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CM Stacker questions

C

CP5670

Diamond Member
I'm thinking of getting one of these. I know some of you have one of the Stacker cases and may be able to answer a few specific questions I have:

1: What material is it made of (steel or aluminum) and is it fairly thick and sturdy stuff? Some thin aluminum cases tend to vibrate with the fans and make extra noise, so I want to avoid that.
2: Can you move the USB/audio port cluster down to the bottom? I would be putting the case on my desk, so it would be better to have the ports further down.
3: It's supposed to support BTX, so does that mean that you can use an upside down ATX motherboard layout, like some of the Lian Li cases?
4: What's the difference between the original STC-T01 case and the 810 revision and which is better? They seem to be pretty similar except that the STC-T01 can hold two power supplies, an idea that I really like, while the 810 has two rear 120mm fan slots. I'm not interested in the new 830, which is smaller and far more expensive than the other two.
5: Is the crossflow addon worth buying? I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes in the temperatures.

At the moment I am looking at the STC-T01 in black ($145) together with the black window addon ($40), which seems to be a decent price compared to other similar cases. I will be using my existing Centurion 5 case on another machine, so I thought I might as well get something a bit larger for my main system.
 
1- A trip to the CM web site would answer this question - he helps those who help themselves...
2- Ditto
3- Ditto. The original needs an optional conversion kit, while the 810 is ATX and the 820 is BTX. I guess no conversion kit - or they preinstall it.
4- That's pretty much it.
5- Many seem to think so and it had better be for what it costs..

Plenty of reviews of both the original and the 810 can be found using google and some are even linked from the CM description pages.

.bh.
.
 
I like the original stacker better because of the dual PSU option, or extra fans.
Even without the BTX kit, you can still do the reversed ATX setup.
The cross flow fan is excellent. It does help.
I moved my USB and power ports to the bottom as well!
 
the 810 is the server model and does not have a cutout for the crossflow fan or a removeable motherboard tray. both the original and the 810 are very solid cases with aluminum door panels and strong steel insides. These are neither small or lightweight cases. The crossflow fan is worth it.

here is a pic of my temps http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/2471/optertemps0vk.jpg

my air only cooling: si-120 w/2500rpm panaflo, the stock case fans and a crossflow and gtx has evga acs cooling.
 
Thanks for the responses. Looks like the original STC-T01 is the way to go for me, especially since it's cheaper. I'll probably pick up a crossflow fan along with it.

1- A trip to the CM web site would answer this question - he helps those who help themselves...
2- Ditto
3- Ditto. The original needs an optional conversion kit, while the 810 is ATX and the 820 is BTX. I guess no conversion kit - or they preinstall it.
4- That's pretty much it.
5- Many seem to think so and it had better be for what it costs..

Plenty of reviews of both the original and the 810 can be found using google and some are even linked from the CM description pages.
Click to expand...

I looked at their site but there isn't a lot of information or images of the interior there. I have only checked out one or two reviews so far though, so I'll try going through more of them.
 
I went to the CM site and checked the pages for the specific Stacker cases and questions 1 thru 4 are pretty well covered there.

.bh.
 
Bumping this back up, as I'm about to order one of these and had one last question. Is the power supply cage at the top of the STC-T01 model removable?
 
The PSU adapter/mounting plates on the back are removable, the top PSU cage is not - unless you want to drill out the pop rivets.

.bh.
 
The PSU adapter/mounting plates on the back are removable, the top PSU cage is not - unless you want to drill out the pop rivets.
Click to expand...

hmm, that could throw off my plans a bit, as I was going to have the PSU at the bottom and use the top area for exhaust fans. I'm not sure how much the cage would impede airflow. I could get the 810 instead, but you can't flip the motherboard tray for an inverted ATX layout on that (I'm 99% sure this can be done on the STC-T01), which I may want to try at some point down the line.
 
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