Apevia/CM comparison?

[vizx]

I find myself in a situation where I have to build TWO new rigs instead of one- I need one and my GF little bro needs one (promised the little @#@%@^*& I would build him one)...he's 11 and he wrecked his old box, well, by him and his little friends being 11 and messing around with a fire extinguisher...now his pops told him he has to save allowance and lawn-mowing money to buy a new one...

I felt bad and told him I would make up the difference in cost...so he has a grand total of 90 bucks and Mr. Big Mouth here is essentially footing the bill...

since it's right after Christmas I am kicking myself SO hard now...anyway, I have only ever used Thermaltake cases (and Lian Li mid-range case), but I NEED to save money I was considering these 2 cases (Apevia Jupiter)-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144194

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144197

and the CoolerMaster 690

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

Anyone have experience with either of those Apevia cases? Does the build quality feel cheap? I've read that the 250mm side fan on one of the cases actually doesn't move much air...

How about the CM case? Seems to be popular...

He's a bit more of a gamer than me, but I AM NOT building 2 cutting edge rigs here...I don't want to compromise too much on the mobos, RAM or processors, and i'm leaving lots of upgrade room, so i was looking to save on the cases and in a few other areas...

sorry for the long post...any help would be appreciated...

 

[Bbq]

Analogy:

Coolermaster is like Honda. They make a solid case (or car) that can seem a bit boring at times, but with plenty of well thought out features that would surprise you in a case (or car) that price.

Aspire is like a Dodge neon; gaudy, poorly made, likes to eat your first born nom nom nom.

 

[Dangman]

If you truly want to save some money, pick up these other cases:
Cooler Master Elite 330 RC-330-KKN1-GP ATX Case - $25
Cooler Master Centurion 534 ATX Case - $40
Cooler Master Centurion 532 ATX Case - $50

 

[vizx]

good suggestions...thanks!

it looks like i'll stay away from Apevia, i had never seen an apevia case live, so thanks for that info...

also, thanks for the CM info...those seem to be real good choices...

 

[burnin8r]

I am not sure what you plan to reuse / recycle for this build but why not go the mATX route ?

There are plenty of low priced cases and you can get an AM2 cpu, ram, and a mobo with integrated video for like $200 total.

If you have a few dollars left over, throw in some blue lights. The kids love those blue lights.

 

[vizx]

while i'm not building 2 absolute top-quality machines, i do want to build two decent computers...i won't be recycling much of anything on these builds..and i want to put decent mobos, processors and at least 2gb of RAM in each...so future upgrades on GPUs and other things are relatively painless...

the kid is 11, but he does game and he will know a low-quality build..

i'm shooting for 2 solid, mid-range, air-cooled computers that will run XP pro, and eventually run Vista when M$ gets their act together on it...

mine will be a little more expensive than his, but i was just trying to save on things like the case, and putting 7200rpm HDs in rather than raptors, sticking with onboard audio and things like that, etc, etc...

 

[Version_3]

Apevia makes decent cases, although my experience is with the X-plorer, not the Jupiter. However, if I knew then what I know now, I would have got a CM.

Oh, and I drive a Jetta.

 

[Mr. Miyagi]

Analogy:

Coolermaster is like Honda. They make a solid case (or car) that can seem a bit boring at times, but with plenty of well thought out features that would surprise you in a case (or car) that price.

Sad because Cooler Master cases used to be Ferrari with ATCS

 

[jonjon0nline]

If the RC-690 is a Honda, it's got to be an S2000. Not many complaints with that case for the month or so I had one Kept things a hell of a lot cooler than my Lian-Li though.