Best high end full tower case?

[Mfusick]

I'll have to give my vote for the HAF-X. If your budget is $300 add a Corsair H100 and it should be a decent set up.

Yes. this is also a strong runner.

 

[BFG10K]

I vote for the Antec 1200 v3. The Antec 902 is the best case I've ever used overall for my needs.

 

[lsv]

Yeah it looks sweet! I am still deciding. I have not purchased anything yet. I want to buy the case before ordering the rest of my parts.

I have a full tower now.. and working PC. It is a Thermaltake Armor black. It's ok but lacks some newer features. I think I want a new case with more room for HDD's

Hey Mfusick how concerned are you with noise?

 

[Nemesis 1]

Well I guess I will link ya to the Lian Li PC X2000F. It has 7 hot swap bays 4 Usb 3.0 and 1 E-sata connections.
I got 4 of these today as I am almost done with nephews rig . Until IB shows up . So the other 4 cases will take alot more work than nephews . As I have to do complete tear down and remove the old anodizing and polish out the nice brush finish Lian Li uses . I like as do most color with depth . So its alot of work to make anodized aluminum finish look deep in color.

Heres the link Click on more pictures to get a good view of case features. With shipping $500+.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=28444

 

[ChronicSilence]

I have the Antec 1200 and absolutely love it. I just built a new rig and decided to keep it from my last one. It has 3 removable racks with 3 drives each, plus you can put in another 3 if you don't want DVD drives or anything (12 total). What I love about it is how long it is too, it has room for a fan in front of each of the HDD racks to get some air moving past them. Giant fan on top is nice because it moves a LOT of air almost silently.

It also has a lot of nice slots for cable management.

 

[Mfusick]

Well I guess I will link ya to the Lian Li PC X2000F. It has 7 hot swap bays 4 Usb 3.0 and 1 E-sata connections.
I got 4 of these today as I am almost done with nephews rig . Until IB shows up . So the other 4 cases will take alot more work than nephews . As I have to do complete tear down and remove the old anodizing and polish out the nice brush finish Lian Li uses . I like as do most color with depth . So its alot of work to make anodized aluminum finish look deep in color.

Heres the link Click on more pictures to get a good view of case features. With shipping $500+.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=28444

That sounds pretty sweet man !

 

[Mfusick]

Hey Mfusick how concerned are you with noise?

it is very low on the list. I would replace my jet engine cooler if I cared...

Much more important is being huge... with lots of space and features.

I need space for 10+ HDD's.

I want USB3.0 and all the slick features.

I would like to at least be able to install Hotswap bays

 

[Mfusick]

I think I want a full tower that has HDD's that face the left or open side of the case. Makes hookups easier.

I often add or replace drives since I do much with HTPC stuff.

Or,

Hotswap cages or at least upgrade to one bay hotswap or quick connect

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583%20600006304&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=7|11-112-261^11-112-261-TS%2C11-139-001^11-139-001-TS%2C11-119-239^11-119-239-TS%2C11-129-087^11-129-087-TS%2C11-119-225^11-119-225-TS

What you guys think of these?

Seems like HAF X is the best overall value with feature set.

ANyone think of something better or a feature it does not have that might be nice?

 

[lsv]

I'm still suggesting the Fractal Design Define XL, 10 bays, 180mm tall HSF, fits big ass GPU cards and sound dampening in mind. Then again I'm biased towards quiet computing

Plus if you need more drives it's got 4x5.25" bays which can easily be converted to store what... 4 or 5 3.5" HDs and a 120mm fan?

 

[Mfusick]

I'm still suggesting the Fractal Design Define XL, 10 bays, 180mm tall HSF, fits big ass GPU cards and sound dampening in mind. Then again I'm biased towards quiet computing

Plus if you need more drives it's got 4x5.25" bays which can easily be converted to store what... 4 or 5 3.5" HDs and a 120mm fan?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352017

This one?

Pretty much narrow it down to this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583%20600006304&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=7|11-119-239^11-119-239-TS%2C11-163-173^11-163-173-TS%2C11-112-311^11-112-311-TS%2C11-352-017^11-352-017-TS

Fractal Design Define XL Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Full Tower Silent PC Computer Case

SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV02B-EW Matte black Computer Case With Side Panel Window

COOLER MASTER HAF X Blue Edition RC-942-KKN3 ATX Full Tower Computer Case

LIAN LI PC-V2120B Black Computer Case

I see the advantage of your reccomendation being the 10+ HDD's. I want that! But not enough 5.25" external bays

I see the Advantage of the HAF X being I love how it looks- it seems to have the best overall blend of features and price. It has the most 5.25" Bays on front- 6 total.. I need 5 for sure.

