Trying to decide between two cases

[R3LIC]

I'm building a new computer and could use some help deciding on a case.
System will consist of DFI Blood Iron mobo, C2D E4400, 4gb RAM, one HDD, one DVD, one ATI HD3870.

My top two choices are the Aerocool i-Curve and the Antec Solo

I chose these because of a few reasons:
no door
no flashy lights
no windows
small size

I've read a few reviews on both and haven't seen anything I don't like about either one.


Feel free to mention any oddities/quirks you may know of with these cases or just chime in with a vote.
Any and all help with the decision is appreciated.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Hi there, I'm a bit old school so you'll have to forgive me but, I like to start from scratch. What are your priorities with the system you're building? Silence, performance, speed? Are you going to be overclocking? What is your cooling budget? What CPU HSF are you going to use? Are you going to leave your GPU with stock cooling? What's your level of proficiency with modifying a case? How strict is your budget, you dropped in with those two cases at about $90 plus shipping, that gives you a LOT of options!

There is nothing really stand out wrong with either of those cases. I think there are better cases in the same price range depending on what's going to be the most important to you.

 

[R3LIC]

Sorry. I guess I could have been a bit more informative.

Looking for something fairly quiet. That is another part of why i chose these cases. They both include 120mm fans.

I will be overclocking a little. My cooling budget is basically $0. I will be using a stock quad core HSF (not sure if its diff from dual core cooler). GPU will also be stock cooler.

Budget is about $175 for case + PSU. I chose these two mainly because they are smaller than average. I have a small space for my tower in my desk.
For Example, I currently have a Antec NSK 4400 and it barely fits (depth-wise). So a max depth of about 18" is at the top of the list for importance.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Ok, that gives me a good ammount to work with. So long as we stay right around the $175 would you at all mind re-locating some of the money to cooling?

 

[R3LIC]

I would prefer to buyer higher quality case and PSU as I don't plan on OC'ing very much and both cases include 2 fans.
The CPU as of right now is sitting at 2.9GHz just fine.

What did you have in mind ?

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Case $45
Power Supply $50AR
Freezer7 $22
Accelero S1 $24
Turbo Module $8

Total ~$150 after a mail in rebate.

EDIT: forgot the fans

Fans $9ea

run those at 7v and they'll be a great balance of power and silence.

 

[R3LIC]

Thanks for the recommendation but the case is about 2.5" deeper than what I can use. This is my biggest problem with getting a case.

I've seen the power supply mentioned in a few threads. I think I might bite on that one.

And I will never buy an Arctic Cooling product again.
Had a Freezer 4 on my P4 3.2E and the fan completely broke free of the bracket while it was spinning and took out a couple caps on my mobo.
I've noticed all the Freezers after this one have a shroud around the fan now. I wonder why...

 

[DerwenArtos12]

8.2" x 20.2" x 17.8" should be Width x height x depth so it's exactly the right size. Kingwin has some new heatpipe coolers that are performing on par with the arctic cooler but for a little more money. The 90mm RVT is right on par with the AC freezer and the 120mm should be a little better. If you've got a little wiggle room there's always the tuniq tower.

 

[R3LIC]

http://www.istarusa.com/rackmo...storm/atx/s-9-h23.aspx
20.2" is depth

I'm not concerned with buying HSF any time soon. Thank you for the info though.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

well dag nabbit. that was about the only one i could find too. Thats a small cabinet you're working with. Glad I could be of some, if even limited assistance.

 

[Zepper]

Hard to find an ATX case that shallow as most are trying to allow for the long video cards - can't really do 18" and still have 11" of card space. Here is a possible: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811147045 only 18.1 deep and built on the same chassis as the Antec SLK3000-B (but w/o the door) - a classic for quiet and cooling. Also look at the HEC/Compucase listings on Newegg - one is identical to the Rosewill linked above as Compucase was the OEM for the SLK3000 and has several models in the 6A line. Newegg has the dimensions screwed up on some as you can tell by eye and the Compucase page that 18.1 is the depth. Good luck.


And if it suits your system, SVC has an Arctic Cooling Silentium case on sale that includes a very sturdy Seasonic PSU which can put out 350W CONTINUOUS and up to 450W for a few seconds as needed... D = 45 cm = 18"

Oh, and check my FS/T link in the sig for some good PSUs.

.bh.

PS: Also check the Antec B-Stock store, though shipping to this side of the country on their stuff is often very high. .bh.

 

[R3LIC]

Thanks for the input guys.

After much debate, I think I'm going with the Aerocool i-Curve.
Primarily because of its size. And being as plain and flat as it is, my friend may finally have a use for his roll of carbon fiber

And getting the Cooler Master 750w previously mentioned to go with it.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: R3LIC
Thanks for the input guys.

After much debate, I think I'm going with the Aerocool i-Curve.
Primarily because of its size. And being as plain and flat as it is, my friend may finally have a use for his roll of carbon fiber

And getting the Cooler Master 750w previously mentioned to go with it.

glad I could be good for something in this case. I have bumped into another couple cases shallow enough but, they're server level cases and severely over-priced.