Need help picking out a case.

[balane]

Looking for a case with the following specs;

1.) Essential: Black inside and out.
2.) Essential: Cut out on mobo tray for easy rear access to bolt down coolers.
3.) Window or mesh on side would be nice, but not absolutely required.
4.) Essential: Able to fit dual 11" graphics cards. (5870's for now.)
5.) Not required but would like dual 2.5" hard drive mounting for 2 x SSD's
6.) Essential: Mid tower, ATX
7.) Would prefer PSU top mounting but not firm on this.
8.) Essential: Power/Reset/Audio/USB connectors on top, towards the front.
9.) Essential: Very solid build quality and good ease of use, I mess with my hardware often.
10.) Essential: Good system to route cables/wires for clean look inside.
11.) Fairly Important: ~$200 or less budget.

Do not need or care about;
1.) Fans, using my own cooling set up.
2.) Do not need a PSU
3.) Do not need any lighting. (Any lighted fans or LED's/cathode tubes will be removed.)
4.) Don't care about brand, just want a solidly built unit. No junk.
5.) Don't need any special abilities for water cooling, this will be an air cooled computer only.

I'm sure this is being pretty picky and I'm having a hard time finding something but if you have any suggestions please share them with me.

Thanks.

 

[MisterDonut]

CM 690II fits all those requirements. It is a bottom mounted PSU, but comes with a LOT of pre-made holes for routing cables. Seriously...compared to my Antec 900, this thing comes with easy cable-routing written all over it.

 

[balane]

Ah, that's very nice looking, thanks. On my list. Also found some Lian Li case with a blue ring on the lower front that seemed to fit the bill as well. This Cooler Master is priced very nice too. My current case is a CM and it's been great, just a little beat up now as I've had about 10 different systems in it.

 

[MisterDonut]

Not quite sure what Lian-Li you are referring to (I get to work with a Lian-Li on rare occasions), but I do know that the K62 is one of the more popular cases by them. I'd pick whatever look you can live with. If this rig isn't for gaming purposes, consider a silent build with an Antec P180/183 or the NZXT Whisper. I'm sure you'll appreciate the silence .

 

[balane]

This is the Lian Li case I found after posting here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112254

It seems to fit all my requirements and I like it as well.

This is definitely for gaming and low noise is critical to me. I'm carrying over my fan and controller set up with me because it doesn't make much noise at all and temps are great.

Thanks again. (I still like that CM case very much as well.)

 

[MisterDonut]

Seems nice, but excessive. It'll do the same thing as the cheaper CM 690II or K62. Also, look at the HAF 922 for a nice case. For gaming, cooling should be a priority over noise, so I would pick something known for its airflow. The 690 II, from my experience, was nice to use, etc, but the front intake fan is weak and 140mm, making it hard to replace with a better fan. It has the options of two 120mm on top and one 120mm on bottom, suggesting a vertical orientation and letting the front act less as an intake. For a horizontal orientation of airflow, I must say...it's tough to find anything that flows quite as smoothly as my slightly modded Antec 900...

 

[sep]

I have the CM 690 and built three computers and helped build 2 more with this case. I love the CM 690 model.

_________
8.) Essential: Power/Reset/Audio/USB connectors on top, towards the front.
the Audio, USB, Esata are on the top towards the front, but the power/Reset are front side near the bottom. I have mine on the desktop and have bumped the reset button once...DOH!

 

[james1701]

If you can wait another month, look at the new Corsair 600T cases.

 

[Petey!]

Yeah the 600T would fit the bill. Plus a case with a PSU on the bottom is usually much better then one top mounted.

 

[balane]

OMG, beautiful. This is definitely the one I want.

Why is the PSU better on the bottom? I would think the fan up top would be better for airflow.

 

[james1701]

I was surprised to see the street price to be only 149.99 from what I have read.

 

[nyker96]

the down side is this 600T case is almost entirely of plastic. at 150 I think maybe look into a Lian Li that's full Aluminum.

 

[nitromullet]

the down side is this 600T case is almost entirely of plastic. at 150 I think maybe look into a Lian Li that's full Aluminum.

Agreed. This is actually the problem with most (common) cases not Lian Li. They may be nice looking in pictures, have great features, and good airflow; but they are often just crappy/cheap in real life. Some people don't mind steel/plastic cases, but once you've had all aluminum it's hard to think of going back.

 

[james1701]

Agreed. This is actually the problem with most (common) cases not Lian Li. They may be nice looking in pictures, have great features, and good airflow; but they are often just crappy/cheap in real life. Some people don't mind steel/plastic cases, but once you've had all aluminum it's hard to think of going back.

Why?

 

[mv2devnull]

Why is the PSU better on the bottom? I would think the fan up top would be better for airflow.

When at top, the PSU pulls (warm) air primarily from the CPU heatsink, and the air heated by GPU rises to it too.

