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I really need help picking out a case. PLEASE HELP!!!!

F

floppydisk191

Member
I am looking for a case with a window that will provide great cooling and is not loud with the right kind of fans.

I want something simple and that is big enough to reroute wires under the drive bays or to the side. Also I would like alot of cooling power.

Now I request there is no front audio jacks and it isnt lit up. Front firewire is fine.
 
My experience so far -- through about 10 computers among friends and extended family -- makes me conclude that full-tower cases have better cooling potential. This of course is not the trend.

For fans, with the noise issue, this is all in the ear of the beholder. You get better cooling with proportionately more throughput in CFM. Greater throughput means more air turbulence, leading to more noise, and it also means more RPMs for the fans with a greater chance of motor-whine, bearing-noise and vibration adding to cumulative dB/A measurements.

IMHO -- find either a full-tower or midtower (better -- something in between -- a "junior" full-tower) with fittings for one or more 120mm intake fans, and at least one 120mm exhaust fan. You COULD do what I am now totally addicted to doing -- recycle a used case. Got a Dremel? Like playing with sheet-metal? Perhaps that's not for you. In that case, here's just one suggestion I've posted before:

Stacker

There are dozens of other alternatives, Lian-Li makes a good case and I think highly of their V1000 and similar models as "innovations". Some people claim the Antec Sonata is fine. But I've been "through" several midtowers, have plenty of cooling stats to compare with my vintage-full-tower mods, and unless you are doing "water-cooling", TEC or Vapo-Chill -- I encourage the use of a limited number of large fans placed strategically in cases to move copious quantities of air with lower noise levels. And some midtower cases just don't provide the room at the case front or case rear to easily accommodate one or more 120mm fans.
 
I think Coolermaster provides a windowed side panel that can be purchased as an accessory replacement to the stock panel.
 
For a quiet case, look at the Lian-Li V1100 series... With the wheels on, it's about 19-1/4" tall (to the very top of the case, from floor). I have my system in it now, and with the AMD Cool 'n' Quiet enabled on my system I can barely hear it. Granted, when the processor is doing more, the fan on it speeds up, but that's expected. I should be [finally] installing the Thermalright cooler I picked up a while back (SLK-948U, from before the XP120 came out) along with a Panaflo 92mm fan... That should give me better cooling, at even less noise...

Compared to the case I had before (Antec SX1040BII) the Lian-Li is easily 1/4 the sound level...
 
For ~$200 (US) you can get the Lian-Li V1000 case... For about $20-25 more, you can get the V1100 case...
 
For the Lian Li V1000, take a look at our comments on the Silverstone clone of a similar design. There are practical advantages to the way the Lian Li works, barring the use of Zalman VGA heatpipe coolers.

Lissen -- there are dozens of cases out there, but I myself have spent the last five months finding ways to squeeze optimal cooling out of three different case designs. You learn things. My case-mods on old vintage-90's steel OEM full-tower cases were identical to CM's Stacker design in many respects. If I didn't understand that sometimes it is just that an idea's time "had come", I'd think they stole my idea, but there's nothing very clever about it -- it's just common sense. If you can stand warmer idle and load temperatures, last year's CoolerMaster WaveMaster has the glitz, style, status and appeal.

But not the cooling.
 
According to other members, and quoted reviews from many places, the ThermalTake Xaser III has magnificent cooling potential, but it's also closer to the Stacker in size. I dunno. Check that.
 
Chenming has a wide following. It would be nice if you could replace the two 80mm rear fans with a 120mm without doing sheet-metal work. Can't tell how good the air intake is. It's not exactly pricey, so that's a plus.
 
Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Chenming has a wide following. It would be nice if you could replace the two 80mm rear fans with a 120mm without doing sheet-metal work. Can't tell how good the air intake is. It's not exactly pricey, so that's a plus.
Click to expand...

It's just a copy of the Antec Performance series, for practical purposes so is the Thermaltake. They have really good air flow.

Have a look at the Lian-Li 6070.
 
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