Is a Full ATX Tower Worth It?

[EquivalentTrade]

I don't need no stinking RAID. I don't got no SLI. I don't need no 2nd and 3rd internal hard drives. Ain't no Blu-Ray drives in my machine.

The largest graphics card I'd get is an 8800GT. Single slot. Stock cooler.

SO, now that that's out of the way, I wish to discuss full tower ATX cases vs. mid tower ATX cases. I currently own a Coolermaster Centurion 5, and I love it. It's a mid-tower, but has plenty of room inside to house the minimal accessories I need for my machine. It can also house two GTXs in SLI. Not that I'd need that of course <.< Tri-SLI i'm not so sure about. Not that I'd need THAT either.

I've been eying an Antec P180 as well. Also mid-tower, also roomy enough for my purposes.

BUT THEN THERE'S THE COOLER MASTER COSMOS, MY GOODNESS, WHAT A BEAUTY.

The problem is, I can't think of any reason to have that much space <.< has anyone previously owned only mid towers and bumped up to full towers? If so, do you think it was worth it, if all your stuff could fit in the mid tower anyways?

P.S. the Cosmos costs more than the P180 and Centurion 5 put together

 

[RallyMaster]

Err....get another Centurion. Not sure you would go for a larger case if you don't have watercooling needs or run massive amounts of hardware

 

[Zepper]

I used to have 3 SCSI and 2 IDE hard drives in my system and your standard case didn't give the space around the drives that I like. I also like to have some elbow room when I'm working inside.
. I've tried the Rocketfish and that is way more than I need, but its great for those with lots of stuff plus perhaps WCing - plenty of elbow room. I've also got a Silverstone KL03 here that I haven't really had a chance to play with a lot, but it seems to be about the right size for me now that I'm running ony two SATA hdds. There is also an Alienware Workstation case (basically a gussied up Chenbro SR105xx made for the pre-Dell Alienware company) here I've yet to play with. It seems the sturdiest of any case I've had here in a while and has the elbow room I like and it has a really cool pantograph front door that parks right along the left side of the case. I occasionally amuse myself by just opening and closing the door and observing the complex hinge arms.
. I think I'll end up with my system in one of these two when all is said and done. IDK whether the extra features of the Kublai will win over the general design strength of the Chenbro. I may have to pass on the Chenbro due to its having only three optical drive bays when I really need at least four. I also need two floppy bays and the Chenbro doesn't have any unless you make one from a 5" bay (comes with one bay adapter). Those lacks make it one of the shortest EATX workstation or entry-lever server boxes around, but it is nice and deep.
. Be the first to place dibs on the Chenbro or other (check my FS/T link below) - PM me.

.bh.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: EquivalentTrade
The problem is, I can't think of any reason to have that much space

I can, but none of those reasons match my needs, thus I won't go that route.

 

[mmnno]

Originally posted by: EquivalentTrade
I don't need no stinking RAID. I don't got no SLI. I don't need no 2nd and 3rd internal hard drives. Ain't no Blu-Ray drives in my machine.

The largest graphics card I'd get is an 8800GT. Single slot. Stock cooler.

SO, now that that's out of the way, I wish to discuss full tower ATX cases vs. mid tower ATX cases. I currently own a Coolermaster Centurion 5, and I love it. It's a mid-tower, but has plenty of room inside to house the minimal accessories I need for my machine. It can also house two GTXs in SLI. Not that I'd need that of course <.< Tri-SLI i'm not so sure about. Not that I'd need THAT either.

I've been eying an Antec P180 as well. Also mid-tower, also roomy enough for my purposes.

BUT THEN THERE'S THE COOLER MASTER COSMOS, MY GOODNESS, WHAT A BEAUTY.

The problem is, I can't think of any reason to have that much space <.< has anyone previously owned only mid towers and bumped up to full towers? If so, do you think it was worth it, if all your stuff could fit in the mid tower anyways?

P.S. the Cosmos costs more than the P180 and Centurion 5 put together

Absolutely not. Not even a second hard drive? Mid-towers were made for you. In fact, if you stay resolute in your minimalism, I'd recommend you make a hobby of SFF boxes.

However, I doubt that you will stay faithful to your single hard drive for long. Storage capacity has so far outpaced the demands of commercial software that a drive is useful right up until it dies, which can be 3-10 years depending on your luck/care. They start accumulating, and you pick up hobbies that fill them (good, wholesome hobbies of course) and as they pile up an EATX tower starts to look pretty good.

Then you have room for SLI and watercooling and pretty soon you've passed the event horizon.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Form Follows Function. If you don't plan on adding more drives down the road, then just stick with a mini/midtower.
I tend to cram as many drives as I can fit into my boxes, so I stick to full towers

 

[EquivalentTrade]

I'm interested in getting a Shuttle at some point, but it's a more expensive than I'd like.

I have a 500GB external for media and a 160GB external for everything else, so I'm pretty much set for storage. It's just stuff like extra peripherals that I don't invest in. Hmm, interesting. Maybe I'll look for more SFF cases.

 

[semisonic9]

Originally posted by: mmnno

Absolutely not. Not even a second hard drive? Mid-towers were made for you.

Yeah, I don't see what the real confusion is here. Full and EATX cases were made for guys who needed tons of storage, SLI, extravagant cooling solutions, etc., and didn't mind paying a bit more for a larger case to do it in.

Mid-towers were designed for what you have in mind. And, yeah, you could probably get away with SFF cases, if you really wanted to.

~Semi