Does anyone make chassis like this anymore...?

[Sunner]

Time is coming for an upgrade(which for me often means an entirely new computer, I just like the feeling of having brand new everything ).
Biggest problem seems to be the chassis, since it seems like my taste is rather odd by today's standards.

Basic criteria:
Big, and by big I mean good ole full tower, I like space, and when I move it, it still weighs less than my 21" CRT so that doesn't matter
No bling, I hate rice as much on computers as I do on cars, no windows, no spaceship look, no tons of plastic crap on it.
Practical, for some reason I always seem to end up digging around inside my boxes long after I've installed them, and I'd prefer to make this as painless as possible, both for me and the computer.

Now, on point #2, it doesn't mean looks don't matter, just saying I like it "classy" for lack of a better word.
For example, I'd love a smaller version of IBM's mainframes, those look awesome, same with Sun's old Blade 1000 workstations, or the HP Itanium workstations.
I guess a more "business minded" look.

I had my eyes on the old Cooler Master Stacker, but it seems impossible to find these days, and the new one is fugly.

Ah well, I think the idea should be reasonably clear by now, anyone have any ideas?

Oh and by the way, yeah I love the Lian Li chassis as much as anyone, but I don't really fancy the idea of shelling out $300-400 on the chassis alone, out of general principle if nothing else, and I couldn't really care less if it's made out of aluminum.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: Sunner
I had my eyes on the old Cooler Master Stacker, but it seems impossible to find these days, and the new one is fugly...

In order to form some basis for discussion, do you like this or not?

 

[Zepper]

Depends on how you define "full tower" - newegg seems to define it as anything over 19" (but the inconsistency of their case descriptions leave many, like the Tt Xaser, out if you select "full tower" in their case configurator, while the original definition ( the height of the original IBM AT case standing on its side - 23" or more) would leave precious few to choose from. So I'll use 21" for a start point.

Aerocool Spiral Galaxies; Silverstone SST-TJ06, SST-TJ05, SST-TJ07; CoolerMaster Stacker STC-T01 (AFAIK, that is the original - Newegg and others still have them); Thermaltake Eureka, Armor (w/o window), Tai Chi - replace LED fans with plain black on those that have t hem - others if you can stand a bit more rice; a number of Lian Li; Antec P180 and several of their other models; several Chenming; Enermax CS-10182, etc. etc. You can usually beat Newegg's case prices from reputable companies.

Lots of server cases at places like http://www.buildtoorderservers.com, http://www.servercase.com, etc. that you seldom see at "consumer" outlets like Newegg.

There is a thread within the last month on this section that covers the "full tower" thing pretty exhaustively already. I'm guessing you didn't search on "full tower" - pretty noobish thing to do... Sorry, I forgot, the search function in these forums is still for the birds.

.bh.

PS: while I was browsing for this post, I ran across the Tt Eclipse. It is just an Antec SLK3000-B done in aluminum with a blingy DVD drive on the front. The R6A series of Rosewill will save you lots of money. .bh.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: Sunner
I had my eyes on the old Cooler Master Stacker, but it seems impossible to find these days, and the new one is fugly...

In order to form some basis for discussion, do you like this or not?

Yeah, that's the one I meant, I'm in Sweden though, so ordering from Monarch is kinda out of the picture

And yeah, Zepper, I've pretty much stopped using the search function since it never finds anything anyway

To give a hint, my current computer has a Chieftec Mesh case, don't remember the model number, but their biggest model anyways, old computer had an old CHieftec Dragon case, again, biggest model.
Before that I had some old beige Antec fulltower.

I'll have a look see if I can find those cases you mentioned Zepper, thanks.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: Sunner

Originally posted by: VinDSL
In order to form some basis for discussion, do you like this or not?

Yeah, that's the one I meant, I'm in Sweden though, so ordering from Monarch is kinda out of the picture

Sorry! Nothing I can do about that... Good luck!

 

[Zepper]

I added some more to my original post. The original Stacker is still a current model so you should be able to find it there. Many of these cases might be sold under different brand names in You-Rope - model numbers will often be the same or very similar though. Just takes some detective work.

