- Jun 11, 2007
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There are several things to consider when looking for a good case. Some are more important then others. For the most part case selection is a matter of personal preferences and your individual needs. Amount the things to consider are:
Construction
The materials that make up your prospective case can determine if it's a quality case or not. The most commonly used materials are steel, aluminum and acrylic. Some of the sturdiest cases are made from steel. Overall it's the thickness of the material that matters. While steel weighs more then aluminum it has a more solid feel to it and you can use somewhat thinner material and still have a solid case. While aluminum needs to be fairly thick to make for a solid case. Overall aluminum is lighter then steel even when thicker material is used. So the thickness of the material is an important item to look at. Make sure the case is durable. If it?s flimsy to the touch then you may want to move on. Cheaper cases try to save money by using thinner material making for a shifty case that may be out of square. This will make installing the components difficult. Regardless of the weather it's steel or aluminum, if it's a cheap case it will have sharp edges that can further complicate your build. Some cases are made completely from Acrylic. While these cases are generally sturdy and look good they can have issues with static buildup. As long as the system is properly grounded this doesn't present much of a problem.
Cooling
Your choice of cooling, be it air or water, has a large impact on your choice of cases. While most cases center on air-cooling there are those that take water-cooling into consideration. Good cases tend to come with fans even if there isn?t a fan for every position in the case. Airflow configurations will very from one case to another. It all comes down to the overall design of the case as to what the optimal configuration of the fans will be. Cases like the Coolermaster Stacker 830 is designed to use a wall of fans on the side as intakes and every other fan is set as an exhaust, even the front fans.
Noise
For many noise level is a key concern. In general more fans mean more noise. Regardless of weather it's a silent fan or not. Air makes noise when it moves. Also pay attention to the size of fans. You will want the case to have 120mm fans or larger in it. Larger fans don?t have to spin as fast to supply the same amount of air as smaller ones. The faster a fan spins the more noise you get from both the motor and the fan blades cutting through the air.
Features
Now we enter the area of personal preference. There are a wide variety of features on cases. Ranging from windows and lights to removable motherboard trays and tool less drive bays. The list is almost endless. Now positioning of these features such as the placement of the front panel play a role in choosing a case. You wouldn?t want a top mounted front panel if your case is going to sit inside a cabinet. So think about the features you want and consider their impact. If you run your system in your bedroom 24/7 you may not want a case with LED fans. It may keep you up all night. Another facet is the interior layout of the case. There are those cases that are a bit cramped and difficult to work with. You also want to consider if the case has the room to fit that nice 1 kW PSU and that new video card. Also consider the orientation of the motherboard in the case. Some cases like many of the Lian-Li case mount the motherboard upside down. Many boards now use heat pipes to cool the chipset. Most of those heat pipes will not function well when mounted upside down.
Aesthetics
Simply put, you don?t want an ugly case. Maybe you?ll want a case that looks good to you and possibly fits in with the rest of your room. Maybe you want a case that can sit in your living room and not be noticed. Many people like a case that is noticed and can be showcased to friends. What ever your style is there should be a case to suit you. A wide range of colors and styles are used on cases. So whatever your preference may be you can find a case or at least make it look the way you want.
Conclusion
In the end it?s all a matter of finding what you like. Sometimes you may have to make compromises. Generally this is due to a limited budget. Just try not to compromise build quality for the look you want. Great thing about cases is if you don?t like something about it they can be modded but that?s another topic all together.
- Construction
Cooling
Noise
Features
Aesthetics
Construction
The materials that make up your prospective case can determine if it's a quality case or not. The most commonly used materials are steel, aluminum and acrylic. Some of the sturdiest cases are made from steel. Overall it's the thickness of the material that matters. While steel weighs more then aluminum it has a more solid feel to it and you can use somewhat thinner material and still have a solid case. While aluminum needs to be fairly thick to make for a solid case. Overall aluminum is lighter then steel even when thicker material is used. So the thickness of the material is an important item to look at. Make sure the case is durable. If it?s flimsy to the touch then you may want to move on. Cheaper cases try to save money by using thinner material making for a shifty case that may be out of square. This will make installing the components difficult. Regardless of the weather it's steel or aluminum, if it's a cheap case it will have sharp edges that can further complicate your build. Some cases are made completely from Acrylic. While these cases are generally sturdy and look good they can have issues with static buildup. As long as the system is properly grounded this doesn't present much of a problem.
Cooling
Your choice of cooling, be it air or water, has a large impact on your choice of cases. While most cases center on air-cooling there are those that take water-cooling into consideration. Good cases tend to come with fans even if there isn?t a fan for every position in the case. Airflow configurations will very from one case to another. It all comes down to the overall design of the case as to what the optimal configuration of the fans will be. Cases like the Coolermaster Stacker 830 is designed to use a wall of fans on the side as intakes and every other fan is set as an exhaust, even the front fans.
Noise
For many noise level is a key concern. In general more fans mean more noise. Regardless of weather it's a silent fan or not. Air makes noise when it moves. Also pay attention to the size of fans. You will want the case to have 120mm fans or larger in it. Larger fans don?t have to spin as fast to supply the same amount of air as smaller ones. The faster a fan spins the more noise you get from both the motor and the fan blades cutting through the air.
Features
Now we enter the area of personal preference. There are a wide variety of features on cases. Ranging from windows and lights to removable motherboard trays and tool less drive bays. The list is almost endless. Now positioning of these features such as the placement of the front panel play a role in choosing a case. You wouldn?t want a top mounted front panel if your case is going to sit inside a cabinet. So think about the features you want and consider their impact. If you run your system in your bedroom 24/7 you may not want a case with LED fans. It may keep you up all night. Another facet is the interior layout of the case. There are those cases that are a bit cramped and difficult to work with. You also want to consider if the case has the room to fit that nice 1 kW PSU and that new video card. Also consider the orientation of the motherboard in the case. Some cases like many of the Lian-Li case mount the motherboard upside down. Many boards now use heat pipes to cool the chipset. Most of those heat pipes will not function well when mounted upside down.
Aesthetics
Simply put, you don?t want an ugly case. Maybe you?ll want a case that looks good to you and possibly fits in with the rest of your room. Maybe you want a case that can sit in your living room and not be noticed. Many people like a case that is noticed and can be showcased to friends. What ever your style is there should be a case to suit you. A wide range of colors and styles are used on cases. So whatever your preference may be you can find a case or at least make it look the way you want.
Conclusion
In the end it?s all a matter of finding what you like. Sometimes you may have to make compromises. Generally this is due to a limited budget. Just try not to compromise build quality for the look you want. Great thing about cases is if you don?t like something about it they can be modded but that?s another topic all together.
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