This Old Case

I have an Enermax CS-10181B sitting around from my first build. The guts died a long time ago, so I'm thinking about re-using the case.

The system was very noisy when running, probably because of the seven, 80mm fans. Most of them ran at full speed all the time, because they were plugged directly into the power supply. The motherboard only had speed-controlling sockets for 2 fans, one of them the CPU cooler (a huge Zalman unit with 120mm fan).

What do you think about building a new system in this case? I expect I could get the noise level down by using a bunch of new, low-noise 80mm fans, and maybe a fan controller for the ones that aren't managed by the motherboard. I'm just not sure which fan controller to get.

Also not sure whether things like motherboard header wiring have changed since 2003. I like the arrangement of the switches and USB ports on this case, and it would save substantial bucks on my new build if I could re-use it.

The only major downside I see thus far is, the case's built-in USB ports are all 2.0. There's no way to retrofit 3.0 ports as far as I know - I'd only have the motherboard's 3.0 ports at the back. But I can live with that.

FWIW, the case is a huge beast:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811124033R

If you made it a mission, it seems like you could mod the front to take a bigger size fan to deal with that side of the case at least.

If at least two of the three apply then I'd say keep it:

• You are attached to the case on a personal level (as it was used in your first build, I'm guessing yes).
• You are open and comfortable with modding it for bigger fans.
• Money is severely tight (a decent case these days will not set you back too much).

Thinking it over, I'm about 99% sure I'm going to get this new case instead (NZXT Source 210 Elite White Steel):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146077

It looks good for $50.

I decided that the old case would probably be noisy, and might not even provide enough cooling for the new guts. For the price and hassle of retrofitting the Enermax with a 5- or 6-fan controller, I could just get a new case using one or two large fans. That means adequate cooling with lower RPMs, which should generate less noise overall.

I'll report back if/when I get the NZXT case and do the build.

Objekt said:

Thinking it over, I'm about 99% sure I'm going to get this new case instead (NZXT Source 210 Elite White Steel):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146077

It looks good for $50.

I decided that the old case would probably be noisy, and might not even provide enough cooling for the new guts. For the price and hassle of retrofitting the Enermax with a 5- or 6-fan controller, I could just get a new case using one or two large fans. That means adequate cooling with lower RPMs, which should generate less noise overall.

I'll report back if/when I get the NZXT case and do the build.

Click to expand...

Are you interested in this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119089
I have a very lightly used one to sell.