I'm new here and this is my first post. I'm looking for a new full-tower and an air cooling system. Could you guys please recommend me a good full-tower case? Don't go TOO crazy on the price, though. Also, for that case could you also please point me in the direction of some good fans for it? Thanks alot for your help!
Looking for new case and cooling system.
- Thread starter shifty123
- Start date
Welcome to the forums!
As far as cases go, I'd check out some lian li full towers. The only thermaltake I can honetsly say doesn't suck is the thermaltake shark. I'll get some links for you in a moment. As far as fans, rplace all the fans in the cases with 120mm yate loons from jabtech. Panaflo, scythe s-flex "f" and mcubed are all good fans. I can't find the mcubed fans anywhere, but the panaflo and s-flex are more expensive than the yate loons. The scythe are $13 and the panaflo can be found for $12... jabtech.
EDIT: Here are some links to good cases and fans...
Lian Li pc70usb
Lian Li pc71b usb
Lian Li v2000b
Thermaltake Shark
Scythe S-flex "f"
Yate Loon
Panaflo m1a
As far as cases go, I'd check out some lian li full towers. The only thermaltake I can honetsly say doesn't suck is the thermaltake shark. I'll get some links for you in a moment. As far as fans, rplace all the fans in the cases with 120mm yate loons from jabtech. Panaflo, scythe s-flex "f" and mcubed are all good fans. I can't find the mcubed fans anywhere, but the panaflo and s-flex are more expensive than the yate loons. The scythe are $13 and the panaflo can be found for $12... jabtech.
EDIT: Here are some links to good cases and fans...
Lian Li pc70usb
Lian Li pc71b usb
Lian Li v2000b
Thermaltake Shark
Scythe S-flex "f"
Yate Loon
Panaflo m1a
Welcome shifty123! In addition to the cases acegazda mentioned, check out the Cooler Master Stacker 810:
Good pics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119093
Better price: http://www.sundialmicro.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-rc810skn1_1701_540.html
My review here of the case: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=37&threadid=1834919&enterthread=y
As for fans, the 120mm Yate Loons are hard to beat (price and/or performance). Absolutely wonderful fans.
Good pics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119093
Better price: http://www.sundialmicro.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-rc810skn1_1701_540.html
My review here of the case: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=37&threadid=1834919&enterthread=y
As for fans, the 120mm Yate Loons are hard to beat (price and/or performance). Absolutely wonderful fans.
I second the Lian-Li PC-70/71's. Im not a big fan of TT cases. Also the Antec P-180 is always well liked.
the lian li cases recommended are great. scratch the TT case.. they're crap.
as for fans the lian li already comes with good 120mm 1500 rpm Adda fans which are pretty quiet. i you're unsatisfied and have about $10 for minimal difference in sound and a little less airflow Yate Loon fans are the best for cheap.
as for fans the lian li already comes with good 120mm 1500 rpm Adda fans which are pretty quiet. i you're unsatisfied and have about $10 for minimal difference in sound and a little less airflow Yate Loon fans are the best for cheap.
I think Lian Li switched from Adda to some other unknown make "Lian Li" is printed on the label.
Just a heads up.
Welcome to the AT forums.
Loiusss has some kind of bug up his A55 about Tt so his opinion of them is hardly objective... Tt has been doing a much better job lately of making technically adequate cases and leaving a lot of the rice out. The Tt Eureka is a case just about anyone would like to have. You may want to switch out the stock fans for quieter ones (Tt fans are speced quite optimistically re. noise) - or you could just slow them down with a fan controller. And it's about as big as anyone could need. The Tt SViking is a nice unit as well. Even the Tt Swing is a nice case.
Then there is the CoolerMaster Mystique or some of the Centurion series or the new Kingwin 523 which is very similar to the Centurions and Mystique inside.
The S6000 entry-level server is a nice case (http://www.buildtoorderservers.com) but will need a few cooling mods to bring it up to current standards. The CK-800 models from http://www.servercase.com are nice too.
The Silverstone SST-TJ02, 04, 05 are all nice cases too depending on your needs.
I also like the Aerocool Masstige or Coolview - they are nice choices for those who need a bunch of drive space.
