On the positive side, the Antec 900 is very versitile. I'm not sure how well other cases compare, but mine is more than good enough for me. OK, there's no dedidcated cable management, but what does that really cost? Loud? Any case with lots of fans will be. Get a fan contoller. The 900 can shift lots of air and will do efficiently as long as the fans are set up correctly. My only complaint about the case is the lack of proprietry dust filters. However, I was able to make my own using cooker hood filters for a damn sight less than the ones you can buy for 120mm fans They're a bit of a bother to take out and clean, but they're effective and bloody cheap.
I wouldn't try putting more than 4 HDDs and 2 Optical drives in though: the front fans need space to work, and they do most of the work. I can get my PC to idle very cool with the front fans off, the side and rear exhaust fan at minimum and the top fan at top speed (which is quite quiet) and that's fine for web-surfing etc, but if I run any intense application the front fans need to be on, and the rear exhaust has to be on full.
Don't discount the 900. It may not be the best case, but it's very far from being the worst. And it will be cool!
I wouldn't try putting more than 4 HDDs and 2 Optical drives in though: the front fans need space to work, and they do most of the work. I can get my PC to idle very cool with the front fans off, the side and rear exhaust fan at minimum and the top fan at top speed (which is quite quiet) and that's fine for web-surfing etc, but if I run any intense application the front fans need to be on, and the rear exhaust has to be on full.
Don't discount the 900. It may not be the best case, but it's very far from being the worst. And it will be cool!