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Need help picking out a new case

D

digicat

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 13, 2004
Messages
184
I'm working on building a gaming rig (my first in 5 years), and I'm having some difficulty figuring out what sort of case to get. I used a medium-tower in my last build, and things got kinda warm in there with the OCing I was doing. I figure a full tower would be good this time around... unless mid towers are "better" now than they were 5 years ago.

Preferably black, without too much decoration on it. A plus would be if it had an front panel that I could close and keep my 1 year old daughter's fingers off of the drives and the power button.

Price needs to be below $130. So: inexpensive, quiet, cool, and baby-proof. :)

Any ideas?
 
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fromeo85 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 - CM HAF932
listed at $139.99

Promo Code EMCMNMS72
$20 off

$119.99 shipped :) promo codes end 12/21, so hurry lol

buttons are on the top ... so if its on a desk, you're straight
on the floor .... maybe not lol
Click to expand...

Ends up being $130 shipped with taxes.

Two of the cases I've considered are the Haf 932 and the Antec 1200. They look great, but there's a lot of openings and huge fans for noise. I've never seen one of these in action though, how loud do they get?

The rig goes under the desk, so it's fair-game for the kid.
 
There's generally a lot of praise for the Antec 1200, but I had it, and after a week, I hated it. Too much dust, even with fan controllers, and I just got tired of such a huge case.

What are you planning on putting in the case?

There are some good midtowers out there. I have a Lian-Li that I am modding, but got tired of the open sides, so I bought a CM 690 this weekend (it was on sale at Fry's) so I could just have a temporary case that was not leaving components exposed. I must say, I am pleasantly surprised. I have an HD4890 video card, and it fits with plenty of room to spare, it has room for a ton of fans, 2 120 in the front (1 requires an adapter) 2 x 120 or 140 on the side panel, 2 x 120 or 140 in the roof, a 120 or 140 in the bottom, a 120 in the rear, and an 80mm on the back of the motherboard tray behind the cpu.

I have a total of 6 fans in the case + the 2 on the cpu + the psu and I can barely hear it, with all the fans on low my i7 is oc'd to 4.2 and the cpu idles at 25 and the cores at 40. Turned out to be a really great case.

2 other great cases to consider are the Antec 300 and Antec P183. Both have excellent layouts and room for large video cards, and enough fans to keep everything nice and cool. I have had both of those too. The 300 is a small footprint case, but it's unique design makes cable management really easy and clean, best I have had in a case yet.

The P183 has a door on the front that you are looking for, and if you remove the middle hard drive cage, fits larger video cards as well. But this case can get a little hot, but if you get good fans it cools well enough, and is probably one of the most quietest cases around.

I'm at work so can't post any pictures right now, but my E8400 was overclocked to 4.0 in the 183, and stayed cool enough. The 300 I have pics of it in the show off your case thread and cable management thread, if you want to get an idea of how it looks with a large video card, that has my sons AMD build in it, and it stays cool and quiet overclocked to 3.8.

The 300 and the 690 are under $70, and I think the 183 is around your price.

Good luck!
 
I don't really understand the ANTEC line, the 300 is a low-end.
Really nice features, people love them, but I unboxed one, and it is
definitely low-end compared to my SOLO. The SOLO has much more
sturdy construction, but it is heavy as hell and not enough room for video
cards.

I do like quite a few of the 300's design features, but find the case too poorly
finished off to be to my taste.

Not sure if they have a case to fit my needs right now, room of the 300 with the
quality of the SOLO? (without being a damned full tower). I would prefer it too be
even smaller dimensions like with the Lian Li A05 series, but quiet like the SOLO?

Any such ANTEC?
 
I'm not too sure what you mean by poorly finished off, I found it to be quite good for a $30 case lol...can't expect too much at that price point. My Lian-Li PC-P50 I bought cost 6x that amount and is quite flimsy in comparison, but that's the price for aluminum vs steel and it definitely has a lot more features and quality put into it.

Here's a pic of my sons PC with the 300

16.jpg


More pics can be found here and here

My modded Lian-Li PC-P50 is here, fantastic case, but expensive (for me at least lol), has a ton of great features, and a really nice layout. I don't have a pic of the CM 690, but there is a post your CM 690 thread, just take a look at it there.

26798792.jpg
 
I'm currently working on the specifics of the build, but it'll have either an i5 or i7 in it, with a XFX 5850. I'll probably be doing some OCing too.

The Antec P183 looks pretty, but the buttons are exposed with the door closed, and you'd need to keep the door open while it's running as to not block the intake ports.

The CM 690 looks good, as does the Antec 300. However, both have exposed power buttons. Hmm...
 
digicat said:
The Antec P183 looks pretty, but the buttons are exposed with the door closed, and you'd need to keep the door open while it's running as to not block the intake ports.
Click to expand...
Door has airflow slots in sides.
 
digicat said:
I'm currently working on the specifics of the build, but it'll have either an i5 or i7 in it, with a XFX 5850. I'll probably be doing some OCing too.

