Going bigger than my P182

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WalkedAirplane

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
378
I am at a loss - I have filled my P182 badly enough that I need something bigger in the near future. I mean, the thing is packed. I barely got my water loop in there as it stands now, and I'm only planning to upgrade the video here shortly.

Any suggestions for something to move up to? I need watercooling grommets stock if possible - really dont feel like drilling those out, I'm not much of a modder.

Budget? $200 if possible, willing to go up to $300 if I must. Anything? So many cases, and so many pictures online - but pictures poorly convey "feel" of a case :(
 
If you don't mind the looks, the CoolerMaster HAF 932 is exactly what you're after, structurally. It'll take your entire water loop internally, even (stock, no cutting). ~$150.

If you want something a little classier, look to Silverstone and Lian Li. Those will easily run south of $300 though. I'm seriously considering the Silverstone TJ-07 for my next case, but it runs ~$350. I loved my previous Lian Li V2000B Plus II as well.
 
Friend of mine has the HAF-932 and also recommending it. May go that route, the price point is very appealing.

I've owned Lan-Li in the past and always been extremely happy, but the price premium is just nuts - but the quality is there. Definitely looking at it.

The Tj-09 can defnitely come within my budget too, so I may look into that as well.
 
WalkedAirplane said:
I've owned Lan-Li in the past and always been extremely happy, but the price premium is just nuts - but the quality is there. Definitely looking at it.
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A70 and A71 are really affordable for their size and feature set.
At stock they don't have water cooling "readiness" but there are ready top covers for both dual and triple radiator:
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product04.php?cl_index=2&sc_index=10&ss_index=74
Unless you're for extreme watercooling then going for more expensive Lian Li models isn't really sensible.
Here's good example of water cooled A70
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11924528&postcount=10


Also if you like quiet PC after adding mass damping A71 is good for silencing because of lack of direct noise escape paths and soft HDD mounting.


If you don't need more drive bays than in P182 then E-ATX depth P193 would be also one option:
http://www.overclockersonline.net/images/articles/antec/p193/large/an35.jpg

WalkedAirplane said:
The Tj-09 can defnitely come within my budget too, so I may look into that as well.
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Acoustically lousy HDD mounting and very restricted intake and triple radiator would probably leavy only two 5.25" bays.
 
Wow, the A70 looks particularly like what I want - any suggested retailer?

That said, the A70 is as WC ready as I need - its got holes and grommets for me, so I'm happy :)
 
WalkedAirplane said:
Wow, the A70 looks particularly like what I want - any suggested retailer?

That said, the A70 is as WC ready as I need - its got holes and grommets for me, so I'm happy :)
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So you're having radiator outside case... I used that hole for getting Zalman MFC-2's power meter's cable out from case.
Performance PCs has better offers than Newegg in these Lian Lis.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=204&products_id=22332
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=204&products_id=22334

Like I said if you like PC being quiet door of A71 is really good for that, it muffles intake fan noise by "near 200rpm" and also muffles HDD noises really well. (=too well to know that there's drive access going on without looking disk access LED) Also it means you don't have to care about precise colour/look of 5.25" devices.
Didn't have much choise because I wanted as silencing friendly case as P182 but more space. And even with this kind lining in everywhere it weights 12kg which is two kg less than lot smaller P182:
A71-kesken_s.jpg
 
I'm definitely liking the size / flexibility of the A70/71.

Certainly leaning that way right now, I have a microcenter where I can see and touch the HAF932 in person, but I know LanLi quality pretty well, and the A70 definitely looks nicer..

:)
 
Bumping to get one more round of views here before I go and purchase something this weekend. Any final thoughts / comments / suggesitons more than welcome.
 
The A70/71 will not be as quiet as your p182 in stock form, but the haf is even more open. I'd take a look at the P193 if you still want the same general setup, but with more room.
 
WalkedAirplane said:
A70B it is I think. Anyone cheaper than mwave after shipping? $230 shipped.
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Water cooling can remove need for CPU and especially noisy GPU coolers and also remove majority of heat out from case lowering need for case cooling but personally I would still suggest blocking forward direct noise escape path.


jterp7 said:
The A70/71 will not be as quiet as your p182 in stock form, but the haf is even more open. I'd take a look at the P193 if you still want the same general setup, but with more room.
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HAF lacks real soft HDD mounting... actually it's nowadays quite hard to find cases with real soft HDD mounting instead of fashionable plastic wrap around trays.
P193 has P18x-series quiet at stock construction but it has only more depth for long graphics cards, otherwise it has same chamber design with its space use/component accessing limitations.
 
jbz7890 said:
The Cooler Master ATCS 840 is perfect for watercooling, and it's absolutley huge.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=atcs+840&x=0&y=0
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...but as an owner I can tell you it's not worth the price premium over a HAF 932. If you hate the looks of the HAF there are other, better cases in the ~$300 range than the ATCS 840. CoolerMaster just isn't a premium brand, and it took buying this thing (after reading literally 30+ glowing reviews) for me to realize just how poorly made their stuff is relative to Lian-Li and Silverstone. The ATCS 840 was my first CoolerMaster case, and it will be my last. It's not a bad case, it's just insanely overpriced. I paid ~$320 for mine, and it'd say it's worth closer to $150.
 
wow silent I didn't realize you paid over 300 for the ATCS..thats within shooting distance of top of the line LL or SS.