Most of the ones I mentioned have picture galleries on Newegg - you can use that in finding the same over there.

.bh.

 

[velis]

If I understood correctly, you like big cases because they offer you lots of space to play in. Perhaps you would consider a smaller case if it was also spacey / make it easy for you to play with components inside?
Anyway, my recommendation would be Antec P180. It's a big case and also has good airflow. It weighs a lot too

 

[I Saw OJ]

Another vote for the P180

Its big, has a lot of space, good airflow and is just about as basic as a computer case gets. No clear sides, neon tubes, or biohazzard warning stickers. Just a high quality large case.

 

[Sunner]

Looked a bit, and the P180 does indeed look nice, and seeing as it seems everyone here likes it as well, I guess that'll be it

Oh and Velis, aside from me wanting lots of space(components aside, I have rather large hands), I like big cases in general, if I wanted a small computer, I'd buy a TI calculator

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

The P180 is a nice case, but if you're looking for something with lots of ineterior space, I would advise against it. The way everything is configured, I've heard that some people have a hard time managing cables and stuff, and watercooling is nearly impossible. My vote goes to the Lian li G70B, found here:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/...roduct_info&cPath=204&products_id=4258

Full tower, tons of room, quiet once you take out the side exhaust fan, great cooling, and looks really classy IMO.

 

[krotchy]

Originally posted by: scrawnypaleguy
The P180 is a nice case, but if you're looking for something with lots of ineterior space, I would advise against it. The way everything is configured, I've heard that some people have a hard time managing cables and stuff, and watercooling is nearly impossible. My vote goes to the Lian li G70B, found here:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/...roduct_info&cPath=204&products_id=4258

Full tower, tons of room, quiet once you take out the side exhaust fan, great cooling, and looks really classy IMO.

I second this choice. Course its 30 bucks more than the P-180. But also probably weighs 1/3 as much.

I personally just dont like the P-180, something about it, I dunno, but it is a good case. Keep in mind though, alot of power supplies have issues reaching the 4 pin connector on the P-180. Because its motherboard isnt inverted but the PS mounts on the bottom.

 

[Zepper]

The P180 is designed to be a quiet, efficiently air-cooled box. If you want to do WC, then it stands to reason that some other case is for you. The 180 has enough real drawbacks that one doesn't need to resort to an irrelevant one - but the drawbacks are mostly in the quality of construction area: warping, separating panels and weak door hinges - than in functional ones.

You just have to carefully select your PSU with cables long enough for it and perhaps add cable extensions if you want to be able to hide them. The 180 has no window, so as long as you can keep most cables out of the airstream, it doesn't really matter that much where they are.

Not that I'm that interested in the P180 either - it is a good idea that's not to well executed. IAC, it's certainly keeping Antec in gravy... Update: it looks like some of the engineering problems of t he P180 have been solved re. warping doors and separating panels - maybe even the weak hinges. So get the latest production if that's what you end up getting.

.bh.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, what are your spending limits? I mean, you stated that you like the Lian Li's but you didn't want to spend $300, well:

Lian Li PC-G70 $179
http://silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=111

Lian Li PC-70 $159
http://silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=102

Lian Li PC-767 $165
http://silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=109

 

[krotchy]

Originally posted by: Fallen Kell
Well, what are your spending limits? I mean, you stated that you like the Lian Li's but you didn't want to spend $300, well:

Lian Li PC-G70 $179
http://silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=111

Lian Li PC-70 $159
http://silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=102

Lian Li PC-767 $165
http://silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=109

PC-767 can be had for 149 shipped from monarchcomputers.com Mine is in the mail as we speak .
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...roduct_Code=100857&Category_Code=C1-LL

 

[Sunner]

Lian Li is pretty much out of the picture.
They're damn expensive around here, the G70B is about 2.300 SKR, which according to Google is a bit over $300.
Of course, the USD is pretty cheap these days, so everything's gonna be expensive, but the P180 can be had at around 1200, so the G70B is nearly twice the price.
Don't know why, but Lian Li has always been prohibitively expensive around here.

