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Yay!! Another "I need a new case" topic.

The J

The J

Senior member
Okay, a week or so ago I made a topic about getting a new PSU since my Powmax one is sucking severly (it sparked and took out power in my dorm overnight a few days ago; luckily, nothing was hurt as far as I can tell). I found the Silverstone SST-ST400 PSU, which others said was a good one. Now, I'd like an un-crappy case to put it in. The problem is that I seem to be quite picky about what I want. Almost all of the cheaper cases look like this or have some sort of funky alien head growing out of the front. I'd love to have a Tsunami Dream or a WaveMaster, but thsoe are a little out of my league. And so, once again I come you all of you as I haven't really put this much thought into a case before. Here's what I'm looking for:

-Don't care if it's aluminum or steel as long as it's sturdy. My current case is flimsy and so the fans cause it to vibrate a lot and make a lot of noise.
-Good looking. I don't want some flashy case that ends up being brighter than my monitor. This is why I like the Tsunami and WaveMaster. I do not like the Aspire cases or the Xaser series.
-Good cooling. Well, I think this one's obvious.
-I'd like it to have a window if possible. I like to see my hardware in action. I suppose I could live without one, but one there would be much preferred. I'd have a Antec Sonata right now if I didn't care for a window. I don't know how to mod a case either (I'd screw it up big-time).
-Assuming I purchase the Silverstone PSU mentioned above, I'd have about $60 I would want to spend on a case. If I can get a good power supply cheaper than the one above then I could spend more on a case--around $100 all together, but I think I could go a little higher.

I couldn't find a case that met all of my points on Nwegg, ZipZoomFly, TigerDirect, or just by searching Google. I may just wait for Christmas and ask for a Tsunami, but there are other things I'd like to use for a Christmas present (Athlon64, perhaps?). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

PS: I have been reading in this forum for some time; however, I wouldn't know what to search for. Looking up "good case" probably wouldn't get me very far.
 
You could get a Lian-Li 6077 series case for $110-120 @ newegg. If cost is the concern go with this. If you need more room your going to have quite a big price jump (almost $60.00) to go with the 7077 series or the entry level V series.

I'm very partial to Lian-Li (have 3 of them), but I'm sure someone else will make another reasonable suggestion.

I cannot recommend buying a case that has a power supply included. Somewhere along the way compromises are made and you either gat a crappy case or a half-ass power supply.

Don't shortchange yourself on the power supply as this is the most crucial piece of hardware in any system. My recommendation for a power supply is simple: DOUBLE what your really willing to pay.

Also, if your going to be running a lot of HD's and Opticals and a power hungry Vid card, get one with @ least 25 amps on the +12 volt rail. Dual 12 volt rails would be ideal, but then your into some $$$.

There is no such thing as a GOOD power supply that is CHEAP!

Good luck and let us all know how it goes!
 
I am definately more concerned with the power supply than the case. So you think that the Silverstone PSU I mentioned may not work well enough for me? Whlie that Lian-Li does look good, if I get it then I won't have money for a good power supply. I was also hoping for a side window, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen; however, if you know of anything that looks good and has a window, then that would be great. I know it seems odd to ask for a nice, non-flashy case and want a window in it, but there must be something like that. Also, I do plan to buy the PSU and case separate. I've learned my lesson on that one.

Should I look for a better power supply than the Silverstone and just use the case I have now? My budget, unfortunately, isn't as big as I would like it (a little over $100)
 
Another case recommendation thread. I've got two links there for Antec cases - the SLK3700 or the P-160. The SLK3700 currently has the free shipping deal. But no window on it.
There is a model of the more expensive P-160 that has a window.
Case modding - yes, find a junk piece of metal, or a junk case even, and practice. I tried my hand at it on my main PC first. It turned out.....well, acceptable. My second case mod came out much nicer. But it has been replaced by an SLK3700.
 
I have a nice setup that cost about $110 plus shipping from Directron.

Antec Super LAN Boy case, 120mm fans front and rear for good airflow with low noise, aluminum but well constructed so doesn't buzz, side window, does not look plain, no alien heads growing out the front. IMO I made mine look better by removing the waffle grill over the front fan and replacing it with a wire finger guard. Around $80.

TTGI Superflower 350W power supply with 14cm fan. Yup, the unit has a 140mm fan, not 120mm. The whole bottom of it is FAN. However, really quiet. It has a hefty, quality feel to it. Though only "350W" it claims to put out a lot of amps. FWIW rumor has it that these TTGI units are made by the same factory in China that makes Enermax units. Make sure you get the one with the "14cm" fan because it puts out more amperage than the ones with dual fans or 12cm fan. $30 (got mine on sale for $20 😀 ).
 