The LIAN LI is nice... and has tons of feature.... but own one now. I just don't appreciate all the metal and the way it is built. I like my Thermaltake Armor Supertower better.. so makes me think I won't like the LIAN LI case much... and it's twice the cost

 

[Mfusick]

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case



It has come cool changability:


13 drive bays:
External 3 x 5.25", Internal 9 x 3.5" for HDD
or External 6 x 5.25", Internal 6 x 3.5" for HDD
or External 9 x 5.25", Internal 3 x 3.5" for HDD
or External 12 x 5.25 for HDD, Internal 1 x 2.5" SSD
Bottom mount also included




makes me consider it, although I am uncertain if it is overall the quality and value of the HAF X


What you guys think ?

 

[Mfusick]

I am uncertain of this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811139001


Can't seem to understand how many total bays it has for 5.25 2.5 and 3.5" ?


Expansion:
External 5.25" Drive Bays
5 External 3.5" Drive Bays
4 Internal 3.5" Drive Bays 2
Expansion Slots 7

 

[lsv]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352017

This one?

Pretty much narrow it down to this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583%20600006304&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=7|11-119-239^11-119-239-TS%2C11-163-173^11-163-173-TS%2C11-112-311^11-112-311-TS%2C11-352-017^11-352-017-TS

Fractal Design Define XL Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Full Tower Silent PC Computer Case

SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV02B-EW Matte black Computer Case With Side Panel Window

COOLER MASTER HAF X Blue Edition RC-942-KKN3 ATX Full Tower Computer Case

LIAN LI PC-V2120B Black Computer Case

I see the advantage of your reccomendation being the 10+ HDD's. I want that! But not enough 5.25" external bays

I see the Advantage of the HAF X being I love how it looks- it seems to have the best overall blend of features and price. It has the most 5.25" Bays on front- 6 total.. I need 5 for sure.

The LIAN LI is nice... and has tons of feature.... but own one now. I just don't appreciate all the metal and the way it is built. I like my Thermaltake Armor Supertower better.. so makes me think I won't like the LIAN LI case much... and it's twice the cost

Yea $429 for the Lian Li no thanks!

The Haf X looks like a gaudy blue UFO, to me anyway. But does have enough cooling.

The Raven has those 180mm fans which are supposed to be very good and are dust filtered. That case is also really good for positive air pressure, however if you're shoving 10 HDs in the Raven most of them will not be cooled the best, seeing as only a handful are cooled well near the bottom of the case and the rest are up top will not receive as much airflow... however a Xfire/SLI setup will benefit greatly.

The Define XL however offers superb cooling to all HDs but lacks a bit for GPU if you don't make use of the side panel 120/140mm fan mount. Any Xfire/SLI would need a side fan mounted no question.

I'll be building a server in a Define XL simply for HD cooling, I've even been looking at passive cpu cooling because it'll have 2x140mm, 1x120mm intakes and the big 180 exhaust+140exhaust. Which should be moving enough air to quietly cool an i3 or some such. Not to mention it's also the cheapest option...

Another note - the only cases there which can natively support 10+ bays are the XL and the Lian Li listed.

-

Please note my opinion is biased as I'm very much for silent computing and in love with my R3.

 

[Mfusick]

Yea $429 for the Lian Li no thanks!

The Haf X looks like a gaudy blue UFO, to me anyway. But does have enough cooling.

The Raven has those 180mm fans which are supposed to be very good and are dust filtered. That case is also really good for positive air pressure, however if you're shoving 10 HDs in the Raven most of them will not be cooled the best, seeing as only a handful are cooled well near the bottom of the case and the rest are up top will not receive as much airflow... however a Xfire/SLI setup will benefit greatly.

The Define XL however offers superb cooling to all HDs but lacks a bit for GPU if you don't make use of the side panel 120/140mm fan mount. Any Xfire/SLI would need a side fan mounted no question.

I'll be building a server in a Define XL simply for HD cooling, I've even been looking at passive cpu cooling because it'll have 2x140mm, 1x120mm intakes and the big 180 exhaust+140exhaust. Which should be moving enough air to quietly cool an i3 or some such. Not to mention it's also the cheapest option...

Another note - the only cases there which can natively support 10+ bays are the XL and the Lian Li listed.

-

Please note my opinion is biased as I'm very much for silent computing and in love with my R3.

WOW- thank you.

I pretty much am figuring this all out now. I think you can add the 4 HDD cage COOLERMASTER makes for the HAF X to make 3 of the 6 5.25" external bays into a 4 more 3.5" HDD's

Also, you can covert as many of those as you want to 2.5" with 5$ adapters.

