Request for case recommendations/ideas

[willdbill2]

Hi,

I'm looking to build a new system, all new parts since my current machine is a mish-mash of old parts. I don't keep up much with the latest trends so I'm looking for ideas on a good case that I can work with for the next 3-5 years.

Here's what I do know:
+ Want a mid-tower, though full-tower is acceptable.
+ Front/top IO panel with USB/audio/eSATA (and maybe something else I don't know about)
+ Don't care about anything to support watercooling.
+ Want to make upgrades/tinkering as easy as possible, so the less screws, the better.
+ I don't care for windows and lights and such. If it has it, that's fine, but I don't care much about appearance.
+ As quiet as possible.
+ I've never done any overclocking; I'm content with stock fans/heatsinks, though I may experiment in the future. If the case prevents me from doing that, that's fine.

Maybe there are other trends with case technology that I'm not aware of. Are there other factors I should consider? I don't really have a price limit, though something under $200 should get me something that lasts a while, I hope. I'm the type to swap out parts over time rather than building new each year.

Thanks for the ideas. Let me know if there are some details I should fill.

 

[Rhezuss]

Hi, last week I got the Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced to replace an aging loud old case...

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6638

This case is amazing! Look at the lik for specs and details.

FYI, I added 2 side 120mm fans and 1 more 120mm on the top and my overall temps droped by 3 degrees and my XFX HD 6850 1gb idling at 40-41 degrees is now lowered to 36 degrees. A little louder tho but nothing deftening.

Love the case, looks awesome, got lots of room to work in, cable management is excellent, future proof and many more goodies!

I bought it for 99CAD and for a decent price you get a premium case!

 

[Petey!]

A Silverstone RV02 or FT02 would be a pretty good choice. Enough to house pretty much anything, stock cooling right out the box that you'll never have to upgrade or add to. Quiet, well made, and should really be able to last you for a long time.

 

[MentalIlness]

FT02 is in MentalIlness's future. For the second time .

 

[CurseTheSky]

The FT02 is a nice case in terms of altogether completeness. My only gripes are the lack of front panel eSATA / USB 3.0, steel panels rather than all aluminum, and some conflicts with larger optical drives (Blu-ray burners, etc.) in the top slot. Other than that, it's a wonderful case.

However, I replaced mine with the older FT01 due to the all-aluminum construction and smaller size. The FT02 moved more air and was a bit quieter, but I really love the looks of the FT01.

 

[Emultra]

I'm looking for something similar, also for a new machine. Might want to put a passive cooler on the northbridge if that's still feasible (got one on my Asus A8N), but otherwise just cool and quiet, no flashy stuff.

 

[nyker96]

corsair 600T graphite is pretty good as well. nice looking outside, great cooling inside. lots of modern conveniences. check it out.

 

[Jhatfie]

I really like the Cooler Master Storm Sniper. It has lots of front panel connections including esata, runs quiet at low fan settings because of huge 200mm fans and has excellent fit and finish. Normally $150, but only $89 at Newegg today after rebate. Worth a look anyway.

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2882

 

[willdbill2]

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking over them now, but reading the comments, 2 questions come to mind:

1. What makes aluminum better than steel (or not)?
2. I definitely plan to have an SSD as the primary disk. Does that change anything? I see some cases have 1 slot available for this, but had assumed it would be fairly trivial to buy an adapter to fit a 3.5 bay. Thoughts?

Thanks again!

 

[Zap]

1. Bigger e-peen. Lighter weight (usually, but not always depending on thickness of aluminum). Most people feel that anodized aluminum looks better than paint or plastic. Easier to mod if you're into that due to being softer than steel.

2. Yes, trivial to buy an adapter for a few bucks.

 

[gilljoy]

I've got a xigmatek midgard

its a full case but its really well layed out and pretty much screweless minus screws for PSU and attaching HDD to the bays but their all included

 

[Rhezuss]

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking over them now, but reading the comments, 2 questions come to mind:

1. What makes aluminum better than steel (or not)?
2. I definitely plan to have an SSD as the primary disk. Does that change anything? I see some cases have 1 slot available for this, but had assumed it would be fairly trivial to buy an adapter to fit a 3.5 bay. Thoughts?

Thanks again!

1- Mostly wait and surely other stuff heheh
2- The Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced has 1 tray with 2 - 2.5" for SSD! Included!

All the suggestions here are awesome but the CM690 II adv is better hahah!

 

[Petey!]

1- Mostly wait and surely other stuff heheh
2- The Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced has 1 tray with 2 - 2.5" for SSD! Included!

All the suggestions here are awesome but the CM690 II adv is better hahah!

Better cause you own one haha. I went from one to my FT02, and while the 690 II was an impossible to beat case for the $60 I paid for it, the FT02 just destroys it.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

I love my Lian Li, but they don't make my model anymore (the V series mine was smallest size, although I wish I had gotten the 1200 in hindsight). I don't know what your price range is either, but since the FT02 was mentioned I thought I'd throw out some Lian Li cases in that range.

This is one case I really love the look of (in red), and think it might be my next case:
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/pro..._index=555&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62

Bigger bro
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/pro...index=554&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=138

I also like
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/pro..._index=338&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61
Was recently on sale at Newegg for $150.