Zepper: That's a pretty nice case. I saw a review for one that looked like that, except it was copper-colored. I didn't know Silverstone made one. The one you showed me looks better. I also like the amount of cooling that case seems to allow. I have 3 80mm Evercool fans and 1 80mm Antec fan that would work nicely in there. My questions to Zap also apply to this case.

Jeff7: Thanks for the link; however, it doesn't seem to work. It says: "Sorry, we could not find the object requested." I'll take a look at other case recommendation threads later.

Zap: I was eyeing that Lanboy before, but the description says "minitower," which had me a liitle worried about space. After I read your post, I looked up the dimensions and found that it's actually slightly bigger than my case!
How well is everything laid out? In my current Powmax case, the Molex connector for my 6800GT is less than 1 inch away from my hard drive. I don't want to run into the problem of the drive hitting the card or something like that. It does look pretty roomy inside from the pics on Antec's wewbsite, though.
I can see by the pic that it comes with a rear fan, but does it come with a front one? The description says "rear 1x120mm (standard), front blue LED (standard)" and I don't know if that means LED fan or just LED. If it only comes with one fan, then I'll just buy another if I get this case. (though my 3 80mm Evercool fans will go to waste. Maybe my roommate or brother will want them...)
Also, is it decently quiet? I don't need it to be silent, though, since this thing is quite loud and anything would be quiter.

Thanks to everyone for replying. I bet you're tired of all these "Gimme Case!" topics, but it's hard to find one that's just right if you don't like flashy lights, acrylic on the front panel, or aliens threating to bite you everytime you turn the computer on. I think that the cases you've all shown me are what I'm looking for in one. Thank you.
 
The Berserker on newegg includes no fans as far as I can tell - YMMV from other vendors. There is room for 4x80mm and one 120mm. The case is 21" deep!!! You could crawl in there and take a nap 😉 ... It's made of pretty heavy steel so it should be fairly easy to make it as quiet as you want. Most of the fans clip into plastic cages, but you can ditch the cages and mount with isolator pins or vantec silicone kits. Drives mount on rails which could be replaced with neoprene or silicone blocks for even more quietude. I think it can be made as quiet as you care to shoot for. It is also totally toolless including the mobo mounts!
. You can mount two extra hard drives on the side arm if you remove the fan mount. You'd have to mod that yourself for isolator bushings.
.bh.

:moon:
 
Zepper: Thanks, but I don't think I'll need to do all that. Just having the heavier case should be enough. Actually, I should probably think about ditching this Volcano 9 (LOUD!!) though I already plan to get a Zalman 7000 AlCu for that. What was the access panel you were referring to on your first post? Is that for front USB? I could use that since I save stuff to my JumpDrive often.

Zap: I looked on Directron for the SuperFlower power supply, but I couldn't find one with a 14cm fan. I did find one with two 80mm fans and 22A on the 12V rail.

http://www.directron.com/silent370.html

Right now, I can't decide between the Berserker and the Super LanBoy which is a good thing for me since both cases have what I'm looking for.
 
Personally I like the Lanboy better. I saw it at my local CompUSA the other day, and it looks a lot better in person. Cooling is great, it's light, and it has a surprising amount of room (for being a miniATX). The Berserker is a nice case with good cooling, but I really don't like how it looks. Also, the big side fan mount looks like crap, but that can be removed and the side grill can be easily modded (I'm pretty sure) to hold a fan without the big slab across it.
 
It's a port panel that fits a 3.5" floppy bay. Just do a search on silverstone at a price under $20. and you'll find it. Of course, you can use any 3.5" port panel you might want other than the Silverstone. One of the dark ovals on the front door is actually a smoked plastic flap through which you can access the ports without opening the door. Actually the Berserker (and the other similar models) is more of an entry level server with the 3x5" bays on top for opticals and the 3x5" bays on the bottom to hold a 4 or 5 drive hot-swap cage and room for another 5 hard drives. That's why it lacks integrated front ports. But the design accomodates them if needed.
.bh.
 
I do not know why people do not recommend the cooler master praetorian more often. I really liked the look of the lian li, and the cooler master praetorian is a very beautiful aluminum case. I do not see a whole lot posted about it, I do not think it is getting the love it deserves.

Just go to cooler master website, or search newegg for it. newegg sells it for 98 dollars. It has a removable motherboard tray, and a seperate removable powersupply tray. 2 front 80 mm fans, one rear, and one top.
by they one review I was able to find of it on the web it sounds like a dream except the front fans are a little hard to remove, because you have to take the entire front of the case off. Other than that its considered one of the sturdiest cases.

(note all this is from what I have read, and pictures I have seen, and it is the case i plan to buy.)
 
