Case selections

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JoNo216

Gawd
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
646
I am in the market for a new computer and with it comes a new case!

I am currently looking at a couple different cases...

low end
Antec 300 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&Tpk=antec 300)
Cooler Master Centurion 590 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119152)

mid
antec 900 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021)
Cooler Master RC-690 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137)

high end
Antec p182 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129025&Tpk=antec p182)

The p182 looks very nice and has some very good features I am looking for, and is supposed to be quiet. What I am worried about is the cooling of this case. I plan on eventually overclocking my CPU and running 2 HD4850s, so I could be generating some heat in my case.

The over antec's look the best, but do not have a vent on the bottom for the PSU (my new PSU has a huge fan on the bottom) so it would be adding extra heat to my case which I want to avoid.

the coolermaster seem to be very comparable to the antec as far as features and everything, but they have the bottom vent I am looking for and plenty of option for extra fans. While not looking bad or over the top.

With the p182 down to 109.99 it is very tempting (provided that it as good as reviews say it is, but is it and exta $50 better?)

I am looking for great airflow for a nice aircooled overclocked system. Quieter the better, and finally style and design... I'm just so indecisive..

Also I will not be getting a new computer until around feb when the new phenoms come in. So I have some time, any possibilities some great deals may come around by then?

Thoughts? comments? Other suggestion?

Thanks!
 
may i suggest the coolmaster HAf 932? Its a bit mor emoney (around $150) but you will never worry about room again, it has 3 very large fans (top, side and front) that can all be replaced with 4x120mm fans each if you really want to as well.
 
I am a big fan of coolermaster cases... especially when comparing their $50-$100 cases with others of the same price. have you thought about COOLER MASTER Stacker Its currently on sell and has tones of room and a window.
 
Yeah I was looking at that one I really like it, but for me it is too much. personally the p182 would be pushing it. Would rather be placing this money into a video card. the most devices I would throw into it would be 2 CD devices, probably 2 Hard drives 4 tops (if I decide to ever go Raid 0+1) and maybe a card reader. The space I would be most worried about would be for the videocards. as they are getting HUGE! but all these cases should have enough room for any anyways... who knows what the future will hold.

I've also checked out the Stacker but will throw me over how much I want to spend. maybe if it had free shipping... But i like the HAF better if I was going to spend that much...
 
The 590 or 690 would be the best choices for airflow (the chassis is identical between the two; only difference is the front bay configuration and aesthetics). For silence, the P182 would be superior. Which one you pick depends mostly on your priorities.
 
The 690 has superior cable management options when compared to the Antec 900... I just built my new box about 3 weeks ago and cursed repeatedly when trying to move cables around. The 900 has a couple of holes cut out near the drive cages but nothing else in order to route cables behind the mobo tray (non-removable, of course... are you listening, Antec??).

I managed to make use of the slot that remained from the PS retention tab cut out and ran about half of my PS cables out that hole and then back in the holes near the drive cages. It works but was a real bear to do... as long as your ATX cable is 24" you should be able to route that behind the mobo (with some careful bending to get it through the hole by the PS) and pull it in near the drive cages.

But, nothing can take the place of my little rubber-lined tray on top of the 900... my mp3 player and phone just love hanging out up there. :)
 
EATX Support
Excellent HDD cooling
No worries what so ever about long graphic cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811160021

Looking for even more more room.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811160009
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811160008

I'd take any of these over the Antec cases above.

BTW the Centurion 590 is a cheap case and the hard drive rack modules make it attractive. Throw in a couple more of there...
http://cmstore.coolermaster-usa.com/product_info.php?cPath=18_25&products_id=167
And you can stack 12 hard drives into that sucker :)
 
I think I have narrowed my selection between the 690 and 590 thanks to your suggestions.
Any good deals around for these? I saw provontage has the 690 for 57.99. but with 20 shipping it's back to being on par with other prices.
 
BurntToast said:
The P182 is a pain in the balls.
Click to expand...

Why is that? It has some nice features but it does look like there could be a dead zone in the GPU area--that might require some creativity to cool properly (or it might be a simple as popping a few cover plates off.)

I guess if you can't remove the upper HDD enclosure and have a really long GPU..?

heh.. I said 'long'.
 
