need help choosing case

unknownelementx · Post by **unknownelementx** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:59 am

After experiencing many issues with my current desktop, I am feeling that its time to rebuild it. I have done some damage to the case (antec 180) and want to replace it. I really love the quiet operation of the case, but it is a little bit of a tight squeeze for some components and not the height of organization.

after looking over reviews, I can't seem to find a good replacement. Coolermaster HAF and cosmos/s seem to be rife with complaints for such high price points (HAF- no dust filtering, bad fans, etc... Cosmos- scratching, denting, power button not working, etc...) and I am not sure where to look and how to compare.

any suggestions?

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:58 pm

Need more info:

tight squeeze for what components, and in what way?
what kind of hardware will you be putting in it (a quad core with dual video cards is a bit different than a low power system with onboard needing lots of hard drive bays, for example).
budget?

unknownelementx · Post by **unknownelementx** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:17 pm

as for hardware I am hoping to upgrade from my dual to a quad core proc. I dont think ill be running sli anytime soon as it still seems unstable often. i have a 8800 gtx

the tight squeeze was the power block barely fitting in the bay with the fan down there as well as the general area around the mobo was pretty restricted. not unmanageable tho. i shouldn't need more than 4 drive bays, if that. I am hoping to get a new mobo as my 780i has major problems with raid configs

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 2:40 pm

Yeah that lower area is hell if you leave that center fan in. Assuming the power supply has a fan that is usually all that is needed down there. I feel your pain in the P180 department though--it can be such a PITA to work in I wll probably leave mine as it is now.

To be honest, one of the best resources for starting my search for a new case is *drumroll* Newegg.
If I'm spending the money for a quality case it better look good too. It helps you get a quick look, see inside, and start narrowing your options, then start doing Google searches for reviews on cases you are interested in.

Is the dual core not stable or the video card not stable? I just think an 8800gtx would be a huge bottleneck compared to a quadcore, although you could always upgrade the video later.

Goood luck!

unknownelementx · Post by **unknownelementx** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:21 pm

its more that ive been having issues that are probably motherboard related and some issues that i think are the power source. ive also had my usb ports giving me trouble and broken ports to the front of my case. to that end i wanted to get a new mobo and figured id go for a quad proc too. as for the graphics, the 8800 isnt old enough yet for the upgrade but would definately be the next on the list when i get the funds

unknownelementx · Post by **unknownelementx** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:51 pm

i just looked at a review of the coolermaster sniper, anyone know how that performs and is constructed?

hillkitler · Post by **hillkitler** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 2:29 pm

The Coolermaster Sniper has a hell of a lot of mesh on it. If you're looking for silence you should probably stay far away from it. It looks like a massive dust-trap as well-- many around here would have your head for even considering something like that.

HOWEVER, in the end it's up to you. It looks spacious enough, though it's supposedly the smallest of Coolermasters new lineup.

hawtfrank · Post by **hawtfrank** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:48 am

I too am in need of a bigger case, only to be recommended the Sniper. But as you say it has mesh which makes it a dust nightmare. I have found a few that could be viable. But want input before purchasing.

How about:
NZXT Whisper WHI
CM Stacker 830
Antec 1200(Yes I know the front is mesh, but it is also covered with fans(Could add filters)
Cosmos S

What case would you recommend? Full Tower with good cable management and airflow, for under $200?

Im open to other suggestion as well.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:26 am

Hi,

I'm not sure that I understand the need for a larger case than a P18x? The thing is giant! It holds 7 hard drives and 4 optical drives, fer cryin' out loud? If the lower chamber is the tight area, then try a case without that: the Solo.

Dust will always be an issue, with any case. The issue with a large area of mesh is the lack of air flow control (it gets too diffused to be useful), and that noise escapes from it all over the place, too.

edh · Post by **edh** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:40 am

The only reason I see for a very large case is if you're going to run an EATX motherboard for a dual processor workstation or server. Unless you are going EATX, you're just adding more distance for air to travel so you then have to add another set of fans. Stick with something standard ATX sized if you are just running an ATX board.

There is no longer a specific need for 'full tower' either. Full tower has been irrelevant since ATX was introduced as EATX is not higher than ATX in the way that AT was compared to Baby AT. Most EATX cases are just deeper to take the ~100mm deeper EATX standard.

A big case won't necessarily make things tidier, you may end up having to get extra long cables to be able to run cables neatly.

Why not just show a picture of your current system and I'm sure one of the many people here who has a P180 can suggest how to lay it out better.

Didn't this post happen before as well? Why the duplicate?
viewtopic.php?t=52246&highlight=

hawtfrank · Post by **hawtfrank** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:34 am

I don't own a camera, so I will just explain the resoning. I use my Computer for Gaming and as a Media Center PC.

Currently I have a mid-range gaming computer. Westmere and DX 11 GPU's are coming out, so I am planning on turning it into a high-end machine, through a series of upgrades every few months. As of now I have:

ASUS PN5-D (Crappy board regret ever buying it)
Gskill 4GB of DDR2-2800
E8400 OC'd to 3.6ghz
Zalman 9500a
2x EVGA 8800GT
PC Power and Cooling 750w SLI PSU
2x 500gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
1x 250gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
1x 500gb Maxtor External
Apevia X-Jupiter Jr. S Type Case (Pretty cheap case only 2x3.5" bays but has good airflow)

All 4 Hard Drives are 90% full. The Maxtor is starting to get I/O device errors. So I intend to add a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 drive and 2 150GB Velociraptor drives for Raid 0, while selling my 250gb drive. Swap the data from my anime drive to the 1TB and swap the data from the external to the newly freed 500gb.

I want to add a Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Sound Card as I bought a nice $400 Panasonic home theater system.

I want to add to GTX 300 or the ATI 5870 this fall when they release alongside Windows 7.

Next Year I want to upgrade to a Westmere CPU(Prolly will be called i8) and equivalent motherboard.

I plan to upgrade to 6GB DDR3-1600 in order to utilize the Westmere's triple memory controller.

edh wrote: Didn't this post happen before as well? Why the duplicate?
viewtopic.php?t=52246&highlight=

I didn't start the thread, I just chose to post in an existing thread instead of making yet another thread on the same subject.