Which case is best quality? Antec sx830 or InWin Q500

[rnmcd]

I am building my first PC and need assistance on which case to buy.

I have heard that the Antec Sx830 has a flimsy I/O shield (I don't know what that is).

I believe the 830 comes with fans but I can't tell if the InWin Q500 does.


Does anyone have suggestions for me?

Here is my PC to be: 700mhz Athlon, ASUS K7V, matrox g400, 2 hard drives, modem, Sound Blaster Live, firewire card.

Thanks,rnmcd

 

[alcon]

I looked on the Antec site. The SX830 looks like a nice case! It comes with two 80mm fans and you can add two more.

I have experience with the Inwin A500 and the Q500. They are both solid reasonably priced cases with good Powerman power supplies.

I currently have a KS288 and a KS180 with the Antec power supplies and I am very happy with them. They are solidly built, the power supplies get excellent reviews and they are relatively quiet. I had to add a 92mm case fan to the KS180 but the KS288 took the more standard 80mm fans.

I would go with the Antec with PP303X power supply over the Inwin but it is a close call.

 

[KarlHungus]

I've heard great things about the Q500.

 

[TomY]

I have the InWin Q500a, it is a fairly good case. Its strong point would have to be the rock solid construction...and I mean ROCK SOLID. You could sit a 300 pound guy on this thing without its sides on and it wouldn't budge. The Powerman/Sparkle PS is pretty good too.

The bad part is that cooling is going to be a problem. You will probably need to Dremel out some stuff to get the air flow to work out for you.

 

[Jay59express]

I dont have any experience with those cases, but I recently built a new system, and I went with the Fong Kai 603, you might want to look into it, it is a great case, with superior thermal properties. Overclockers.com awarded it. You can buy it from directron.com

 

[Legacy6]

I have no experience whatsoever with Antec cases; on the other hand, I have 2 Inwin Q500 (older versions), one of which I purchased and one which a friend gave it to me (at no charge), and I absolutely like them. This model(s) has a lot a room to work in and for future upgrades, it holds a lot of components, is rock solid, but it needs some tweaks inside to improve the airflow and cooling. The Q500 is somewhat like a diamond in the rough: it has a lot going for it, but it still needs a little work to really make it shine.

 

[Kjazlaw]

i have an antec sx1030, a slightly larger version of the sx830. the i/o plate is pretty crappy (thin aluminum), but that's my only complaint. the rest of the case is pretty high quality. the i/o plate is just the piece on the back of the case that the ports on the motherboard poke through. that's kind of a lousy description, but i don't know how else to describe it.

 

[Ben_Tech]

I have used many inwin cases and about one out of ten have a bad power supply. Never had a Antec have a bad PS, but it might just be a coincidence. One thing that makes the Inwin very easy to use is it's slide out mainboard tray, it makes the initial assembly very fast and easy, but tends to sometimes pry out your agp card now and then if you move your comp around often due to the spring like nature of the steel fold on the mainboard tray. I think that both brands are great, however the case I bought for myself was an antec with a 300w power supply.

 

[pcmark]

Sx830 frickin rocks!!!! Ecxcept the i/o shield
Seriously, I have one. 4 80mm fans stock!

 

[Mikewarrior2]

Antec has a new I/O shield for the SX830/1030... Call them for it, its reinforced plastic or steel now, and from what I hear, it is very sturdy.



Mike

 

[Scifione]

As I am typing now, my system is running happily in my Q500 case.

The quote from the http://www.In-Win.com web page said, "Snap on cage for extra fan, no screw required. Can generate better air flow for system (optional extra fan is not included)." :Q When it come to extra fans in a case, the seller should include if they provide extra fans with the case. If they don't provide one, order an extra. The snap on cage come with the case standard and uses a 80mm fan. 80mm fans are the most common in cases, but 60mm and 92mm fans are also used. 120mm fans are mostly for rackmount cases. As far as Dremeling like TomY said for air flow goes, I cut out the front part of the metal grill were the fan is and snapped the cage back in place (I used a hack saw blade because I had no Dremel, but that was dangerous seeing as how the blade broke :| ). Cutting that out and covering the slates on the side made it quitter and improved airflow (That fan did not get all the air it wanted trough that metal grill). That metal grill is made up of small holes next to each other if you were wondering. There is a possibility of mounting 2 more 80mm fans above the power supply without modifying the case. There are a great number of possible places to put a fan if you wanted to modify the case.

TomY,
You said, " Its strong point would have to be the rock solid construction...and I mean ROCK SOLID. You could sit a 300 pound guy on this thing without its sides on and it budge." You were not kidding one bit; this think is built ROCK SOLID.

My case came with the 300Watt Power Man power supply. (All Good).

Here is a direct like to the case specs.
http://www.in-win.com/framecode/ino_q500.html

You can email me anytime for help.
I also have a hotmail account if homestead does not work.
scifione@homestead.com
scifione@hotmail.com

Scifione's signature of the moment:
Coffee good. Help good.