After reading a bunch of Newegg reviews it appears that some poeple are having some issues with this p182 and fitting in high end video cards. So I think I may have to be giving this case the axe.
Also my friend said he would throw down some money for my birthday for a new case. so my budget for this is increasing to around 140 tops (with shipping).:p So I am now looking at the HAF 932 a lot harder seems to be a very big case with very nice airflow. But ultimately other then the side of the case they seem to offer about the same features (other then the ease of filling a water cooled system which I don't care about as i'm going air- water and electrics still scares me). Is there anything I am missing?
And any other good cases I'm overlooking in this price range? I know the 1200 is around this range, but it looks like they still over look a blowhole for their PSU on the bottom. :(

I am completely indescisive... so help is greatly appreachated!
 
JoNo216 said:
After reading a bunch of Newegg reviews it appears that some poeple are having some issues with this p182 and fitting in high end video cards. So I think I may have to be giving this case the axe.
Also my friend said he would throw down some money for my birthday for a new case. so my budget for this is increasing to around 140 tops (with shipping).:p So I am now looking at the HAF 932 a lot harder seems to be a very big case with very nice airflow. But ultimately other then the side of the case they seem to offer about the same features (other then the ease of filling a water cooled system which I don't care about as i'm going air- water and electrics still scares me). Is there anything I am missing?
And any other good cases I'm overlooking in this price range? I know the 1200 is around this range, but it looks like they still over look a blowhole for their PSU on the bottom. :(

I am completely indescisive... so help is greatly appreachated!
Click to expand...

I strongly suggest the Antec 1200 over the HAF 932 because it has dust filters. For your price range, the Antec 1200 is the best case.
 
I'm facing the same undecision.
The thing is the 1200 is a full tower and in terms of front-panel options it is not as attractive as the CM 690. My only problem right now is if the
CM 690 equiped with some aditional fans can provide as good a airflow as a 1200 case. I'll be using the TRUE 120 cooler so I'll probably lose the side panel fan as from what i've seen online the TRUE won't fit with that fan in place.
This will lead to 6 fans total on the case. 3 pre instaled and 3 aditional ones i'll have to install.
I want to overclock an i7 920 to about 3.8Ghz.
Does anyone know if I would have any issue achieving this with the CM 690 case?
 
Cometer : My friend has the CMS 690 and loves it and was able to overclock a 2.1 AM2 to 3.6 inside of it. The airflow and cooling aspects of it are top notch... i won't worry about it.
 
The P182 is a refined-looking case for those who are concerned about that, otherwise it shouldn't be touched with a ten foot SATA cable. Either Antec's designers were completely out to lunch (or perhaps a liquid lunch) when they designed this case, or they were trying to kill the P series. My P160 (yeah, the one made from recycled fighter jets*) weeps when it thinks about the P182.

Currently I would recommend the CM690 if you want a great looking case, or a 1200 if you're looking for beastzilla. Both have their pros and cons but tend to come out rather even.

* yes, I know they were just kidding
 
I recently purchased the CM690. Tons of space, system runs cool. Definitely would recommend it.

Negatives... I wish the motherboard tray was removeable and I wish that it had a bit more cable management...but its not bad...that is just nitpicking.
 
ubermensch said:
If you want a tower style case i would recommend the mountain mods pinnacle.
They offer a lot of space, MASSIVE airflow, thick panels and top notch quality.
they have 2 sizes and lots of options.

pinnacle 18
http://www.mountainmods.com/pinnacle-18-cyo-p-499.html

pinnacle 24
http://www.mountainmods.com/pinnacle-24-cyo-p-498.html
Click to expand...

Judging from the TS's posts, I think he's on a tight budget so I don't think he'd consider either of those expensive cases.

TS has the P182 listed as high-end so I don't think he's looking to spend more than $100.
 
You can't go wrong with the Antec 1200 or HAF 932. I picked up the 1200 last week but then ended up returning it for the HAF 932, only because the HAF had a bit more interior space and better cable management options. I definitely liked the inclusion of air filters with the 1200 though, as well as the interior being painted black in stock form. The 932 included casters and an 8 pin extension as well for $50 less than the 1200. I'll miss the filters but not for $50.

You can get the HAF 932 at Microcenter right now for $139.99. I was initially considering the 900 and P182 as well, however when I went to Microcenter and saw all the cases I was choosing between side by side the full towers won out instantly. I plan to go SLI at the start of the new year and I don't even want to think about trying to fit two huge GTX 260's in to a mid tower. The cable management and lack of airflow would be a nightmare.
 
Just noticed a awesome deal on a 4870 at newegg. So I think I'm going to get the Centurian or the CMS (more on the low end) so that I can adjust my budget to fit in this monster deal...
 
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