Which case to choose?

[mscdex0]

I'm looking to get a new case since I've been noticing problems with occasional freezing while gaming. The setup I have now isn't the best as far as airflow is concerned, so I'm looking for one that is and still looks nice at the same time. I'm not looking to spend a great deal, less than $90. The less expensive the better of course. I am specifically eyeing this one here, has anyone had any experience with this one? I like the fact it comes with dual 120mm fans.

Edit: I have a Gigabyte 8IPE1000 motherboard and a p4 3ghz prescott with stock HSF and 6800GT AGP if that helps. Also, the case doesn't have to come with a PSU, unless it really is a decent one with at least 400w, because the one I have currently has done me well so far.

Edit 2: I do not overclock my system either

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: mscdex0
I'm looking to get a new case since I've been noticing problems with occasional freezing while gaming. The setup I have now isn't the best as far as airflow is concerned, so I'm looking for one that is and still looks nice at the same time. I'm not looking to spend a great deal, less than $90. The less expensive the better of course. I am specifically eyeing this one here, has anyone had any experience with this one? I like the fact it comes with dual 120mm fans.

Well, first off, i dont think a case will ever help with stability. Unless it really has crap for airflow. If thats the case, unless your case dates back to the P3 era, i dont think upgrading your case will help.

Your freezing is related to a different issue. Maybe Power supply, or ram, or your overclocking settings if any.


If you truely think its the case, pop the side pannel off, and see if the freezing stops. If thats the situation, then yeah, upgrade cases.

 

[mscdex0]

Well, I left the side off and it still froze up occasionally, but then again my A/C is broke atm so that isn't helping either. I checked the GPU temp the moment I exited the game and it read 78 degrees celsius. Ambient temp currently (at desktop) with side off is 55 celsius according to the nvidia temperature menu in the video card properties. My video card is a 6800GT AGP with stock HSF. The GPU temperature while at the desktop here also is 73 degree celsius.

Would having one of those PCI exhaust fans below the video card help since the gpu fan is blowing downwards?

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: mscdex0
Well, I left the side off and it still froze up occasionally, but then again my A/C is broke atm so that isn't helping either. I checked the GPU temp the moment I exited the game and it read 78 degrees celsius. Ambient temp currently (at desktop) with side off is 55 celsius according to the nvidia temperature menu in the video card properties. My video card is a 6800GT AGP with stock HSF. The GPU temperature while at the desktop here also is 73 degree celsius.

im looking at your PSU, or overclocking settings. Are you overclocked?

Can you list these:

Cpu :
Board:
PSU :
RAM: Make and Model.
Cooling Device:

Im pointing my finger to hardware and not the case.

 

[mscdex0]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: mscdex0
Well, I left the side off and it still froze up occasionally, but then again my A/C is broke atm so that isn't helping either. I checked the GPU temp the moment I exited the game and it read 78 degrees celsius. Ambient temp currently (at desktop) with side off is 55 celsius according to the nvidia temperature menu in the video card properties. My video card is a 6800GT AGP with stock HSF. The GPU temperature while at the desktop here also is 73 degree celsius.

im looking at your PSU, or overclocking settings. Are you overclocked?

Can you list these:

Cpu :
Board:
PSU :
RAM: Make and Model.
Cooling Device:

Im pointing my finger to hardware and not the case.

CPU: 3.0GHz Prescott P4
Board: Gigabyte 8IPE1000
PSU: Powmax Demon 480w
RAM: 2x 512mb GeIL Value PC3200 (ones with smooth blue heatsinks)
Cooling device: 80mm fan on PSU across the supply itself and blowing out, 2 80mm fans in the back, one blowing in and one blowing out. I know this probably isn't the best setup for airflow, but there isn't any way to put a fan in the front-bottom of the case, however there is a place to put an 80mm on the side window, which it is not plugged in at the moment because the fan is pretty much dead.

 

[tylerdustin2008]

I'm leaning towards temps on this one. Because once the computer is heavy gaming those temps I'M sure are in the 80's.

I would suggest this case for your budget, as the one you listed has the hdd rack in the front blocking airflow.

COOLER MASTER Centurion 534

Another thing i would do is re-apply thermal paste on the CPU, and GPU. And dust the things out really well.

Tyler

 

[Zepper]

If you do decide to buy a case, you have picked about the best case you can get for that money. See my rosewill thread in this section. I think the R5601 is slightly better because of the adjustable louvers on the front air intake (helps block any noise that emanates from the inside). But I bought the 5604 because it cost less then too... You might want to try one of those Antec spot fans or a Zalman fan bracket to get extra air to the memory as that is most often the cause of random lockups. The Enermax Chakra is a decent case if you need extra cooling.

.bh.

 

[mscdex0]

Originally posted by: tylerdustin2008
I'm leaning towards temps on this one. Because once the computer is heavy gaming those temps I'M sure are in the 80's.

I would suggest this case for your budget, as the one you listed has the hdd rack in the front blocking airflow.

COOLER MASTER Centurion 534

Another thing i would do is re-apply thermal paste on the CPU, and GPU. And dust the things out really well.

