Are Raidmax cases any good?

[joshg]

Well, I've pretty much given up on my search for a small PC if I want it to be powerful...

I'm thinking about getting this case from Newegg. Is there anything that I should be aware of about Raidmax cases before I make the jump? Or any recommendations of similar price range ( < $50 for nice case, preferrably with window plus some fans or fan spots ) ?

TIA!

 

[amdskip]

They are alright but thats about it. I'm not sure if their power supplies are too great but they work for the most part.

 

[Vonkhan]

I have the same case in Green/Silver. Its a good looking case, the PS seems to be adequate. The only annoyance is the fan setup. Comes with side 80mm 2 fans blowing outwards and fan slots for 1 60mm fan in the back and 4 80mm on the front. I cant seem to figure out a decent airflow system - want to keep the inside at a lower pressure (more air going out than coming in).

 

[Blooz1]

Vonkhan hit the nail on the head! That's the biggest problem with this case....

Another problem is that the front of the chassis, although "punched" for 4-80MM fans, has no airflow except for a very small slot on the bottom of the plastic front bezel! My solution on the 2 systems I built using this case was to use the 2 side 80MM's as the intakes, along with a relatively high CFM 60MM and a dual-fan PS for the exhaust. I used Antec Tru-Power 330's...

This combo worked fine, and was quieter than I expected!

 

[Vonkhan]

Blooz ... If that worked for u, I'm hoping that it'll work for me! I was about to cut open 2 blowholes on top of the case for 80mm, but now I'll try ur solution instead! Thanks!

 

[Bookie]

I've got this case, and even modified the optical drives (see here). I really like the look of this case and cooling hasn't been a problem for me. I actually run it with no case fans. I did get the one with the window and two side fans but had them send me the normal side too so I don't currently have the window side on, thus no side case fans. In my pc is an athlon 1800+ with the SLK-800 and vantec stealth fan. My processor runs at about 40-47C while my case temp stays at around 28-30C. I also have a Geforce 4 4200. This case was really easy to work with when dealing with the cables. They are pretty inexistent in my case the way I've wrapped them.

If you want I can post pics of the inside to show you how everything fits.

 

[Blooz1]

Nice, neat job,, Bookie! That's also a nice little "guide"......

 

[HiTek21]

That raid max looks similar to the Enermax Case. I picked one up for my dad the other day and its pretty nice for what I paid at Frys Electronics. Has a 350w PSU no bottom 92mm exhaust fan on the power supply. It has a spot for a 120mm casefan in front (you have to use a slim fan because of its tight fit) or you can mount an 80mm fan infront instead, it also has 1 top 80mm fan spot, 1 for the side panel thats included, and 2 for the rear exhaust. That picture shows it comming with a strange no name power supply but my case came with a genuine enermax psu which is probably a little better than the Raidmax's power supply. You can probably stealth the drives like Bookie showed because the front looks identical. Its about 55 dollars from Newegg or MWave. I would probably get the Enermax over the Raidmax because of that rear 60mm fan if you want to get any exhaust you'd have to put a pretty noisy fan to get any air moving out.

 

[Bookie]

those enermax's do look a little nicer than the raidmax that I have, though they don't have the silver on black color scheme I have. If they did, I'd purchase another one for my server, but since I have no reason to change my server case (beside style), I think I'll wait. Since its in the closet, the look doesn't really matter anyway.

 

[Vonkhan]

The Enermax case looks a bit gay ... like a pansy, cuz of the window style n fan

 

[justinm]

Heh, I guess thats a pretty common case, kinda like the Antec/Cheiftech/Chen ming case. I have the same thing, but the window has an x with one center fan. I run an XP 2K+ at about 40-47 C between idle and load temps. But I do have to say, I was a little skepticle on the air flow, but it seems to be working quiet well.

 

[FearoftheNight]

How do you mount a 60 mm on the back? What size are the side fans? 80? Thanks.

 

[FearoftheNight]

And for the 60 mm on the back what u set it to? Suck or Blow? Suck right? Love asking that.

 

[Vonkhan]

Side fans are 80mm and being impatient I'm gonna superglue the 60mm fan. Mounting, sucking, blowing ... what next, screws & ho(le)s?