Case Suggestions: Can be big and ugly but...

[darunium]

I'm looking for a case that is reasonably cool and quiet when running but not operational (bedroom use), noisy when gaming is OK.

Specs:
- Large enough for GTX480 SLI or HD5850 CF
- <$120, preferably <<
- Cool enough for gaming (but not really overclocking anything) with 3HDD and 2 GPUs, with a 650-750W PSU
- Quiet when turned on but not in use (bedroom use, backing up to it overnight from other comps on the network)
- Don't care about looks (I prefer a minimalist design if possible)
- Don't care about size (as long as it is large enough)

Thanks for any suggestions,
Darunium

 

[Kenmitch]

Take a look at the following

Cooler Master 690 II This is has some nice features and is somewhat simple looking

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...16&cm_re=cooler_master-_-11-119-216-_-Product

Cooler Master HAF 922 I have this one and it's manly looking with alot of room and great airflow. For referance this has 4" of video card clearance to HD cage with a 5850 in it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&cm_re=haf_922-_-11-119-197-_-Product

Fixed the links for you. For some reason they went to newegg canada

 

[ThorofThunder]

Cooler Master 690 II This is has some nice features and is somewhat simple looking

Also check out the CM 690 II Advanced (especially if you're going to CF or SLI. It comes with a few extra things, one of which is a metal-bracket thing that helps support extra VGA cards so that they don't warp the motherboard.)

You'd be fine either way, though. It's all about peace of mind.

Other than that, the 690 II and HAF 922 are solid recommendations. You can't go wrong with either.

 

[one30eight]

I am liking the Lancool PC-KXX.. it is really quiet, keeping everything cool and was easy setting up.

 

[nyker96]

haf 932 or 922.

 

[Kenmitch]

This should show how much room the HAF 922 has to play around with....Look at the itty bitty HD 5850

 

[Ultralight]

kenmitch, thanks for the photo. I have seriously almost pulled the trigger on this case for the past two days. I even have the same psu to install. Do they have a fan that will blow directly upn the harddrive much like Thrmaltake's full tower cases?

Anything else you can tell us about this case if one is not water cooling. I'm basically in the same boat as darunium.

Thanks.

 

[Kenmitch]

kenmitch, thanks for the photo. I have seriously almost pulled the trigger on this case for the past two days. I even have the same psu to install. Do they have a fan that will blow directly upn the harddrive much like Thrmaltake's full tower cases?

Anything else you can tell us about this case if one is not water cooling. I'm basically in the same boat as darunium.

Thanks.

If you look at my picture the case has a 200mm intake fan between front of case and HD cage with red led that you can turn off with a switch. My upper rad is mounted to the second exhaust 200mm fan. 120mm rear exhaust fan also. Internal temps pretty much stay at ambient room temp due to great airflow. You can also add either a 200mm or 2x 120mm's to the side door. But may impead the ability of a large cpu cooler. You could also add another 120mm fan between the power supply and HD cage if needed.

The HD trays are quick install. They also have 2 cross braces for support of HD. These cross braces can be modified for a SSD drive by just lining the SSD drive with the rear one and marking and drilling 2 little screw holes for bottom mounting the SSD. The other end of a SSD will just sit on the other cross brace for support.

Cable management well you see in the picture. You can pretty much just run all cables behind the MB as the case has about 1"-2" of room behind the tray. The tray cutout for cpu cooler mounting may or may not line up with you MB. I had to mod mine for the evga S1156 but was perfect for my old Asus S775 setup. Which is no biggy if your not into swapping cpu's or coolers all the time.

I'd say it's the best case I've worked with so far.

Guess it's just a matter if you like the look or not. And if the dimensions will work for you as the case is not tall but wide and has depth.

I got a great deal on mine from Amazon on Black Friday $59.99 shipped

 

[Ultralight]

Duh-me! Yeah, now I see the fan. It was staring me in the face all this time. Believe it or not this so-called midtower is larger than my full tower Xaser II which is a beast.

I like the look. Thanks for the indepth feedback. Wish I saw it on Black Friday.

 

[Binky]

Minimalist + quiet = antec sonata series

 

[jpk]

I have that case and I added two fans to those that came with the case, a 220mm to the side panel and a 120mm to the bottom grille in front of the power supply bay. I can say this, the thing has great air flow. The large 220mm fans move alot of air but quietly due to their low rpm rate. There's alot of room in the case as well. The negs I have on it, it is a vacuum. It attracts a lot of dust due to the large fans and open design of the case. The front filter is a pain to get to to clean and it is not very substancial and it is the only filter the case has. On my case the fit of the side panels is not the best. After coming from my older, smaller Lian Li mid tower which felt like it was designed by an aircraft company, the HAF fit is not quite as precise and a lot of pressure needs to be applied to areas of the panels when reinstalling them. But then again, you get what you pay for.

 

[jpk]

I have that case and I added two fans to those that came with the case, a 220mm to the side panel and a 120mm to the bottom grille in front of the power supply bay. I can say this, the thing has great air flow. The large 220mm fans move alot of air but quietly due to their low rpm rate. There's alot of room in the case as well. The negs I have on it, it is a vacuum. It attracts a lot of dust due to the large fans and open design of the case. The front filter is a pain to get to to clean and it is not very substancial and it is the only filter the case has. On my case the fit of the side panels is not the best. After coming from my older, smaller Lian Li mid tower which felt like it was designed by an aircraft company, the HAF fit is not quite as precise and a lot of pressure needs to be applied to areas of the panels when reinstalling them. But then again, you get what you pay for.

 

[MJinZ]

I'm looking for a case that is reasonably cool and quiet when running but not operational (bedroom use), noisy when gaming is OK.

Specs:
- Large enough for GTX480 SLI or HD5850 CF
- <$120, preferably <<
- Cool enough for gaming (but not really overclocking anything) with 3HDD and 2 GPUs, with a 650-750W PSU
- Quiet when turned on but not in use (bedroom use, backing up to it overnight from other comps on the network)
- Don't care about looks (I prefer a minimalist design if possible)
- Don't care about size (as long as it is large enough)

Thanks for any suggestions,
Darunium

If this is a joke, I'm laughing.....

 

[darunium]

If this is a joke, I'm laughing.....

Yeah after doing a lot more research, I ended up going with the P193 for the size and silence and a CP-1000 for plenty of power overhead (although annoyingly it only has 840W on the +12v rails, whereas the Corsair TX950 has 930W on a nice single +12v rail, still I'm enamored with it and it's unclear to me who actually manufactures the TX950, since I've heard it's a different producer than the Corsair TX650(seasonic).

I debated the Antec 1200 (spacious, great cooling, but no sound reduction), the CM HAF932 (spacious, effective, cheapish, but no sound reduction), and the Antec P183 (quiet, beautifully sleek, but have to remove a HDD cage to fit a full length video card, and I see no reason to be tight on space when I don't have to). I'm excited about the P193, it's pretty, it's big (except thin, which is annoying since I've had a real time trying to find an effective CPU cooler), cooling seems solid, build quality seems high, and if anything is going be quiet it should be with it's various sound dampening features.