The Antec P183 looks pretty, but the buttons are exposed with the door closed, and you'd need to keep the door open while it's running as to not block the intake ports.

The CM 690 looks good, as does the Antec 300. However, both have exposed power buttons. Hmm...
Click to expand...

You're concerned about exposed buttons? Like you don't want the kid hitting the power button by accident? Just don't plug in the reset switch and tell windows to do nothing when the power button is pressed. Easy enough.
 
Dallows said:
You're concerned about exposed buttons? Like you don't want the kid hitting the power button by accident? Just don't plug in the reset switch and tell windows to do nothing when the power button is pressed. Easy enough.
Click to expand...

True... but I was hoping more to hide the buttons, not disable them.
 
digicat said:
True... but I was hoping more to hide the buttons, not disable them.
Click to expand...

I can understand that. But personally I would pick my case on functionality and not looks. IMO of course. I always buy the like $50 Cooler Master. Works pretty well. Exposed buttons though.
 
Dallows said:
I can understand that. But personally I would pick my case on functionality and not looks. IMO of course. I always buy the like $50 Cooler Master. Works pretty well. Exposed buttons though.
Click to expand...


With a toddler running around and getting into stuff, "baby proofing" becomes part of my "functionality" equation. :D
 
digicat said:
Ends up being $130 shipped with taxes.

Two of the cases I've considered are the Haf 932 and the Antec 1200. They look great, but there's a lot of openings and huge fans for noise. I've never seen one of these in action though, how loud do they get?
Click to expand...

I have the HAF932, as you can see in my sig, but everything is watercooled, so I do not have the other fan on top since my rad is there, but the fans are really not that loud. Only problem is dust, you could probably put filters in to alleviate that.
 
memnoch_thedevil said:
I'm not too sure what you mean by poorly finished off, I found it to be quite good for a $30 case lol...can't expect too much at that price point.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I use only Lian Li's myself. Last summer my friend's brother wanted a new custom build comp but didn't want to spend more than $500. I choose the Antec 300 because it looked like a sweet case and the place I ordered it from had a killer sale on it at the time.

Once I got my hands on it I was really impressed. I think it's a very nice case and has amazing build quality and features for the price. I seriously don't think anything can touch it.
 
Nighted said:
Yeah, I use only Lian Li's myself. Last summer my friend's brother wanted a new custom build comp but didn't want to spend more than $500. I choose the Antec 300 because it looked like a sweet case and the place I ordered it from had a killer sale on it at the time.

Once I got my hands on it I was really impressed. I think it's a very nice case and has amazing build quality and features for the price. I seriously don't think anything can touch it.
Click to expand...

Not at that price point anyway...I am diggin this CM 690 though that is my temp case now...really surprised at how nice this case is too...only thing lacking is a filter on the side panel, but they put them every where else lol...that and I wouldn't of minded if it was already painted black lol
 
memnoch_thedevil said:
Not at that price point anyway...I am diggin this CM 690 though that is my temp case now...really surprised at how nice this case is too...only thing lacking is a filter on the side panel, but they put them every where else lol...that and I wouldn't of minded if it was already painted black lol
Click to expand...

I'm thinking that I'll have to do a custom mod to hide the buttons if that becomes a problem.

Anyways, with the bottom-mounted PSU's and the intake grate on the bottom of the case, wouldn't that just suck carpet fibers up into the PSU? Would it be wise for me to get something hard and flat for the case to sit on?
 
digicat said:
I'm currently working on the specifics of the build, but it'll have either an i5 or i7 in it, with a XFX 5850. I'll probably be doing some OCing too.

The Antec P183 looks pretty, but the buttons are exposed with the door closed, and you'd need to keep the door open while it's running as to not block the intake ports.

The CM 690 looks good, as does the Antec 300. However, both have exposed power buttons. Hmm...
Click to expand...

You really aren't going to find anything great with the power buttons protected. That being said, my old NZXT nemesis case from like 6 years ago does have the buttons and drive bay behind a door that closes magnetically. That case has lasted me a long time, airflow sucks, but its still a nice "teen" gamer case (aka flashy outside, not so great with anything else).

Something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146026&cm_re=NZXT-_-11-146-026-_-Product

Has everything protected, not sure about the airflow or space or anything else. Quality is so/so, case has lasted me for 6 years without breaking or anything though.
 
I reallly reallly like my Lian-Li Lancool

Newegg has it for around $70 Free shipping (deal may or may not be there still)

Just a option I figured you might want to search ;)
 
Let's get this straight, Antec 300 is NOT a solid case...It's very flimsy in my opinion compared to the rest of Antec line. Another issue is that Hard Drives are bolted directly to the case and that makes the case VERY loud.
 
ghitz said:
Let's get this straight, Antec 300 is NOT a solid case...It's very flimsy in my opinion compared to the rest of Antec line. Another issue is that Hard Drives are bolted directly to the case and that makes the case VERY loud.
Click to expand...

