Suggest a case for my C2D build?

[Hop]

Originally posted by: Ozoneman
Where did you view the cases you talk about above? I don't know if you realize that my HSF blows air from the front of the cpu cooler, through the fins, towards the back of the case where there is a 120 exhaust fan directly behind it. It also has the 120 exhaust fan directly above the cpu cooler. Any heat coming off the cpu cooler is getting pulled out of the case by both fans immediately. The fan for the Scythe Ninja Plus can be mounted the same way that my cooler is set up. The fan on the Ninja on my son's PC doesn't even run when the PC is at idle. The cooler cools well enough that that fan doesn't need to run and only kicks on when he starts to work the cpu.

Another thread here.
Cable Management DIY guide *update 2* photos added!
Specifically, this image
EDIT: I got to say, and I think I have already, your cabling is tight, and it looks real nice and clean. Now that I know a little more about what I'm looking at, I can see why you have your cooler set up that way, and that is what I'm heading towards. I noticed the fan blade pitch on your cooler is turned out more, thus deeper than some thin 120mm's I've seen. That one I'm looking at on your pic though is an Arctic Freezer 7 correct? Are you using a stock fan or something else?

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Hop

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Also, front bay LCD devices own heres mine:
http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_0726.jpg

What controls your LCD aigomorla? I haven't used matrix orbital because the cost threw me off a little, but I see they have serial devices, and I'll check to see if there are also SPI compatible ones. That is sweet looking. Actually, that's an LED not LCD correct? I prefer lighted characters to LCD with a back light. Ultimately, I'd like a 640x480 touch pad using OLED, but that's a way off yet I'm afraid.

Its PLED. And its controlled via internal USB header.

It tells me the system runtime, network activity, time, a lot of other stuff.

I have one on my NAS, and on my main rig. This way i can tell how much my NAS was communicating with the other computers, and how much work its done.


I believe what your looking for is a full blown display like silverstone or zalman HTPC cases, which can get very tricky and messy.

Most of them have a simple VGA plug, and you need to somehow route a cable out the back and to your videocard Impossible to pull off if your going to use SLI.

Too much work, and also it costs a lot of money. Something i really didnt need. I like matrix orbitals. There fairly easy to configure, and simple to use. The only thing i would think of using besides it would be alphacool's 4x4 display which has room for more stuff. But the matrix PLED is the brightest by far.


If your getting a front bay LCD or LED device, cases with front doors is a definite nono. It would seriously destory the point in having one and most cases which have front doors, minus TT's armor, looks really ugly with the door off or open.

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Its PLED. And its controlled via internal USB header.

It tells me the system runtime, network activity, time, a lot of other stuff...

So the PLED you have is connected to the USB header directly? I didn't know they had devices that were USB ready. I hope I didn't misread that because that eliminates the need for me to build a microcontroller device to handle all that, or at least talk to it via USB instead of SPI.

Thanks for the INFO! I should have known I'd find info here on that. I was looking in the wrong places I guess.

EDIT: Just looked it up. It's a whole package that installs in a 5.25" bay. Sweet! I didn't know about Polymer LEDs, and the price is very reasonable. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Ozoneman]

Originally posted by: Hop

Originally posted by: Ozoneman
Where did you view the cases you talk about above? I don't know if you realize that my HSF blows air from the front of the cpu cooler, through the fins, towards the back of the case where there is a 120 exhaust fan directly behind it. It also has the 120 exhaust fan directly above the cpu cooler. Any heat coming off the cpu cooler is getting pulled out of the case by both fans immediately. The fan for the Scythe Ninja Plus can be mounted the same way that my cooler is set up. The fan on the Ninja on my son's PC doesn't even run when the PC is at idle. The cooler cools well enough that that fan doesn't need to run and only kicks on when he starts to work the cpu.

Another thread here.
Cable Management DIY guide *update 2* photos added!
Specifically, this image
EDIT: I got to say, and I think I have already, your cabling is tight, and it looks real nice and clean. Now that I know a little more about what I'm looking at, I can see why you have your cooler set up that way, and that is what I'm heading towards. I noticed the fan blade pitch on your cooler is turned out more, thus deeper than some thin 120mm's I've seen. That one I'm looking at on your pic though is an Arctic Freezer 7 correct? Are you using a stock fan or something else?

The image you showed, if I'm not mistaken, is the exact cooler I was suggesting to you. I'm pretty sure that is a Scythe Ninja Plus.
Edit: No, I guess that is a Tuniq Tower.

You are correct that the one in my PC pic is the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro. It uses the same fan that comes with it, and that is a 90 mm fan. It has a unique mounting cage. Here's a closer look at the cooler and fan.

http://i239.photobucket.com/al...EC%20P182/P1010021.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/al...EC%20P182/P1010017.jpg

However, I still would suggest the one you found in the image you linked above or the Ninja.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Hop

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Its PLED. And its controlled via internal USB header.

It tells me the system runtime, network activity, time, a lot of other stuff...

So the PLED you have is connected to the USB header directly? I didn't know they had devices that were USB ready. I hope I didn't misread that because that eliminates the need for me to build a microcontroller device to handle all that, or at least talk to it via USB instead of SPI.

Thanks for the INFO! I should have known I'd find info here on that. I was looking in the wrong places I guess.

EDIT: Just looked it up. It's a whole package that installs in a 5.25" bay. Sweet! I didn't know about Polymer LEDs, and the price is very reasonable. Thanks for the tip!

Heres the alphacool one i was talking about. It looks pretty tight.
http://www.performance-pcs.com..._155&products_id=20600

And heres the LCD. As i said tho it can get kinda messy and its not touch screen. :\
http://www.performance-pcs.com..._293&products_id=22041

Performance-PCS is a great store if you dont mind spending a little to get what you want. If you can find the orbital cheaper then performance-pcs from a reputable dealer, let me know, i kinda want another one. :]

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Heres the alphacool one i was talking about. It looks pretty tight.
http://www.performance-pcs.com..._155&products_id=20600

And heres the LCD. As i said tho it can get kinda messy and its not touch screen. :\
http://www.performance-pcs.com..._293&products_id=22041

Performance-PCS is a great store if you dont mind spending a little to get what you want. If you can find the orbital cheaper then performance-pcs from a reputable dealer, let me know, i kinda want another one. :]

Oh yeah, that first one, the alpha cool is exactly what I want, even though it isn't a touch pad. I'm researching touch overlays to see how feasible that would be to do. It would be nice to script custom interfaces and pull up data at a touch of a virtual button. That video panel does look messy, but pretty sharp in the featured case it is installed in. It's really too much though, unless you can use it to show what the PVR is recording at the moment. Just need a video signal so seems like it would be pretty easy to do.

Thanks for the link to Performance-PCS! I'll probably be shopping there in the near future.

 

[Hop]

It's a little dated, but to finish off the thread, I finally picked the Antec Nine Hundred. I got it from NewEgg.com, and they had a one-day $30 mir, and free shipping. Now I just hope it shows up without being damaged. If so, it will be the first case I got mail order that hasn't been.

Thanks again everyone for all the help and advice. I'll be getting another one later on for my Linux machine to replace my RaidMax one. I'll re-read this thread for direction there. =)