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Case Recommendation - CM ACTS 840 ?

TechLarry

TechLarry

RIP [H] Brother - June 1, 2022
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Messages
30,481
My WHS Server finally gave up the ghost after 7 years of 24/7 service (was previously a Server 2003 setup), so I moved my current E6700 desktop, housed in a Lian Li V2000B II Plus case, over to server duty.

I took the i7 system I set up for gaming and moved it over as my main desktop. I will dual-boot it to dual Velociraptors for daily work and gaming as needed.

The i7 machine is in an Antec Nine Hundred case. But, since I needed to leave the PCP&C Silencer 750 in the server case to run all the drives, I purchased a Silencer 910 for the new desktop.

Everything is great, except I'm in wire management hell. The Silencer has so many leads, and they are so long, there simply is no way to do it neatly. It was like packing 10 pounds of shit into a 5 pound bag.

So I'm after a new, larger case. I was thinking of the Coolermaster ACTS 840. The only thing holding me back is I've heard some complaints about :

The side panels being too thin.

The 5.25 inch bays being either too loose or too tight, depending on the drives you install.

Other than that it looks perfect for what I want, and I hear the wire maagement capabilities are top notch.

What do you guys think?
 
I own one. It's great in my opinion. Side panels are a bit thin, but I mean, it's made out of aluminum so it's also very light. the 5.25 bay is a hit or miss for me. Yes it's sort of tool-less, but its only on one side, the other side if you want a snug fit, you still gotta screw whatever your using in, kinda stupid but I can see why it has to be done that way (the other side would be too thick/bulge out requiring the case to be a bit wider)
 
Throwing in my two cents: I'm happy with my case, but a little annoyed at it. I think my biggest annoyance is the hole in the motherboard tray (designed to change backplates w/o having to remove the motherboard) not being in the right place for my i7 board. Defeats the purpose.
 
LhasaCM said:
Throwing in my two cents: I'm happy with my case, but a little annoyed at it. I think my biggest annoyance is the hole in the motherboard tray (designed to change backplates w/o having to remove the motherboard) not being in the right place for my i7 board. Defeats the purpose.
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i was just discussing this in the thread about the corsair case, which board do you have ? the classified ?
 
nightwalker said:
i was just discussing this in the thread about the corsair case, which board do you have ? the classified ?
Click to expand...

Yep. The problem is the CPU socket goes just about to the second row of mounts, while the hole in the mb tray ends around that point. It was borderline workable with my Asus P6T Deluxe v2.
 
I'm deciding between the CM 840 and Antec 1200 for my next PC. Both are excellent. I'll probably buy whichever is cheaper when I'm ready to start building.
 
TechLarry said:
The side panels being too thin.
Click to expand...
Acoustically that applies to every case except Antec P-serie with its rigid multilayer panels.
Cheapest solution to that is bitumen mat or something similar. (dense&heavy)

And it's actually really heavy for aluminum case.

Mr. Wolf said:
I'm deciding between the CM 840 and Antec 1200 for my next PC. Both are excellent.
Click to expand...
And not in same class, Antec is cramped tower and ATCS E-ATX case which takes longest graphics card and asks for some more.
 
What about the negative pressure issue? I've read that, as factory equipped, the case has negative air pressure in it due to more exhaust than intake. I've read that it can cause issues with some graphics cards exhaust working properly.

I run an ATI HD4870, which is known to run a bit warm.

I plan on putting the PS on the bottom. That would leave one of the 120mm fan slots available at the bottom, and I have plenty of those fans. Would the inclusion of a 120mm at the bottom of the case be enough to overcome this negative pressure issue?
 
TechLarry said:
What about the negative pressure issue? I've read that, as factory equipped, the case has negative air pressure in it due to more exhaust than intake. I've read that it can cause issues with some graphics cards exhaust working properly.

I run an ATI HD4870, which is known to run a bit warm.

