Case selection - ATX+SSD

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faugusztin

2[H]4U
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Mar 9, 2008
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Hi,

i'm considering switching my current case (Lian Li PC-V1110A) for something else. First the reasons :
  • This case is HUGE. Especially right now after i will get rid of the hard drive i had running alongside the SSD and have pretty much nothing to have the 5,25" and 3,5" bays for.
  • I would like to make a switch to EVGA P55 motherboard, thus having black & red (Enermax Magma) color scheme.

What i would like to have in the new case :
  • Black interior
  • Ideally no 3,5" bays, minimum amount of 5,25" bays - remember all i will use is one 2,5" SSD and maybe one DVD drive, fan controller is a bigNG glued by velcro somewhere :).
  • Must be ATX (my 5870 is going to have cooling via Prolimatech MK-13 = card+cooler is 2,5 PCI slots plus fans = 4,5 slots, plus i use a soundcard = 6 slots minimum needed => ATX :) ).
  • Would like to have good cable management options

Now, i went through options, and i don't like any of them, so if you can suggest something else i will be happy to hear other suggestions :
  • Lian Li PC-X900 - black interior, built more to the height than to length, removable 3,5" bays at bottom chamber, upper chamber is OK too. The only problem - price and availability. 399€ is simply over the top and i would have to wait for it.
  • Fractal Design Define R2 - black interior, relatively small, HD5870 fits in, price is OK (100€). The problem - non-removable 3,5" bay for 8 drives.
  • Lian Li PC-A05NB - small, price is OK (100€). Interior is not black, bad airflow without replaced top cover with fan at top.
  • LIan Li PC-X500 - most of the X900 facts are true for this case too, but cable management is a lot worse unfortunately, price is again on a high side (~330€).
  • PC-K62 - problem is that the case is way too open (i hate mesh cases).
  • Corsair Obsidian 700D/800D, Silverstone Fortress 2 - way too big, big, big.

To have a better idea, this is my current case and hardware :

v1110front.jpg


That minus the hard drive, GTS250 replaced with the HD5870 back from RMA, board replaced to EVGA P55 board would be the final setup.

Thanks for any ideas
 
Perhaps you can find a deal on an A05NB that's been modded the way you're wanting?
Or maybe find a used one at a really good price that would justify getting the top piece & perhaps finding a way to get the interior black?
 
Unfortunately i'm not frm USA, not even from some bigger european country, so the Lian Li market here is already small, and PC-A05 market is pretty much non-existing (you can count the PC-A05's sold per year with your hands).

Modding services are also bad, i know one modder who lives about 150km from me, his price is about 30-40€ for completely dissasembling the case and painting the whole interior black - but the shipping will cost me about the same amount of money, so again it is not a very good option. True, he can save me the cost of the top cover if he cuts the hole in stock top cover.

So long story short, with PC-A05NB we are talking about 100€ for case, 30€ for top cover without black interior or 60-70€ for modding services => 130€ for non-black interior case or 160€ for black interior case.

Still, if there are other options i would like to hear them :).
 
CM 690 II Advanced. Its pretty much a better PC-K62 although you hate mesh, it has alot of features that the cases you mentioned are missing.

- SSD support
- Top mount SSD dock
- Support for 2 x 240mm radiators internally
- Removable modular 3.5 HDD racks.
- Support for 10 fans
Here is mine
4501678431_23d76ac147_d.jpg
 
why not go for an ATX HTPC? Mine can take up to 10.5" gfx card (gtx280/gtx480/5870), a water cooling kit and a bunch of hardware (check my sig). Removed the drive bays and use one 3.5" for the SSD and one 5.2" for the 1tb hdd.

It's actually easy to find a black htpc case with removable drive bays.

Here are some old pics of my rig to give you an idea of the space in an ATX HTPC:

angleshot2.jpg


sideshot.jpg


topshotss2.jpg
 
Except it is still extremly big. Right now i'm in talk with some modder, it is pretty much down to PC-A05NB + black paint at non-black parts of the case + 2x12cm blowhole at top = 91€ for the case, 65 euro for modding services and ~10€ for shipping. That is 166€ which is still relatively acceptable, considering it will fit my HD5870 and will be really minimalistic in size.

Pretty much something like this (of course with some different parts) : http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/556628-lian-li-pc-a05nb-i7-build.html

@mashakos: Ehm... no :). Those HTPC cases are still big (i had a Antec Fusion Remote Max, so i know how big monsters are those).
 
NZXT M59.

cheap as hell and it works great. its solidly built except for it being a tad "flimsy" in one area at the rear when there are no parts in it. i stuffed the rig in my sig into one. :D

you should be able to find it in the range of $40 on sale to $60-70 regular price. US dollars.
 
Yes, but while i the real estate used by HTPC case is much bigger. So while PC-A05B would be probably bigger when put on side, i'm not going to do that :).
 
I think the modded A05 is your best choice. That way you're going to have a case you like built almost the exact way you want it.
Can't hardly go wrong that way.
 
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