Tyler

Yeah, that's something else I saw on some cases that might help is keeping out the dust, as my case tends to get dusty inside after awhile since there are no filters or anything like that.

 

[mscdex0]

Originally posted by: Zepper
See my rosewill thread in this section.

Do you have a link? I can't seem to find it.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129155
various places have had it on sale for 49.99 recently. I have it with an a8n32-sli deluxe w/ a x2 3800+ that i sometimes run @2.6ghz. It stays quiet, is small, and as long as you add an intake fan, stays cool. You could also pick up a 90mm fan for use in the duct, and then take one of ur current case's 80mm's and put it in for vga cooling (I have an AC64 freezer pro, so my hsf is too big for the duct to fit). If the duct actually works well, you'll have cooling for the vga and addition for the cpu (above and beyond the stock hsf). Plus the case itself should offer more airflow then you get now, and it comes with a 450w psu. Basically, unless you have defective cpu, mobo, or ram, doing this purchase should cover all you bases as far as the symptoms go. Plus, as long as you don't scratch it, its a nice looking case!

 

[swtethan]

Centurion 5 is a very good roomy case

 

[Zepper]

How to locate my rosewill thread. Go to the first page of the C&C section, enter Rosewill into the search field at the top of the thread list, hit enter, voila.

"Give a man a fish and he eats today. Teach a man to fish and he eats for life."

.bh.

 

[mscdex0]

Originally posted by: Zepper
How to locate my rosewill thread. Go to the first page of the C&C section, enter Rosewill into the search field at the top of the thread list, hit enter, voila.

"Give a man a fish and he eats today. Teach a man to fish and he eats for life."

.bh.

Strange, for some reason it didn't come up when I did an advanced search to find it

I think I've narrowed it down to two cases now. Either the Rosewill or the Cooler Master.

 

[Zepper]

The advanced search feature has long been a non-feature. While the section search seems to work fairly well. Some use google or other search engines to do a real search on the AT forums. Don't know when they'll have a real, working search on the forums here - been broken it seems like forever.

The Coolermaster Mystique cases that svc.com has been blowing out are very similar to the Centurion cases inside. $100. aluminum cases for under $50. shipped. after rebate. Don't ask me how they do it.

.bh.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I think you should get a decent ps first and then think about a new case later. If you could swing both that would be the best deal so you could move your stuff at one time.

 

[aigomorla]

hey op, listen to Zepper. When it comes to cheap cases, this guy knows it all.

I would also recomend a rosewell case. When zep posted it, it looked fairly good for its price range.

 

[tylerdustin2008]

Originally posted by: mscdex0

Originally posted by: tylerdustin2008
I'm leaning towards temps on this one. Because once the computer is heavy gaming those temps I'M sure are in the 80's.

I would suggest this case for your budget, as the one you listed has the hdd rack in the front blocking airflow.

COOLER MASTER Centurion 534

Another thing i would do is re-apply thermal paste on the CPU, and GPU. And dust the things out really well.

Tyler

Yeah, that's something else I saw on some cases that might help is keeping out the dust, as my case tends to get dusty inside after awhile since there are no filters or anything like that.

Thats because of negative case flow.

 

[mscdex0]

Since tylerdustin brought it up, it got me to thinking: would the 120mm fan in the front of the Rosewill R5604 that is behind the hdd cage have a big enough effect on the airflow? I noticed that on the CoolerMaster one I linked to, it has the intake coming from the side of the case and out the back instead. Wouldn't this provide better air flow where it's needed most? Also, the placement of the CoolerMaster side fan seems like it would blow directly in the area of the video card which would be a plus (for my situation at least).

Edit: I only have two internal hard drives if that helps.

Edit 2: I found another CoolerMaster on svc.com that is even cheaper and comes with 2x 120mm fans here. How does this compare with the other two?

 

[Zepper]

Air coming from a side vent is short-circuiting the air flow (I either block them off or duct them direct to the CPU or vid card fan). Otherwise it just gets drawn in thru the side and blown out the back w/o doing much in the way of cooling work. You want your intake air coming thru fans and/or venting near the lower front (or at least the front). As long as there is adequate front venting that the rear fan isn't breathing hard, you'll be OK. Check for breathing restriction by comparing free-air RPM of the fan to the working rpm at full voltage Easiest way is to check the rpm with the side door off and then with it on: door off ~ free air, door on = working. The larger the diff between the two, the harder the rear fan is working to do its job - you'll also want to remove any restriction the case puts in the way of your rear fan like a restrictive grill. Many cheap cases have terribly restrictive grills on the back.

IAC, the rear fan is the important one in overall system cooling, the front is mainly to insure a bit of a breeze across the HDDs (except in positive pressure systems). I generally use a lot more rear fan than I need just in case I need to crank it up for enhanced cooling. I have a Sanyo Denki 120x38mm fan capable of over 100 CFM in there now - it seldom runs at over 7 Volts.

.bh.

 

[tylerdustin2008]

Also the one i linked has 2 front 80mm fans. I believe that case will fit in your budget nicely. The side fan will help bot CPU, and GPU, and this is because it is a source on cold air intake.

Tyler