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Besting Gaming(Air cooling) Case for the money

S

semlethe3rd

Member
I am currently looking at buying a new gaming case for my system. Im looking for a case that can easily cool my system when needed, but when just roaming the internet can barely be heard. I dont mind if its loud while im gaming, thats what my speakers are for =). I'd also like to keep the price of the case to around $100, if at all possible. These are the two cases I am currently looking at:

Antec Nine Hundred
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...Antec%2bNine%2bHundred

My current concern with the antec is the tri-cooling fans. I'm not enjoying the idea of having to open my case everytime I want to adjust my fans.


NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...047&Tpk=NZXT%2bTempest

This case has no fan speed controllers that i know, which is a concern since its claimed to be the king of airflow.. aka the king of noise.

Any advice or other suggestions would be appreciated, thank you.
 
How about the Cooler Master RC-690?
I've got one here (along with a few other brand cases collecting dust) that i'd part with if you're interested.
They've gotten rave reviews here...just do a search here in this forum.
Easy to work with & good cable management.
 
Does it have a way of adjusting the fans? I currently have a RAIDMAX SMILODON... and its not a bad case just can't sleep with it on, mostly because I added a 120mm on the side along with the 80mm that was already there. I also enjoy the exhaust fans on the antec 900 and NZXT tempest, as we all know heat rises, and with a 200mm fan and/or two 140mm on top its a good way to get it out of the case. The Cooler Master RC-690 looks like a solid case, but not much of a upgrade from what I already have.
 
Yea i was thinking about one of those with the NZXT TEMPEST, because the modding I did to the case I have now isn't exactly pleasing. That would be $124 for the case though and about 30-40 for the speed controller, which if i can I would like to avoid spending that much. It sounds like im being extremely picky, and im sorry for this, just wanted to see if there were any other ideas that I havn't thought of =).
 
Hmm currently looking at them, may I ask what the main difference between the P180 and the P182 is? Also they seem to be like the antec 900 with having to adjust individual fans inside the case, is that right?
 
P182 is an "upgraded" P180 with additional cable routing holes on the back side of the motherboard, although both are functionally similar.
The P182 (can't speak for the P180 but I assume it's the same) ships with 3 Tri-Cool fans, 2 of which can be adjusted on the back of the case. Those 2 are the back exhaust and the top fan. The 3rd fan is in the lower HD bay and unfortunately, you need to open the case for that. However, the lower HD bay fan doesn't normally need to be used if your PSU has a fan as it's capable of providing sufficient cooling for 1-2 HDs. Only if you fill the lower bay with 4 HDs should you even consider turning that fan on low.

Personally, I got rid of the Tri-Cools as soon as I got the case, they were a bit on the loud side, even on low (which was still 1200rpm - the same speed as my Scythe S-FLEX/Slipstream fans at max.) They may be fine for normal use, but I really wanted a very quiet gaming rig so I chose to replace the fans and undervolt them.
 
How much "stuff" are you going to have inside the case. Although it hasn't come yet, I ordered a Antec 300 from Amazon. It was about $65 then I got a fan controller and ordered some Yate Loon and Noctua fans to replace them all, even the top 140mm one. With the fan controller, it should be pretty quiet considering that it will turn off any fan that I want it to.
 
Hmm the P182 in intriguing, how would you rate the cooling compared to the previous cases I mentioned?

Specs are as followed:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.0GHz Tuniq 120 cooling
EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT Superclocked 512mb
Abit IP35-Pro
G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 PC2 6400
Raidmax 500Watt PSU
 
The P180 (and P182 by extension) were designed with cooling and quiet operation in mind.
That said, I cannot give you any comparisons as I've never had any of those other cases (Upgraded from an Antec SLK3700AMB to the P182.)
You can probably look up reviews for the cases and try to stack them up though.

Anyway, as for cooling, the P180/P182 put the power supply in its own area to separate 2 of the biggest sources of heat in a normal case - that is the PSU and CPU. Lower ambient heat around both means quieter operation since fans don't ramp up as much. The middle of the case was also designed around giving the video card as much ventilation as possible. And for me at least, the location of the rear exhaust fan lines up perfectly with my CPU heatsink for a convenient push-pull configuration (it's in such a close proximity that I could run the Ninja passively and just let the Rear exhaust fan do the work but eh...)
 
