SPCR

With all this talk about whether a P150 looks better in white or black, got me thinking. My perfect
case would be a hybrid of the P150 and a Lian-Li. With the great looks of the Lian-Li's aluminum
front panel, with the excellent cooling and quietness of the P150's steel chassis. The front panel
would be anodized black, and the side panels would be painted a satin black ( to resist fingerprints
and dust). Silver would also be ok. You guys have any other ideas?

L3thal wrote:With all this talk about whether a P150 looks better in white or black, got me thinking. My perfect
case would be a hybrid of the P150 and a Lian-Li. With the great looks of the Lian-Li's aluminum
front panel, with the excellent cooling and quietness of the P150's steel chassis. The front panel
would be anodized black, and the side panels would be painted a satin black ( to resist fingerprints
and dust). Silver would also be ok. You guys have any other ideas?

What looks best is a personal choice. I would not rely on others to decide that for you.

The "perfect looking" case is indeed very subjective. Personally for me, this would be a small matte white enclosure... Oh and it'd be nice if it was very cheap too

What looks best is a personal choice. I would not rely on others to decide that for you.

Shoulda worded that differently, I meant what would be their perfect case

I like the internal layout of some of the common Lian Li cases, but the styling and front doors are just too plain and boring looking for me. I get more excited looking at a P180 or Sonata.

While I'm not too happy with Antec anymore, I do like the look of the p180. Personally I have never understood all the hoopla around Lian Li cases. To me 20 slot covers and mesh/grille on the front of the case isn't too stylish.

The perfect case would be a P150 with no power supply and more durable elastic to suspend the drives. Color is in the eye of the beholder.

I'll be building another machine in a couple months and if I could purchase the P150 at a reasonable price (say $75) without a power supply, then the P150 would be my first choice for that build. SPCR's review of describes the case in detail, but I particularly like the air intake, the damped case, and the elastic suspension. Unfortunately, the Antec Neo-HE power supply that the P150 ships with has been a dog.

As for looks, lots of bling tends to wear on me after awhile. I like my cases to be simple-looking and unobtrusive. I'm certainly not trying to impress myself with a flashy case and I wouldn't want to impress others with either my case or the appearance of my computer. Then again, that's me.

i like the antec 2400 desktop. Two 120mm fans on the side! Also I kinda like the desktop design as you can sit your lcd on it and use a really small desk. Not to mention less stress on the mobo if your using a huge heatsink because its pushing down instead of pulling at it sideways. I really want to see a good in depth review of this case.

BigA wrote:I'll be building another machine in a couple months and if I could purchase the P150 at a reasonable price (say $75) without a power supply, then the P150 would be my first choice for that build. SPCR's review of describes the case in detail, but I particularly like the air intake, the damped case, and the elastic suspension. Unfortunately, the Antec Neo-HE power supply that the P150 ships with has been a dog.

Well, to be fair, the NeoHE is very good when it works, and if you're buying in a couple of months, odds are very good that you will get an A3 revision NeoHE.

I would have no problem with a NeoHE that works. And I agree the odds are good that a revision A3 will ship sooner or later. However, it is unclear to me whether revision A3 will solve the problems which should have been solved in revision A2.

P150 in lime green or bright orange. Black is soo 2003, and white is soo 2005.

Mac mini.

i just mod'd the perfect case IMO. i wish they would sell it like it is stock


Casetronic C138

I cut a 3" hole in the front middle, and put an 80mm NMB running at 5volts, with some modders mesh over the hole to give it that proffesional look and to keep fingers out of the fan.

the size of the case is perfect. mini-itx mobo's, has 1 expansion slot for video cards, uses external passive brick psu's, a notebook hard drive, and a slim optical drive.

everything you NEED and nothing you dont. in the smallest footprint possible. matte black is the perfect color too i think. the powdercoat looks great.

just FYI. i put this motherboard in it Commell LV-673NS with this video card XFX 7600gs Video Card

its the best (IMO) and quietest gamming rig ive ever owned. with only 1 fan in the entire system, and it running at 5volts, it cannot be heard at any distance more than 1 foot from the front of the case.

