as well.
 
One thing found here about having a quiet and 5 fans is the Antec 900 in use now. The case is actually quieter with the rear 120, 2 front 120s, a 120 mounted on the side cover, and the 200mm fan in the top of the case itself. Half the time I have to look to see if the blue leds are lit to know if the system is on when the monitor is off!
 
You know what..

I am going to buy the Antec 900. Thanks for mentioning it.

It looks like one hell of a case and it comes stock with 4 fans with the option to get two more 120mm fans. And the 200mm fan on top sounds really nice. And all the fans have a 3 way switch so if it is really noisy I can just turn the fans down for when I record like tuxify said. Only $30 more then the Antec solo and it looks cooler.

Hey tuxify, is there any way to turn off the leds on the fans?? I sometimes keep my computer on over night so it can do stuff while I am sleeping and I will be putting my new computer in my bedroom. So is there a way to turn off the leds without turning the computer off?
 
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I may look into buying a fan controller so I can make my computer quiter. I have a apeva 120mm and 2 of the other coolermaster fans that came with the case. PC Eye, any good suggestions for really quiet, cheap, and effective fans? I got the cheapest LED fans I could find, but now that I have my blue cathodes, the LEDs of the fans don't really show up. I'd rather have a quiter case.
 
For the last build here with the Aero Cool case I simply grabbed a pair of Antec blue led 120s at a local Circuit City when they stocked them. Antec also has the red, green, and also multi colored fans where those are not bright in a darkened room late at night but simply see a rainbow when you look at them.

The multi colored or plain clear would be the ones to grab somewhere. They run quiet without a need for a controller since most use a place on the board not an ide 12v connector. The fans that come with the 900 however do use the 12v connectors. I simply added one from the old case on the side cover and it still runs quiet after more then a year's use.

The 200mm fan on top spins at a slower speed to ease warm air out through the top there. But even without the fan the large opening keeps the warm air from being trapped like seen in most cases. Without the blue leds on the fans and the monitor off the case here wouldn't even be noticed. It's quite a bit quoeter then the old case while that was still a quiet one there.

The main problem with the 900 is the blue led fans since you are looking for plain not led fans like the one seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835129030 You will note those come with the 3/4pin power plug that goes onto the board itself while the ones included use molex plugs found on the supply's harness.
 
dan_plus_o said:
Just how quiet is that Antec case?
Click to expand...

I own the 900, and I think it's pretty loud. However, as you said, you can adjust the speeds on all the preinstalled fans. Turning all fans on low makes a significant noise difference. Having my PC in another room, I keep everything full blast.

I'm not sure what you're putting inside the case, but this is what mine looks like. :) The last picture below represents the tight fit you may experience if you install GTX's. Some people believe that they don't fit. They do...barely. :D

BTW, as far as I know, you cannot shut off the LED's. You can (I'm sure you know this) replace the fans with whatever you like. Fortunately, for you, the top 20cm fan is not an LED. If you did decide to replace everything with non-LED, you won't have one huge fan shooting out color.





 
I have the fan controllers on the high setting and no noise is heard. I'm more likely to hear the fan in the 700w OCZ supply or the hard drives and those are quiet for the most part. The 900 is a little tight on space however especially for a lengthy video card or installing a water cooler of some type.

That's a good photo of the Zalman there while here on an AM2 board it faces upward towards the 200mm fan. You probably have that facing the rear 120 there.
 
Thanks for th replies. I will get that case and see how the leds look and if they are too annoying I will just change them for non led fans.

BTW here is what I am going to have:
Motherboard: eVGA nForce 680i SE SLI (TR Version)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 (3.0 GHz)
GFX: eVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked 320MB PCI-Express
Ram: 2GB OCZ DDR2 OCZ2N800SR2GK PC2-6400 SLI-Ready Dual Channel
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB SATA
OS: Windows XP Pro
PSU: Corsair HX Series 620W Power Supply
 
They won't light up a room. But it depends on which direction the front or rear of the case is facing. If it faces where you sleep you would have to get accustomed to having blue light in the room over a period of time. The front ones are actually enclosed inside the slide forward type drive cages and not those you can substitute easily unless replacements can be clear not led? from Antec.

