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Help me choose a case

G

Goi

Diamond Member
Hi,
I'll be building a new system within a couple of months so I'm doing some research now. I've had my current Addtronics 6896A for almost a decade, and while it was excellent for its time, it's time for a change. I'm on a budget and I'm not in the USA so my choices are kinda limited. I've narrowed it down to the following few choices with converted price and pros/cons
Casetek CK-1022-5 - US$115
Pros:
Cheapest of the lot
Relatively big
Relatively deep
Pretty good looking
Cons:
Overall quality might not be as good?
Only space for 4 HDDs
External USB ports are all jam packed together
Might not fit 8800GTX with 3.5" cage at the bottom?

Coolermaster CM Stacker STC-01 - US$160
Pros:
Very deep
Even more space for expansion
Coolermaster reputation
Looks good
Cons:
Might be too big
Most expensive of the lot
Only space for 3 HDDs?

Enermax CS-718 - US$130

Pros:
Seems to be based on the Silverstone TJ-06 which got a great review on AT
Good cooling with the wind tunnel
Space for 6 HDDs
External USB ports are spaced out more
Looks good
Cons:
Not as much space for expansion, but probably sufficient.
Wind tunnel might obstruct big CPU HSFs?
GPU/rest of the system gets no wind tunnel love - gets hot?
Not as deep as the rest

As you can see from my choices, I want a big roomy case that has lotsa room for expansion. I currently have 6 HDDs and with my new system I'm probably getting 1-2 more, and decommisioning some of the old ones, but I'd still probably have at least 3-4 to deal with.

I'm also looking for something deep because I don't want a long graphics card to mess with whatever's at the front of the case. My previous 2 cases(Addtronics 6896A and Antec PlusView 1000AMG) both had this problem with my 6800GT, and I think an 8800 series card would be longer. From the looks of it though, the Enermax, though the shallowest, will fit big cards easily since there's no drive bays in front. I'm not sure about the other 2 though.

Cooling is also obviously important since I intend to do some amount of overclocking. As such I'll be getting an aftermarket CPU HSF, and I'm concerned if oversized HSFs fit in the Enermax's wind tunnel.

So, any opinions and recommendations for or against any of these cases? Any and all comments are appreciated. TIA
 
I viewed it, but I don't have any experience with any of those cases so i don't think I could give you any good suggestions/feedback.

I can say that the Lian Li PC-A10B is a great case though 🙂
 
I hate monstrous cases in general but I would go with the Enermax.

The Casetek and Coolermaster are hideous.
 
If you can find the Aerocool brand there, their Spiral Galaxies is on the same design as the Enermax, SST-TJ06, Tt Circles, etc. and is the least expensive of them all. And speaking of Silverstone, their TJ05 is a nice big box too. If you can find it w/o the built in Eudemon fan/temp controller and the window, they can be not totally unreasonable price wise.

.bh.
 
Originally posted by: Operandi
I hate monstrous cases in general but I would go with the Enermax.

The Casetek and Coolermaster are hideous.
Click to expand...

Haha, well one man's meat is another man's poison. I thought they pretty much looks the same. Same black mesh grille flanked by plastic/aluminum sides. They all look good to me.
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
If you can find the Aerocool brand there, their Spiral Galaxies is on the same design as the Enermax, SST-TJ06, Tt Circles, etc. and is the least expensive of them all. And speaking of Silverstone, their TJ05 is a nice big box too. If you can find it w/o the built in Eudemon fan/temp controller and the window, they can be not totally unreasonable price wise.

.bh.
Click to expand...

Yup I can find the Aerocool Masstige/Baydream here, but they're kinda smaller than what I'm looking for so I eliminated them. They're also not cheaper than the Casetek. I don't see the Spiral Galaxy for sale here though. From the website the internals look exactly the same as the TJ-06/CS-718, but I'm not a fan of that front bezel. Unfortunately while we have the TJ-03/04/06, I don't see any TJ-05s here either. Even if they are available here they're probably even more expensive than the Stacker.
 
Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
how'd u manage to eliminate all the Lian Li's and Silverstone case's from your list?
Click to expand...

