Aluminum cases?

[Link19]

I was looking on New Egg's website for Aluminum cases and I found under the case material selection that some of the choices were Aluminum Alloy, Aluminum/Plastic, Steel/Aluminum, and Clear Acrylic & Aluminum. When I heard th term Aluminum case, I thought that it was the only term for this kind of case. I did not know that it would get that specific when refering to aluminum cases. Could someone tell me the varying differences between these kind of aluminum cases and what case of these I mentioned is truly aluminum when someone talks about aluminum cases just using the word aluminum, which kind of these they are reffering too?

Any help greatly appreciated

 

[Link19]

Forgot to also say which one of these cases is best for keeping your system as cold as possible?

 

[Dazex]

From what I have seen. There are all aluminum cases. Generally, these are the lightest and most expensive. Then there are those who has an aluminum case frame, but with most commonly, a plastic bezel outside. Then there is sorta the opposite of that where you have a standard steel case frame with a all aluminum exterior. All these hybrids reduces the weight of the cases by almost half of their all steel conterpart. But again, the all aluminum cases are usually the lightest and because of it's liberal use of aluminum all around, is the most expensive as well.

On a good note is that aluminum does a better job of releasing heat instead of retaining it. Not sure how much that will help in cooling performance though. Just an FYI...

-Dazex

 

[TXMatt]

The variations other than all aluminum usually just refer to the front bezel. Aluminum + plastic, or aluminum + acrylic have non-aluminum material on the front of the case, some have acrylic/plastic on the side window as well.

Your run-of-the-mill full aluminum case would be one from the likes of Lian Li. Its bay covers are even aluminum.

Let me tell you Aluminum construction in any of its variants DOES NOT compensate for poor case design. IE the Antec Lanboy is aluminum, but does not cool for sh|t. Also, most aluminum cases use very thin metal because aluminum is expensive; and to exaggerate the weight difference. As a result most aluminum cases aren't very strong, so they dent very easily if you move them around. You can no longer use your case as a makeshift steplader to change bulbs in your ceiling fan (maybe that's just me). The typically thinner metal in aluminum cases is also more affected by the vibrations of your case fans; it resonates more. As a result a typical aluminum case will be noisier than a typical steel case with the same fans.

If you want a quality aluminum case, count on spending $125+. Personally I went back to nice heavy 1.0 SECC on my most recent case purchase. I recommend most people investigate the Antec SLK3700 AMG or the Compucase LX-6A19 when asked for case recommendations. This is not the case I use, only because I think this case will become very popular, and I wanted something different. If good cooling is your only reason for going aluminum, the well designed $39 steel CompuCase LX-6A19 will cool much better than any sub $125 aluminum case that I am aware of. It can also be purchased pre-modified from coolcases.com as a D-8000, although the mods double the price and are easy to do yourself. The thing to note about this case is you can get 120+ cfm through the case with the fans running at 7 volts - IE whisper quiet and huge airflow in a MID Tower. Going full tower and using multiple fans is the only way to get comparable results, and then you can go to any of the ever popular chieftec dragon varaiants and use quad low speed 8cm fans.

If weight is your main reason for going aluminum, get yourself a $20 luggage roller @ an office supply store, and use the $100 to upgrade your machine's speed. Alternately, put the $125 towards one of the many small form factor PCs that are coming to market - these are very light.

Aluminum is lighter and does cool better than steel, but dimishing returns are obvious when you compare what you get for the extra money.

 

[Zepper]

Aluminum case gives you maybe a degree C or two - not worth the extra $$$, IMO.
.bh.
:sun: !

 

[dakels]

Check this out. They make some incredible differences in temperature between AI and .... "Metal" assuming Steel.

I have no idea where they got those numbers but I dont see anything about same exact layout or fans or whatever... The chart looks like a load of crap to me.

 

[Zepper]

Yeah. That chart doesn't mean anything without all the accompanying data including full descriptions of the two boxes.
. I only know of one case where there can be a direct comparison and thats with the Antec/Chieftec etc. 1000 series where there are both Al and Fe versions.
. So the layout is identical and the fan complement can be made identical. The one test I've seen of this setup gives 1 or 2 degrees C.
.bh.
:moon:

 

[dakels]

yea I almost bought a alum case then I came to my senses. Heat conduction would make little difference in that situation unless it was in direct contact withthe source of heat like the sinks. Airflow is what matters. Once the heat is ejected into the air from the sink, the only thing your case needs to do is get that hot air out of there.

 

[0roo0roo]

chenming/aluminum cases aren't much more expensive then their steel couterparts. i figure why the hell not

 

[dakels]

well it looks like I'm already going to spend $160 on a thermaltake Xaser case... I'd rather not add another $40 to that for an all alum one. In fact I'd rather have a sturdier case because I have a tendency to put weight on it. If I found the expense feasible, I would get a all alum Lian Li case but those are just way too much money for very little if any performance difference over the thermaltake Xaser III I am getting.