Where to buy chieftech? (or, should I go with a lian-li?)

[paralazarguer]

there's no way you could do that. the optical connectors wouldn't fit. Neither would the 1.2" or the midi...hmm...yeah, that wouldn't work at all. The depth of the connectors are off in some cases by as much as half an inch. That would be impossible. It's very useful actually, I use the midi keyboard, the SPDIF (Dat drive) and the 1/2" in (guitar) and the 1/2" out (headphones) all the time. But like I said, you can't paint it (or use a cover of any kind) because you need the labels to see what's what!!!!!!!! How hard is that?

 

[paralazarguer]

Also, there are compatibility problems with the game theatre with Windows XP. Using an breakout box like that means more to carry for the LAN parties. What if you forget it? It doesn't feature EAX Advanced HD for games like Jedi Knight 2 and doesn't have nearly as good DACs or ADCs as the audigy for recording. EAX Advanced HD is also great for applying effects in real time to my guitar. You can get an external audigy but that would take up another PCI slot and it's something to move of leave behind. The Audigy drive also puts a firewire port on the front of your case. sorry, but the GTXP is old news and I'm not willing to take something inferior just because I have a crappy case.

 

[Lucky]

This is a fairly silly thing to argue about, but If I had it and used it "all the time" I would think I'd be able to know by heart what was what.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: 7757524
Also, there are compatibility problems with the game theatre with Windows XP. Using an breakout box like that means more to carry for the LAN parties. What if you forget it? It doesn't feature EAX Advanced HD for games like Jedi Knight 2 and doesn't have nearly as good DACs or ADCs as the audigy for recording. EAX Advanced HD is also great for applying effects in real time to my guitar. You can get an external audigy but that would take up another PCI slot and it's something to move of leave behind. The Audigy drive also puts a firewire port on the front of your case. sorry, but the GTXP is old news and I'm not willing to take something inferior just because I have a crappy case.

No incompatabilities, sorry. They fixed those LONG ago with the XP patch. And your'e not likely to forget it considering there's a big fat cable coming out the back.

Look, I dont want to turn this into a sound card debate; yours work for you, mine works for me. In nearly every situation, including with your audigy you could come up with a solution that would match the front of the lian-li.

 

[paralazarguer]

In case you weren't able to tell, I work with audio for a living. I have used a hercules card and the DC offset is 11DB! On the audigy it's only 2DB. Of course, for my soundsystem I use the Echo Mia with 0DB DC offset and balanced lines but you get the idea. No, it's not possible to know by heart what is what. Again, why would I HAVE TO DO something like that just for owning a crappy case. Instead of going through all that work and sometimes making mistakes why not just buy the right case in the first placE?

 

[paralazarguer]

I think that it's really silly to suggest using a GTXP. That would imply that the hardware should be build to accomodate the case rather than the case accomodating the hardware. That's a horrible thought.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: 7757524
In case you weren't able to tell, I work with audio for a living. I have used a hercules card and the DC offset is 11DB! On the audigy it's only 2DB. Of course, for my soundsystem I use the Echo Mia with 0DB DC offset and balanced lines but you get the idea. No, it's not possible to know by heart what is what. Again, why would I HAVE TO DO something like that just for owning a crappy case. Instead of going through all that work and sometimes making mistakes why not just buy the right case in the first placE?

I dont really care what you do for a living, it doesnt have an effect on cases, and I dont understand wtf those abbreviations mean anyways. Looking at the photo of the audigy, there are only 13 things. I really dont see how it would be that hard to know what each one does, especially if you use it daily. there's not too much too it, a couple of optical ports, a couple of dials, a firewire input, headphone output....you dont need a manual for it.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: 7757524
I think that it's really silly to suggest using a GTXP. That would imply that the hardware should be build to accomodate the case rather than the case accomodating the hardware. That's a horrible thought.

Some folks dont like to have drive bays cluttered with ugly-ass audigy's. the absolute beauty of the gtx is that you can hide it away. The only thing I even occasionally use on the front of the GTX box is the USB hub, but that would be built in on the lian-li anyways.

 

[paralazarguer]

Well, I don't use EVERYTHING on the front of that so I wouldn't memorize every fuction. When I did need it though I would have to know which is which. Having to memorize it, though, is idiotic. You'd be sacrificiing fuctionality for form. Dumb, dumb, idiotic. If you don't want a drive bay to be occupied by an audigy or other ugly device then the Chieftec case is right for you! It covers them all up.

 

[Lucky]

LOL, cant argue with fanboys. You employed by chieftech?

 

[paralazarguer]

I told you, I work with audio...lol!