Simple - price. While I'd like to have a PC-V1000 or a TJ-09, I won't be getting one until I strike the lottery. 🙂

Anyway, the crowd seems to lean towards the Enermax. I have to admit that my current favorite is the Castek, with the Enermax being a very close 2nd...mainly because it's cheaper. Some things about the Casetek worry me though, like it only supporting 4 HDDs with that single cage. I do love the option of 3 intake 120mm fans compared to the Enermax's wind tunnel. The wind tunnel sounds like a great idea for the CPU/mobo/memory area, but I'm skeptical as to how well the remaining 80mm intake cools the rest of the system, especially since I'm gonna have at least 4 HDDs. I've read contradicting reviews regarding the cooling performance. Some reviews are wax lyrical about it, while others are disgusted by it. Does anyone have any first hand experience with the case(either the CS-718, TJ-06 or the Spiral Galaxy)?

I'll probably go take a look at the Enermax tomorrow just to get a feel of the overall quality, but unfortunately I'm not able to do that with the Casetek since it's online only.
 
I remember Goi from another thread and he is currently in Singapore, not NY as his Profile says - so Newegg prices are unobtainium there. Probably every case he has mentioned (except the Casetek - and that may be available under another name as they OEM for lots of middlemen like Enermax and Antec) can be had for less here.

As I said in the other thread, the Casetek should be a solid case as long as it has the features you need. I don't particularly care for that Enermax/Silverstone/Tt/Aerocool as you don't have much freedom of choice of HSF if you want to use the wind tunnel and its airflow patterns in general are weird. The Stackers can add 4 more HDD bays at a time with additional 4-in-3 modules.You can use the same modules in other cases to add HDD space. See my review of HDD cages here: http://www.techimo.com/reviews/

The S6000 from this page and the CK800 (sold under the ATop brand here - aka the Domino series ) series from this page are good cases as well if you can find them there.

.bh.
 
Yup like Zepper mentioned(as well as me in my original post) I'm out of NY now so newegg prices are useless to me. The wind tunnel issue with large heatsinks is one of the things I'm worried about. You mean all cages are basically the same size/have the same screw holes? Will they work in the Casetek then?

As for the Antec 900, I was considering it, but it's almost the same price as the Stacker here, and considerably smaller(it's a mid-tower afterall) so it didn't make my list. Same for the P180. Anyway, I'll be dropping by the computer parts area tomorrow so I'll give all of them a closer look.
 
The cages I mentioned in my review will fit most cases that have two or three contiguous 5" bays. Some cases space out the 5" bays so you might only be able to use one set of bay screws to mount the cage, which shouldn't be a problem in most cases. And as I also said, you may have to bend the bay separator tabs back out of the way (two pairs on each side), but that would probably pertain only to the CoolerMaster cage as it is the only one with solid flat sides (the mounting panels) from top to bottom.

.bh.
 
So I went to take a look at the case. Didn't manage to find the Casetek, but I did find a silver Enermax CS-718 and a black Silverstone TJ-06. I wasn't able to look inside the CS-718 since there's no side window. I couldn't only peak in from the rear vents and the PSU hole. Anyway, while the interior of them are the same, I found that the Silverstone's front bezel looked better. For some reason, the Enermax's bezel didn't look as sturdy or well constructed as the Silverstone. If I get either of them, I'd probably spend the extra 10USD for the Silverstone. Besides, the only shop that sells the Enermax says they don't have and will not have the Enermax in black, which is a bummer since Silver doesn't go too well with ODDs. For now though I'm still trying to see if I can see the Casetek in the flesh...
 
Amazing what one can discover from actually reading the thread... :roll:

I wish I lived nearer to Cal and then I'd buy one of those blue Stackers from SVC, but the shipping is killer to the East Coast from there. SVC has a bunch of CM stuff at lower prices than anywhere else. I guess they have a direct pipeline to the overstock dump.

.bh.
 
Yeah shipping of large items are killer, but when I was still in NY and MI I bought all my coolers and accessories from them. They are one of the cheapest for these items...
 
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