Black Metal Case

[Seekermeister]

I suppose that my price and quality specifications are not compatable, but I need a new case for my Linux rig. I have an adequate PS, so the case doesn't have to have one. I would like to have one similar to the one in my signature, but I don't want to pay the price of another. It would be nice if it were a bit deeper, so that there would be room for a better video card, but that is not a requirement. Does such a case exist, or am I going to have to consign myself to digging deeper into the wallet.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

What is your price range / goal?

 

[Markbnj]

I like my Coolermaster, but I'm not sure what 'cheap' means to you. The Wavemaster is around $130, which is about their top-end. Most of the cases in their Centurion series are under $50, but I don't have any direct experience with them. The Praetorians are in the middle at $60-90.

 

[Seekermeister]

I don't want to spend more than $75, but I wouldn't mind spending less. The Wavemaster is not the top end for Coolermaster, the Stackers are, but they are out of my price range. I'll look at the Centurions and Praetorians.

 

[ultimatebob]

You can get an Antec Sonata II for $49.95 after rebate on Newegg right now. That's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned.

 

[lxskllr]

Ultra Wizrad Blue at Frys free after rebate I got one for my daughter for xmas and am very pleased with the quality. The only thing is it may not have the depth you're looking for.

Edit: I neglected to note the black part. The one I linked is dark blue, but it's a fairly professional looking case. It looks like a mini server except for the chrome ultra grill on the side. It's not too gaudy though.

 

[Seekermeister]

I wish the Ultra Wizard was black, I don't think that I could handle the blue...but the price is right. The Antec Sonata has two cons...it is too short, which I could live with, but it only has 1 case fan. It said something about a chassis air duct, which I assume is on the front, but that would still have reduced airflow. I could add some fans, but that adds cost and hassle. I might buy one of these, but maybe someone else has another suggestion.

EDIT: Hmm, I wonder if there is such a thing as a paint that the Ultra Wizard could be sprayed with, that would be tough enough not to peel or scratch?

 

[Popjack]

Check out this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811125450

I recently built a Linux rig in this $35.99 Chenming case and the quality was really quite good. Black, metal, no rebates or any other nonsense. Good, well-built, solid and cheap.

 

[ultimatebob]

The air duct goes over the PCI slots and the CPU, and you can add an optional fan on the front of the case. I've used one of these before, and they're really well made and whisper quiet.

 

[Seekermeister]

Popjack,

The problem with that case, is that it comes with no fans. I saw that it has both front and rear vents, but the picture was not too clear on the front vent, it appeared that there was a bracket to hold a fan, but it wasn't clear. If so, just how cool does your box run?

 

[Seekermeister]

ulltimatebob,

I didn't see anything showing a front vent for a fan, is it there or would it have to be cut?

 

[Popjack]

Seekermeister,

There are front and rear vents -- I have a $5 80mm Antec fan in each. My FX-55 runs at about 38 degrees under load, paired with an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro and some AS 5.

 

[Spydermag68]

I have used the Antec Sonata II case for my computer with no over heating problems. No front fan, but i did take out the air duct.

 

[Seekermeister]

Popjack,

I intend to use the stock HS/F with an 3500+ processor on a MSI K8T Neo 2-F MB. I have never used any special CPU fans...how much difference in temperature do you suppose that this would make?

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Seekermeister
ulltimatebob,

I didn't see anything showing a front vent for a fan, is it there or would it have to be cut?

Hmm, you're right! It doesn't have much of a front vent, it's mostly vented out the rear. I think that the optional fan is supposed to go into the air duct, but I never bothered to install one. Even with the fan set to low, I had no cooling problems with a Core 2 Duo 6400, GeForce 7600 GT, and a 3 hard drive RAID array in there.

I just bought another one of these cases for my home computer, actually, since the liked using this case on my work machine. The only thing you need to be careful with is the finish, since it scratches easily.

 

[Seekermeister]

Ultimatebob,

I'm surprised that it would scratch easily. The Antec case that I have is 2 years old and hasn't scratched yet (kind of like Bon Ami).

 

[Popjack]

Seekermeister,

I've had good experiences with AMD stock cooling. I got a good deal on the Freezer64 and I like it, but I ran the stock cooler for a while. To ballpark it I would say that that I'm about -5 degrees C with the Freezer64. About as much as you might save with a careful build and good airflow, right? I think you'll be fine with stock, provided you've got a decent thermal compound in between. I've never used anything but Arctic Silver 5 and had excellent experiences with it. That said, the Freezer64 has been ridiculously cheap on Newegg lately -- like under $20.

 

[Seekermeister]

I have 2 front fans and 2 exhaust fans on my current case, and I noticed that it heated up about 10C with one of the front fans disconnected and that was with the side panel open. Apparently the other front fan, which blows over my SATAs went out, and it didn't make that great of a difference, but I suppose that is because it is blocked by the HDs. Even with keeping the CPU cool enough, I wonder about HD temps with these cases, because they would get no direct cooling?

 

[xitshsif]

Cooler Master's Centurion is a well built case. I definitely like mine.

 

[Seekermeister]

I just took a look at the Centurion, and it seems to have everything that I want, but I wish they hadn't added the aluminum bezel. Yes, I know that I'm being picky, but I can afford to...until it comes to paying for it.

EDIT: I just noticed that it is about 1" less deep than my current case, and I had to remove a HD to make room for a 6800GT, but the Centurion has 1 additional exterior drive bay, which shoves the HD bays much lower, so I doubt that the video card would fit without removing HDs either.

 

[xitshsif]

Fits my x1900xt which is 9" long (just measured). And I too wonder why they put the bezel on. I think I saw some variants on Newegg without the bezel, but with some other detailing.

 

[Seekermeister]

with the molex on the end, the 6800GT was about 9.25" inches long, but that put it tightly against the HD, until I removed it. But then, I have a fan on the HDs that forces them to stick out further. Since this case doesn't have a vent, much less a fan for the HDs, the 6800GT should fit also.

I suppose that they added the bezel to appeal to some people's taste, but not mine. Considering all of the gaudy cases that I have seen, I suppose that it takes all sorts of flavors.

 

[xitshsif]

There is an intake fan in the front of the case that pulls in over the HDs. One of the intenal 3.5" bays is pretty much rendered useless unless you put a serious kink in the molex power connector, but that still leaves 4 open.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

How about this Centurion or this one?

 

[Seekermeister]

NuAlphaMan,

Thanks, but the blue bezel is worse than the aluminum one. Neither of the cases have a front fan, which I want, even though one has a mesh bezel for ventilation. Given the choices, I would stick with xitshsif's.