Also, a lot of higher end cases come with a 3.5>2.5 adapter. Some of the Lian Li's have 2.5 mounting points built in (which is really kind of cool how they do it). Alum is lighter than steel if it's the same thickness. Also, alum tends be a part of higher quality cases (just based on my experience). I try to avoid steel, but I would not allow steel/alum to make a decision on a case for me. Base your decision on the overall design and price first, then if you care worry about steel/alum. Keep in mind that both are great, and if you don't move it much then there is no benefit of one over the other since usually the biggest benefit is weight.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Oh, and the Corsair 800D as well

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...39001&Tpk=800d

EDIT: Forgot some

Cosmos cases are nice, Silverstone TJ series, and Lian Li V1020/1200 (which apparently they still make unlike what I said earlier). The V1020 is the newer one, and has some nice upgrades over the 1200. Honestly between the 1020 and 1200, I don't see a point for the 1200 outside of some more 5.25's.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

I really like the Cooler Master Storm Sniper. It has lots of front panel connections including esata, runs quiet at low fan settings because of huge 200mm fans and has excellent fit and finish. Normally $150, but only $89 at Newegg today after rebate. Worth a look anyway.

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2882

Slightly off topic but I picked this case up for a new build last week. Did you add any of the optional fans? If so did you notice a nice decrease in temps? Any clearance issues with the fan on the side panel? I'll be using the cooler master 212 hsf.

 

[Rhezuss]

Slightly off topic but I picked this case up for a new build last week. Did you add any of the optional fans? If so did you notice a nice decrease in temps? Any clearance issues with the fan on the side panel? I'll be using the cooler master 212 hsf.

Hey! I got the CM690 II Adv...not exactly the same case but maybe it'll help you a bit. The CM690 II Adv comes with 3 fans (1 rear, 1 front and 1 top). Without adding any fans my temps were similar to my old case (CPU idle at 36/Load at 42-44, GPU idle at 42/Load at 55). I added 2 side fans plus one more top (120mm fans) and my overall temps (idle/load on CPU and GPU, mobo and ambiant) dropped 4-6 degrees!

A little noisier but nothing annoying, far from that. 120mm fans are quiet and have a nice airflow. I bought the Cooler Master 4-pack 120mm fans for 9CAD on newegg. The only con is that they come only with the 3 pin connector (my mobo only have 1 fan connector) so make sure you have adapters.

 

[Jhatfie]

Slightly off topic but I picked this case up for a new build last week. Did you add any of the optional fans? If so did you notice a nice decrease in temps? Any clearance issues with the fan on the side panel? I'll be using the cooler master 212 hsf.

I added a 120mm intake fan to the bottom, that was the only additional fan that I added. I put it in at the time of moving my hardware over to it, so I did not notice any changes in temps. I am currently using the CM Hyper 212 + and there are no clearance issues as all.

FYI - I was previously using a Antec P180B (added 2 additional intake 120mm's to it) and my cpu load temps under OCCT dropped 5-6C just by switching to the Storm Sniper case, it really has excellent airflow.

 

[BoomerD]

If you want a nice mid-tower, how about the Cooler Master HAF 922, or 912?

http://coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id=19&product_id=2919

http://coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id=19&product_id=3009

 

[CurseTheSky]

I love my Lian Li, but they don't make my model anymore (the V series mine was smallest size, although I wish I had gotten the 1200 in hindsight). I don't know what your price range is either, but since the FT02 was mentioned I thought I'd throw out some Lian Li cases in that range.

This is one case I really love the look of (in red), and think it might be my next case:
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/pro..._index=555&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62

Bigger bro
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/pro...index=554&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=138

I also like
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/pro..._index=338&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61
Was recently on sale at Newegg for $150.

Also, a lot of higher end cases come with a 3.5>2.5 adapter. Some of the Lian Li's have 2.5 mounting points built in (which is really kind of cool how they do it). Alum is lighter than steel if it's the same thickness. Also, alum tends be a part of higher quality cases (just based on my experience). I try to avoid steel, but I would not allow steel/alum to make a decision on a case for me. Base your decision on the overall design and price first, then if you care worry about steel/alum. Keep in mind that both are great, and if you don't move it much then there is no benefit of one over the other since usually the biggest benefit is weight.

CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU TO HELL!

I love my FT01-BW, but now I'm tempted to picked up a PC-V1020 in black. Gah, I hate being addicted to building computers / swapping cases every 6-12 months. D:

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Hey thanks for the replies guys. I actually got my chip in this weekend and put the sniper box together. It actually came with 4 fans installed and the 140/120 slot at the bottom. There was one issue with the top blow fan. One of the pins on the molex is gimped. I got it working but hopefully I can get a replacement. I'm using the same cooler and I'm thinking about adding the extra 120mm for push/pull. Overall the case is really nice to work with. Lots of airflow and relatively quiet. The metal flexes more than I'd like though. One of the blue leds is annoyingly bright and I don't think you can't turn it off. The tool less 5.25 drive bays are awesome.

As for the op. I like the lian li cases. They look good Well constructed. It's probably going to be quieter than a case with a lot of mesh. Lots of room to work with. They are $$$ though.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU TO HELL!

I love my FT01-BW, but now I'm tempted to picked up a PC-V1020 in black. Gah, I hate being addicted to building computers / swapping cases every 6-12 months. D:

I'm cursing myself to hell for finding that case. I want it now too