Hi guys,
It's been about 3 years since I've built my current system, and following the July 22nd Intel CPU price cuts I've decided that it's that time again. The thing is that I just went through every $150-$300 case offered on newegg and a few other sites, and I'm rather disappointed by how little quality there is out there. I'm hoping that maybe someone here can point me to something I haven't seen yet.
The nature of the problem is very simple - I'm looking for a clean, elegant case, that doesn't act as a vacuum cleaner (i.e. suck up dust), yet has a good balance between cooling and sound properties. These requirements seem to eliminate 99% of everything that is out there, and yet I don't think they are unrealistic since 3 years ago I remember having a number of options.
For the clean and elegant part... Dear god! What are the case designers doing? The only cases that I like for their visual qualities are lian-li, I want something minimalist, but lian-li has some other problems that I'll get to in a second.
Vacuum cleaners is the next point. Why are there still cases being designed that don't put filters on all intake fans (in my price range that is)? I really don't understand this; even cases in the $300 range often have nothing to stop dust from getting in.
Cooling and sound - these are often mutually exclusive I understand that, but still, where's the balance? Some cases (for example, Lian-Li PC-V2100 PLUS II) have given up on good cooling completely, while others (Cooler Master) are just building cases out of mesh.
Needless to say, I'm rather disappointed at my options for the next case. I would have loved to buy a good Lian-Li for about $250 or so, but having gone through their site I can't find a single case that I like. Some have no cooling, others don't bother with dust, yet others have their motherboards upside down. What in the world is up with this new design? I'm not even talking about the fact that many motherboards with heatpipes are not going to benefit from being mounted upside-down (quite the opposite), but even if that wasn't the case, I just don't see the point.
Below I've listed more specific requirements that I have for the case. I would greatly appreciate any advice you guys can give me, because right now I'm leaning towards reusing my old thermaltake. It has a few problems, but it still seems to be better than anything I've seen.
So the general requirements are:
1. Absolutely no lights or transparent windows. In fact, I would love a black box that doesn't even look like a computer case.
2. Good balance between cooling and sound, with a filter on each intake fan.
3. A door covering the CD and floppy slots to block dust.
4. No upside-down motherboard.
5. Space for at least 4 hard drives that are cooled. They have to be mounted horizontally, and preferably facing outward.
6. Would prefer aluminum, but not as important.
My current thermaltake case covers just about all of those points, but it's not as clean as I would like (even though I removed all the lights), and if I use it I'll have to take apart my current system. In the past I've also used Antec, who used to have some good cases and now seem to be selling total junk. Lian-li has a lot cases that are very close to what I need, but each one has one or two major flaws that eliminates it for me.
Any tips on where else I should look?
It's been about 3 years since I've built my current system, and following the July 22nd Intel CPU price cuts I've decided that it's that time again. The thing is that I just went through every $150-$300 case offered on newegg and a few other sites, and I'm rather disappointed by how little quality there is out there. I'm hoping that maybe someone here can point me to something I haven't seen yet.
The nature of the problem is very simple - I'm looking for a clean, elegant case, that doesn't act as a vacuum cleaner (i.e. suck up dust), yet has a good balance between cooling and sound properties. These requirements seem to eliminate 99% of everything that is out there, and yet I don't think they are unrealistic since 3 years ago I remember having a number of options.
For the clean and elegant part... Dear god! What are the case designers doing? The only cases that I like for their visual qualities are lian-li, I want something minimalist, but lian-li has some other problems that I'll get to in a second.
Vacuum cleaners is the next point. Why are there still cases being designed that don't put filters on all intake fans (in my price range that is)? I really don't understand this; even cases in the $300 range often have nothing to stop dust from getting in.
Cooling and sound - these are often mutually exclusive I understand that, but still, where's the balance? Some cases (for example, Lian-Li PC-V2100 PLUS II) have given up on good cooling completely, while others (Cooler Master) are just building cases out of mesh.
Needless to say, I'm rather disappointed at my options for the next case. I would have loved to buy a good Lian-Li for about $250 or so, but having gone through their site I can't find a single case that I like. Some have no cooling, others don't bother with dust, yet others have their motherboards upside down. What in the world is up with this new design? I'm not even talking about the fact that many motherboards with heatpipes are not going to benefit from being mounted upside-down (quite the opposite), but even if that wasn't the case, I just don't see the point.
Below I've listed more specific requirements that I have for the case. I would greatly appreciate any advice you guys can give me, because right now I'm leaning towards reusing my old thermaltake. It has a few problems, but it still seems to be better than anything I've seen.
So the general requirements are:
1. Absolutely no lights or transparent windows. In fact, I would love a black box that doesn't even look like a computer case.
2. Good balance between cooling and sound, with a filter on each intake fan.
3. A door covering the CD and floppy slots to block dust.
4. No upside-down motherboard.
5. Space for at least 4 hard drives that are cooled. They have to be mounted horizontally, and preferably facing outward.
6. Would prefer aluminum, but not as important.
My current thermaltake case covers just about all of those points, but it's not as clean as I would like (even though I removed all the lights), and if I use it I'll have to take apart my current system. In the past I've also used Antec, who used to have some good cases and now seem to be selling total junk. Lian-li has a lot cases that are very close to what I need, but each one has one or two major flaws that eliminates it for me.
Any tips on where else I should look?
) I bought this case and its my first build too. It's been pretty good actually. It's got three fans (and two more mounts for additional fans) included which blow air out..so no "vacuum" cleaner. Also, all the intakes behind the front case door have filters that are easy to take out. The only downside to the case is that it's kinda pricey.
Facebook
Twitter