Advice on New PC Case.....

[rash219]

Hey guys I have been looking around to buy a PC case at $150-200...my initial option was the Cosmos 1000 (on which I was going to replace the fans with Noctua NF-P12) but another member from another recommended not to..and i quote

Please avoid the Cosmos 1000 case. It is a truly horrible, horrible case. First of all, it's horrible for air cooling as you only have one measly intake fan at the very bottom of the huge full tower case, yet you have three exhaust fans. You likely won't be getting good temps on air.

There is also no air intake for the hard drives, and believe me, your hard drives will COOK in that case, not even funny. The way they designed the hard drive bays just traps the heat from the hard drives in the hdd bays.

Furthermore, there is a TONNE of very very very cheap plastic on the case; very fragile and it causes an annoying creaking sound at random :disgust:. Cooleraster in general seems to love using a lot of cheap plastic on their cases.

The case does look nice though, and it is pretty quiet (once you replace or remove the very very crappy provided coolermaster fans) but I would very strongly recommend against it.

Now here are the main things i was planning to equip it with.....

1) Abit IP35 Pro Mobo
2) ATi 5850 Card
3) 3xSata (maybe 4) HDD and 1xIDE HDD
4) 1xIDE Burner
5) 750W PSU
6) CWCH50 with a pair of Noctua NF-P12 120mm fans (some time later)

Now all this except the GPU/Cooler was in my Antec P180B Case......like the P180 I was looking for something with sound dampening technology, Room for the ATi Card, room to work, cable management and Air Filters......and looked nice.....like the C1000 which I can get for $100 if only I could find a modded mobo tray for it......so any thoughts my budget is between $150-200......

Thanks a million.....

 

[Bullmecha]

Once again I vote for my Antec 900/902. Great air flow and decent amount of space, atleast for what i run in mine.

 

[Syran]

Might be better off with a Coolermaster 932 HAF.

Personally, I'd also check out the Thermaltake Armor+ (single front intake, but it blows directly over the hard drives).

Also, Thermaltake has thier Sword M for $150 w/ free shipping (Coupon Code: TTCPN-CHVD5000BNA-BF9) on a Black Friday deal. Not sure how good of a case it is.

 

[rash219]

I have been looking at a lot of review via AnandTech, youtube and other sites.

Some of the cases that seemed reasonable was the

1) CM ATCS 840 ($199.99 and has MB area of 16", Removable MB, Intake Filter, GPU Duct, CPU retention).....only bad part is cable management.

2) Cosmos S ( has MB area of 14")....some review said the touch sensitive button stopped working...and there was still the heat issue...

3)Antec 1200......has Intake filter, but LED wont turn off, and Questionable MB area?? What is the max size graphics card that will fit???


I initially dropped the 900 for the P180B by Antec although the 902 is nice it can only fit 10.5" card.....I looked at the HAF and the biggest turnoff was no intake filters......I clean the filters off my current case every 2 weeks...even with a purifier it gets dusty.....currently I am leaning towards the ATSC 840...any thoughts.....

 

[smackababy]

The 1200 will fit any size graphics card out, including the 13' 5970. You may have to remove one HDD rack though. Also, take note the filters are a pain to clean because you must remove the HDD cages themselves, which involves both panels being taken off. I just left one side without to make it easier. And, make sure your PSU 4 pin can reach. The bottom mounted PSU and the top of the MB are quite a stretch. I had to stretch mine under the graphics card and it was a tight fit. Unless you're using an Antec PSU, check out the length of the cable against the length of the case.

Oh, and I cut the LED from my fans. Only the top fan has a switch to turn it off.

 

[Piano Man]

I have been looking at a lot of review via AnandTech, youtube and other sites.

Some of the cases that seemed reasonable was the

1) CM ATCS 840 ($199.99 and has MB area of 16", Removable MB, Intake Filter, GPU Duct, CPU retention).....only bad part is cable management.

2) Cosmos S ( has MB area of 14")....some review said the touch sensitive button stopped working...and there was still the heat issue...

3)Antec 1200......has Intake filter, but LED wont turn off, and Questionable MB area?? What is the max size graphics card that will fit???


I initially dropped the 900 for the P180B by Antec although the 902 is nice it can only fit 10.5" card.....I looked at the HAF and the biggest turnoff was no intake filters......I clean the filters off my current case every 2 weeks...even with a purifier it gets dusty.....currently I am leaning towards the ATSC 840...any thoughts.....

The 840 has bad cable management? Is that a joke? Maybe 1-2" behind the entire Mobo tray isn't enough room for your cables, but for 99.9% of the rest of us, its great.

A decent WC setup with a good look at how you can manage cables:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LChHbXvNCXo&feature=related


For that money, if you don't mind big, ATCS 840 all the way.

 

[PCTC2]

I have the CoolerMaster ATCS 840 and besides my Corsair 800D, it's one of my favorite cases (I have the HAF 932, P182, 900, and 300 as well). It doesn't hide the cables like the rest of the cases but it does have a removable motherboard tray. It doesn't need cable management besides the space behind the motherboard tray. You can manage cables fine if you care enough to. I added a few optional fans, added a fan controller, and it's a great case with lots of room (had GTX260 SLI in it for a short time with lots of space to spare). It had a Thermalright TRUE-775RT in it. It's basically the HAF minus the window, with filters. It's a great case.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

OP, have you looked at the lian li K7?

 

[Corsairs]

I'll add a vote for the ATCS 840. I don't yet own one but am about to purchase one for my new rig. I've had a chance to thoroughly examine the 840 at my local Micro Center and it's a very impressive case. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you go that route.

 

[Boyo]

For a little more money, I would place my bet on the Corsair Obsidian 800D. Great case with fantastic cable routing.

 

[faxon]

HAF932 (which i own) gets my vote as well, though i was gonna get the ATCS840 before i changed my mind. the 800D Obsidian from corsair is also a sick case if you want to spend a bit more for the features it provides

 

[adairusmc]

Once again I vote for my Antec 900/902. Great air flow and decent amount of space, atleast for what i run in mine.

+1

I love my Antec 900-two. Even fits my 5970 card just fine.

 

[Puffnstuff]

+1 for the coolermaster haf 932. I just moved from a xclio windtunnel to the 932 and it absolutely rocks for the money. Excellent cooling and the ability to run water with room for a 3 fan radiator at the top is nice not to mention true tooless. I'd check it and all the other cases out in person before commiting to anything.