good pc case

[fierydemise]

Anything by Coolermaster, Centurion on the lowerend, Wavemaster, Praetorian or Stacker for highend.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: Koudelka
Thanks for the suggestions i appreciate it!

Right now i'm torn between the antec p180 and the lian li pc-75B in black. Any first hand advice, or advice at all someone might have?

"or advice at all someone might have?"

These two cases are worlds apart from eachother. What i had to say about the P-180 is based on looking one over at Fry's. It had been man-handled by many. The box is heavy,31#empty. The internal construction was very good. The front panel door was hanging at an angle from rough treatment. Because it is well insulated it is a quiet case but heavy. The door should have it's hinges lubed with proper plastic oil and treated with respect. Those that have had hinges break have had Antec ship them new ones.
There are several threads here about PSU selection for this case...Search them out.
spcr review of P-180

The PC-75 would be modded considerably be me if i get one. I do have two L-L mid-towers and really like the brand but they too have short comings.
If there are more than two HDs put in the lower storage bay air flow will suffer.

I would mod the lower front intakes for 2-92x38 fans and open up the intake holes in the front panel with a drill in a drill press to keep them true. Silver cases have the advantage here because there is no need to touch-up the holes after they are enlarged.
All four rear 80mm stamped fan grills would be removed and two 80x38mm exhaust fans would be installed externally. Above the PSU two of the stock 80mm fans would be installed. This open space above the PSU is just begging for a HD cage to be installed and the 80mm fans exhausting here would give plenty of cooling. SATA drives would be used because the cables are of such small size compared to IDE. No storage drives would be near the case intake fans.
If all fans are on a good controller noise should be a non-issue for most users, most of the time the comp is in use.

The best deal i've found on this case is at performance-pcs.com/ @ $199. In that price is included two matching optical drive covers and a floppy cover, they would cost about $30 if bought seperatly.
The PC-75 does not have a slid-out mobo tray or PSU addapter plate. I think this was done because the case would be fragile if these were removed. This case does not have much in the way of internal bracing. It relies on these pieces being a permanet part of the case for structural integrity.
I have absolutly no need for a PC-75 in silver but might give myself one for Christmas.

If you decide that cost and size is not what you really want but you do want a black aluminum case, Consider the PC-7B Plus i mentioned above. The KingWin 424 series are a very nice case and they do have rubber HD mounts. Some can be had with a window. Look them over at Newegg. The intake fans on these might need to be up-rated and the rear stamped grills removed. The up-rating of intake fans isn't about 100cfm of air flow, it's about moving air fairly quietly. That's why the PC-7 Plus uses 120mm fans.

Good Luck on whatever you decide.

...Galvanized

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: fierydemise
Anything by Coolermaster, Centurion on the lowerend, Wavemaster, Praetorian or Stacker for highend.

O the CMStacker... if u can buy it, GET IT!!!

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Plus the obligatory nod to the Kingwin 424 series - very sturdy and elegant for the money - best selection and prices on the 424 have been at ZZF lately. Easy to open out the fan openings for more cooling if needed.

If only the Kingwin used 120mm fans and had an "innie" side window instead of an "outie." *SIGH*