Hmm the P182 is looking really good. Little more than i wanted to spend but i guess its worth the investment. I am currently looking around for prices of the case, and it seems the lowest I can find is newegg for $125 after the rebate. Do you know of any better deals that im over looking?

P.S. Thank you for the quick responses and the help so far =).
 
The price of that case is pretty erratic, I missed the $60 deal on it back in February, although bunch of us are asking for it to come back on the Eggxpert forums. Antec usually has a $30-40 MIR on the case that helps to alleviate it somewhat, the biggest problem is when shipping is not free. Due to its size and weight (nearly 30 pounds empty I believe) it adds up to anywhere from $20-40 depending on shipment method.
 
I can't say, it's up to you to decide how much you want to spend really. I got mine for $140 with a $40 MIR so $100 for me. I really wanted that $60 deal to come back but $100 was about as good as I could get at the time. $125 is a decent price for such a nice case considering it normally is around $150-160, but it has been lower before. Do you want to take a chance at a lower price by waiting? If not, go ahead and grab it for $125, otherwise you could try your luck. Or you can see if anyone is selling an old one for a discount.
 
Centurion 590 I would have to say.

P180/182s have way too many compartments and might just end up becoming a hassle than a time saver like it was designed to be.
 
P182 is meant to be a time saver? Where did you see that?

I never saw anything about saving time, but rather the opposite. Every review I could find stated that working in the P182 was difficult but it was worth the extra effort for a cooler, quieter rig. I myself didn't have too many problems with it, the only real problem I had was not even due to the case, but due to my choice of heatsink being huge and making it almost impossible to get to the AUX12V connector.

The compartments are well thought out and each serve a purpose, such is the design of the case, but I've never heard anything about it being a time saver.
 
Dark Rogue I have a Tuniq 120 cpu cooler and it is huge just like yours, so i will probably have the same problem you had? And if so what can i do about it?
 
Plug in the AUX12V connector BEFORE you screw down the motherboard 😛

No really, that's exactly what I did the first time and it was easy. However, my PSU was faulty and I had to send it in for RMA.. that's when it got hard, I didn't want to unscrew the mobo so I had to squeeze my hand in and use tiny pliers to get the connector on and off... not fun.

Is the Tuniq as tall and wide as the Ninja? IIRC the Tuniq was more rectangular where the Ninja was more square-ish, so it may be less of a problem.
 
The Tuniq 120 is pretty massive im not sure of its size compared to the Ninja though =P. Im guessing you baught that antec 900 off buy.com?
 
I've got the P180 and love it. Quiet and GREAT cooling.

I think the Tri-Cools on low are pretty quiet, but I like the fans ramping up automatically without having to open the case. So down the road, you can swap them out for good 3-pin fans (like Scythe, Yate-Loons, Noctua ($$$!) or [what I have] Arctic Cooling) and have the mobo control the fans.

One thing I'd like to see is an enlargement of the top fan of the 180, something the didn't do moving up to the 182. The 190 has two 140mm (IIRC) on top, but that's some serious $$$. Even the mini-P180 has a large fan on top. That's probably my one biggest drawback on the 180, but it shouldn't be a showstopper.

P180 is a great case - it's been around for awhile and people are copying a lot of its design features.
 
Originally posted by: DarkRogue
Plug in the AUX12V connector BEFORE you screw down the motherboard 😛

No really, that's exactly what I did the first time and it was easy. However, my PSU was faulty and I had to send it in for RMA.. that's when it got hard, I didn't want to unscrew the mobo so I had to squeeze my hand in and use tiny pliers to get the connector on and off... not fun.

Is the Tuniq as tall and wide as the Ninja? IIRC the Tuniq was more rectangular where the Ninja was more square-ish, so it may be less of a problem.
Click to expand...

How about getting an extension and connecting it to the board prior to installation? It also allows you to disconnect and reconnect the PSU easily if you need to.
 
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