 

[paralazarguer]

BTW that's fangirl. Fangirl with a damn sexie case. Oh yeah, oh yeah.

 

[Ilmater]

A couple of things to note here:

1) A friend of mine has XP and a SB card and it is the only thing on his system that causes crashes. He'll be in the middle of a game and BAM, done. That is the reason that, when I get my "dream system on a budget" when the Hammer comes out, I'm not buying a SB card.
2) Actually, I think that a drive should have to work around a case. I can't believe that you switch out drives as often as you say you do, but assuming you wouldn't lie to me (you seem like a nice person), you should know better than any of us that cases last much longer than drives. Look at the Thermaltake Hardcano 5. It's got an aluminum face specifically to match cases. Why can't other drives do this?
3) I will agree that it would be hard to fab a plate to fit the breakout box, especially where there's an indentation on the bottom right. It would be hard to make that look good. However, if you had the time, you could do it. And, if you're putting that much work into this thing, just put a little notch (barely visible) under the ins to tell them apart from the outs.
4) 3 isn't an issue since he doesn't use a breakout box (Hercules is a good choice btw).
5) I don't know how he feels about this, but I will absolutely, positively never buy a case that has a panel that I have to move in order to get to my drives. First, every time I want to access my drives I'd have to move it. Plus, what if I did have it locked (c'mon, unless this thing's at work, isn't that a little paranoid?)? I'd have to unlock it with my keys, which obviously couldn't be placed right next to the case. So, I sit down, and leave my keys in the other room, realize that the door's locked, go back to the other room, get the keys, come back, unlock the door, AND FINALLY TURN ON MY COMP!! I know it's not much, but I'd get really tired of locking it up after about two or three times of that crap. You may be more organized than me, but I know that I'd do this. Then, instead of a security feature, I have an annoyance.
6) Let's put the aesthetics (notice the spelling) things to rest: it's everyone's personal opinion and yours isn't going to change. Neither is mine. I think that Lian-Li's look better than Cheiftecs IMHO. Period. I like the fact that they're not covered in plastic. It gives it a little of an industrial look. I have a black leather couch and a black leather easy chair, a black TV and a silver component rack. See?! I like the look. I got sucked in by the "real men wear black" crap and I'm stuck.

I do have to claim ignorance on the aluminum and thumbscrew thing. I thought all Cheiftecs were steel. My bad. But, you can't beat the ADDA fans, the removable MB tray, or the fan controls. By the way, if you look at Lian Li's site, they have plates to match your other drives. This basically comes down to this: Do you want something that will cover up everything to "look real pretty", or the supreme usability in a case. I care more about usability, but for me, the looks actually tip this way as well. I do admit when I'm wrong, but in this case, I think I'm right.

 

[paralazarguer]

The Audigy does not have a rep for being unstable. Quite the opposite in fact. My computer hasn't gone down in 4 months and I use it extensively. I think that what may be happening with his system is that he may be using it in a shared PCI slot. You can only actually have 5 PCI slots in a motherboard. Some have 6 but the way that they do it is using a PCI bridge and it's usually shared with an integrated component. This could be causing his trouble.

 

[SNoWyV82]

Hey Lucky, know where I can find out how to do the DVD Slot load mod and the Stealth mods that the guy did in your link. I don't get how stealth mods work...can you only eject the drive with software? So there is no way to eject it manually? Got any links on this stuff. Thanks, Lian Lis rock.

edit: I'm an idiot, there are links for these mods right on the page.

 

[CubicZirconia]

This case looks great. I have been very up close and personal with a PC65 for a while and I'm quite familiar with it. Until you can put both cases side by side I don't think you can talk about it.

This might be a little late in the game, but I have seen both cases side by side and my vote goes to Lian Li, hands down.

 

[Lucky]

Just for 7757524:


Modded audigy drive to match lian-li

(look down)

 

[mrchaotica]

This my also be a little late, but I personally like my Antec Plus880. It is similar to 7757524's chieftec, but has a few important diffrerences.

First, it is not modded. This is good for 2 reasons: 1)I like beige, and 2)If you are going to mod your case, half the fun is doing it yourself!

Second, it is a workstation case, not a server one, so it doesn't have that stupid door (It annoys me to have to open and close the damn thing every time I want to use my optical drives)

Third, it has space for 5 (count'em) case fans, more than either the Chieftec OR the Lian-Li (by the way, one of them is right in front of the hidden 3.5" bays - perfect for cooling hard drives!)

and Fourth, even though it doesn't have a removable motherboard tray (which is useless unless you have extra-long cables, which would screw up the airflow) it has more space than the Lian-Li so it is easy to install the motherboard and other components anyway.

but buy what you want... to each his own.