This makes the HAF X possible to run 10 HDD's and 3 External 5.25" bays.

I am not sure if I need more than 3 of the 5.25" externals. Currently I do, but I guess I could scrap my Creative Xfi Fatality with external 5.25" expansion bay set up and just use the built in audio to my MOBO.

I bitstream HD audio over HDMI to my AV receiver anyways for all my movies. I only use the audio card to run gaming sound to my 5.1 Logitech speakers. I am not sure that the new ASUS mobo's don't offer good enough sound to make the Xfi PCI card worth it anymore...

That could allow me to run with only 3 external 5.25" bays: A dvd writer, a blu ray drive, and my ultra bay that has memory card readers, USB, IEEE1394 and SATAII.

That might work if I needed to go 10 HDD's.

But I am thinking I could go 6 HDD's and use a USB3.0 Hotswap Calvary dock for 2 more HDD's and it would offer more functionallity.

vs

Keeping the 6 5.25" externals and adding in a hotswap for one 3.5" HDD ... adding another drive and also offering increased functionality.

hmmm....

so much to think about my brain hurts... lol

 

[lsv]

Haha but it's good, building rigs is fun

 

[Atherakhia]

At this point you may as well wait till after the 3rd since the Cosmos 2 is launching then and we can get to see just how good it is and how much they're asking.

But I'm in much the same boat as you. The only reason I'm looking for a new case at all is because the Antec900 I have now really doesn't support newer heat sinks and such.

I'm torn between the Storm Trooper and HAF-X personally. But since I've already missed out on the rebate/free shipping on the haf-x I'll see what the cosmos has in store and decide by next week.

 

[Mfusick]

At this point you may as well wait till after the 3rd since the Cosmos 2 is launching then and we can get to see just how good it is and how much they're asking.

But I'm in much the same boat as you. The only reason I'm looking for a new case at all is because the Antec900 I have now really doesn't support newer heat sinks and such.

I'm torn between the Storm Trooper and HAF-X personally. But since I've already missed out on the rebate/free shipping on the haf-x I'll see what the cosmos has in store and decide by next week.

The 3rd is tomorrow ??? You mean it launches in a few hours ??

 

[Fes69]

Wow, just read a review of the Cosmos 2 here:

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1367/pg1/cooler-master-cosmos-ii-case-review-introduction.html

It looks amazing ! I can't find a real release date though. But if it's soon enough, I might get it instead of the HAF X I wanted !

 

[lehtv]

Yeah, was going to post that. Another review at guru3D. Can house eleven 3.5" devices inside, and has two 3.5" tool free hot swap bays.

 

[dawza]

The older ATCS 840 probably does not meet all of your requirements (and no longer readily available-- but does have an awesome removable MB tray if that's your thing), but this pic shows a hot-swap bay that I would highly recommend, if you find a case that has all the features you want, without built-in hot-swap:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2541694/IMG_00000015.png

The actual product is the Rhino JR (#6680-5000-0500). Four hot-swap SATA in three 5.25" bays. The nice thing about this, versus most of the other comparable products on the market, is that it's built for commercial use (in other words, built like a tank and highly reliable) and can be found on eBay for <$50 shipped every so often. Individual power switches and a built-in fan (turns on only when a drive is powered up) somewhat make up for the hassle of having screw-in drive trays. Gives you flexibility in that you can have a few of the drives for hot-swapping, and keep the remaining permanently on.

 

[Subyman]

Not much 800D love in here. I'm running one of those and love it. I wish it came with caster wheels, but the quality and ease of install was top notch. It hits all of the criteria except native USB 3.0, it does have USB 3.0 front inputs but you have to plug connectors into the back panel for them to work.

 

[aigomorla]

u cant class a windy against a CM...

its like classing a lambo vs a 300z.

there in different classes...

First off the complete annodizing color interally is not cheap.
Have u seen how much Lian Li charges for something like that?

Also dual color annodizing... another.


But if ur going to drop 500-600 on a case... most likely your also going to look at 400 dollars in water cooling, so air flow is kinda meh.

 

[lsv]

Wow, just read a review of the Cosmos 2 here:

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1367/pg1/cooler-master-cosmos-ii-case-review-introduction.html

It looks amazing ! I can't find a real release date though. But if it's soon enough, I might get it instead of the HAF X I wanted !

I posted about it up top, I guess it's real after all

 

[Don Karnage]

IMO exactly what you're looking for

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147157

 

[Mfusick]

Yeah I had my eyes on that one... it's nice.