I agree with you fully, I was about to buy this case tell I played with the display model at Frys... Turned me off completely

Very flimsy, very cheap (made, price is to high), sure it would be loud because of the lack of anti-vibration for HDDs and didn't notice if the fans were mounted to case or to rubber?

Didn't much care for the look once I seen it in person either
 
Nickbaldwin86 said:
I agree with you fully, I was about to buy this case tell I played with the display model at Frys... Turned me off completely
Click to expand...

Many of the display models they have at the Frys by me are totally trashed. They've been pulled apart, dropped, broken, etc. A few look like they've been striped for parts, but the employees aren't interested enough to do anything about it.

Heh, I borrowed an employee's pen (the one I brought with me wasn't working), and he hovered over me, telling me that I shouldn't touch the display models at all. I gave him his pen back, and he went away.

Anyways, I think I'm going with the CM 690. Nice solid looking case. It should suit my needs nicely. Not too flashy (doesn't look like a Cylon or a Humvee), and not to pricy.
 
digicat said:
Many of the display models they have at the Frys by me are totally trashed. They've been pulled apart, dropped, broken, etc. A few look like they've been striped for parts, but the employees aren't interested enough to do anything about it.
Click to expand...

Very aware but still gives you a idea of what the case is. oh and the metal doesn't degrade in strength... it was built with 1/16th metal and will always be flimsy as I stated before about it not being a solid case

Most (NOT ALL) CoolerMaster cases are junk IMO, but you get what you pay for ;)
 
Nickbaldwin86 said:
Very aware but still gives you a idea of what the case is. oh and the metal doesn't degrade in strength... it was built with 1/16th metal and will always be flimsy as I stated before about it not being a solid case

Most (NOT ALL) CoolerMaster cases are junk IMO, but you get what you pay for ;)
Click to expand...

The CM on display, though ripped apart, did seem pretty sturdy.

Which Lancool do you have?
 
Last edited:
Nickbaldwin86 said:
Very aware but still gives you a idea of what the case is. oh and the metal doesn't degrade in strength... it was built with 1/16th metal and will always be flimsy as I stated before about it not being a solid case

Most (NOT ALL) CoolerMaster cases are junk IMO, but you get what you pay for ;)
Click to expand...

Agreed, also most of CM cases are pretty flimsy indeed!
 
digicat said:
The CM on display, though ripped apart, did seem pretty sturdy.

Which Lancool do you have?
Click to expand...


I have the Lian-Li heres a link PC-K58

I loved everything about it; fans (placements and sizes), tool less, est

Not trying to talk you into the Lancool, I just don't want you to get a case and not have seen all the options ;)

ghitz said:
Agreed, also most of CM cases are pretty flimsy indeed!
Click to expand...

Ya I guess they are just trying to bring the weight of the case down and by doing so you have a flimsy case... you can't have both. Either thick and heavy or thin and lite

Or they are saving costs :rolleyes:
 
Nickbaldwin86 said:
I have the Lian-Li heres a link PC-K58

I loved everything about it; fans (placements and sizes), tool less, est

Not trying to talk you into the Lancool, I just don't want you to get a case and not have seen all the options ;)



Ya I guess they are just trying to bring the weight of the case down and by doing so you have a flimsy case... you can't have both. Either thick and heavy or thin and lite

Or they are saving costs :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

At first, I thought the "flimsy" comments were directed at the Antec 300. CMs too, huh? It didn't seem that bad when I looked at it.

My current case is a Raidmax Scorpio 868, but I don't want to keep it.
 
I'm not sure where the flimsy comments come into play, or how the Antec 300 is not a quality case. I have 3 kids, and 4 computers in the house. My oldest son is 8 and that is his PC in the picture with the Antec 300. My youngest son is about to be 2, and his favorite pastime is sitting on top of the toy box and beating the side of the case with whatever toy he can find. No problems yet...

I have had a lot of cases over the last 2 years, and while the Lian-Li is my favorite to look at, the 300 was one of my easiest and cleanest looking buildsto date. Fans are fans, there aren't many cases that come with quality, quiet fans, most people just buy better fans. I have zero noise issues with the 300, the hard drive spinning up is the loudest thing in the case. The hard drives are bolted to the case but I have rubber spacers on either side of the screws to help cut down on the vibration, problem solved.

Ultimately pick something that you are going to be ok with looking at for however long you have it, and fits the majority of your requirements. I mean it sits on the floor in a room, so I don't really see how stability issues even play a factor. Just my opinion though...
 
digicat said:
At first, I thought the "flimsy" comments were directed at the Antec 300. CMs too, huh? It didn't seem that bad when I looked at it.

My current case is a Raidmax Scorpio 868, but I don't want to keep it.
Click to expand...

ya sorry the thread just kind of moved to the CM case and I also looked at it very hard and long when I went to picking out a case,... seemed to have the same problems I didn't care for in the Antec 300, NOT saying they are not good case, not great though and not my pick
 
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