Need a new case...

[HMF]

So... I am building a new PC in the next 2 months, and am trying to decide on a case.

I want to spend around $200-250.. ish... on the case.

I have been looking at both the Cooler Master CM Stacker 830, and the Cooler Master Cosmos 1000.

That's about all that I have seen in that price range that I like.

I'm looking for a Full Tower, preferably with a door. That's about it. lol.

Just wondering if any of you have any suggestions or advice either regarding those two cases or any other cases that you may be able to think of?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Zepper]

Buy a Rosewill R5600 series case - a lot of case for low bucks. And buy some gold or silver with the extra. Unless you are independently wealthy (and have plenty of gold already in your portfolio), you'll be glad you did.

.bh.

 

[RallyMaster]

What are you planning on putting into a computer that requires a full tower?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
What are you planning on putting into a computer that requires a full tower?

Taller tower = bigger e-peen?

Empty space = more places to hide the bodies?

Dinner table leg fell off so something tall needed to prop it up?

Bar stool?

 

[HMF]

Actually I just want something that is big that I wont have any issues with fitting cardfs into. I know too many people that have had issues with mid tower cases.

Something with a removable MoBo tray would be nice too. Just a bit easier to work on.

I'm just loooking for some advice, this will be my first build from scratch.

 

[Zepper]

The Rosewill R5600 cases have 11" of measured card room. Only reasonably priced case with a mobo drawer AND a 120mm fan in the rear that I know of is the Ultra m998 (mostly aluminum) - has been reasonably priced at TigerDirect lately (I don't like to deal with TD, but if you are buying an Ultra product it is from a division of the TD/Systemax/Infotel cartel anyways). The Tt Eureka and Shark (both on the same chassis) have a removable mobo tray (NOT a drawer), so they can have 120 rear - I like these too. It's hard to find a big aluminum case for much less, but some feel they are a bit flimsy. I think the NZXT Zero has a tray as well. When you buy a larger case, the tray/drawer isn't all that important anyway.

.bh.

 

[videogames101]

Sexiest case with best airflow ever - Antec 1200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129043

It's huge, comes with 7 fans, 6x120mm and 1x200mm, steel, black interior, behind motherboard wire routing, fan filters, bad-ass LEDs.

EPIC airflow.

 

[RallyMaster]

Originally posted by: videogames101
Sexiest case with best airflow ever - Antec 1200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129043

It's huge, comes with 7 fans, 6x120mm and 1x200mm, steel, black interior, behind motherboard wire routing, fan filters, bad-ass LEDs.

EPIC airflow.

That case and any other case with more than three 120mm fans makes me vomit. I fail to see how you would need more than three 120mm fans to cool a computer even if you are overclocking. If you push your chips to the point that you actually need 6x120s, maybe it's time to just cut back. Whatever floats your boat I guess :disgust:

I'd normally recommend something genuine, but your price range is huge and there's really no reason to spend more than $50 + ship ($65 shipped) for a case. Seriously.

 

[HMF]

Ok... well with that in mind.. would a mid tower case be large enough to house say... two hd 4870's? My biggest concern is having enough room to be able to handle whatever I want to throw in it. I'd like to have it last me quite a while.

I honestly had never looked at any cases below that range really, as the two that caught my eye, the stacker 830 and the cosmos 1000 seemed to be decent prices.

 

[RallyMaster]

CM690 or 590 would definitely fit two HD4870s. Those don't cost very much, have crazy amounts of cooling (which to be honest, I don't like) and are pretty damn big. Go take a look at the 690.

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster

Originally posted by: videogames101
Sexiest case with best airflow ever - Antec 1200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129043

It's huge, comes with 7 fans, 6x120mm and 1x200mm, steel, black interior, behind motherboard wire routing, fan filters, bad-ass LEDs.

EPIC airflow.

That case and any other case with more than three 120mm fans makes me vomit. I fail to see how you would need more than three 120mm fans to cool a computer even if you are overclocking. If you push your chips to the point that you actually need 6x120s, maybe it's time to just cut back. Whatever floats your boat I guess :disgust:

I'd normally recommend something genuine, but your price range is huge and there's really no reason to spend more than $50 + ship ($65 shipped) for a case. Seriously.

You work in a $50 case, I'll work in my antec 1200, I guarantee I'll find the task of building and modding a computer 100000x more enjoyable, as well as cooler temperatures, and a damn sexy case.

 

[RallyMaster]

I have small hands so a small case is fine with me. I hate my larger CM590 and want to shoot it with a shotgun.

 

[Doclife]

Antec P182 will probably fit your bill. Excellent cooling, quiet and has plenty of room.

