your opinion on this case please...

[toshiba3020]

http://www.pccase.com/products/AT821BK.html

Its the size I am looking for, and definitally want black. I dont know about the quality on this one though. I dont want one with thin metal walls. I have one now with thin metal and it sucks. Anyone have this or know what kind of quality I can expect, and if it isnt very good, any other recoomendations?

Thanks
Garrett.

 

[wyvrn]

I am not sure of the brand. However, it looks like a nice case. Too bad they don't list the materials or the weight. The things I like are the AMD approved 300W PS, color, and space for 6 80mm fans That is almost as many as my server case. And the price is pretty competitive at $59. Have you tried calling the co. to see what the case is made of?

 

[Migroo]

It cirtainly looks OK - but the price strikes me as cheap, so I'd expect corners to have been cut somewhere along the line.

 

[skypilot]

looks nice

 

[nortexoid]

i personally cannot stand side blow holes...any blowholes for that matter...

if u can tolerate them, it looks ok...however, i do believe that those cases use relatively stiff/thick metal side panels - though depends what u mean by thing...i.e. aopen hk45 thin?...that's damn thin...they bend in if you push lightly on them...others require a little harder push but still collapse in...others don't collapse unless u're hercules...this one is not hercules-strong.

i'm not 100% certain but i do remember checking out a similar if not identical case.

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

I'm not a big fan of blowholes either. And the ventilation on the case looks shoddy at best. Those fan grills look kinda fancy, but there's more metal than airflow there.. in a case with that much stock fan support, blowholes shouldn't even be needed unless you're cooking dinner inside your case as well. You might wanna take a dremel to the back and front fan openings...

It doesn't specifiy how thick the metal is, but I'd be willing to bet it's .8mm, which is kinda the average.

IMHO, for that size and price I'd go to newegg.com and pick up an Antec SX630. It's somewhere around $65 and has nicer ventilation, is about the same size, and there will be no guesses on the quality when ya get the thing.. Antecs are built like little tanks, and once you actually see and mess with one in person after working on budget cases your whole life (like me), you will be quite impressed by the difference 1mm thick steel can do for ya.. Might have problems finding the SX630 it in black though, but I could be wrong.

 

[jcmkk]

From a cooling standpoint, it is mainly just a showoff case. Those 4 fans in the front are about worthless since there isn't much space for them to even suck air into the case at. If it did get even nearly the rated CFM for all of those intake fans, it have a lot of positive pressure inside. That would mean that you would in turn get a lot of dust. The side blow hole fan just henders things even more. The only thing that it would do is chop up the bad airflow even more. Lets see, 5 80mm fans blowing in and 3 sucking the air out. That doesn't seem like balanced airflow to me. It is however a good price and has a pretty good powersupply. If you are just looking for a case for a standard PC (no overclocking), then it doesn't look too bad. If I were you though, I would only put 2 fans up front and maybe even turn that side blowhole around so it is an exhaust.

 

[Amused]

The front of that case looks like a black version of a last generation Dell Optiplex.

 

[menderchuck]

The case is made by A-Top, they generally make pretty good cases. Design is the strongest point in their cases, I've built a couple computers with that case. I like everything about that case, slide out motheboard tray, pretty light for a steel case, looks pretty cool, built in blowhole, 2 80mm fan mounts in the back, and 4 80mm fan mounts in the front! the bad is that you just have to buy the quietest fans possible is you plan on filling all those spaces up. Also the biggest gripe I have with the case is the quality of the fron power button. doesn't seem that sturdy to me. To someone just wanting a case for their computer, I would be careful, bt to the serious modder, its one of the the best kept secrets in computer cases (I hardly see anyone that knows about it).

tip: changing the blowhole fan makes things a lot quieter.

 

[breweyez]

I just bought this case(two actually). I have had it a couple days. I like the airflow (7 fans!!!)& layout. I dont like the fan on the side but thats not too distracting. Mine came with a 350 PS and is Marked L & C. It is .8 metal which is not too bad. The antecs are 1.0 I believe. I will be taking a dremel to the 80 mm fan holes. I think the 5 panaflows can be a little quieter that way. I also will be doing some kind of acoustic matting, I havent decided how yet. I really like the case though.

jcmkk...sorry to disapoint you, but there is no airflow probs of any kind. I am using 2 up front and the blowhole out (because I am using ALPHA 8045 to suck air out). good call there. dust can be dealt with easily too

menderchuck...I swapped my blowhole fan for a L1 panaflow...than fan was LOUD. The only pitfalls on this box is the .8 metal (acoustic material will solve that) and the 80mm fan holes will need to be cut out. Oh yeah.....the power button seems to wiggle a bit. I dont think its a big deal though.

I dont think its really neccesary to do the acoustic matting for everyone....but I want total silence(or the closest thing). I may even get a enermax whisper PS if I think it would make a big difference.

 

[toshiba3020]

Most of the opinion seem good. The side case fan I dont care about, the looks of it dont really bother me. I have one right now on another ATop case I have, and it is fine. But this one lets you have 2 8cm fans in the back, right next to the processor, so if its an option I may just get it without. Or I could even use the hole there as a start for a window. The power button problem spoke of does not bother me either, I turn my computer off by hitting the button on my ups. I would kind of like thicker metal, but I guess its not that big of an issue.

Thanks for all the help.

Garrett.

 

[menderchuck]

the problem I have with the power buttons is that they used hot glue to hold them to the front bezel, so repeated pushing day after day will evenually make it loose or disconnect. But again, I do like this case, especially for modding. Modder will rig up a new power button easily if anything goes wrong.

 

[colonel]

Excellent for cooling, 2 big fan in the back 2 in the front, You can't go wrong here. I have the Lite on Fs20 with 2 x120 at front 2x120 back.