Deciding on a new case.

[daphatgrant]

I am going from a Chieftec TA-10BD with 4 80mm tornado's, 2 92mm tornado's, and 2 120mmx38mm sununs to one of the following: (Yes I have matured and want something nice and quiet )

LianLi PC-65B - $141
*Antec P180 - $133
Antec SUPER LANBOY - $87
Antec P-160 - $108
*CoolerMaster Stacker 810 - $164
CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 – $150
CoolerMaster WaveMaster TAC-T01 - $150

Any suggestions on this list? This is what I'm currently looking at.

Thanks .

 

[Bill_Bright]

I am going from a Chieftec TA-10BD with 4 80mm tornado's, 2 92mm tornado's, and 2 120mmx38mm sununs to one of the following: (Yes I have matured and want something nice and quiet )

LianLi PC-65B - $141
*Antec P180 - $133
Antec SUPER LANBOY - $87
Antec P-160 - $108
*CoolerMaster Stacker 810 - $164
CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 – $150
CoolerMaster WaveMaster TAC-T01 - $150

Any suggestions on this list? This is what I'm currently looking at.

Thanks .

What do the asterisks (*) mean?

My next case is likely to be another Antec Sonata II - love the one I have, or the P180. If you are looking for quiet, the it is hard to beat the Sonata for the price. It is an excellent case, supports 120mm fans, is quiet, great fit and finish, super easy drive access (HDs mount sideways) and just plain looks nice. However, it is a heavy steel case - this to help isolate noise and minimize noisy vibrations from motors resonating within the case. That does not make it suitable for lugging around to LAN parties.

The Sonata, P180, and other high end Antecs have an air filter that works very well. So well, the I will NEVER buy another case that does not have air filters.

I traditionally don't put much stock in looks - since my PCs end up on the floor under the desk - when going for "looks", I go for what I look at all day - the monitor and a graphics card to run it.

But, I have a wife, so looks in our office becomes an issue when there is the option. The Sonata meets my technical needs handedly, and the wife's aesthetic needs too.

The P180 is an upside down case, the PS is on the bottom. It is NOT a BTX case, but can support BTX boards. It does have a separate chamber for the power supply however, that isolates hot power supply air from the internals. Pretty nice. And of course, it has the typically excellent fit and finish you would expect from Antec.

 

[koopaGG]

I like my chenming server case, heavy as hell but its sturdy.

 

[HardD99]

personally i cant get away from Lian-li, and i dont think i will ever buy anything else, so my vote is for lian-li. i personally like bigger cases tho. currently the 2 cases i have are "Lian Li Memorial 20th Anniversary PC-777A Silver" & "Lian Li V PC-V2000B PLUS Black" and i HIGHLY recommend both of those. my .02

 

[cesium666]

look at the Silverstone TJ06 solid choice

 

[malicious]

don't forget about the aerocool masstige

 

[Hexus0]

If you go with the Lian-Li case, make sure you get the Lian-Li PC-7 then, the one with 2 120MM fans rather then 3(or 4) 80MM fans. I have the Lian-Li PC-61 its a good case rock solid.

 

[malicious]

pc-7 has to be one of the best values in cases today ..

you can get one for like 80 bucks right?

saw one go in the fs thread that was black with a window for 75 shipped ..

 

[daphatgrant]

The ones with the asteriks are the ones that I was primarily looking at but not settled on.

Thanks for the input thusfar .

 

[vanilla_guerilla]

gigabyte 3d aurora. but get the one with the mesh side panel, not the window.

 

[daphatgrant]

^-------I like how the optical drives are set up, does the fur help with heat dissapation? .

Nice looking case btw.

 

[vanilla_guerilla]

both opticals are blue, but the only thing the fur does is get in my food and in my filters. thinking about throwing it away.