Need case recommendation fast

[Juardis]

I need a case fast and unfortunately, I don't have time to put in the proper research. My system is really messed up and I need to trouble shoot it this weekend. Which means I'll be removing all my components from my Antec P180b and trying to figure out what the hell is wrong. The problem is, I don't like my Antec. It's too small. I originally bought it because it had a clean look was supposed to be quiet and it is, but it's just too small for my PSU and SLI setup.

The dedicated location for my current PSU (Silverstone ST85ZF, or Zues if you prefer) is too small. I had to pretty much jam the PSU into the compartment and really bend the cables to come out of the bottom compartment. Unfortunately, in my GTX260 SLI setup, the cables come out of the lower compartment right where the 2nd vid card is, so I have to be really careful lest the cables stop the vid card fan and overheat the system. Not to mention it's a royal PITA to even get the 2nd card onto the mobo.

Oh, and I also need a 3.5" FDD opening for my FDD.

So what is quiet, has clean lines, and is big enough to easily accommodate an SLI setup and a big, 9" deep PSU? Thanks.

 

[4BwlNvvHufcy]

I just moved from a P182 to a Coolermaster HAF 932. Totally satisfied. Temps dropped 10 degrees across the board, working inside it is a joy, and as it turns out, it is not much bigger than the P182 at all.

It may not qualify as having clean lines, but it definitely fits your other requirements.

 

[Marcam923]

Coolermaster Cosmos 1000 or the new version. Great cases, great lines, plenty of space for whatever you need.

 

[E.T]

Antec P193 has similar noise containing vibration resisting design and E-ATX depth... front panel just isn't anymore that clean in Antec's lates P-models..
http://www.overclockersonline.net/?page=articles&num=2831&pnum=5

That CM Cosmos (RC-1000, not magpie nest/cheesegrater RC-1100) again is quiet design but can't cool big number of HDDs well and needs some work in correcting misdirection of internal airflow.

Again if installing some bitumen/vinyl mat to panels if necessary isn't too much then Lian Li A71 has non-leaky design, lot of space for long graphics cards and enough drive bays for file server and no cabling restrictions of compartmentalizing.


There are various 3.5" to 5.25" adapters available but I just don't see any reason to drag archean floppy drive along. There's no need for it for BIOS updates and drivers can be integrated into OS installation disc.

It may not qualify as having clean lines, but it definitely fits your other requirements.

You forgot it being as quiet as appartment house without walls between neighbours.

 

[EndersShadow]

I personally love the ATCS 840. The included fans run silent, move more than enough air and its more than big enough for your setup. Removable motherboard tray, more than adequate cable management options, and a large area for a bottom mounted PSU. My spec are in my sig.

 

[Hamakua]

I absolutely love my Lian-Li A71. I have owned multiple Lian-Li cases and a few Antec ones, along with other assortments.

This case is by far my favorite for multiple reasons. Lets see if I can list them all.

Firstly, I am of the school of "minimalist show, all go". I can totally empathize with your clean lines desire... the only case imo that looks better than this one is the TYR-PCX 2000, however it was simply too shallow and small for my future needs.

It's HUGE. Remember that minimalist show? -Well the bragging rights part of me gets the "looks" by not only L.L.'s finish, which if you ever owned one know that it's top shelf stuff, but if you own a couple, you realize what is top shelf compared to other companies is simply standard to them. Well this thing demands respect just from it's size. There is no way GFX card manufacturers will make anything that won't fit into this thing that is designed for the gaming public at large. There simply is no full tower case that can fit what this one can.. easily. Not to mention everything else. There is so much potential for clean wiring even without drilling anything new.

It's Quiet. My one Sythe S-FLEX SFF21F (1500 rpm) and my PSU fan are louder than the 6 stock fans (~1100 rpm) combined. They are all 120mm and come with either/or 4 pin PSU or 3 pin Motherboard connectors.

Compartmentalization, assembly, customization from day 1.