Here's a full in depth review.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article741-page1.html

 

[zerogear]

Love my CM690. Good space, tool-less, the HD mount is awesome, fits my GTX280 great, while having 7x 120mm fans (or 4x120mm and 3x 140mm)

 

[Zepper]

The only thing I don't like about the HD mounts on the 690 is that you'll have to have both sides of the case open to do major work on them as they put the connectors toward the right side of the case. Could have easily been made bidirectional, but they didn't. I don't like the plastic bezel on top of the case either - it restricts air flow if you really want to use the top fan mounts (I would just block them off myself). I always have stuff on top of my case that would probably mar the plastic.

.bh.

 

[HMF]

Im just not a big fan of how the cm 690 looks.

You have me thinking about the P182 now though.

Great looking case, excellent cooling, quiet... just wondering again if it is large enough?

I plan on throwing in a couple of 4870 1Gb cards, among other things, and my only concern is that it be able to fit those easily. I don't want to have to somehow stuff them in. I want them to have lots of room to work and breathe. Also.. I just hate the look of a cluttered case. Im kind of a neat freak. lol.

So.. as far as I know, as long as I use the bottom HDD cage, and remove the middle cage, it will fit easily.

 

[Addikt]

So I currently have 6 hard drives and am looking at adding another one, so I'll be totalling 7 soon. Can you fit 7 hard drives in the CM 690?

 

[RealRedRaider]

Who buys tower cases anymore???

MountainMods.....FTW

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
That case and any other case with more than three 120mm fans makes me vomit. I fail to see how you would need more than three 120mm fans to cool a computer even if you are overclocking.

*goes off in a corner to kick a can*

but but but... Rally!!

How am i suposed to fit all this crap inside any other case?
http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_0001.jpg

http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_1152.jpg

Yea those are raptors
http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_1145.jpg

*sobbing in the corner*

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
What are you planning on putting into a computer that requires a full tower?

Taller tower = bigger e-peen?

Empty space = more places to hide the bodies?

Dinner table leg fell off so something tall needed to prop it up?

Bar stool?

Uber 4 figure foot rest of course!

Put a nice fluffly pillow on Top:
http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_0027.jpg

PWNAGE!

Pish, and you call yourself a MOD. ROFL!



*poke poke zap*

 

[Zepper]

The CM 690 has 5 HDD trays to start with and has five free 5" bays (if you don't use the 3.5" ext. bay adapter). You could take up three of the 5" bays with a 4-drive cage. My current favorite cage is the Silverstone Kublai cage (under $30.) that has 4 HDD trays and can be made hot plug/swap (comes with one HP/S connector and extras are around $5.00 each). It has to be modded a bit (to hold the fan housing in place) for cases other than the Kublai series. My second choice is the new aluminum version of the Stacker cage. SVC.com usually has those and the Egg may but they don't seem to ever get enough to keep stock on hand. I was on the "notify" list twice and by the time I got around to ordering after notification, they were OOS again, so I gave up and ordered from SVC who always seems to have them.

.bh.

 

[Alienwho]

I LOVE my CM690, much better than my old thermaltake tsunami. It is much better looking in person as well. It has excellent cooling and is on the large side of mid towers, so everything fits easily.

 

[DerelictDev]

Originally posted by: HMF
Im just not a big fan of how the cm 690 looks.

You have me thinking about the P182 now though.

Great looking case, excellent cooling, quiet... just wondering again if it is large enough?

I plan on throwing in a couple of 4870 1Gb cards, among other things, and my only concern is that it be able to fit those easily. I don't want to have to somehow stuff them in. I want them to have lots of room to work and breathe. Also.. I just hate the look of a cluttered case. Im kind of a neat freak. lol.

So.. as far as I know, as long as I use the bottom HDD cage, and remove the middle cage, it will fit easily.

You should have no problem fitting those beasts in the Antec P182. I have the original P180 from ~2yrs ago and it's the best case I've ever had. The only problem I encountered was the flimsy door but I just took it off as it wasn't needed (I also took out some of the fans as it cooled just fine without them).

The P182 on the other hand has fixed most if not all of the past issues in the P180. It's a beautiful looking case, great sound & heat dissipation, and excellent design. Allows for great cable management with most of the large wiring going "behind" and the list goes on. If it's in your price range and like how it looks, my opinion is go for it. You won't regret it - I haven't (I've even contemplated about buying the P182 just for kicks).

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Alienwho
I LOVE my CM690, much better than my old thermaltake tsunami. It is much better looking in person as well. It has excellent cooling and is on the large side of mid towers, so everything fits easily.

heh the 690 is nice, expecially watercooled.

http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_0862.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_0863.jpg

 

[nerp]

Just get a Lian-Li. Get a nice black one with no extra details and you'll have your own personal monolith.

 

[semisonic9]

CM has an ATC case coming out soon. It's basically taking the air-cooling from the HAF model and putting a Lian Li-esque spin on it.

http://en.expreview.com/2008/0...-raytheon-chassis.html

Pretty slick case, to be honest. If it were out a week ago, I'd have gone with it instead of the Lian Li I bought. Who knows? If the Lian Li's cooling starts to bug me, I may swap em out.

-S