Zepper: Thanks, I found the panel on Silverstone's website and on Newegg for about $13.

I do like the look of the Praetorian, but I'm not sure about the price of that case or any of these, but I'll still take a good look at it (it's hard not to; so nice). I also like the looks of the LanBoy better than the Berserker as well. This isn't to say the Berseker isn't a good-looking case because it is. But with the access panel the LanBoy and Berserker would be close to the same price. Though the Berserker would have more room and I could use my existing fans, the LanBoy has that nice aluminun look to it and two 120mm fans. The CompuCase seems like a good case, but I don't know if I like the looks of it (I will have to look at it everyday, so I might as well like it). I am looking at and considering all of the cases here as all of them are good, but it's hard to pick out the one that I like the most and am willing to pay for. So basically, I'm stuck here; however, I'm glad that I'm now stuck among good cases rather than which one looks the least "flashy." Also, can anyone here find that SuperFlower power supply with the 14cm fan that Zap recommended?

Thanks again, everyone.
 
If you don't mind a door over the drives, there's the Antec PlusView 1000. It has the window, it's based on a pretty sturdy chassis... I suppose it would look pretty dignified with black drives. They have decent ventilation properties and if you threw in some Enermax thermally-regulated fans in the rear, and maybe one in the drive cage in the front, that would be reasonably quiet for a case that uses 80mm fans. I think they're around $68 plus shipping at Newegg.
 
Oh yea, I forgot to mention if you didnt notice the Praetorion comes in either brushed aluminum finish, or the black. It is damn sexy. But to each their own.
 
MechBgon: Is there a smaller version of the Antec PlusView? The way my dorm is set up, I would need to have my case on my desk. Also, with such a tall case, I'd be worried about it being top-heavy and falling over on top of my subwoofer. I thought Chieftec had something like the Dragon Mini (which the Antec is based from, correct?), but if I remember correctly, it didn't have the window and I though it was at a very high price (as if these other cases aren't). I don't mind doors at all, really. My drives are white, though, so that may be a problem.

Zepper: I think there was a Coolmax PSU that had a 14cm fan on it, but everyone seems to be a little leery (sp?) of that company. I couldn't find that SuperFlower one, but I did find the one that I posted a link to earlier. I may go with that instead.

SilthDraeth: I do like the Praetorian and if I'm going to spend this much money on a case, then I should take a really good look at this one. My only gripe is that I have a tendency to put things on top of my case, such as folders or notebooks for homework and therefore I would be blocking the top fan. I could just not use the top one, but then the cooling would be unbalanced it seems.

So many choices... I'm like a kid in a really nice-looking and expensive candy store!
 
I doubt the top fan makes much of a difference. It still has two front intakes, and a rear exhaust. I set stuff on my case all the time too. My only worry is my baby, or wife (shes done this before) would tip over some water off my desk onto my case, as my case isnt inside a cabinet, and sits just above the floor with the desk part higher.

I won't try to sell the case to you anymore but I feel this is a very thorough review of the case.

http://www.ocia.net/reviews/prae/prae.shtml

 
Don't get a Raidmax Scorpio.The wire for the light on the door just broke in two because of the way it was designed around the hinge for the door. Otherwise, I would recommend it, but now the quality issues are rearing their ugly heads.
 
Jeff7: Thanks, I'll be sure to take a look at that link later. (I need food now)

SilthDraeth: That review was very helpful. I should have thought to look one up for the Praetorian as well as the other cases.

Catalyst 18: Thanks for the advice, but I had no intention of getting that or any Raidmax case. I just don't like the looks of them. I was not aware of any quality problems.
 
OK, I've thought hard about it and talked to my brother and roommate about the cases you've all shown me and I think I'm going to go with the Antec Super Lanboy; however, there is one problem that concerns me. I looked at a review and noticed that I need to make sure my hard drives have screw holes on the bottom of them to mount them to the rails. I think I can handle looking at the bottom of my drives fairly well, but do all hard drives have holes in the same places? I have a Western Digital and a Samsung drive. If I find that these drives do have holes on the bottom, can I be sure that those holes will line up with the ones on the Lanboy mounts?

How about the PSU? Should I go with the 350W SuperFlower that I found earlier? Would 350W, even with a good 12V rail, last for more power-hungry devices in the future or would you recommend something else?

Thanks to everyone who responded. All of you were a great help in finding what I was looking for.
 
Here is my recomendation http://www.directron.com/989al.html its an enermax all aluminum very sturdy and very nice cooling. There is no window though but it is in my opinion the most overlooked aluminum case there is and its a reliable brand to boot. Ive used one before for a friends system back when they were $140.
 
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