Hard choice, Antec 1200 and Armor Thermaltake VA8000BWS

[Alxs]

I'm really debating on which case to choose. I've heard many good things on both of them so I'm pretty confused. They both look great. What I'm looking for is a case with, of course, good air cooling, but more for it's functions. I'm not a big overclocker, so I'm more aiming for a complete and nice looking case. I also considered the NZXT Guardian 921, mainly for it's look, but I'm not sure about NZXT.. I also wonder if any of these case has the function to change the intensity of the Leds (it would be nice to be able to shut them sometimes). What are the goodside/downside of these cases?

Thanks

 

[W.Feather]

I can only speak of the Antec 1200.....so here we go:

Pro:
-HUGE, lotsa space, love it
-The fans are awsome, keep my system below 50 C at 90F ambient...
--Sleek look.....
-more, just too many to list

Con:
-Not all lights turn off
-The "dials" for the front fans arnt specific which is high speed and what is low
-the window is UGLY(in my oppinion), so im modding it early next year


As for LED's on the 1200....top fan LED can be turned compleatly off.....the other 5 fans however cannot be turned off, I have seen people place electrical tape around the inside ring of the fan to get rid of them, or there are countless mods you can do to make them go on/off/dim with a potentiomitor or something like it...


I would recommend the 1200 if you can fit it its a beast

 

[Alxs]

Thanks for the informations. I looked over internet too and I think I'll go for the antec over the thermaltake. What bugs me is that I really like the look of the guardian 921, but it seems cheaper...

 

[E.T]

I also wonder if any of these case has the function to change the intensity of the Leds

Yeah, pull the plug from wall and those lights will dim off.
But just how that bling bling fits to utilitarian functions?

And their common weakness is being fully noise leaking and as quiet as appartment house without walls between neighbours.
Thermaltake again has lot of these thermally very mediocre designs with PSU in hottest possible place and tight stamped meshes blocking half of the airflow.

But if that style is to your liking check NZXT Tempest, at least it has E-ATX depth.

-HUGE, lotsa space, love it

Any E-ATX case (like that TT) is lot more spacious for working with long graphics cards.

 

[Alxs]

...

 

[Alxs]

But just how that bling bling fits to utilitarian functions?

Well, it's mainly when I download big files which can take a whole night, in that case I don't want to see the flashing blue light while I'm sleeping. In fact I don't really care about the intensity, it's just that the ability to turn the leds on/off would be nice.

 

[W.Feather]

E.T , of course an E-ATX form factor would have more space, the board is a lot larger than an ATX board, however, for an ATX form factor case the 1200 has tons of space, and will acommadate large cards just like a E-ATX case

 

[Outamyhead]

Likewise with the armour, bags of room, I prefer the PSU placement rather than the Antec's PITA rock bottom of the case with no real ventilation and a dust trap, and then you could run into wiring length issues (some cases supply extensions, others don't), for things like the ATX12V or the main ATX connector, not to mention trying to hide the cables in both cases are a PITA too, without breaking out the cutting tools.

Both cases are okay, but they have some damn ugly features I just don't like, I would buy an Antec if they could stop trying to be unique (Lian Li already did the PSU at the bottom, and at the front thing), I have not seen any Aluminum cases from them yet, and put the PSU where it was designed to be. TT armour is also okay, but those flappy hinge things at the front should have never been added, they serve no purpose, they pose a risk to the CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drive being FUBAR'd, and then that bloody huge 250mm side fan just drags in the dust.

 

[E.T]

Well, it's mainly when I download big files which can take a whole night, in that case I don't want to see the flashing blue light while I'm sleeping. In fact I don't really care about the intensity, it's just that the ability to turn the leds on/off would be nice.

Wouldn't it be easiest to just not have them there at first place?
Coolermaster Storm Sniper has button for turning lights on/off, and more space for graphics card than 1200.

1200 has tons of space, and will acommadate large cards just like a E-ATX case

When you shoehorn it in and give up the use of 5.25" bay(s) in front of card...
Full length of PCI(e) card is ~31cm/~12.3" so expect graphics cards to grow still bigger.

and put the PSU where it was designed to be.

... in the galaxy far, far away.
That position was decided at time when 100W power consumption/heat production was pretty much unheard of and it's time to turn clock out of that stone age!

 

[Outamyhead]

... in the galaxy far, far away.
That position was decided at time when 100W power consumption/heat production was pretty much unheard of and it's time to turn clock out of that stone age!

I don't think the PSU was foreseen to be a vacuum cleaner or dust collector either

Yes the air at the bottom of the case is cooler than the air circulating at the top, but with the PSU fan facing the bottom of the case, it's pretty much guaranteed to get either too warm from lack of air getting through properly, or dying from dust bunnies it sucked in, with the PSU fan facing upwards, it will still get cool air, but you still have that problem of dust getting pulled in.

It should just be at the top where the dust is minimal, and the air flow is slightly warmer than the bottom of the case.

And I had critique for both the cases, so don't get all bent out of shape over my views of one case (even though Antec has several case types with this stupid design that I have had to work on in the past).

 

[W.Feather]

E.T. do you even own a 1200 ???? if so you would 1st realize that you loose no 5 1/2 bay drive space(unless your retarded and put one in the center of the case) , since stock configuration has them a full 4-5 bays above, and over the GFX is where you should have an intake fan.

anyhow, my oppinion is that the 1200 will fit pretty much any need, unless you are in need of huge amounts of space for an ATX mobo....(dont forget the 5870, one of the biggest cards out there, fits in mid-size cases snuggly...they are smaller than a 1200)