YACT: CoolerMaster or Raidmax ? Opinions needed

[WT]

I originally looked at the CoolerMaster Centurion 5 case, as it suplied mostly what I wanted in a case, but I now have decided to go for broke and find exactly what I wanted. I like that case, but I also want side mounted hard drives such as the Centurion 532 offers. So, my question to the case experts, does this particular case exist ??

REQUIREMENTS
side window
side mounting hard drives
front mounted USB (center or bottom)
under $70 in cost
preferably blue, but thats not at all a necessity.

I ruled out the 532 right away, as the top mounted USB won't work out properly due to my PC sitting in a hutch. I even was ready to dump the side mounted drives and buy the blue Centurion 5, no one offers it without a PSU, so I would end up paying $80+ for an extra PSU.

Centurion 532 for easy reference

Centurion 5 in blue for easy reference

Thanks for any help ... I hope these case threads don't get too annoying, but I do appreciate the effort in this search.

 

[WT]

Managed to find one that fits my needs, it just took an hour of looking at a LOT of cases:

Thermaltake Swing

 

[WT]

Hey, why not bump my own thread with another case I found !!

Raidmax X1

So at least I have choices, and both look fine with acceptable reviews. Any others ?

 

[RallyMaster]

Raidmax X-1 is a very good choice. I would pick it over the Cooler Masters if the fans weren't so loud. Cooler Master does something right, and that's the quietness of the fans. I am using all Cooler Master case fans in my X-1 except for one renegade 120 mm at the bottom front intake. Raidmax X-1 also has a removable motherboard tray, which is very useful if you work near your components a lot. The case fits everything you need it to (I have three hard drives and an optical drive, double 120 mm intakes, etc) and looks nice with LED fans.

 

[Pyrokinetic]

Actually, Newegg offers the blue Centurian 5 without the PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119047

Or the silver Centurian 5 without the PSU and a side window:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119077

However, no blue one without the PSU and side window.
BuzzMemory did carry the side windows for the Centurian 5, however, they are currently sold out. You could e-mail them and see if they could get more, but that is up to you.
http://www.buzzmemory.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=100412

I used the Centurian 5 when I put together a rig for my mother, and I found it to be a great case, and it keeps a Prescott P4 nice and cool (with help from a Thermaltake Silent 775 heatsink).

SPCR did a review of the Centurian 5, had some recommendations (like replace the front 80mm fan): http://www.silentpcreview.com/article200-page1.html

 

[Zepper]

The silver Kingwin 523 (the same inside as many Centurions) has a blue light tube on the front... Or you could spray Candy Apple Blue over the silver.

.bh.

 

[996GT2]

ThermalTake XaserV
Blue, Side mount HDD cage, side window, room for 80 and 92mm fans (not the best solution tho), TOP USB (not front)-$75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133131

Or, if you don't like the Thermaltake, I would go with the Raidmax X1 as Rallymaster said. It is a very nice case with a whole bunch of features

 

[WT]

So its shaping up to look like the following:

Raidmax X1

Since it only comes with one 120mm fan, Im pulling the existing one and adding two of these:
Silverstone 120mm fans

I will also be yanking the PSU for an existing Enlight 420 watt that I have that has much better 12v amps (18 compared to 14).

I may end up using this as my main case while I strip my current Compucase 6919 and repaint it. I scratched the living daylights out of the side of it when I laid it on my bench for an upgrade, only to find afterward that a nail had come up and guoged the sheetmetal to hell.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I have a window/CCR tube/fan kit coming as well for the main case so after that is painted I start the metal surgery. Maybe this time I will even wear gloves rather than slice open a few fingers.

 

[RallyMaster]

WT: the 80mm intake on the Raidmax is a bit loud. it's 2500 RPM and is sure to drive you mad for a while. One of the LEDs on mine started flickering after a month or two and it has since been replaced by a Cooler Master Silent LED (which has brighter and cooler looking LEDs). if you need a few suggestions, look at my case ( http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/6193/pcpic38sb.jpg )and you'll find that I did a lot of messing around with the X-1 to get a proper airflow.

 

[WT]

Wow .. Rally, that makes for a very sharp looking case !! A few questions for you as well:

1)Can the side fan be reversed to blow outwardly ?? The intake will mess up the video card cooling based on its position due to air turbulence, so I want it to exhaust air instead.
2)Can I remove and paint the fugly blue triangle pins that hold the window in place ? I just hate their look on this case and want to paint them silver instead.
3)Lastly, this may be too involved, but I would like to mod the front LED display to show in blue to match the case fans. From what I understand you cannot change it to celsuis temp either. Not a biggy, but I want to give a consistent theme to my work as well.

 

[RallyMaster]

1. Yes, you can also flip the window.
2. Yes, you can remove those but you must put them back on or the window won't stay on by itself (do it while flipping the window).
3. I've taken the front LCD display apart and there is no way to change anything.