best case for PC-DL?

[sasquatch zeke]

Hi,

First off, I'd like to say thanks to all the people contributing to this forum and to Ralf Hutter and the rest of the team behind SPCR. There is an amazing amount of useful information being disseminated here, and I can't believe how much I've learned from reading/searching the forums over the last few days.

My situation:

I have an ASUS PC-DL motherboard, 2 1.6 GHz LV Xeons that I expect to overclock with a reasonable chance of success (based on reports over at the 2cpu.com forums) to around 2.8Ghz, and a Tagan TG480-UO1 P/S.

Can anyone share any experience on what case(s) work well with the PC-DL? I'm trying to keep the case cost to no more than ~$100. Less would be nice, of course. I've read through the recommended case list and the cases w/120mm fans list

Initially I was attracted to the Lian-Li towers (or one of their clones). I admit, I'm not really a fan of plastic bezels, and I dislike case doors. But after finding out about:

(a) Vibration problems with aluminum cases,
(b) Flimsiness of build with some of the thinner-walled cases, and
(c) Poor stock case ventilation for pretty much all the aluminum towers in my price range,

I decided that I'd probably be better off with a different case.

My ideal case?

(1) Enough room. The probably isn't a problem, as the PC-DL is a standard ATX board, but if anyone has run into cabling issues with the PC-DL and particular cases, I'd appreciate hearing about them.
(2) Good ventilation front/back. Preferrably spaces for 120mm fans, although with luck I'll be able to get away with a single rear 120mm fan.
(3) Removable motherboard tray.
(4) Doorless
(5) Metal bezel.

These are ordered in terms of priority.

At this point I've pretty much given up on (5). (4) is doable, but (3) probably isn't happening. (1) is (as I wrote) something I'd reallly appreciate any input that people can provide, and (2) is hopefully covered by current picks.

The 3 candidates that I currently have picked out are:

(1) Compucase LX-6A19
(2) Chenbro PC-610
(3) Chenbro SR-104 (Genie)

Thoughts on this? Alternate case suggestions?

Thanks,

SZ

[sthayashi]

I took a look at your motherboard and there are some tight problems you're going to run into, but they're not really case related.

The PSU plug is in a very awkward place and there's no good way of routing that elegantly. The IDE connectors are at the bottom of the board.

Either of the first two cases will work quite well. I'm not terribly impressed with the plastic PCI-card retainer on the PC-610, but I can get by with it. I believe Ralf Hutter removed it for his testing.

The only other case I would tell you to give consideration to is the Evercase ECE-4252, but I have no first hand experience on that.

[Gholam]

6A19 is a little small for this board... yes, it's standard ATX, but it's positively crammed with features and various cables. I built a system with one a while back, used a 6919 - very similar to 6A19, but taller, and with dual 80mm in front instead of single 120mm. You might also want to consider Coolermaster CM Stacker - it has everything you want in a case - plenty of room (E-ATX), all metal, up to 4 120mm fans, no door, but the price ($170 without PSU) is quite steep.

[icancam]

Whatever case you chose, Welcome to SPCR!!!

Mike Chin and company have created an incredibly useful site for those who enjoy some tranquility while computing for work or for pleasure.

Good luck on your quest! You'll be getting lots of good advice.

[Ralf Hutter]

The 3 candidates that I currently have picked out are:

(1) Compucase LX-6A19
(2) Chenbro PC-610
(3) Chenbro SR-104 (Genie)

Thoughts on this? Alternate case suggestions?

Thanks,

SZ

I'd go with the PC-610 or the Genie, with a slight edge to the PC-610 for it's more well-designed airflow. The Genie has lots of airflow, but in sort of a "brute-force" way.

[sasquatch zeke]

sthayashi: Yeah, the cabling is probably going to take a bit of work, but I can deal. Keeping this beast tidy and quiet will be a real change for someone whose systems tend to run with the sides off for months at a time. But I spend all day at work surrounded by servers and workstations running full-blast and the howling has finally started to get to me.

Gholarn: Thanks for the information about the 6A19. Between your response and Ralf's it looks like the greater length of the PC-610 makes it the best bet. The only concern I still have is whether a larger case would work better.

icancam: Thanks for the welcome! Hopefully someday soon my office will no longer sound like an airplane hanger.

Ralf: I get the impression that hot air is going to pool in the upper part of the genie without a 92mm fan exhausting air from the rear hard drive cage. This will undoubtedly keep the power supply hotter with the obvious result of increased fan RPMs and noise. What do you think would be the impact of building a small air shield below the 92mm fan opening that extended from the back of the case to slightly in front of the CPUs, thereby channeling the bulk of the hot air rising off the motherboard through the rear 120mm opening, while still allowing air flow up and through the PSU fan? If (for the moment) I don't end up putting any hard drives in this cage I could even block up the 92mm fan opening altogether. Alternately I could extend the shield forward, separate the case into lower and upper air channels and try to figure out how to keep the PSU from starving for air.

I know the compucase 6919 does not have a front 120mm fan mount, but other than that, how do you all think it compares with the Chenbro genie, especially in terms of airflow?

I'm not averse to doing some cutting if it'll result in a significantly better final product than I can buy for the same price, and I'm still open to other case suggestions.

Thanks again,

SZ