New case or not?

[Extelleron]

I'm about to build an new system with the following specifications, but I have no idea yet whether to use an old case I have, or buy one of the two I've been looking at. Here's the system I'll be building:

Opteron 144 (will be OC'ing to 2.4-2.6 at least, no voltage increases though)
2GB (1GBx2) Patriot 2-3-2-5 memory
200GB Maxtor HDD (Ultra ATA/133)
HIS X1800XT 256MB
FSP 450W PSU

Now, the old case I have is a Gateway tower case (the biggest one that was available) back from a Pentium II system I purchased in 1998. It's a really good case IMO, even though I know nothing about cases, it's extremely heavy (all metal) compared to this POS Gateway case I have here (from 2003). I've been told the old Gateway case won't be good for my new system, but I fail to see what's wrong with it. It's sturdy and roomy inside. Anyway I've been looking at two (actually three) cases incase I really do need to get a new case, here they are:

Cooler Master Cavalier 3 Cav-T03 Black $39.99 after $20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119074

Antec SLK3000B $49.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152

Cooler Master Centurion 540 $49.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119086

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[dunkster]

One of the problems with using a 'retail PC' case is that - since the maker made or speced all of the components and subassemblies - they paid no attention to 'standards'. As a result, you may find that your power supply won't fit without modding, motherboard standoff locations don't match the mother board you selected, etc.

I'd rule out both of the Cooler Master cases based on the use of 80mm case fans.

The Antec 3000B is an excellent basic case at a nice price. I would suggest these very simple mods to improve ventilation and lower noise:
- Discard the side-duct.
- Tape off all side-vents.

These mods will force front-to-back ventilation, assure cool-running hard drives, seal off noise-leaking side vents and provide good case ventilation with only the single 120mm rear case vent fan.

Hope this helps!

 

[furballi]

The purpose of the side vents is to draw room temperature air to cool the CPU and PCI/video cards. Without the ducts, the air would come from the front. The incoming air will heat up as it passes the hard drives. The CPU, video card, and PCI cards will be cooled by this WARMER air, thus lowering the cooling efficiency of the case.

If you want to mod the SLK3000B, then put a 120mm case in front of the hard drive cage to cool the HDDs. Leave the side ducts open so the critical internal components can use ROOM temperature air. The small increase in noise level due to the side ducts is negligible, considering the huge boost in cooling performance.

My SLK3000B rig consists of one 80mm and 92mm PSU fans (Enermax 495 V2.0), two 120mm x 38mm Panaflos (regulated by Zalman Fanmate 2), and one Zalman 7700Cu 120mm fan. The PSU fans are inaudible at 1 foot (160 watts max load on this rig in Prime95 and Super Pi). The Panaflos are also inaudible at 1 foot (set at a constant rpm regardless of CPU temperature). The Zalman fan is OFF until the CPU temp hits 40C. At this temp, the fan spins at 970 rpm.

The CPU idle temp at 73F room temperature is between 27 and 32C. Max Prime95 temperature is 46C (1.6Vcore at 2.44GHz). The Zalman fan is OFF 95% of the time because the rear 120mm Panaflo provides sufficient negative pressure to draw in UNHEATED room temperature air across the side ducts to cool the CPU cooler.

 

[Madwand1]

The old Pentiums could be pretty cool. I have a P-II case here, and I'm amazed that it worked at all for so long with just one very very slow and quiet 80mm intake fan (+ the power supply cooling). It was very quiet and worked fine for a long time, but gives a lot of problems for a newer MB + CPU + video.

A typical problem with old cases would be noisy 80mm fans -- bigger 120mm fans give much better noise / flow performance. Older cases also often have poorer fan grill designs, and almost never give you the option for a side intake to directly cool the CPU / video.

IMO, dunkster and furballi are both right -- dunkster from the minimum noise perspective, and furballi from the maximum cooling perspective. With a case like the SLK3000, you have the option to try either, and probably exceed the old case's flow + noise performance significantly, which you might need for overclocking. Too bad it looks so dull, but maybe you don't care / can hide it.