Unlike previous generations, there is very little if anything riveted down in this case. What this means is, if you need to remove something to make room, you can. If you need to MOVE something to make room, you can. If you need to flip something to accommodate placement, you can. All with a Phillips head and a thumb. The only thing on the case that isn't ambidextrous is (I think) the mother board tray, and that's only because (I think) there aren't slides on the opposite side. But the door, and all interior hard drive bays are reversible. The first day as a matter of fact I actually reversed the door. (God I love the door). The thing is heavy, solid, doesn't squeak and has beautiful spring loaded ball bearings as the securing mechanism. It all works so very well and it was designed to "fit" where the owner wants it to "fit". The lock is even switchable so you don't even lose that when changing from which side the door swings open.

There is at a minimum 1/2" space between each and every 3.5" hard drive. It would be difficult to purposely make the airflow bad. There is enough room for 10 3.5" drives (not counting the 5 5" bays) with one full size PSU or only 7 3.5" with two installed full size PSUs.

With minimal modifications you could easily fit a 3x120 rad in the roof, and with the "standard" amount of mods you could fit a 4x120. The ground floor supports a similar space layout however you would have to move the PSU to it's other bracket.
Even the Graphics card holder is out of the box customizable with 3 different positions and pre-made notches and threaded screw holes.

This kind of engineering is meant to be scrutinized by people who own dovetailed furniture, Drive German or British luxury vehicles and fly first class if not better. Lian-Li has always impressed me with their craftsmanship but also with their ability to "think ahead" to what the customer may theoretically need.

It's like they took 50 PC enthusiasts, threw them in a room with 100 cases from all sorts of companies then asked them to write down every single problem they had with them for any reason. Then got rid of them all. First taking the case out of the box I got that typical Lian-Li "Wow, the pictures simply do not do it justice". Then as I installed and moved mountings around, I was mentally impressed by the designers/engineers, the assembly crew, as well as the quality control. I could have put the case together in an hour, it took me all day as most of the time was spent admiring and even disassembling it to see how I could move pieces.

And as far as the Cons?

Front Hdd & Power Leds wouldn't reach the leads on the ATX motherboard that the case wasn't necessarily designed for.

No hot-swap sata internal bays (with the pcb boards with the connections for 3.5 drives). -I don't like them anyway, but thought I would mention it as it seems to be the hot new feature as of late amongst full towers.

Be sure you pick up This and This x 2

If you want to route the MB power behind the tray.

I really have no complaints other than the HDD/Power LED wires not reaching, but that is easily fixed. I also would have loved a 5.25 side facing mount so I could place a media drive in a more accessible place, but that's just me being picky.

I wish I could write more bad things about it so you understand I am not just a flag waving fanboy, but nothing really is coming to mind now. The security lock in the back could technically be circumvented because only the facing panel has it and the other panel opens to give access to the removable motherboard tray. You could get access to the inside, albeit with more effort than it would take to simply break the lock by removing the mother board tray. I guess they could have supplied power extensions out of the box. Maybe also supplied a stock 5.25 bezel. I don't know, I'll have to look at it to figure out some more faults.

I got mine for less than $200 new. In hindsight this was an absolute steal for this quality of a case, and upon reflection I would be hard pressed to find a better functioning one.

I so could go on.

Simply get it, if you are "not" a flourescent light, glass window kind of guy that needs tons of room.. Don't even consider anything else. It cost me less than 4 full price games to get this baby... worth every penny.

 

[Juardis]

Thanks for the replies. It seems the Antec 193 is probably best for me, although I'm still a little concerned about the PCI power cables interfering with my 2nd GTX 260 given that the 2nd GTX 260 pretty much sits right where the cables leave the lower compartment to the upper compartment. Hoping that the extra length will help there.

 

[E.T]

2nd GTX 260 pretty much sits right where the cables leave the lower compartment to the upper compartment. Hoping that the extra length will help there.

Hole for PSU's cables seem to be about 10cm farther from rear.
http://www.overclockersonline.net/images/articles/antec/p182/images/interior3.jpg
http://www.overclockersonline.net/images/articles/antec/p193/large/an35.jpg

No hot-swap sata internal bays (with the pcb boards with the connections for 3.5 drives).

That gimmick is acoustically flaw.

 

[Marcam923]

It seems they never properly place the holes for cable routing, just cut some of your own.

 

[UnderqualifiedITGuy]

HAF 932!~