And at a lower price, the Antec SLK3000-B, the Evercase 42x2 series, the Compucase/HEC 6A19 series, all have some of the best casitude (cover the cooling and noise bases quite well while not looking like Wurlitzer jukeboxes) for the money.
Lian Li are nice cases too, but there are just too darn many of them to keep track of, are expensive (though well made) and generally lack modern conveniences inside. And the Chinglish on their so-called "English" web site is just absurd - it's as if they are lowering themselves to allow us to buy their cases. The language should have been cleaned up long ago - it's not like they aren't making enough to hire someone with adequate native english skills to clean it up...
If you can offer a good reason for needing a full tower, I'd be interested to hear it. Otherwise I'm only recommending mid-tower or maxi-mid units. Most don't need anything larger.
.bh.
FYI - Newegg has a wide selection of cases but seldom has the best bottom line on cases now. I go there to look at their picture galleries and then usually buy elsewhere on cases. ewiz.com has some good prices but a limited selection. Directron does good on prices too. IAC, use the price search engines like Froogle to find the prices (Tip: you often get a better deal on eWiz (and a few others) if you link in from Froogle rather than going direct to their web site). So I go direct to their web site to see if they have what I want and then go to Froogle, do a search and link in from there. .bh.
Loiusss has some kind of bug up his A55 about Tt so his opinion of them is hardly objective... Tt has been doing a much better job lately of making technically adequate cases and leaving a lot of the rice out. The Tt Eureka is a case just about anyone would like to have. You may want to switch out the stock fans for quieter ones (Tt fans are speced quite optimistically re. noise) - or you could just slow them down with a fan controller. And it's about as big as anyone could need. The Tt SViking is a nice unit as well. Even the Tt Swing is a nice case.
Then there is the CoolerMaster Mystique or some of the Centurion series or the new Kingwin 523 which is very similar to the Centurions and Mystique inside.
The S6000 entry-level server is a nice case (http://www.buildtoorderservers.com) but will need a few cooling mods to bring it up to current standards. The CK-800 models from http://www.servercase.com are nice too.
The Silverstone SST-TJ02, 04, 05 are all nice cases too depending on your needs.
I also like the Aerocool Masstige or Coolview - they are nice choices for those who need a bunch of drive space.
And at a lower price, the Antec SLK3000-B, the Evercase 42x2 series, the Compucase/HEC 6A19 series, all have some of the best casitude (cover the cooling and noise bases quite well while not looking like Wurlitzer jukeboxes) for the money.
Lian Li are nice cases too, but there are just too darn many of them to keep track of, are expensive (though well made) and generally lack modern conveniences inside. And the Chinglish on their so-called "English" web site is just absurd - it's as if they are lowering themselves to allow us to buy their cases. The language should have been cleaned up long ago - it's not like they aren't making enough to hire someone with adequate native english skills to clean it up...
If you can offer a good reason for needing a full tower, I'd be interested to hear it. Otherwise I'm only recommending mid-tower or maxi-mid units. Most don't need anything larger.
.bh.
FYI - Newegg has a wide selection of cases but seldom has the best bottom line on cases now. I go there to look at their picture galleries and then usually buy elsewhere on cases. ewiz.com has some good prices but a limited selection. Directron does good on prices too. IAC, use the price search engines like Froogle to find the prices (Tip: you often get a better deal on eWiz (and a few others) if you link in from Froogle rather than going direct to their web site). So I go direct to their web site to see if they have what I want and then go to Froogle, do a search and link in from there. .bh.
- Sep 28, 2005
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I agree with zepper.
The TT Armor should also be concidered. I have a Armor, and it with 11 front bays + 3 hd cage in the rear, the thing is a monster. If budget isnt a issue, Id go with a Tai Chi. Lian Li does not have a case to compete against the Tai Chi.
Lian Li's are excellent cases however, there quality is nice, but there rediculously overpriced in some areas. Personally i would like a V2000 but for that price, id go elsewhere.
BTW, my 119.00 armor, back when it was on sale, but its not hard to find at 119.00, will EAT any sub 150 dollar Lian Li. Its only when you get to the +180 dollar cases do you see lian li's being somewhat better til you hit the TT Tai Chi at 349.00
The TT Armor should also be concidered. I have a Armor, and it with 11 front bays + 3 hd cage in the rear, the thing is a monster. If budget isnt a issue, Id go with a Tai Chi. Lian Li does not have a case to compete against the Tai Chi.
