case ideas

[wanderica]

I expect to get Bashed for this first statement, but . . .

Without doing enough resuearch, I figured, "hey, a case is a case right?"

Wrong.
I bought one of those Ultra Dragon/x-connect combos that Tigerdirect had on sale. I quickly hocked the X-Connect PSU for a PC P&C 510 SLi after reading the horrible reviews, and now I'm thinking I should hock the case too.

I have not assembled my comp yet, but have already purchased PC P&C 510 SLi, 2 x Raptors, MSI NF4 Platinum SLi, 7800 GTX, 4400+, and Zalman 9500. I DO want this thing as quiet as possible. I plan on a slight to mild OC. Right now, I'm thinking of the lanboy, but those little voices in my head keep telling me, "Get the P-180." At any rate, I haven't made up my mind yet, but I WILL do better research for this buy. Can any of you guys give me any advice? If I go with the P-180, will the PSU fit? What cable issues will I run into? Are there any better cases to suit my needs?

Thanks guys. AT has been LOTS of help so far.
Wanderica

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

The P180 is a VERY NICE case. It's not aluminum and has no side window but the design is very efficient and the 3x120mm fans work very well in keeping your system cool.

I can also personlly vouch for the Tsunami as it is also a great case: light weight, sleek, side window, great LED light, and ALUMINUM. But it I've found it's become a little too small for my tastes.

If you're gonna get a Zalman 9500 (huge lol) you may want to consider full tower cases. The Thermaltake Armor (aluminum version) comes to mid as well as the Thermaltake Shark. I would recommend the Armor though because it has a very nice side window, excellently designed cooling and a very versatile front mesh (not to mention positional 120mm front intake fan) Between the P180, Armor and the Shark it's really up to you which one you choose. My advice though would probably be the Armor.

 

[wanderica]

hi,

Thanks for the reply. I reallt like the armor, but a full tower is almost too big for my needs. I'm in the Army, and the barraks don't offer much in the way of living space. I could make it work, but it would literally be sitting in the middle of the floor.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Ah okay well you may not want to get the Zalman 9500 as it's sheer size almost requires you have a roomy case. Maybe swtich to an XP-90C or SI-120 (even Big Typhoon would be smaller) instead of the Zalman since it's been proven that the 9500 isn't quite as good as those heatsinks for AMD 64. In which case the Tsunami or P180 is a good idea . . .

Yeah my comp pretty much sits in the middle of the floor . . . (for ventilation purposes)

 

[JBDan]

Originally posted by: wanderica
I expect to get Bashed for this first statement, but . . .

Without doing enough resuearch, I figured, "hey, a case is a case right?"

Wrong.
I bought one of those Ultra Dragon/x-connect combos that Tigerdirect had on sale. I quickly hocked the X-Connect PSU for a PC P&C 510 SLi after reading the horrible reviews, and now I'm thinking I should hock the case too.

I have not assembled my comp yet, but have already purchased PC P&C 510 SLi, 2 x Raptors, MSI NF4 Platinum SLi, 7800 GTX, 4400+, and Zalman 9500. I DO want this thing as quiet as possible. I plan on a slight to mild OC. Right now, I'm thinking of the lanboy, but those little voices in my head keep telling me, "Get the P-180." At any rate, I haven't made up my mind yet, but I WILL do better research for this buy. Can any of you guys give me any advice? If I go with the P-180, will the PSU fit? What cable issues will I run into? Are there any better cases to suit my needs?

Thanks guys. AT has been LOTS of help so far.
Wanderica

If you want "quiet as possible" than you will not be able to achieve it in a LanBoy. I have not played with the TT Armor (I do have a Tsunami and while it cools well, it resonates horribly), but the P180 is as quiet as you can get. It is made of aluminum (exterior is two sheets of Al with plastic sandwiched between them) and its inards are heavy gauge cold rolled steel (0.8mm throughout most of the case and 1.0mm around the HD area). The 510 SLI will fit nicely. You will have no cable length issues unless you really want to try and hide the 20/24 pin. Well I take that back.....if you are not a patient person, w/o attention to "planned" wiring management, you might opt to pull your hair out! Its tricky & time consuming, but well worth it imo.

 

[wanderica]

ok, I think I'm gonna go with the Antec P-180. I really like that 9500 though. Oh well, if it doesn't fit I'll send it back. Thanks again guys. I think I'm going eto like this case.

 

[potato28]

Cavalier 3 or Centurion 5. Can get windows, different colors, but steel.

 

[wanderica]

Bought the p-180 from newegg. Seems to be "ol' faithful" around here. I'll let you all know how it turns out. Thanks again

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: 1Dark1Sharigan1
Ah okay well you may not want to get the Zalman 9500 as it's sheer size almost requires you have a roomy case. Maybe swtich to an XP-90C or SI-120 (even Big Typhoon would be smaller) instead of the Zalman since it's been proven that the 9500 isn't quite as good as those heatsinks for AMD 64. In which case the Tsunami or P180 is a good idea . . .

Yeah my comp pretty much sits in the middle of the floor . . . (for ventilation purposes)

I have the Zalman and I don`t have a full tower case....truthfully its not all that huge heres the real world measurements..
5 inches high
4 1/2 inches wide which is the length of the fan and the heatsink surrounding the fan
3 1/2 inches long

It really is not all that large....

considering the only issues with the size might be the height yet the Big Typhoon and the Ninja are just as high...

Its a very good cooler!!