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CM Stacker 830 vs Lian Li V2100 vs TT Tai Chi ?

M

Mixman

Senior member
I am going to buy a case this week and I need to decide which of the cases listed is better for water cooling. Specifically a Swiftech Apex kit with a dual radiator. I want to mount everything inside the case, a "stealth" look. I also don't want to have to do any mods or at least minimal mods on the case to fit the dual rad.

Which case would be better and easier to work with ?
 
Does Lian Li still use those push-through bracket mounts for motherboard risers? I really like the CM screw risers better.
 
i vote for the Stacker 830. it's on newegg already, but is showing out of stock. i'll be purchasing one once it comes in stock.
 
The Silverstone TJ07 is also an option too, but is the most expensive at $359. It has two things going for it, maybe three.... two different places for a dual rad and very high quality.....oh and it's maybe one of the best looking cases too.

If this case was< $300 this tread wouldn't exist as I would have just ordered it.
 
I want to buy the V2100 especially since I own the V1000B and I like it a lot. It's just that the V2100 will require a decent amount of modding to get that dual rad in there. If you mount the rad at the top, you have to do a large cutout for it. At the bottom you have to move around the HDD cages and or cut them to fit a rad. It's unfortunately a lot of work, since I don't really have the time or tools for it. I could pay Performance-PCS to do the cuts for me but I am sure that will add like another $30-$50 to a $299 price, now I am hitting into Silverstone TJ07 territory($359). That case won't need any mods for a dual rad.
 
i think the stacker is what you need, have you seen the room in there. check out the hardwarezone.com review on the stacker. they took a pic from the side with a standard ATX mobo installed and the remaining room was impressive.
 
Both the stacker and the v2100 are server-class enclosures. You won't have much problems installing a dual rad IMO. And if worst comes to worst, just throw it on the back of your rig.

I just like the look of the v2100 over the stacker.
 
Just read the review on AT of the 830 and the Tai-Chi. Gotta say I hate both of them.

The 830 is just plain hideous. Why the heck does it even have a door on the front? The door serves no function other than questionable esthetics. Stupid. Drop a red light in the thing and you have your own Cylon from Battlestar Galactica. Other than the aluminum construction, the 830 is a step backward from the 810. The 810 has the PSU on the bottom, two 120mm exhaust fans, and doesn't have a front door to get in the way.

The Tai-Chi is homely like most Thermaltake products, and the only thing going for it is the unexpected quality of construction. Now, if they just got rid of the front clamshell doors, the funky three-piece side doors for normal sleek side panels, moved the PSU to the bottom, and put a blowhole and fan on the top, they would have one incredible product.

The Lian-Li 2100 has one minor drawback: it uses a reverse-ATX design which mean you cannot use a motherboard with heatpipes like the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe in the thing unless you strip the motherboard and watercool the chipsets.

So, for my next build (I am also looking for a full tower) I think I will go with the CM Stacker 810 despite the heavy steel construction. It just simply has the design features I want: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119093
 
Well I have since got the TJ07. Perfect for water cooling. I have a triple rad in mine with no mods. If I pulled my water out of the case, you would never know I even had a water system in there.

I like the TJ07 so much I bought two, one silver, one black and am selling my V1000B in the for sale section.
 
The TJ07. Nice. Very sleek, almost elegant. Would be perfect except that the PSU is sideways (to fit 2, but how many non-enterprise users use 2 PSUs? What enterprise user is going to buy a $300+ case? With the PC Power & Cooling 1K model, is two even necessary anymore?) and the hard drive cages don't utilize drive dampening (on such an expensive case, not even rubber grommets? Come on!)

But I digress, it IS a case that is very pleasing to the eye.
 
I've pretty much settled on an original STC-T01 Stacker when I upgrade some things in a few weeks. At $145 it's very cheap compared to the other cases of this size and I like its cooling capabilities and appearance as well as the dual PSU support.
 
Originally posted by: Pyrokinetic
The TJ07. Nice. Very sleek, almost elegant. Would be perfect except that the PSU is sideways (to fit 2, but how many non-enterprise users use 2 PSUs? What enterprise user is going to buy a $300+ case? With the PC Power & Cooling 1K model, is two even necessary anymore?) and the hard drive cages don't utilize drive dampening (on such an expensive case, not even rubber grommets? Come on!)

But I digress, it IS a case that is very pleasing to the eye.
Click to expand...

Drives can be a touch loud but you are buying this case for it's space and great design.....and the looks ain't bad either.
 
I really love my V2100+
I use a stock HSF (non-heatpipe) and overclocked my processor 10% easily. I have been exploring the quiet side of computing with this case. Despite this quest for quiet, the processor, overclocked, still idles around 75 degrees F, a bit above ambient, though not much.

The Abit board uses the Q-Otes heatpipe cooling system, and that has worked well, though I do not know how far I could overclock the nForce chipset.
-Steven
 
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