Case Selection... >.<

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D

DDRGamer

Member
Jan 22, 2006
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Now, I've been lamenting my bad choice of my Raidmax 868 before I understood the TRUE meaning of style *and paying for it.. >.<* I've got a summer job lined up, and have been thinking about upgrading my case..

My main qualities I'm gunning for are:
Aluminum
120mm fan vents and the like.
no more than 19 *preferably 17 inches tall*
Window *or window kit available*
Individual pin connectors for front-panel audio

and... the hardest one to muster right now..
Side-facing HDD cage..

Right now, the only one that comes close is the Antec p160...

However, I've heard about some issues regarding the build quality and bezel.. so I obviously started peeking towards Lian-Li cases like...
Lian-Li PC-7B plus II
...however, I'd really love to have a window and a side-facing HDD cage...

so I'm back browsing the Lian-Li site when I come upon this:
Lian-Li PC-K60
Now.. this is what I'm talking about. It's not a window, but I'll take a grille...
...and then I notice that it has no 120 MM fan mount in the rear! :S
and the fact that no retailer has this, so it looks like a relatively new case.

...So I was wondering if it's worth that one small fan mount *plus the wait for this NEW case to come out* so I can get all the Lian-Li goodness that I'm craving. :p

oh. just so you know. this is my current rig, with potential expansions.

Venice 3000+ (OCed to 2.2 'til I get my AC 64 Pro and my x2 3800+)
MSI K8N Neo4-F (no plans, possibly a K8N Diamond, but I've heard it's a worse OCer)
2x512 OCZ Value RAM (going to 2gb when money is available)
Sapphire x700 Pro 256MB (hoping to find an IceQ x1800 GTO+unlock)
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 200 GB SATA HDD (still running...)
Creative Audigy 2 Value
Raidmax Scorpio 868 (in Silver.. >.< ugh.)

So.. just weigh in with your opinions on my future plans.. glad to take suggestions.

P.S: I live in Canada and therefore am limited to NCIX in terms of selection.. if they don't have it, neither do most other places...
(although I might be able to pull strings for stuff from the states)

Thanks,
Andy
 
L

LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
8,771
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i wouldn't even compare the antec to the lian li's of those two, both are great, just take whichever you like more
 
Z

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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aluminum noisier than steel - aluminum can be prittier than steel
aluminum lighter than steel - steel stronger than aluminum except for maybe the Silverstone SST-TJ07 (there's no equivalent to compare with).
sidesaddle HDD bays = ABOMINATION! (Unless you use strictly SATA or SCSI HDDs)

Lian Li, Silverstone, CoolerMaster and Thermaltake are about the only ones making interesting all Al cases. InWin is making an interesting case for Akasa that isn't widely available here (overcool.com is one of the few that carries it I think). Stainless steel mobo drawer, no window... Several others (including some of the above) put an interesting Al bezel on a steel box, Kingwin for example.

.bh.
 
V

virtualrain

Member
Aug 7, 2005
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sidesaddle HDD bays = ABOMINATION! (Unless you use strictly SATA or SCSI HDDs)
.bh.
Click to expand...

Why would you say that... I have a drive bay in my machine that runs front to back and it is a PITA... hard to take drives in and out with any graphics card in place, and unfortunately due to the growing length of graphics cards (i.e. my 7800 GTX) I can't use one of my drive bays because the card is too long. If I went with SLI, I would have to give up two drive bays for that reason. A side facing drive bay is the only way to go IMHO.
 
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virtualrain

Member
Aug 7, 2005
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Originally posted by: DDRGamer

P.S: I live in Canada and therefore am limited to NCIX in terms of selection.. if they don't have it, neither do most other places...
(although I might be able to pull strings for stuff from the states)
Click to expand...

One other suggestion... If you are in Vancouver, check these guys out... if it's not on their site: call. All the Vancouver retailers deal with a handful of distributors... they can all get the same stuff...

http://www.computraksystem.com/
 
D

DDRGamer

Member
Jan 22, 2006
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Why would you say that... I have a drive bay in my machine that runs front to back and it is a PITA... hard to take drives in and out with any graphics card in place, and unfortunately due to the growing length of graphics cards (i.e. my 7800 GTX) I can't use one of my drive bays because the card is too long. If I went with SLI, I would have to give up two drive bays for that reason. A side facing drive bay is the only way to go IMHO.
Click to expand...

on that note.. has anyone seen any side-facing drive bay kits for Lian-Li cases? If you have, then I'd have no prob grabbing the PC-7B plus II ... that's honestly the only thing hold me back.. (that, and lack of funds, anyways)
 
Z

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
18,998
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virtualrain,
"Sidesaddle=abom"."Why would you say that..." Try to put one PATA HDD and one optical drive on the same cable (spec length - 18", 6" between drive connectors) with sidesaddle bays (assuming you've used all your 5" bays with one thing or another)... You are the one that chose the Tsunami which is under 19" deep including a fairly thick bezel - have to expect things to be a bit tight. Plenty of cases out there 21 or more inches deep or otherwise arrange things for more internal depth. Most people aren't going to be buying those oversized vid cards anyway.

