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Who's got tempered glass?

I

Insomniator

Diamond Member
I just noticed these are in style now -- maybe I'm way behind. Really love the look of them, especially the Corsair 460x and Phanteks Enthoo.

I have been using the same MicroAtx (Temjin TJ08-E) for 6 years and its been great, but since getting a gaming laptop for LAN's and a larger computer desk/apartment I don't need to constrict the space so much. Thinking about moving back into ATX.

I wonder if tempered glass just gets filthy or scratched up after 3 months... negating the entire point. Or weighs a ton... or will look stupid/cheap when its out of style in 3 years.
 
In before the aesthetically disinclined users show up. 😀

There was a thread on tempered glass cases a few months ago. Generally there can be some small compromises with cooling and noise versus non-windowed cases, but I think they are a definite improvement over acrylic windows which tend to attract or show dust worse than glass and can get scratched up.

I don't think they will look stupid or cheap in a few years. At most we'll be reminiscing about how everyone and their mother made a tempered case in 2016/2017, but I think they will still look good because most tend toward clean design, which rarely is a regrettable design choice (simple black case designs from 5 to 10 years ago still look good).

Tempered glass cases - and full side window cases in general - are about showcasing the internal components. So as long as that's still a desirable aspect of custom PC building for you in ~3 years time, I don't think you'd regret getting one, provided it's a good case in other respects.
 
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I have my eyes on this guy for my next build...

http://www.thermaltake.com/Chassis/...0002975/The_Tower_900_Snow_Edition/design.htm

main.jpg


Tempered Glass..
Raven Style mounting with GPU ports up top.
And enough room for 2 x 480 radiators on dual loops...

:T
 
In general, tempered glass seems superior to plexi/acrylic in pretty much every way. More durable (both in terms of scratches, discoloration/surface degradation, and general accidental damage), ought to be somewhat better for noise dampening (although nowhere near a foam-isolated side panel), transmits light better and is (usually) less reflective (/reflections are cleaner and less intrusive in terms of looks), not to mention that the superior rigidity and structural soundness allows for it to be installed in cleaner and more stylish ways (/the difficulty of cutting it into weird angled awful shapes cuts down on the amount of tasteless "gamer-y" cases). Not to mention that it's reasonably cheap to manufacture, and not having to attach it to a side panel cuts down on manufacturing costs.

If there was a tempered glass version of the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX, I'd probably get it, even if I don't really care about looking inside my PC on a daily basis.
 
Something about that case reminds me of the scene in the 1993 movie "Sneakers" (very relevant to these forums), in which Robert Redford and Ben Kinsgley step inside the glass room with the LN2-cooled Cray supercomputer at the heart of the "toy company" front for Kingsley's "Good Family Men" crime syndicate.

"Marty! Marty! Think of it! We can change the world! No more property, Marty! We can crash the whole damn world economy!"
 
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I just got a be quiet Pure Base 600 with a tempered glass window and so far i love it. I also really liked the Corsair 460x but because there were no 5.25" bays and the back side was too narrow for cable management i went with be quiet. I only have 2 blue LED case fans and they are dim which gives it a nice look. i cannot imagine it being a fad. FYI the corsair has a $20 rebate on a popular online website right now. Of course yesterday it was even cheaper.
 
Tempered glass looks excellent however keeping it clean would be a nightmare, when I upgrade my case tempered glass is a must have option for me with good watercooling support. You say about it getting filthy and scratched up but the side panel on my Define R4 is pretty badly banged up because of the soft plastic acrylic it uses which I'm sure glass won't have happen, it might shatter which is the biggest downside to it over anything else imo.
 
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