Well, I like my Centurion 532 because it's black, has controls and ports on the front/top of the tower for easy reach and the mesh/grill design allows lots of air to flow into the case. It also has washable dust filters for the mesh/grills.

While it isn't a SPCR recommended case, I think that the additional airflow is good for passively cooled CPU, GPU, or northbridge, or any combination of the three.

The only real downside is that it allows for some HD noise to escape from the case. But that can be offset by not using a fan for the above mentioned components, assuming the right ones are selected. Using a Seasonic S12 PSU, a Nexus fan for both in-take and exhaust, Athlon X2 3800+ (or slower AMD CPU), and the Ninja Scythe (no fan); this would be a very quiet PC. Using a passively cooled mobo like Asus A8N Premium should lower noise as well.

I like the NSK2400 desktop too, but it's just too big IMO. I am currently trying to figure out how best to build my own case to my specs:

- Minimum size for mATX desktop
- minimum depth (this is main area where I don't like 2400)
- Full height expansion slots (3-4)
- No bling

Colour: Black may be 2003 and white 2005, but black will be back in 2-5 years. White will be gone a looong time . The iPod aesthetic will soon seem as dated as low-rise jeans (ick!). I'm sticking with black.

This is my wish list for HTPC cases, for an office PC, I would say the same except the limited selection and tweakability of mATX motherboards. I had hoped that by now form factors would have started shrinking. Sadly, the market just seems to be drifting in 2 opposite directions: honking gamer ATX cases, and tiny or awkward mini cases with little or no room for expansion and/or proprietary hardware. Where is the middle ground?

a tardis like quality, free optional female to service the case, and *ahem* the owner.

id like it tobe long aswell, i ALWAYS end up with a cable jungle in the middle

mrzed wrote:I am currently trying to figure out how best to build my own case to my specs:

- Minimum size for mATX desktop
- minimum depth (this is main area where I don't like 2400)
- Full height expansion slots (3-4)
- No bling

Colour: Black may be 2003 and white 2005, but black will be back in 2-5 years. White will be gone a looong time . The iPod aesthetic will soon seem as dated as low-rise jeans (ick!). I'm sticking with black.

i like the way you think. id love to see a case like that. single optical bay, or even a slim optical bay to keep it small. 1 or 2 hard drive bays.

one other thing that i thought we would be see'ing more of, aftermarket external brick PSU's for computers. i really wish this would catch on more. delta can make a completely passive 220w external brick psu, which will power probably 90% of everyones computers on this forum.

mrzed wrote:- Minimum size for mATX desktop
- minimum depth (this is main area where I don't like 2400)
- Full height expansion slots (3-4)
- No bling

This sounds like your standard micro ATX mini Tower.

Two optical drive version:



Or one optical drive version:



About the only way to make these smaller is to move the power supply to an unconventional location. Something like the ASUS Terminators with a micro ATX motherboard instead of flex ATX.



I made my own 5x12x10 plexiglass case which was about as small as I could make anything with standard components--even then I used a short 180W Power Supply and a short optical drive. Also it had room for 7 full height expansion cards and narrow full-size ATX motherboard.

The trick was placing the Power Supply on top of the CPU. This worked out okay as it was a Tualatin Pentium III. The optical drive and hard drive were on top of the memory.

The power supply had a 80mm fan (probably not needed), and I had a 120mm intake fan that fit in front of the expansion area. A couple of cardboard strips built a duct around the CPU heatsink directly outside the case.

The computer worked fine from a thermal standpoint, but it was a really pain to make. I don't suggest plexiglass as a case material.

A Shuttle XPC type system is a nice compromise, though a little pricy.