AssistantPimp,
. I really like the Eureka too. Tt has been coming out with quite a few reasonably conservative cases lately with decent internal designs. It has sidesaddle bays, but all my HDDs are SATA or SCSI, so that would be OK for me.

OP,
. Very few cases with mobo drawers are going to have fans bigger than 80mm, bigger fan would mean a thicker case. The Akasa has a 120mm fan in the drawer, but the case is over 8" wide - part of the reason for the high cost. Probably couldn't squeeze more than a 92mm fan into the drawer back. May need to consider an 80-120mm fan adapter mounted on the outside of the back of the case similar to this: Cool Zippy, that I did on my PSU.

.bh.
 
S

Soubriquet

Member
Feb 6, 2005
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I am in a similar situation and none of the big names are producing designs that are right for me. I dont see the attraction of aluminium personally and I dont want a door.

Antec P160W attracted my attention but I saw some others that might do the job. I made some cheap builds for family recently with inexpensive cases and was impressed with the results. So I dont think that paying extra for the brand name is really worth it, which is what you do with Antec, Lian Li, Tt, Coolermaster etc.

I dont like front doors and I want 120 fans, I am looking at the Akasa Amber 120 fans btw but haven't tried them yet.

The closest I came to what I want are here, but I dont think either of them have a transverse 3.5" ide cage. So I think I will stick with my modified Antec Performance plus for the time being even if it does look boring as hell, but I see no reason why I should not share a short cut or two for your interest.

http://www.xionusa.com/product-case-XionChin.html
XION better product description here
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/108153


http://aspireusa.net/category.php?cid=35
ditto ASPIRE X-Dreamer II
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/99445
 
N

nullpointerus

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2003
1,326
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Originally posted by: Soubriquet
http://aspireusa.net/category.php?cid=35
ditto ASPIRE X-Dreamer II
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/99445
Click to expand...
I recommend against the X-Dreamer II. On mine the six front lights started dimming or burning out entirely after a few months. The problem seems very common, judging from the feedback on NewEgg. Now, the temperature display was nice, but there are other cases with temperature displays. I threw the case out recently, replaced it with an Antec SLK-3000B, and haven't regretted it at all.
 
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Skott

Diamond Member
Oct 4, 2005
5,730
1
76
Check with Performance-PC.com because they'll do some modding to your specifications even if they dont show it on their website. Downside is that modding increases the price but if you want something particular that the regular manufacturers dont provide/offer you dont have alot of choices unless you do it yourself.
 
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DDRGamer

Member
Jan 22, 2006
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Then again, I'm leaving my rig for 7 weeks, amassing money.

I guess I'll have a look and re-evaluate the new options when I get back.

thanks a lot for your help, guys.
 
Makubex GB

Makubex GB

Senior member
Mar 11, 2005
472
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Originally posted by: Zepper

sidesaddle HDD bays = ABOMINATION! (Unless you use strictly SATA or SCSI HDDs)
Click to expand...
I completely agree with Zepper on this. It obstructs too much the airflow.


To fit your specs the Tt Armor Jr. seems like the best choice. The Lian Li PC-K60 would be perfect if the front fan didn't had to do so much work to pull air from those tiny holes.

But I do recommend Tt Tsunami, just because it DOES NOT have a sidesaddle HDD bay, but it complies with all your other requests, plus it's very roomy and the airflow in this case is very good.

The Lian Li PC-60APLUSII is also quite good, but it has an 80mm fan at the back, which for me, is such a turn off.
 
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Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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As noted here or elsewhere, the Tsunami can have mechanical conflicts between HDDs and full-length video or other add-on cards as it is not quite as deep as it should be. But if you only have one or two HDDs, then locating them where they won't interfere shouldn't be a problem.

.bh.
 
Makubex GB

Makubex GB

Senior member
Mar 11, 2005
472
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Originally posted by: Zepper
As noted here or elsewhere, the Tsunami can have mechanical conflicts between HDDs and full-length video or other add-on cards as it is not quite as deep as it should be. But if you only have one or two HDDs, then locating them where they won't interfere shouldn't be a problem.

.bh.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, weird cuz I had the Tsunami before and I have 4 HDDs and non of them conflicted with my X1800 XT. Anyway, there's space for 5 HDDs in the cage so just place them around the card. If you have more than 4 HDDs you should get a full tower anyway.
 
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Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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Makubex,

One person mentioned it in a discussion of the relative merits of normal and sidesaddle drive bay orientations. But judging from other comments, the problem could well have been PEBKAC... ;)

.bh.
 
S

Soubriquet

Member
Feb 6, 2005
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