I plan on putting the PS on the bottom. That would leave one of the 120mm fan slots available at the bottom, and I have plenty of those fans. Would the inclusion of a 120mm at the bottom of the case be enough to overcome this negative pressure issue?
Click to expand...

It might be. You could also add one or two 120mm fans on the hard drive cage to help the front intake along and make sure the air gets into the larger cavity, which should help. If your space allows it, you could also use the shroud that goes on the back of a case as exhaust specifically for the expansion cards. (It's the black plastic thing in the right of the picture at http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI... RC-840-SSN1-GP Silver Computer Case - Retail)

That said, I haven't needed to add the floor intake or shroud exhaust yet to keep my GTX285 cool enough. I did add a fan to the hard drive cage to help move the air along.
 
E.T said:
And not in same class, Antec is cramped tower and ATCS E-ATX case which takes longest graphics card and asks for some more.
Click to expand...
There's absolutely nothing cramped about the Antec 1200. It's got massive amounts of room and can easily handle the biggest components (PSUs, video cards, sound cards, drives, etc.) available. :rolleyes:
 
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Mr. Wolf said:
There's absolutely nothing cramped about the Antec 1200. It's got massive amounts of room and can easily handle the biggest components (PSUs, video cards, sound cards, drives, etc.) available. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Cramped is probably an overstatement, but compared to the ATCS 840, it is a little bit smaller inside. It's not quite as wide (8.4" vs. 9.5"), and not quite as deep (20.2" vs. 24.8"). It does make a difference.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
There's absolutely nothing cramped about the Antec 1200. It's got massive amounts of room and can easily handle the biggest components (PSUs, video cards, sound cards, drives, etc.) available. :rolleyes:
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And after putting them in there's no working space left and cabling of drives is in serious collision course with graphics card. And what about Intel Skulltrail or EVGA classified?
Calling 1200 as spacious is like calling Morris Mini as spacious family car just because you can put four people into it.

Antec isn't any god which must be worshipped always.
Guess it's time to change signature line...
 
E.T said:
And after putting them in there's no working space left and cabling of drives is in serious collision course with graphics card. And what about Intel Skulltrail or EVGA classified?
Calling 1200 as spacious is like calling Morris Mini as spacious family car just because you can put four people into it.

Antec isn't any god which must be worshipped always.
Guess it's time to change signature line...
Click to expand...
I didn't write anything about "worshipping" Antec. I pointed out that the 1200 has plenty of room for plenty of components. To claim otherwise is to ignore the facts. You're the one genuflecting before the 840. Try reading posts a little more carefully before responding with stupid comments.
 
I ordered the ACTS 840. Any cons are easily outweighed by the Pro's I think.

The obsidian looks nice, but it's not available and it's expensive
 
TechLarry said:
I ordered the ACTS 840. Any cons are easily outweighed by the Pro's I think.

The obsidian looks nice, but it's not available and it's expensive
Click to expand...

You'll like it for sure ;)

And also, alot of cases nowadays are built/designed with negative pressure. I have a ton of positive air pressure just because of the way I setup my WC system when I think about it....3x120's on top blowing in for my rad, 1x 120mm on the bottom blowing air in (just FYI, you can't mount this fan any other way, it has to be an intake fan due to the way the grill is shaped unless you put standoffs on the fan). I only have one 120mm exhaust fan...damn that can't be good. Lol. Might change my fans on my rad around once I finish everything.
 
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Got the case, moved everything over from the Nine Hundred, and installed a CM V8 Cooler. Everything went fine and took about 3 hours.
 
TechLarry said:
Got the case, moved everything over from the Nine Hundred, and installed a CM V8 Cooler. Everything went fine and took about 3 hours.
Click to expand...

another great thing about the ATCS 840.... you can slide the motherboard tray out with the huge coolers still on the board, in my lian li you couldnt do that, had to remove the mobo and install the cooler because the case / tray wasn't wide enough.
 
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