Which case should I get?

[Talcite]

Alrite, I'm stuck between 3 cases...

antec P180, gigabyte aurora, or thermalrock eclipse.

They all look so good...

I'm really looking for 1.features 2. looks 3. silence

I'm probably going to shift to watercooling after... but I'd prefer air cooling first, less worries. But I'd still like it to have the space to expand.

The fan noise isn't really an issue, I can easily switch them out for some Panaflos or something like that.

I'm also open to suggestions about other cases. I'd like it to be somewhat modable. Price should be somewhere around these babys. Anyone actually used these cases?

 

[MBrown]

P180B

 

[pkme2]

P180

 

[RallyMaster]

Could look at Gigabyte Poseidon. More of a simple look without door.

 

[Zepper]

I'd probably take the Eclipse as it's a lot like the Antec SLK3000-B inside and that box has a lot of casitude for the money. If you want air-cooled quiet above all else then take the P180, otherwise it has its problems. If you're sure WC is in your future, then take the Aurora as that is what it was designed for.

.bh.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

P180

 

[corsa]

Cooler Master Stacker 810 ..plenty of space, silent, and in the words of Batman.."does it come in Black?" oohh yeah

 

[Talcite]

CM 810 looks good too 0.o Maybe I should narrow my criteria... Anyone have specific reasons why P180 is better than the eclipse? IMO eclipse looks pretty good... but P180 has so many features... BTW.. is P180 quieter than eclipse? I can change out the fans, but what about the actual case design?

 

[acegazda]

I can't vouch for any of those personally, I haven't bought aniy of them, The p180 looks like it has great features for the price, very quiet too. The gigabyte araura looks nice, but is less feature rich from what I've found.

 

[aigomorla]

TT armor. If i wanted i could stuff my entire watercooling setup inside the case having the radiators be at front and lose only 5/11 bays. There would still be enough room to buy 5 1/4 adapters and mount 3.5 inch hard drives behind the fans or radiator if i even wanted that. I however have the radiator mounted outside because reports show it to be better then mounting it inside.

Anyhow see sig for watercooling equiptment. Oh i have 2 swiftech 655 pumps inside my system as well.

 

[Talcite]

Hmm... I've looked at all of the cases... and I think i'm starting to lean a bit towards the P180, after reading the SPCR review. Is there enough space in the P180 to setup water cooling, if you take out the bottom hard drive rack? The armour also looks pretty good...

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Talcite
Hmm... I've looked at all of the cases... and I think i'm starting to lean a bit towards the P180, after reading the SPCR review. Is there enough space in the P180 to setup water cooling, if you take out the bottom hard drive rack? The armour also looks pretty good...

The armor is a bigger case then the p180.

And althought installing a watercooling unit in a p180 isnt impossible, a lot of owners would have to say it is very difficult. The ultimate choice is up to you, whatever you want, if it cant hold it, u can always mod it! thats how i see things when it comes to cases and enclosures :]

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Talcite
Hmm... I've looked at all of the cases... and I think i'm starting to lean a bit towards the P180, after reading the SPCR review. Is there enough space in the P180 to setup water cooling, if you take out the bottom hard drive rack? The armour also looks pretty good...

If you're going with liquid cooling I would very much suggest going with a larger case like the Stacker of Armour. It will make your life MUCH easier.

 

[TheNewGuy8]

I can offer my experiences with the P180. It is a lovely case for the silence-minded. The 3 layered sound dampening walls really do cut down on vibration, the chamber isolation is nice, etc. etc.

You know the pros, so I'll just mention some cons.

It is HEAVY. I move back and forth from college, and it is a pain the arse to heave this thing along. Its not even steel, either, but that aluminum plastic aluminum setup adds up.

Cable managment is a nightmare due to the chamber isolation.

I'm not a fan of doors - but it helps on noise, and this door folds back 270 degrees, which is great.

thats most of what i can think of right now.

 

[Talcite]

Well... ok call me crazy... but I've decided i'm not going to watercool this computer. I'll just grab the P180... Probably best choice for aircooling, other than the CM $tacker 830.

I'm going to build my own case out of plexiglass for watercooling. The motherboard and cpu will be in a SEALED, humidity controlled, water/pelt cooled case. Optical drives and radiators will be in the aircirculating section of the case. I'm wondering if it's possible to go with a water cooled PSU, to cut down on noise. I figure if I lower the humidity enough, I don't have to worry about condensation, and all that pain in the ass modding of the motherboard. I like not to void my warranties if possible. Anyways... anyone got feedback on this idea? I have a CNC milling machine, so cutting is no problem, I'm even doing my own waterblocks =p.

 

[corsa]

your Crazy ..ok now stick with a larger case than the P180, like TheNewGuy8 has said, cable management is a nightmare, and thats without water tubes added in there.

The motherboard and cpu will be in a SEALED, humidity controlled, water/pelt cooled case.

MB have heat sinks, they need air cooling... do we see a problem forming here?

I'm wondering if it's possible to go with a water cooled PSU, to cut down on noise

...if its available, i doubt u want to spend that much, check out the passive PSU's, or just get something designed with silence in mind eg. Seasonic.

I like not to void my warranties if possible.

umm AMD says Use only the heatsink/fan provided. Use of any other heatsink/fan will viod the warranty...and dont u go overclockin that thing either now ya hear ! :laugh:

 

[Talcite]

Actually, there will be a rad/fan inside the sealed part and outside the sealed part. The internal rad will be to pick up heat, the external will be to dissipate heat.

Well the main reason to go watercooled is actually so i don't have to worry about wires going in and out of the case. It's hard to seal wires without making them unusuable later.

And well I actually don't plan to overclock 0.o well maybe hahaha... but I'd like to avoid voiding warranties needlessly. I'm pretty sure AMD's changed it's stance on the HSF issue.. 0.o But yeah, the first system in this case will be a p42.8 s478, kinda just a test setup.