 

[Scifione]

Oh ya! All those over sized ATX motherboards must have been in someones mind when designing this case. This seems to be a feature of most full towers.

That slide out motherboard try is very useful. Pull it out mount your MB and install components on it. Then, put those hard drives in the lower drive cage (I have yet to have to remove that cage for anything). Finally put that removeable tray back.WOW! I love this case.

 

[pen^2]

I happen to to have them both and could give you my 2cents...
the inwin q500 was the first full tower case i had. it had ROCK SOLID construction (true true ) and pretty good power supply. sure it has poor ventilation but it has lots of manuvering room so if you into moddin the case this ia a very fine choice. you may experience an odd problem where the mobo doesnt sit on the case firmly enuff. this could easily be remedied by padding it up with some cell form between the mobo and the case.
now onto the antec case... from what i heard it has a better PS but both worked fine for me so far (still, i guess it could be one of your considerations if you plannin onto poppin some peltiers on your cpu) somehow i felt this case had a cleaner feel to it than the inwin one... the backplate didnt bother me (in fact it didnt at all) as much as one piece cover; this is a real zinger in case of frequent mods and tweaks inside your case.
overall it is a tough call. you shouldnt be dissappointed with either ones. if price is your priority go with inwin. if its the near highest PS you want then your choice should be the antec. the looks could be a deciding factor here cuz they are so competitive in terms of construction quality and etc. i prefer the faceplate of the q500n but that could just be me

 

[Jhhnn]

The beauty of the antec sx series cases is that you DO NOT have to mod them to get good airflow, very important for athlon systems. mine came with two fans, you can easily tailor a personal compromise between airflow and noise with more of the same, or quieter units from somebody else. On the SX1030, the upper front fan mount is also a HD cooling rig, if you want. This pup will hold all your stuff and look empty. Unless you find one helluva deal on the sx830, you won't regret buying the sx1030, just for the expansion possibilities. Antec is making a mistake marketing either as server cases, they are big midtowers, workstation class, enthusiast class cases!

 

[Seeko]

The I/O panel is not an issue anymore with the Antec SX830. They have a replacement which you can order which is sturdy as hell. You can read about it in this thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=37&threadid=195100

 

[HepDude]

I bought the Antec SX830, because I got a good deal at Onvia, and because it has the aforementioned 303X power supply, which is Anand's top rated PS with Athlons.

BTW, I have yet to fire up the SX830, because I am still waiting for Socket A motherboards to be released !

From the descriptions, it sounds like it is a tossup, probably your decision should be based on some small feature, like which side the door opens, or number and position of CD-ROM bays, or even which store carries which.

 

[da loser]

Just make sure you get the Q500N version, because it has the back exhaust unlike the regular Q500

 

[EmperorNero]

You should go w/ the Antec mostly b/c of its power supply (since case-wise, the antec and iwin are both good). remember, athlon setups can be finicky w/ the type of PS.

 

[mindless]

I dont have the SX830 but I do have the KS188 and a Q500. In my opinion the Inwin is a MUCH better case. Everything fits together alot better, and you dont have to slide the side pannels all the way back to remove them. Dont get me wrong, the KS188 is a good case, but the Q500 is better, that and the Poweman supply that came with the Q500 gives me better voltages than the Antec supply in the KS188.

My vote goes with the Inwin.

 

[pen^2]

dont worry about the quality of inwin (powerman 300W) PS; it worked flawlessly on my setup. then again it could just be me... i have to disagree you can get by without modifying the case if you are overclocking an athlon 100mhz+ with increased voltage... this is one thing you gotta do if you into overclocking. plus it aint all that hard anyways. btw that back exhaust really doesnt give you any advantage. its there but it had a negligible impact on cooling on my setup.

 

[kendogg]

Well as for the Q500 i personaly own one with a Athlon 700 setup. I dont seem to know why people say cooling is a problem with this case because my athlons running about 36c but it also has a fat Alpha attached to it. I think it should run cool as long as the processor has nice cooling, has a case fan and exhaust fan.

 

[cdrakejr]

BrotherMan,

I'm not sure what you mean by one piece case on the Antec SX830/1030?
I have an SX830 on order and all the pics I've seen show swing out side opening panels.
That's one of the features many of the posts I've read point out as an advantage for getting into the case easily.
Is yours an older model?

 

[Bry]

In my opinion the SX830 beats the Q500 by a longshot. I've seen the SX830 and used the Q500, both are sturdy enough for normal use but the SX830's cooling performance is considerably better thought out than the Q500.

 

[pen^2]

cdrakejr: erk, i suppose you are right... x_x @_@ -_- mine was ks-180 in fact... still a pretty nice case tho

 

[Origen]

I don't have any experience with Antec cases, but I've purchased a new In-Win Q500 once a year for the past 3 years. Each one has had minor changes here and there making them better and better. They get my 2 thumbs up.