Case Choices

[ooeDBone]

Building an AMD AM2 system for someone, looking at case choices. Could I get some pros and cons for these cases? Or just give me your top 3-4 choices. For the ones without power supplies, I'll be putting in an Enermax Liberty more than likely.

My top choice, but hes not sure he likes the door even though it swings open flush with the case:
Antec Performance I P180B Black
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129017

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119068

COOLER MASTER Centurion 532 RC-532-SKN1 Black
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119094

COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN1-GP Black
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119106

Antec NSK6500 Black/Silver
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129015

Antec Solo Black/Silver
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129018

Antec Performance I P-160W Silver
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811129173

Thermaltake matrix VD2000BNS Black/Silver
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811133007

Thermaltake VD3000BNA Black
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811133018

Thermaltake Swing VB6000BNS Black
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811133165

Thanks!

 

[Ayah]

Antec P180 or the Antec P150 would be my choices.
I <3 quietness now.

 

[Zepper]

Check the Rosewill thread in this section on the 1st or 2nd page. The thermaltake SViking is basically the same case as the R560x And several other Tt's are versions of the R6A chassis (Tsunami, Matrix, etc). re. the Solo from your list. Are those the same rubber HDD mounts that are dropping drives in the P150? If it wasn't for the hokey looking bezel, I'd like the P160 a lot.
. The P180 is nice. Just make sure you get the latest production where they have fixed the warping and separating problems and maybe even the weak hinges.
. The Aerocool Masstige is an interesting case, the Silverstone Tj04 and Tj05. Lots of interesting cases out there now. Whittle your list down to three or four and let us pick on them.

Did you ask your person to list case characteristics in order of importance to him? That's alway's the place to start when case hunting for someone else.

Appearance, functionality (ease of assembly/upgrading, components properly located, etc.), noise, cooling, etc. I'm sure you wouldn't let him get away with less than a decent level of all of them, but getting what they really can be happy with really impresses people.

.bh.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Out of those I would pick the antec 160. I'm probably going to grab the enermax case with the 250mm side fan, but that antec was one of the runners up for me. Everyone weights different aspects of a case differently though, knowing what you consider important would help people narrow them for you.

 

[ooeDBone]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I will check out the Rosewill thread.

He is mostly leaving it up to me to decide the case for him but I would like to give him like a top 3 list to choose from.

My top requirements are temp/airflow, quietness, quality of construction.
The case needs to have front inputs for USB/firewire but thats not a deal breaker as they can be added with a mutli card reader in front. He is also not a fan of doors on the front.

I have a P160 myself and love it, thats why its on the list.

 

[acegazda]

The Lian li pc7b plus II is a great case. It has awesome cooling abilities, lian li quality, and $15 less than the p180. It is all aluminum, but not as quiet as the p180. Still, it would probably be my top pick.

 

[tylerdustin2008]

I would choose one of the antecs. They make GREAT cases(now this is my opinion). They are built strong and will lower case temps. I had an Aspire X-cruiser and switched to an P-180 and it dropped my cpu temp down 6c. This is just an idea for you. I would get the P-160 since you seem to get a mid range case.

 

[cr0ssfire]

I'd go with any Antec Performance I case - they're all nice cases. And speaking from personal experience, Antec's customer service if you have a problem with one of their products is top notch - when you submit a request for spare parts or whatever, you often get a response the same day.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: acegazda
The Lian li pc7b plus II is a great case. It has awesome cooling abilities, lian li quality, and $15 less than the p180. It is all aluminum, but not as quiet as the p180. Still, it would probably be my top pick.

I'll 2nd that. Drop in some Yate Loon's and you'll have a very quiet running box.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: AyashiKaibutsu
Out of those I would pick the antec 160...

Yeah, me too...

I had a hard time clicking through that (sorry) 'scrap metal' -- always do! All 'old skool' cases look like junk to me! Makes me feel bad for ppl...

Really, why don't you just bite the bullet, buy a Mountain Mods U2-UFO, and be done with it? Last case you'll ever buy, guaranteed, unless someone steals it! I recommend the Opti-1203, if you plan to do liquid cooling.

Otherwise, get the (cough) 160...

 

[imported_wicka]

I don't own the Centurion 532. It owns me. Enough said.

Maybe not.

It's SO well built. Most of the thing is metal, not crappy plastic faceplates. The whole front is grilled for airflow. Virtually everything is screwless or has thumb screws. Best case I've ever seen.

 

[nycdude]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: acegazda
The Lian li pc7b plus II is a great case. It has awesome cooling abilities, lian li quality, and $15 less than the p180. It is all aluminum, but not as quiet as the p180. Still, it would probably be my top pick.

I'll 2nd that. Drop in some Yate Loon's and you'll have a very quiet running box.

make that 3.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

narrow down by crossing out all the thermaltake case's as they are poorly constructed (sharp corners inside that can cut wires and skin, exterior scratches easily), have poor airflow and loud fans.

 

[Zepper]

Starting to sound like a braoken record there. Louisssssss..... etc. etc....

.bh.

 

[Operandi]

Thermaltake make tasteless products of varying quality. On top of that their fan specs are flat out lies; they'll never get my recommendation.