To the OP, I was close to picking up the A71, but I only planned on having 2-3HDs tops and I knew I would have to mod it fairly significantly to make it quiet. My bro with his A70 made significant changes to his in the way of undervolting fans, even removing a one or two of them and mine is significantly quieter than his even at stock. If I undervolt the cpu fan and exhaust it is barely perceptible. Of course if quietness is not an issue for you and you're just going for aluminum tower with room for water cooling then by all means go for the A70
 
I dunno, My A70 wasnt loud at all w/ stock fans, Eventhough I did change them to gelid fans, The stock fans werent a bother to me. Basically the only thing I heard was my 4870 vidcard, Since I had to increase the fanspeed from default. With it turned way down, I can barely hear anything. While I dont have a cm case or antec, I do know my A70 isnt loud at all, Except for the videocard, And thats with 2 top 120mm fans as well.
 
silent-circuit said:
...but as an owner I can tell you it's not worth the price premium over a HAF 932. If you hate the looks of the HAF there are other, better cases in the ~$300 range than the ATCS 840. CoolerMaster just isn't a premium brand, and it took buying this thing (after reading literally 30+ glowing reviews) for me to realize just how poorly made their stuff is relative to Lian-Li and Silverstone. The ATCS 840 was my first CoolerMaster case, and it will be my last. It's not a bad case, it's just insanely overpriced. I paid ~$320 for mine, and it'd say it's worth closer to $150.
Click to expand...



Paid $180 for mine shipped + taxes. Worth every penny.
 
I purchased the ATCS 840 and I was very disapointed. I loved the Stacker 830, however the fit and finish on mine was terrible. I did like the space inside and looks, but it was a terrible experience. the side panel was very difficult to get one and off.. the finish was coming off with just cleaning with a damp rag. The pop usb ports worked half the time... like it was getting stuck... there were scratches and a dent on the 5.25-3.5 bezel. I was surprised they used plastic to cover the unit version a fabric sack like thermaltake uses. Wish it had a side panel fan.

Like I said I like CM products... I have the Haf932 and loved my stacker... just no love for the 840 that must have been built on a Friday or monday with a hang over...

I do with the HAF was as long as the 840..
 
trugbilddrachen said:
I purchased the ATCS 840 and I was very disapointed. I loved the Stacker 830, however the fit and finish on mine was terrible. I did like the space inside and looks, but it was a terrible experience. the side panel was very difficult to get one and off.. the finish was coming off with just cleaning with a damp rag. The pop usb ports worked half the time... like it was getting stuck... there were scratches and a dent on the 5.25-3.5 bezel. I was surprised they used plastic to cover the unit version a fabric sack like thermaltake uses. Wish it had a side panel fan.

Like I said I like CM products... I have the Haf932 and loved my stacker... just no love for the 840 that must have been built on a Friday or monday with a hang over...

I do with the HAF was as long as the 840..
Click to expand...

I personally love my 840. Its got more than enough space, looks great (so far) and is really really quiet. Also by reversing the first top 240mm fan I dropped my CPU temps at idle to around 24 :eek:
 
I liked the case.. however too many issues with mine that left a sour taste... I do think the side panels on the 830 where thicker...
 
trugbilddrachen said:
I liked the case.. however too many issues with mine that left a sour taste... I do think the side panels on the 830 where thicker...
Click to expand...

I added noise canceling material to all the case so it thickened it up and now they are nice and heavy. I *might* replace the top 240's here shortly, but overall I like it. I do have the issues you mentioned with the top piece not always popping up when pressed, but I dont connect much stuff there. That and after upgrading from a Thermaltake Armour+ this is like heaven lol :D
 
Does the 840 have better dust control than the HAF932? Thats my one serious holdup with the HAF. Gotta keep the insides clean :)
 
WalkedAirplane said:
Does the 840 have better dust control than the HAF932? Thats my one serious holdup with the HAF. Gotta keep the insides clean :)
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I dont have any issues currently. The only intake on the front is fairly well covered and does have a dust filter, as does the PSU and other fan location on the bottom of the case. I also made one of the top exhausts an intake and it pulls air right into where the CPU fan is and really makes a huge diff in temps (and keeps it clean).

I have a dog that is constantly shedding and so far it looks perfect inside.
 
Went with the PC-A70B, managed to get it for $215 shipped from mwave - best price by FAR that I've found.

And now to pick up a new radiator and reservoir - waterloop rebuild time.
 
silent-circuit said:
...but as an owner I can tell you it's not worth the price premium over a HAF 932. If you hate the looks of the HAF there are other, better cases in the ~$300 range than the ATCS 840. CoolerMaster just isn't a premium brand, and it took buying this thing (after reading literally 30+ glowing reviews) for me to realize just how poorly made their stuff is relative to Lian-Li and Silverstone. The ATCS 840 was my first CoolerMaster case, and it will be my last. It's not a bad case, it's just insanely overpriced. I paid ~$320 for mine, and it'd say it's worth closer to $150.
Click to expand...

Damn.....I got mine for like 229 on release day
 
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