Here's kind of the look I was going for. A crappy photochop, but you get the idea. I used the Silverstone TJ-04 as a basis. It has the classy, yet high-tech look of htpc's, in a standard ATX tower.
VFD is not really needed, but it looks cool.

GamingGod wrote:i like the antec 2400 desktop. Two 120mm fans on the side! Also I kinda like the desktop design as you can sit your lcd on it and use a really small desk. Not to mention less stress on the mobo if your using a huge heatsink because its pushing down instead of pulling at it sideways. I really want to see a good in depth review of this case.

yeah, but first you need to get a heavy heatsink into there, it's not high enough to fit a ninja....

however it does look like it would be good for a passive xp120, from the fin direction....

Looks like: Lian-Li PC-V2100 black.
Is made from: steel
Inside: like Antec P180 (easy to build silent system, good airflow)
Room for at least four hard drives with rubber ... cord? like in Antec P150.
Price: under $/€200.

I'd buy. Lian-Li is otherwise good, but they use some crappy aluminium and there isn't enough room for your own mods in the hdd area.

I would not go for look ... but performance wise is definitely good to go.

I would build my own enclosure
... or ...
There are lots of custom case manufacturer. i would even go for that.

choose your own color, own style, big or small.

I know i would definitely not compromise my design with OFT enclosures.

offcourse ... it has to be cost effective ...

I got a p180 and I absolutely love the exterior design of it.

The only downside is its tight lower chambers. ;(

Ihmemies wrote:Lian-Li is otherwise good, but they use some crappy aluminium

What is wrong with the aluminum in the Lian-Li? It is thick and strong, and the Lian-Li cases have lots of fasteners to help prevent any vibration or resonance.

I prefer aluminum because it makes the case a lot lighter. I didn't realize that until I tried to move my old heavy steel Antec case, after having my Lian-Li for a while.

I have no problem with Aluminum, but I like steel:
* I like steel because it makes my computer harder to steal.
* Steel lowers my price per pound.
* And, hey, it wouldn't be "little iron" if it wasn't made from steel.

For a m-ATX case I bought the Antec Aria for my HTPC. I got it when it first came out it wasn't exactly cheap then, and it isn't cheap now at $95, but I have seen the price dip as low as $75 after a rebate.

It has a two-tone color design that is fairly muted. The only thing that I would consider "bling" are the two bright blue LEDs on either side. They don't have to be connected, or you can use a magic marker over the LEDs to lower the brightness, or cover it with a small ball of tranparent tape which will mute it, and is easily removable.

It's not your typical m-ATX case. It has a proprietary 300w PSU that should be powerful enough for most people with a 120mm fan, that I believe can be replaced. The case is made out of aluminum and has lamenated planels to deaden the sound, which has a nice "thud" sound when you tap it. There is only one open drive bay for the DVD drive. The drive cage can hold an additional 3 hard drives internally. There is no floppy drive bay, but it does have 2 USB ports, and a front 8-in-1 card reader.

The one main problem with it is the lack of good airflow, but Antec has recently addressed that issue with an exhaust port on the top panel. Another issue is that it is kinda cramp. The Aria is just big enough to support any generic sized m-ATX motherboard, but because it can handle a total of 4 drive in such a small case it does get pretty cramped. HD cable routing can be an issue, so go for SATA over parallel. Also the PSU is likely to partially overhang the CPU socket of any motherboard, the tallest fan that can be used will be about 75mm.

Overall, I am pretty happy with my Aria it is almost quiet enough for me. The only thing that I can hear is my damn 60mm CPU fan (bad choice) which I slowed down with a Fanmate II. My friends comment that it's pretty quiet, but not to me. I've been contemplating replacing the fan for the longest time, but I plan to upgrade from my Athlon XP 2500+ to I don't know what yet.

You know, those two side LEDs kind of remind me of blinkenlights on the BeBox. Would be an interesting hack to make the LEDs change brightness depending on CPU load.