When in bottom, the PSU pulls cool air from beneath and pushes it out from back. As result it is a bit cooler. Furthermore, the exhaust fans at the top remove warm air a bit faster than when it flows through PSU. Besides, top fan can be a 20 cm, while no PSU has hole that large.

Cable management is generally bit easier too with bottom PSU.

The only (AFAIK) downside of bottom PSU is that there tends to be dust down under.

 

[nitromullet]

Why?

Aluminum is lighter than steel and looks better, especially black anodized. This is a matter of opinion, of course.

I generally just don't like a lot of plastic on my cases, for the obvious reasons really. Plastic is much more likely to break than aluminum, plus aluminum transfers heat better than plastic in drive cages, etc. Case manufacturers generally use plastic because it's cheap. I get that there are some pieces that are probably much easier/better to manufacture in plastic so I'll accept some plastic in a case, but the whole front of the case isn't one of them.

 

[james1701]

What are you doing to your case that requires metal to withstand the abuse lol.

 

[nitromullet]

What are you doing to your case that requires metal to withstand the abuse lol.

I just don't like cheap crap.

edit: Case in point:

The picture taken by Corsair's professional photographer in this thread makes the 600T look gorgeous, but it looks a little less stellar when a reviewer posts some preview pics of it taken with a lesser camera under normal lighting: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1320/1/

By contrast, a Lian Li case still looks good even when some random forum goer takes a few pics of his build: http://vozforums.com/showthread.php?t=959116 I'm not even a big fan of the PC-B25FWB, but it still looks better than the 600T.

 

[balane]

As long as it's good quality plastic it doesn't bother me. I had a very nice Lian Li case a long time ago, it was a silver one and looked kind of like a mesh front Power Mac. It was on wheels. The quality was excellent but I ended up selling it, it was a dumb move but I don't really want a silver computer any more anyway. Corsair seems to make pretty good stuff so if this case has a lot of plastic, but it's good plastic, then it won't bother me. The case looks too perfect for me to pass up, I love the big knob that can control 4 fans, I can totally lose my fan controller with that feature.

I have a question, when you put a PSU on the bottom of the case do you mount it upside down so the fan grill points upward or do you mount it with the fan down like in a top mount case? If you need to mount the PSU upside down does it work out OK? I know a PSU has heatsinks inside of it and I was just curious if those pointing downwards was acceptable.

Edit: Thanks for that video link, I know it was supposed to steer me away from the plastic on it but actually, that video made me want the Corsair even more. I must not be picky, but the functionality of the case is really calling to me. The computer sits out of the way in a dark corner next to my desk so the look of it won't be the first thing anybody sees. I just think the design of the case is amazing. I think it's the only case I've ever really been attracted to.

 

[nitromullet]

You mount the PSU upright even in the bottom of the case. There will be a grill/filter at the bottom to allow air flow, but prevent the PSU from sucking up dust.

I guess by looking at the context of post it does imply that I think the 600T is crap, when this is actually not the case at all. Corsair has really come on strong with their cases, and the reason for this is because they have some terrific ideas in their cases. That removable drive bay in front of the video cards is brilliant. Corsair seems to really have gone the extra mile to really listen to what people want in a case, whereas sometimes it seems that Lian Li and Silverstone sort of push their ideas onto us.

I still haven't found that perfect case to replace what I have, so I'm sticking with my Lian Li re-branded Rocketfish for now. Best $40 I ever spent on a case.

 

[nitromullet]

dp

 

[mv2devnull]

Just noticed that Fractal Design Define has been updated from "R2" to "R3".
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&prod=48

Not entirely black ...

 

[Anubis]

Just noticed that Fractal Design Define has been updated from "R2" to "R3".
http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product&prod=48

Not entirely black ...

now that is a sexy looking case. only think i dont like about it is the door on the front. never been a fan of those

as people suggested corsair, the 700D will do what you want and its not made of plastic. it can be had for less then 200 with a rebate. however its larger then a mid tower

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...corsair%20700d

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I just don't like cheap crap.

edit: Case in point:

The picture taken by Corsair's professional photographer in this thread makes the 600T look gorgeous, but it looks a little less stellar when a reviewer posts some preview pics of it taken with a lesser camera under normal lighting: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1320/1/

By contrast, a Lian Li case still looks good even when some random forum goer takes a few pics of his build: http://vozforums.com/showthread.php?t=959116 I'm not even a big fan of the PC-B25FWB, but it still looks better than the 600T.

In one video I saw from computex of that case they clearly stated that it was a prototype model which is why some of the parts of the case looked rough. The production models will be a lot better.

I am eagerly awaiting the 600T next month to migrate out of this aging and crappy antec 900. I liked the look of the fractal design case, but the door on the front is stupid, and they aren't currently sold in the states.

 

[balane]

Is there a date when I can purchase the 600T? I would even like to pre-order one if possible. My search is over, I've never wanted a case more than this Corsair.