The rear is a standard mounted 120 using a molex type connector for the 12v fan there. Other 120s have the 3 or 4pin for plugging onto the board while the tricolor not Tricool fans by Antec. The ideal non led replacement for the rear is actually the SmartCool model seen at http://www.directron.com/smartcool12.html
 
dan_plus_o said:
GFX: eVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked 320MB PCI-Express
Click to expand...

I had the eVGA 320MB GTS before the GTX. It's a snug fit, no problem. The GTS is about two inches shorter than the GTX - a big difference in the 900. ;)

Below is a picture of the GTS's



PC eye said:
That's a good photo of the Zalman there while here on an AM2 board it faces upward towards the 200mm fan. You probably have that facing the rear 120 there.
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Uh...yeah...of course I do. :o No, actually it's pointed in the opposite direction. Typical noob move, I suppose. Should I turn it around, facing the 12cm fan? I've been suspecting that my CPU temps (around idle 42C load 60c) were too high.
 
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There you would want the fan on the Zalman facing the rear 120 to see that help with blowing out the warm air. With it in the opposite direction you are fighting exhaust by pulling the air away from the rear to some degree making that less effective. As the expression or pun could go you want to "let the hot air out". :P
 
Thanks, PC eye. I'm still learning how to maximize the airflow within a PC case. Your info is a HUGE help. The installation instructions show the fan mounted the way I have it. :mad: I'll fix it tomorrow and notify you of the temps I'm receiving. :D
 
mep916 said:
Thanks, PC eye. I'm still learning how to maximize the airflow within a PC case. Your info is a HUGE help. The installation instructions show the fan mounted the way I have it. :mad: I'll fix it tomorrow and notify you of the temps I'm receiving. :D
Click to expand...

Unless you just installed it you will need to apply a fresh application of thermal paste(Zalman - AS-5) and again allow the breakin time after cleaning the old stuff off. One thing about seeing high cpu temps with even a Zalman 9500 or 9700 is the amount of air flow in the case itself as well as the quality and application of the paste/compound used.

The last build here started off in the old Socket A case with a serious lack of air flow seen there. The 939 board saw 46-48C with nothing running not even an IE window just sitting at the desktop. The cpu saw 44-46C idle there. Once everything went into the Aero Cool model seen at http://www.xoxide.com/aerocool-aeroengine-2-black.html the board temp dropped down to 31C with the cpu seeing 33C idle!

That was seen with the 9500 model sitting on top of it there pointing at what really makes a difference namely cpu cooler or keeping board temps down. On the new build with the Anetc 900 the board sees 30C after being on for most of the day and night with the cpu seeing 28C after some gaming.
 
PC eye said:
The ideal non led replacement for the rear is actually the SmartCool model seen at http://www.directron.com/smartcool12.html
Click to expand...

Would that fan work good for the 2 empty fan spots the Antec 900 has? Would I want to get a fan with a molex connector or the connector that plugs into the motherboard if I was to get two more fans for the empty spots?

The picture for that fan looks like it has both connectors so could I use it either plugged into the PSU or the motherboard? And if so which way would I want to do it?
 
The case comes with the four fans included. Two are already mounted in the front of each 3 1/2" drive cage where they slide out along with the cage for mounting the drives. Those come standard with the 12v molex type connector. The rear and top fans also seen the molex connector on those too. But the one of the four easy to remove is the rear fan since the top is 200mm and the front pair first see a grill removed in order to get at the mounting screws there.

I can imagine the 12v fans are for providing faster fans speeds in order to have the increase in air flow. The typical 5v you plug into the board generally runs slower. It would be nice to know if Antec had the same high speed fans in clear and other colors too and not limited to just the blue led. But you can mount other 120s with either type just to see an alternative. The plug onto the board type allows for board control and monitoring fan speeds there while the 12v molex run are full speed ahead all the time with some slight adjustment with the small controller found on each.
 
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