I can't decide on a case!

[AngryGuy]

I'm ordering my computer this week and I really can't decide on a case. Right now I'm looking at the CM Stacker, Lian Li PC-70, and the Silverstone TMJ05.

Money isn't really an issue but I don't want to spend over $200. I'm looking for the case with the best cooling and functionality above all else. I'm open to any other suggestions as well.

I'm also trying to decide between a Zalman 7000AL-Cu or the Thermalright 948U, so if you can help me there too, I'd really appreciate it. I'm leaning towards the Zalman right now due to price.

 

[gotensan01]

I bought the Cooler Master Wavemaster and now I regret not buying the Stacker. The stacker still looks good but provides a lot of space for other things like the water cooling kit I want to place. The wavemaster is a very nice case but is too small to add a water cooling kit inside. Even if you don't plan on doing any mod like this, I would still buy the stacker or another case that is fairly large. I didn't plan on water cooling but I changed my mind.

I have read reviews and seen pics of the lian-li pc-70 and I definetly like that too. But i would go with CM Stacker just cause I love Cooler Master.

 

[Degrador]

I have the cooler master stacker case, and simply love it. It's big, cool, and quiet. Pretty much exactly what I was after. It's not for everybody, but if the best cooling and functionality is what you're after, then the stacker is exactly what you need. 2 psu bays is great for a large number of devices or for watercooling, and the BTX support is a huge bonus too. Plus, if the noise doesn't bother you, up to 8 fans can be good too .

 

[Munkies123]

i had that problem a couple weeks ago

 

[AngryGuy]

Thanks for the responses guys. It looks like the CM Stacker will probably be my case.

The Silverstone still appeals to me, though. It's pretty and it's got a lot of neat features. Well, I have a few more days to decide.

 

[AngryGuy]

Sorry to bump the topic.. but can anyone say anything on a possible cooling performance difference between the CM Stacker and a PC70 or Silverstone? They all look about the same to my untrained eye.

Or a noise difference, maybe?

 

[Degrador]

I'd say you'll find the stacker case will be cooler than both of those other two. Especially the silverstone case. That silverstone case has precious little in terms of intake. The Lian Li is better with the front 80mm vents, but the stacker has the entire front as an intake, not to mention a huge 300mm circular side vent, and the top and large bottom vents, and the potential for the crossflow fan to cool the motherboard.

The Stacker case is almost entirely built for ventilation - if keeping your system cool was a large concern, I'd definitely be going with the stacker. Just as long as the size and weight don't bother you (I personally consider the size a plus, but some like smaller cases).

Edit: Not to mention that the stacker should be quieter than the others too. Only thing that might contradict that is if the others dampen the noise slightly by not having as many vents. If that's so, then you have to weigh up whether you'd prefer a quieter system or a cooler system. Even still though, I seriously doubt the stacker would be noisier. Especially if you have to use 80mm front fans on the others.

 

[phillyman36]

Hey Degrador question, if i chose to put my psu at the bottom instead of the top does it look like the power cord and atx power cable would have any trouble reaching the motherboard? i thought i read somewhere that if you choose to put the psu at the bottom that they hope you cord was long enough to reach it

 

[Degrador]

What psu and motherboard do you have? 'Cause I've got an antec psu and a asus P4P800 deluxe, and the 20-pin motherboard connector would be fine, but not too certain about the cpu power connector. I would strongly recommend having the psu at the top though. It'll help with airflow (cool air in at the bottom with psu air exhausting at top, not to mention if you have a 2 fan psu, the intake for the psu will help cool the cpu), and it'll help with cable management too. I wouldn't want to have cables running on top of the pci and agp cards, but maybe that's just me. Any particular reason you want the psu at the bottom?

 

[phillyman36]

Hey D i thought if i put the PSU at the bottom i would have better cablemanagement but i guess not. i was waiting for chenbro to release their gaming bomb 2 with the integrated cable managment (channel to hide cables) my motherboard is a gigabyte and an antec psu. is the enought space to hide the extra wires behind the back (back of the motherboard)? how do you hide your wires the Antec amg 1000 plusview i have doesnt have enough space between the motherboard plate and the rightside (behind motherboard to tape wires

 

[Degrador]

The stacker has huge stand-offs, so there's plenty of room behind the motherboard to hide cables if you want. As for me, I've got 3 optical drives, 2 hard disks, a fan controller and the truecontrol psu (with a 5.25" bay for voltage and fan tweaking, not to mention the abundance of power connectors), so there's not much hope for me hiding my cables anywhere . Especially with the fan controller - I've got fan and temperature cables going everywhere. Still, I suppose I could try and hide them behind the motherboard if I have the time and can be bothered. Anyway, as for your q, the case has plenty of room for hiding all your cables, temp probes, fake passports and AK-47s, so don't sweat it .

 

[phillyman36]

Hey D thanks for the info its between the gaming bomb 2 and the CM stacker. ill only have 2 optical drives and 1 hard drive plus whatever wires the case has. Do you have any pictures of the inside of your case?