As for my limits, well, it's not so much that I can't spend $300 or more, as much as me just not wanting to spend it on a case.
If I found a truly good reason to, I'd spend $500 on a case if needed, but I don't care at all about weight and such, practicality is king, and as I mentioned, size, both for fitting components, and to a not insigificant dgree, my hands.

Guess I'll see if I can find some stora that has the P180 out on display so I can have a look myself, if Zepper is correct and the quality of construction is half assed, that's a big minus, I like sturdy cases.
Damn shame Sun doesn't resell their cases

 

[aaron10chris]

i love my stacker, tons of room and still looks classy. you might be able to find one on ebay or something. idk tho

 

[smopoim86]

I bought a used lian li v2100b and love it, it's huge and theres plenty of space to work in it.

Downside is that i would never spend $300 for a case, i only have this because i got a deal on it used

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: aaron10chris
i love my stacker, tons of room and still looks classy. you might be able to find one on ebay or something. idk tho

I actually found a site that still carries the Stacker, and at a pretty reasonable price at that.
Unfortunately they don't have it on display or anything, so I can't really get a feel for it before buying, so, what's the build quality like?
Is it as robust as it looks?

Thanks for all the comments people, much appreciated

 

[Zepper]

Apparently they have fixed some of the conctruction quality issues with the P180 (not sure about the door hinge issue). So if you still have that on your short list, be sure to get one of recent production - not old stock. Unfortunately I have no idea how you'd tell.

The original Stacker is one of the most tweak'O'licious cases around. Hardly anything one would want to do with a case can't be done with it. However, you need to be able to figure things out for yourself as CoolerMaster instruction booklets are uniformly useless in 8 or 9 languages...

.bh.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Apparently they have fixed some of the conctruction quality issues with the P180 (not sure about the door hinge issue). So if you still have that on your short list, be sure to get one of recent production - not old stock. Unfortunately I have no idea how you'd tell.

The original Stacker is one of the most tweak'O'licious cases around. Hardly anything one would want to do with a case can't be done with it. However, you need to be able to figure things out for yourself as CoolerMaster instruction booklets are uniformly useless in 8 or 9 languages...

.bh.

Sounds like you have some experience with the Stacker, and between your and aaron10chris's comments, I'm thinking it might be worth the trouble to find one
Figuring it out shouldn't be too much of a problem either, I tend never to read manuals anyway.

Is it as sturdy as it looks?

 

[Bobthelost]

A vote against the P180, it's a complete nightmare to work inside. Once it's set up it's a great case, but compared to working in an old TT XaserII it's hell on earth to play with.

 

[erikistired]

if you like the dragon style case why not go with another? they seem to still be around. the one i have even has a rear 120mm fan instead of the dual 80mm. you can also find them in aluminum instead of steel so the weight goes down a little.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811125480

that's the one i bought (even tho i'm not using it, i moved to smaller/lighter super lanboy) and it's roomy, not flashy, has good cooling.

 

[Zepper]

The Stacker weighs over 32 pounds and is only 21" high - darn sturdy. But somewhere around 3.5 pounds of that is the included 4-in-3 HDD cage - one of the heaviest case accys you'll ever find. I hope you don't have to pay to ship it.

Be sure to read my review of the 4-in-3 at http://www.techimo.com/reviews/ to avoid installation problems.

.bh.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: Zepper
The Stacker weighs over 32 pounds and is only 21" high - darn sturdy. But somewhere around 3.5 pounds of that is the included 4-in-3 HDD cage - one of the heaviest case accys you'll ever find. I hope you don't have to pay to ship it.

Be sure to read my review of the 4-in-3 at http://www.techimo.com/reviews/ to avoid installation problems.

.bh.

Sounds good, guess I'll start hunting a Stacker then, again, thanks a lot for the input

fisher, well yeah, but a few minor complaints aside, I just want something new to play with, already have two dragons, so I'm looking for something else now

 

[Piccoro]

Didn't read the whole thread but

komplett.se and datorbutiken.se are websites from Sweden, right?
Stacker