Aluminium Case: need some advice and opinions

[SpeedyGonzales]

Hi guys,

I am planning to buy an aluminium case (mid tower size). At the moment I have two candidates on my list:

1.) Coolermaster ATC-201-SX1
2.) Lian-Li PC68

I plan to use either the 350W or 431W PSU from Enermax (the one with the fan speed control). Both cases come with 4 pre-installed case fans (looking quite generic on the pictures), does anybody have experience with the noise level they produce ? Or do you know alternatives to these alu cases ?

Advice or opinions are welcome

Cheers
Speedy

 

[SupermanCK]

how about chieftec's 1030 alumni case or go to thermaltake's homepage and get the XaserII 6000...that's a pretty sweet case

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

Thanks for the reply,

I took a look at the Thermaltake XaserII 6001plus. Price and featurewise it is brilliant, the only thing I do not like with it, is the plastic front. I really like the look of the plain, cold aluminium.

Any more suggestions ? C'mon guys I know you have all cool cases...

Cheers
Speedy

 

[DongTran]

PC68. Lian-li all the way.

 

[Nerdwannabe]

CM has much nicer front face than anyone else. Talking about the thick cold aluminum plate vs thin filmsy aluminum sheet......

 

[Pothead]

If you can afford coolermaster, go for it. I love my Lian-Li!

 

[Neuroanatomist]

Both are great cases.. both have removable motherboard trays and front USB

..in terms of price, both are about the same $165. I would go with the Coolermaster.

ATC 201 has better looks than the PC68.

 

[ShinSa]

Cooler master is part aluminum, part steel.

Lian-Li is aluminum all around.

CM is not completely toolless like Lian Li.

CM is sturdier than Lian but Lian is more refined.

 

[virtuamike]

I picked up a Kingwin KT-436WM, wanted to be different. Very nice, surprised at how quiet it runs. Here's some pics, stolen from newegg:
Linky

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

Thanks for all the replies.

It is still difficult to decide, probably because both cases are very good, without big differences. The Lian-Li seems to be a bit cheaper than the CM in Europe. Just saw another review, were the CM won against the Lian-Li (was very close).


How bad is the noise coming from the 4 case fans ? Can anybody comment ?

Cheers
Speedy

 

[Pothead]

the Lian Li has 2 front adjustable fans, all fans are adda fans in the lian li

 

[CubicZirconia]

How bad is the noise coming from the 4 case fans ? Can anybody comment ?

Not bad at all. They produce less noise than a retail athlon xp fan.

 

[Neurofreeze]

The Lian Li case fans are:

Adda's AD0812MB-A76GL
34.4dB/38.6CFM

 

[LastStop]

Originally posted by: ShinSa
Cooler master is part aluminum, part steel.

Lian-Li is aluminum all around.

CM is not completely toolless like Lian Li.

CM is sturdier than Lian but Lian is more refined.

Well the only steel part to CoolerMaster's is the motherboard tray which is an advantage over Lian-Li's aluminum motherboard trays (some that don't even have that tray). Steel is much more sturdier and resists bending over aluminum. I havn't had a Lian Li case yet, so I can't tell you which one is more refined. Can't be much if at all.

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

I looked at some Lian-Li and CM reviews. As posted by LastStop the CM has a steel motherboard tray, which I do not consider to be a disadvantage. It requires tools to open the CM, Lian-Li is completely toolless, that is a nice feature.

According to the review I read (in German), the CM is more refined than the Lian-Li, however it was very close. I found a good and cheap online store, where I can purchase Lian-Li as well as CM for very reasonable prices.

Other question, are you guys doing anything against the nasty color of the CD and DVD drives. Lian-Li is offering silver and black covers, but only for a very limited range of drives.

Initially I wanted to purchase a 431 PSU from Enermax. However I have now seen, that TSP and Blacknoise are offering PSUs with reduced noise. Does anybody have experience with these ?

Cheers
Speedy

 

[DongTran]

painting drives is easy

also, enermax is pretty damn quiet, have you ever listened to it first hand?

 

[LastStop]

The steel mb tray is removable via thumbscrews so no tools required. The expansion bay slots are thumbscrews too. I can't see anything here that you would need tools for except for securing the drives and motherboard down. No biggy there.

 

[Mikki]

The tray on my ATC201 is alum, I don't know if I have something different or what. I'm extremely happy with this case, best quality I've seen yet.

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

ok guys, again thx a lot for all your input.

I have ordered the CM ATC-201 together with a TSP 420W PSU (which won several reviews) and some rounded IDE and floppy cables.

I expect the stuff to arrive either on Friday or on Saturday. I will keep you posted.

Cheers
Speedy


P.S.: Again, what do you do with the nasty colored CD, Floppy etc. covers ? Do you leave them as they are ? Buy covers ? Paint them ?

 

[DongTran]

P.S.: Again, what do you do with the nasty colored CD, Floppy etc. covers ? Do you leave them as they are ? Buy covers ? Paint them ?

Paint them! See my previous post.

or if you are too lazy

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

Oops sorry,

did not notice the link in your earlier post. What kind of color did you use, is it simply a spray ? Was removing the covers from the drives difficult ?

Speedy

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

Update for all that are still interested:

Coolermaster tower arrived today, with a new PSU from TSP (420W), Coolermaster thermal compound and some airflow rounded IDE cables.

Noise:

Slightly less than my old tower. Taking into account, that I am running now 9 Fans (4 case, 3 PSU, 1 CPU, 1 Videocard), this is a very good result. Also the hard disk is now quieter, when accessing data.

Temperatur:

Idle and full load temperatures both dropped by at least 7 degrees Celsius (have only run some quick tests). Impressive.

Overclocking:

Finally got my 1.8A P4 up from 2.2Ghz to 2.4 Ghz, running stable for several hours now. Less temperature and the PSU really helped.

Overall I am very happy so far
Cheers
Speedy