Personally, I'd hate to waste a good old case if it works, so I'd try it out, and perhaps try some newer quieter 80mm fans (don't get carried away with expectations though; the old 80mm fans could still give excellent performance, and perhaps just need a bit of down-volting for silence; it's very hard to find really good flow / noise in 80mm). If that fails, a case with dual 120mm capability would be an easy fix to case cooling, and is generally the better solution despite potentially poorer build quality.

 

[Operandi]

The problem with using an older PII case like that is most likely going to be air flow. A high-end PII system from 98 would only draw a fraction the power of a similar system today. That means far less heat generation, and far less generation means less cooling capacity, basically you would be looking at heat issues. That is assuming that it would even work in a case from 98, was ATX even standard yet?

Originally posted by: ExtelleronCooler Master Cavalier 3 Cav-T03 Black $39.99 after $20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119074

Antec SLK3000B $49.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129152

Cooler Master Centurion 540 $49.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119086

Any help would be appreciated.

Of those cases I've used the SLK3000 and the Cavalier 3, both are good cases for the money; easy to work with, good construction, ect. I will say that the Antec front bezel dose feel like it was made from slightly cheaper plastic and that the Cavalier wins hands down in the looks department.

 

[furballi]

Buy Antec SLK3000B from this outfit...only $52.

http://www.provantage.com/antec-slk3000b~7ANTG02Y.htm

 

[KeithP]

Directron has the Compucase LX-6A19 on sale for $40. If you do a search on this case here in forum you will see a lot of positive comments on it.

-KeithP

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: KeithP
Directron has the Compucase LX-6A19 on sale for $40. If you do a search on this case here in forum you will see a lot of positive comments on it.

-KeithP

Is this case better than the SLK3000B?

 

[pkrush]

If you have the Gateway case I'm thinking of (the one on my PII 450 from late '98), then it should have a spot for an 80mm fan in the back and the proper mounting holes for a regular ATX motherboard. What it DOESN'T have, though, are mounting holes for a standard ATX power supply (I'm pretty sure, anyway) or standard motherboard header pins (they're all in one block which won't attach to any motherboard but the one that came with it), and so you'd have to rewire those. I also think you're going to have to cut out the port area in the back of the case so the new board's ports will fit, since the arrangement is going to be different. Basically, you COULD put a new PC in that case, but it will be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: KeithP
Directron has the Compucase LX-6A19 on sale for $40. If you do a search on this case here in forum you will see a lot of positive comments on it.

-KeithP

Is this case better than the SLK3000B?

I've used that case before and wasn't overly impressed with it. While the overall design is good; nice air flow, fairly roomy ect. I found it be pretty cheap feeling.

Personally for my builds I generally start with InWin cases and then move up Lian Li, CoolerMaster AL cases for higher-end builds. Generally I find them to be built a bit better then Antecs (SLK3000) and much better then the Compucase.
Inwin 1, InWin 2

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: KeithP
Directron has the Compucase LX-6A19 on sale for $40. If you do a search on this case here in forum you will see a lot of positive comments on it.

-KeithP

Is this case better than the SLK3000B?

I've used that case before and wasn't overly impressed with it. While the overall design is good; nice air flow, fairly roomy ect. I found it be pretty cheap feeling.

Personally for my builds I generally start with InWin cases and then move up Lian Li, CoolerMaster AL cases for higher-end builds. Generally I find them to be built a bit better then Antecs (SLK3000) and much better then the Compucase.
Inwin 1, InWin 2

Is it possible to get an InWin without a PSU? I'm getting an FSP 450W anyway.

 

[Madwand1]

I completed the move of a system from my old PII case to an Antec 1650B, and I'm pretty happy -- with the fans turned down, port filtered, and CPU overclocked 22%, I'm easily getting 5C temperatures lower than with the old case, and the only way I could get the old case cooler would have been to make the 80mm fans noisy.

The 1650 is not a Lian Li.. It also doesn't have the proper intake fan + drive cooling design as in the 3000 and most Thermaltakes. But it's very nice to get this price / performance + simple cosmetics without being an eyesore (for my eyes at least).

I wish Antec could get the 3000's design in a nicer looking case. I guess cases like the Thermaltake Tsunami will have to do for now.