 

[Ethex]

I am kinda partial to the V2000 Lian Li put out. $50 more then what you want to spend but well worth it and there is ton of room to boot

 

[phillyman36]

i was looking at some of those and was afraid of problems with the video card/ motherboard being upside down

 

[AngryGuy]

The PCV-2000B is a whopping $100 more at newegg... is that the case you're talking about?

 

[Ethex]

it runs about $250 you said you didn't want to spend more then $200. Other shops are cheaper then NewEgg but lack the reputaion.

One bonus to having the motherboard flipped is that a leaky watercooled CPU wont drip on the video card. My case just arrived last week and I havent had a chance to fill it up with parts yet so I cannot speak to any problems.

A peek at my new baby

 

[Ariste]

Ethex,

If you don't mind me asking, what makes the PC-V2000B so much better than the CM Stacker? From what I can see, the CM Stacker has the benefit with better cooling options and BTX support. I'm definitely not an expert when it comes to cases, though. Could you point out what makes the PC-V2000B so much better?

Thanks,

 

[Degrador]

Sorry phillyman, no pics - I don't have a digital camera.

Ariste - I think the compartmental approach of the Lian Lis is probably slightly better than just the completely open area of the stacker, but I doubt it'd make that much difference. Personally I like the larger size of the stacker, and also imho the new Lian Lis are rather fugly. Having the mesh in black (like on the stacker) looks much better than the silver of the Lian Li. But I guess we are talking more about features and cooling than looks.

Incidentally, you can make the stacker have the motherboard upside down as well (upside down atx, not just btx) if you want. And I don't think you should worry too much about the vid card or anything else being upside down causing problems. In fact, I'd say the vid card will cool better if it's upside down - with the current ATX form the vid card's heat will be blown out below it, and then just rise back up onto the heatsink again - if it were upside down the heat would be blown away and would rise up away from the card.

 

[AngryGuy]

I'm gonna have to agree with Degrador here about the aesthetics of the Lian Li. I don't care much for the looks of any Lian Li cases, actually. I think the PC70 looks decent, though.

I really like the look of the Stacker but that circular side vent leaves something to be desired.

When I order on friday, the Stacker will probably be my case.

Thanks Degrador!

 

[Degrador]

No probs - I do agree somewhat about the side vent, but there is a window that can be purchased separately if looks are your sort of thing. Even still, that vent does provide a wonderful service - if you have your cpu cooler blowing air out, that vent will allow the air to go directly out of the case. It's beautiful if you have a large cooler like my XP-120 .

 

[Ariste]

Thanks for the advice, Degrador. I agree with you about the Lian-Li's look... none of the Lian Li's really do it for me. I like the Stacker's look. Good point about the vent and heatsink, too. Would you recommend getting an 80mm exhaust fan to mount there? That would really suck out all the heat from your heatsink.

Thanks for the help,

 

[Degrador]

I personally try to avoid using 80mm fans for the noise level - they really don't compare to the ability of 120mm fans. Besides, if your heatsink is exhausting air away from the cpu, it should go straight out the case - shouldn't be much need for a side fan. If cooling is of most importance to you, then I'm certain it wouldn't hurt .

However, I'd probably get the cross flow fan over a side 80mm exhaust. Currently my system is unbalanced as far as airflow - only one intake (the front 120mm fan), with 2.5 exhausts (rear 120mm, psu 80mm, and the cpu blowing air out the side vent), so getting a crossflow for intake would be good. Not sure what your setup would be like though.

Another thing I'm thinking of getting is another HD drive cage for another front 120mm intake. They're only $25AU here (about $18US), yet include a coolermaster 120mm fan and the actual cage itself. Something to think about anyway...

 

[Ariste]

Yeah, I'm definitely getting the Crossblow Fan. I also plan to get the 2 fans that can be mounted where the second PSU could go. I'm not sure if I should, though, since this could really unbalance the airflow if they are both exhaust fans, which rear fans usually are. That would make 1 120mm and the Crossblow Fan as intake and 3 rear fans in the back exhausting are plus the heatsink fan exhausting air out the side. Although I could always get the HD drive cages to suck in air and balance it out a little bit. That's probably what I'll do.

I just realized, though, that the HSF I was thinking of getting, the Cooler Master Hyper 6, won't work with this plan since it has side mounted fans. Think I would be better off switching to something like the XP-120?

EDIT: Also, where can I get those HD drive cages? Not sure what places supply them.

Thanks again for your advice,

 

[Degrador]

The XP-120 is meant to be the best heatsink for cooling socket 478 at the moment, there's a thread here on it. It does work well with the stacker case at blowing the air out of the case. Although depending on your motherboard, the Hyper-6 might blow directly towards the rear 120mm fan (probably even more preferable). Problem is it does depend on the motherboard - for the P4P800 Deluxe that I have, it'll blow towards my psu or my graphics card, which is very undesirable.

Apart from the minor things mentioned in that thread, the XP-120 is good though - I highly recommend it. As I said in the thread, I have a very low rpm fan mounted on the heatsink, and it still works better than stock.

 

[AngryGuy]

How is your current cooling setup as far noise?

Anything would be an improvement of the case I have right now. It does a horrible job cooling and I can hear it from the hallway.

How would the Zalman 7000 or Thermalrigth SLK948U work with the Stacker? My board'll be Socket 939.