Which Case To Buy?

[eastley]

As the message title and topic summary stated I am going to purchase a new case very soon and I was wondering which one to get. I am looking for a quiet well air flowed case but has to be sturdy well designed. Any Suggestions.

My system Rig is below and thats what will be going into the case.

cheers to all

 

[Safeway]

Antec Sonata, most definately. I have on of these cases with 2 120mm fans. It is quiet and cool. There is plenty of room to mod in a blowhole or a sidepipe if need be.

 

[akira34]

I think it would really help to know how much you're willing to spend on the case. I tend to favor Antec and Coolermaster cases. Both are very well made, offer good airflow inside, and are not eye-sores. I'm running with an Antec case at this time, but that doesn't mean the next tower I build will use one.

 

[Zepper]

Obligatory Kingwin 424 series recommendation (also sold as the Beantech Igloo series at SVC).
.bh.

 

[niall]

Quiet, yet sturdy? Allow me to point you to the Antex Solution SLK3700AMB; nice and solid (not light!), roomy, comes with one rear 120mm fan and room for another at the front, side panel with thumbscrews for quick checks, rubber grommets on all drive bays to lessen noise vibrations to case. Good PSU, but maybe not enough at 350W for your A64 and 5900 needs... You'd have to check your exact power requirements and the rail voltages.

 

[eastley]

I'm prepared to spend upto $200 AUS$$$ wihich is about $130 US$$$ And I already have a descent power supply so I wont be needing another one.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

You might want to check out this Aspire X-Alien, sturdy but all aluminum at newegg.com:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-144-067&depa=1

 

[Operandi]

Try these...

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=11-163-019&DEPA=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-119-023&depa=1

 

[Degrador]

Here's a Melbourne site with the Antec Sonata for $179 - I'm sure you'd be able to find it at a similar price in Tazzy. Scorptec. It's a good case, and comes with a great PSU. Quiet as well (120mm fans are great). Not sure if the door is your thing though (personally I hate them, but I accept I'm in the minority).

 

[MDE]

I took a stroll down Fry's case aisle today and the Antec P160 impressed me. My current Sonata is also a VERY good case and comes with a high quality PSU.

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Obligatory Kingwin 424 series recommendation (also sold as the Beantech Igloo series at SVC).
.bh.

Another nod for the Kingwin 424 series. Comes with manual fan speed adjustments(2 x front) and the temps for my "rig in sig" averages in the mid-30 C's idle.

Had 2 hard drives(now only 1) obstructing the airflow from the front case fans b4 and temps averaged in the low 40 C's @ idle.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

All case suggestions do not have a top fan blower. It's amazing how having that one extra exhaust besides the one at the back panel exhaust near the PSU makes a big difference to the ambient temp inside your case.

Might want to take it into consideration how the top fan eliminates that dead spot around your optical drives and memory slots. Don't forget to buy rubber shims for the fan to eliminate the noise.

 

[eastley]

Well I have been looking at this case
Antec Case
My friends think it is ugly but from some reviews i have read its cool and quiet as well as being good qaulity. I can get this for about $100 Australian so I suppose thats about $71 American at the present time. So what do people think of this case, and I was going to get it I would be putting another Fan at the front. What fan setup would be better?

Extract at back and intake at front?

 

[Degrador]

Yeah, front intake and rear exhaust is the best way to go - I think I'd be replacing those fans in there though, 38cfm at 24dB is pretty poor for 120mm fans. Seems like a nice case though.

 

[eastley]

Because of the rear fan extracting I dont really see the sense of changing that, but the front one will defiently be more powerful. for $30 I can get a 68cfm at 28dB I think, that should do the job.

 

[Degrador]

The Thermaltake Thunderblade's seem pretty good (almost too good) - 78CFM at 21dB. LEDs too. And in Melbourne they can be found at $15 here. But I read on some other forum not to trust thermaltake with their fans. Can anyone else confirm this?

 

[eastley]

I was down my favourite local pc shop today and had a discussion about thermaltakes fans and he said dont bother with them, they tend to ware out quickly and make funny noises.

These Sound better, not sure of price though. will get back to ya's when I find out

Antec 120mm Fan

 

[Degrador]

Hmm... Ok

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Yes, stay away from Thermaltake and Mad Dog fan brands. High MBTF life double ball bearing fans are the way to go for case fans so you install it and forget about for years! vantecs, sunons, deltas and off-labels from the same exact manufacturers would be top choices.

 

[niall]

eastley: the BQE is definitely not a bad choice at all! It's not flashy, but it doesn't need to be.

When placing fans, be careful not to have more intake than exhaust CFMs, otherwise the hot air will be trapped in your case. Once everything works, check temperatures, and be ready to swap the back and front fans and see if it makes a difference. At best, the intake and exhaust CFMs should match pretty closely - just don't forget to take into account the PSU's exhaust fan! (I don't know how much it adds, but it does add something.)

I have the stock Antec black case fan in my AMB, and it's pretty darn quiet. Not quite that powerful, though - less so than the PSU's fan.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

I also noticed in 3 systems I tested that it adds better airflow inside a case to get PSU's with a front/back fans instead of the typical bottom/back fans. You get that "shotgun effect" of air going straight out of your system. I believe Aspire and Fortron have models of these design.

 

[eastley]

Thanks for the tips niall, as i said previously my mates said the case is ugly. I have previously gone for snazy looking cases but the not the dearer ones and they tend to fall apart and stuff, so i though either a good qaulity Antec case for $100 Australian or a flashy looking $250 one. I dont have the cash to buy a expesive one so thats why i decided on the Antec. So niall do u think another 120mm fan in the front pushing air in and the 120mm fan at the back extracting be sufficient enough to cool my system?

 

[niall]

It's not the size that counts, it's the power.

It doesn't look like Antec lists the ratings of their normal case fans, but if it's similar to the "120mm LED" they list in this comparison sheet, then it's about 10cfm less than the Pro; this might be reasonably close to the PSU's additional exhaust, meaning the Pro at the front could very well work perfectly.

 

[chuwawa]

Since we're on the subjects of cases, I thought I'd get everyone's opinion on these two cases:

Antec Performance Plus 1080AMG w/ TruePower 430W
Antec Performance II SX1040B II w/ SmartPower 400W

I'm leaning towards buying one these because of their power supply. I just don't think a 300 or a 350W PS will do much good down the road.

But how do these cases compare with the other Antec cases (AMB/BQE/Sonata) as far as quietness and airflow?

 

[eastley]

I have the Antec true power 430 Watt in my current system and its pretty good. As for those cases we'll I have never had any of them so I cant comment on them, but I'm looking to buy a Antec SLK 3700 BQE pretty soon.