Lian Li's are excellent cases however, there quality is nice, but there rediculously overpriced in some areas. Personally i would like a V2000 but for that price, id go elsewhere.
BTW, my 119.00 armor, back when it was on sale, but its not hard to find at 119.00, will EAT any sub 150 dollar Lian Li. Its only when you get to the +180 dollar cases do you see lian li's being somewhat better til you hit the TT Tai Chi at 349.00
VinDSL
Diamond Member
Heh! I don't know what you mean by TOO crazy, but Mountain Mods makes the best cases, bar none!
LoL! So, you like fans, eh? Get yourself an Original Top U2 UFO...
Mountain Mods - World's Best Case
You can thank me later!
BTW, here are some TOO crazy pictures...
U2-UFO, big and fugly yes! Best, not likely. Compares like a Grandma Moses painting to a DaVinci to something like the Silverstone SST-TJ07 or the Tai Chi. Even the build quality of the CM Wavemaster or Praetorian shades the UFO.
.bh.
.bh.
I'm not saying that the UFO might not be best for some narrow purposes, but on build quality alone it drops out of the running for a best overall. Not to worry, I'm well aware there is no "One Best Case" - there is just the best case for one's own purposes.
.bh.
.bh.
what is that supposed to mean, the v1000 is a better case, but the build is worse than a wavemaster? lol. okay
i dunno how people can compare lian li cases to coolermasters or TT's or Antecs. the quality just doesn't compare. Lian li doesn't have the technological advances of TT? well sorry if LL cases dont have colorful clips for their PCI cards which are loose and/or flimsyif it gets knocked around. sorry if LL cases doesn't use slide rails for their 5.25 or 3.5 bays... the money from the cheap plastic is spent in quality scratch proof panels around.
all in all, case's are subjective... some people don't feel a need to get a nice good quality case but then again, some people also don't feel a need to get good quality psu's either
- Sep 28, 2005
- 21,067
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Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
what is that supposed to mean, the v1000 is a better case, but the build is worse than a wavemaster? lol. okay
i dunno how people can compare lian li cases to coolermasters or TT's or Antecs. the quality just doesn't compare. Lian li doesn't have the technological advances of TT? well sorry if LL cases dont have colorful clips for their PCI cards which are loose and/or flimsyif it gets knocked around. sorry if LL cases doesn't use slide rails for their 5.25 or 3.5 bays... the money from the cheap plastic is spent in quality scratch proof panels around.
all in all, case's are subjective... some people don't feel a need to get a nice good quality case but then again, some people also don't feel a need to get good quality psu's either
Show me a LL that can come close to the TAI CHI in features and space, and i'll shut up about the tai chi.
Show me a LL That can topple the Silverstone TJ-07 and i'll shut up on worshiping that case, and might even stop me from getting one.
Prove to me that TT Armor and kandolf are made more out of plastic then aluminum/steel, and i will believe your blanket statements that TT's are cheap and worthless.
Most importantly, SHOW ME A LL THAT HAS 11 FRONT BAYS + a 3 Hard drive cage in the REAR, all for sub 150, and i'll stop trying to prove to you that LL isnt the best choice for people on a budget.
If you cant prove 2 out of the 4 i listed then you need to stop flaming TT cases, because right now you dont have much credibility.
ALSO ive had the V1000, and the PC-7B. And you know what? They dont compare ****** to my armor. If i had to pick all over again, id get the ARMOR, if i had more of a budget the TJ-07. If i wanted to act stupid and look just bling bling, then I MIGHT concider a V2000 or even another V1000B. But these two cases will fall greatly in comparison to a TJ-07.
Give me a even higher budget and i'd build myself another computer out of the TAI-CHI. Ask anyone who has a TAI-CHI, The only bad on that case is the emense size and weight, but other then that, there isnt a case that can come close to its quality and features.
Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
what is that supposed to mean, the v1000 is a better case, but the build is worse than a wavemaster? lol. okay
i dunno how people can compare lian li cases to coolermasters or TT's or Antecs. the quality just doesn't compare. Lian li doesn't have the technological advances of TT? well sorry if LL cases dont have colorful clips for their PCI cards which are loose and/or flimsyif it gets knocked around. sorry if LL cases doesn't use slide rails for their 5.25 or 3.5 bays... the money from the cheap plastic is spent in quality scratch proof panels around.
all in all, case's are subjective... some people don't feel a need to get a nice good quality case but then again, some people also don't feel a need to get good quality psu's either
It means the V1000 / V1100 features that make it a better case (120mm fans) but the build quality isn't necessarily any better.
Based on your comments I'm going to assume you haven't used either the Wavemaster or Praetorian. They are nothing like the CoolerMaster Cavalier or the average junk that TT is known for. Both are constructed completely of AL (not a single piece of plastic), the frame in particular is made from very thick AL, much thicker then what Lian Li uses on the PC 6x &7x series. All the fan openings are free flowing with wire grills, no cheap & restrictive stamped openings. The front bezel of Praetorian is made from a thick and heavy piece of AL with bevled edges, all the add-in cards are secured via thumb scews, drive rails are not used, ect, ect.
It seems like we have similar tastes in cases; the Praetorian and WaveMaster shouldn't be lumped with average TT and CoolerMaster mediocrity, both are on par with Lian Li and high-end Silverstone's in my opinion.
Originally posted by: aigomorla
Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
what is that supposed to mean, the v1000 is a better case, but the build is worse than a wavemaster? lol. okay
i dunno how people can compare lian li cases to coolermasters or TT's or Antecs. the quality just doesn't compare. Lian li doesn't have the technological advances of TT? well sorry if LL cases dont have colorful clips for their PCI cards which are loose and/or flimsyif it gets knocked around. sorry if LL cases doesn't use slide rails for their 5.25 or 3.5 bays... the money from the cheap plastic is spent in quality scratch proof panels around.
all in all, case's are subjective... some people don't feel a need to get a nice good quality case but then again, some people also don't feel a need to get good quality psu's either
Show me a LL that can come close to the TAI CHI in features and space, and i'll shut up about the tai chi.
Show me a LL That can topple the Silverstone TJ-07 and i'll shut up on worshiping that case, and might even stop me from getting one.
Prove to me that TT Armor and kandolf are made more out of plastic then aluminum/steel, and i will believe your blanket statements that TT's are cheap and worthless.
Most importantly, SHOW ME A LL THAT HAS 11 FRONT BAYS + a 3 Hard drive cage in the REAR, all for sub 150, and i'll stop trying to prove to you that LL isnt the best choice for people on a budget.
If you cant prove 2 out of the 4 i listed then you need to stop flaming TT cases, because right now you dont have much credibility.
ALSO ive had the V1000, and the PC-7B. And you know what? They dont compare ****** to my armor. If i had to pick all over again, id get the ARMOR, if i had more of a budget the TJ-07. If i wanted to act stupid and look just bling bling, then I MIGHT concider a V2000 or even another V1000B. But these two cases will fall greatly in comparison to a TJ-07.
Give me a even higher budget and i'd build myself another computer out of the TAI-CHI. Ask anyone who has a TAI-CHI, The only bad on that case is the emense size and weight, but other then that, there isnt a case that can come close to its quality and features.
But the TJ-07 is 300 dollars, do you mean the 06? Again, thanks all of you for your input. I am still deciding between Lian Li, Thermaltake, Cooler Master, and SilverStone. Please limit your responses to full-towers, though. Every build I made, I've been using mid-towers, so I want to try something new for a change. Also, which Temjin models are the full-tower ones?
- Sep 28, 2005
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Originally posted by: shifty123
Originally posted by: aigomorla
Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
Originally posted by: Operandi
Originally posted by: aigomorla
you can look up silverstones lineup at www.silverstonetek.com
And yeah the TJ-07 is 300 dollars when its not on sale. And they go on sale very rarely. But i had the chance to grab one at 269.00 shipped, and i didnt, so im hating life everytime i see it.
But to compare the TJ-07, you would have to compare it to the V2000 series in LL. And those go around 279.00 and up
Anyhow op, if your on a budget, trust me and get the TT Armor for 125.99 at newegg. It will match up and dish out everything you need a full tower to do, and u wont regret getting that case. I have one, and as i said before, id pick it over a comparable LL PC-7x and 6x any day of the week.
And to answer the TT bashers in this thread, ive sat/stood on my armor and it hasnt warped at all. Im also a fairly big guy at 200lbs. Can anyone vouch for that with a LL PC series because i dont want to try it on mine.
I'm on a 200 max budget, and I checked the SilverStone site but it doesn't tell you which one is full-tower.you can look up silverstones lineup at www.silverstonetek.com
And yeah the TJ-07 is 300 dollars when its not on sale. And they go on sale very rarely. But i had the chance to grab one at 269.00 shipped, and i didnt, so im hating life everytime i see it.
But to compare the TJ-07, you would have to compare it to the V2000 series in LL. And those go around 279.00 and up
Anyhow op, if your on a budget, trust me and get the TT Armor for 125.99 at newegg. It will match up and dish out everything you need a full tower to do, and u wont regret getting that case. I have one, and as i said before, id pick it over a comparable LL PC-7x and 6x any day of the week.
And to answer the TT bashers in this thread, ive sat/stood on my armor and it hasnt warped at all. Im also a fairly big guy at 200lbs. Can anyone vouch for that with a LL PC series because i dont want to try it on mine.
Among the Temjins, only the TJ-06 and 07 could be considered full towers. The TJ-05 is also a large case but more in the depth than height so it can handle a dual (or more) CPU mobo (fits into Newegg's definition though). The Aerocool Spiral Galaxies is basically the same as the TJ-06 for a lot less money (just looked and it is over 21" tall) - I don't particularly care for the design of those wind-tunnel cases. I'd say most cases over 21" tall would be considered "full towers". You could go to Newegg, click on the "Computer Hardware" button, click on "Cases and External Enclosures" button, click on the "ATX cases" button, click on the ATX Full Towers search link and click on Search. Now you know what Newegg considers to be full towers (looks like anything 19" and up) - though their listings are very inconsistent so you may get some that don't belong and miss some that do - for instance, a couple of HTPC cases were in the full-tower search and the Spiral Galaxies wasn't. :roll: The Tt Thermalrock Circle case is another variant on the wind-tunnel case.
I think you should define what it is that you need the case to do and look for one that meets your criteria rather than an arbitrary designation like "full tower" - which is pretty meaningless today. Back in the old days, a full-tower case was one which was about the same height as the original IBM AT case (21.3") stood up on one side. I think small, medium, big, and super-sized would be better categories for today. But here's what I use for a rule of thumb: Mini-tower, up to 15"; Mid-tower, up to 17"; Maxi-mid tower, up to 19"; Full-tower, anything over 19" - but none of those really describe any given case. Even the Tai Chi doesn't fit the original full-tower definition but no one's gonna argue that it's not a HUGE case.
.bh.
I think you should define what it is that you need the case to do and look for one that meets your criteria rather than an arbitrary designation like "full tower" - which is pretty meaningless today. Back in the old days, a full-tower case was one which was about the same height as the original IBM AT case (21.3") stood up on one side. I think small, medium, big, and super-sized would be better categories for today. But here's what I use for a rule of thumb: Mini-tower, up to 15"; Mid-tower, up to 17"; Maxi-mid tower, up to 19"; Full-tower, anything over 19" - but none of those really describe any given case. Even the Tai Chi doesn't fit the original full-tower definition but no one's gonna argue that it's not a HUGE case.
.bh.
Something easy to build (tooless or so), good airflow, easy to upgrade, big, something that can support water-cooling (I might do this sometime), and something good quality, sturdy.
VinDSL
Diamond Member
Heh!
Talk to 'the hand'...
-
Sound like anybody 'we' know? :laugh:
Bottom line: The Mountain Mods U2-UFO is the perfect case for MOST of the ppl that post on this site...
OK, so it's big and made of heavy metal. Is that all there is to build quality? Most on this site don't need anything near that big (want is another story). The YeongYang cubes are more practical and show more effort in the design. I see the UFO as basically another e-Penis.
.bh.
.bh.
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