OMG OMG I FOUND A CASE!!!!

R

Russ

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
1,875
As a few of you may have noticed, I have been searching for a case to use in my watercooled setup without modding it. The problem was finding a case with two 120mm spots on top of each other to hook the rad up to. The only cases I have noticed that could possible do this is the Cooler Master P180 (undesirable because 120mm slots are heavily covered by front bezel) and the Cooler Master stacker (a monster of a case and I'm not sold on the idea of 5 1/4 bays all up and down the whole front of the case. Also the stacker only fits a 120.2 rad by taking out a LOT of the 5 1/4 bays.

I have made it a habit to check every case review offered on the [H] front page. And finally, I have seen one!

The Gigabyte 3D Aurora:
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=810&80268&91743

pics:
http://www.bjorn3d.com/Material/ReviewImages/Gigabyte3DAurora/official3d.jpg

And it has the two 120mm holes on the back! So I can exhaust with the rad fans instead of blowing in, like I would have to do with the stacker (that or have air blowing out the front of my case, which would be weird).

The review says not available yet, but available soon. I'm heading to google now to check out more about this lifesaver.

edit: alright, they say early July 2005. So, crossing my fingers...
 
Looks like a nce case and should do the jod for you............Do you plan on having the radiator on the outside of the back of the case?
 
dunno. Probably inside. If I do that I won't have one side of the rad up against the metal (would reduce cooling i would think, since it wouldn't be in the open). Also it will look better if everything is on the inside.

I hope it isn't as expensive as the CM Stacker. I think I would still buy it if it was. Rear dual 120s is too good to pass up.

edit: O yeah, and its a full tower too, so I think it will probably be about the same, but o well. At least I'll have room.
 
hmmm. :( aluminum = lighter too though. I will need to transport the case every once in a while.
 
For some reason it reminds me of the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica, just replace the blue glow at the front with a red glow and viola'. Nice looking case though, I was kind of expecting them to make something that looked like that case ASUS made, happily they didn't.

I'm looking forward to seeing how much that runs. Good luck on getting one, sweet case man.
 
Nice looking case. Sort of a Bigger version of the Super LanBoy from Antec.
 
looks expensive, but if it is like 100 bucks I would get one
 
It is the Antec P180, not Coolermaster. I have this case and it is very nice indeed. Incredible construction and the side panels are amazing. This is not however a good case for watercooling, fitting 120mm radiators might not be a problem, but a double will be hard. The side panels and top panel are not very modding friendly. The aluminum / plastic / aluminum sandwich used to reduce noise does not seem like the nicest thing to cut through with your dremel.
 
This case looks pretty nice, and for those using huge passive heater cores the tubing slots are a great idea. I'll have to see how many bones this will be, but it has a lot of great ideas and the potential to be the next great WCing case. If only they used a slightly less restrictive intake hole design, but an hour of work and some Modder's Mesh can make quick work of that :p
 
o crap. Look at this:
http://www.coolermaster.com/index.p...ial=RC-810&other_title=+RC-810+CM Stacker 810

Ug, now I have two cases to choose from. At least they both seem to be coming out at the same time. I wonder if the release date/design of one was influenced by the other.

Hmmm, the gigabyte has lights, a true window, and a gaudy front (two + and a - there)

The stacker is simple, has a semi window, lots of space and airflow (but the gigabyte might too), a proven name, and lots of drive bays (that I don't need).

I think I may stick with the Gigabyte, but for you other people looking to buy a 120.2 rad case w/o modding know that there is a stacker coming as well.
 
Both cases look very nice....personally, I still have *YET* to find "the perfect case"...I don't think my req.s currently exist (unless I want steel instead of aluminum, in which case maybe).

1) While I'm not wild about the "look" of the front of the GigaByte case, the specs do indeed look very nice. I wonder how hard it would be to remove that "mesh side" and add a full window mod... Also worth noting that it's not all aluminum, but part steel (the back panel?).

2) The Stacker 810 also looks good from a specs point of view except that: a) it's HUGE (full-tower w/ eATX) and b) it's steel (heavy) (22lbs)...Also, no window, as well, it's meant to be a server case...heh.


So far, I'm leaning towards the ThermalTake Tsunami Dream...but, sigh....still nothing *exactly* right..
 
You should totally paint eyes on it and make it into Phil Cabinet. It is a nice case, even if you don't. I may get one just to do that now LOL.

hypnogerm.jpg
 
BossNoodleKaboodle said:
You should totally paint eyes on it and make it into Phil Cabinet. It is a nice case, even if you don't. I may get one just to do that now LOL.

hypnogerm.jpg
Click to expand...

LOL!!

I loved that episode...insane Master Shake was awesome


 
Doesn't that case remind you of it? I'd make the startup sound "smear yourself with garbage and try to cross the freeway"

BTW Xylo those TT cases are REALLY cheap in person. The door creaks and its just junk. Very poorly made.
 
A friend of mine has a Tsunami and he likes it, but he isn't water cooling. His brother (they both got new computers this past school year) got a Xaser III (bigger than Tsunami) but then got a TT Big Water wc kit and had to get an Armor case to fit it, even though it's a small kit. I wouldn't buy TT myself though. His Tsunami seems really crowded when I look at it, and he only has SLI 6800GTs in it.

I was considering a normal Stacker before I saw the Gigabyte. I'm thinking they both will probably be huge. And yeah, the front of the gigabyte reminds me of some of those uglier plastic-ish cases. However, the more I think about it the more it grows on me. Plus that light projection thingy is cool. I think I like the color more than the stacker, silver always seemed better than the white or blackish stackers.
 
BossNoodleKaboodle said:
You should totally paint eyes on it and make it into Phil Cabinet. It is a nice case, even if you don't. I may get one just to do that now LOL.

hypnogerm.jpg
Click to expand...
holy shit you gave me such a good idea (prolly unoriginal) why not mod one of those old crappy filing cabnets for my computer and radbox.
 
BossNoodleKaboodle said:
BTW Xylo those TT cases are REALLY cheap in person. The door creaks and its just junk. Very poorly made.
Click to expand...

Really??...Most of the reviews I've read on-line have said very much the opposite in that respect.
 
Russ said:
His Tsunami seems really crowded when I look at it, and he only has SLI 6800GTs in it.
Click to expand...

Well, it's a mid-tower...(shrug)

I've also been considering the Chenbro Gaming Bomb II (can't find it anywhere though)...

And to a lesser degree: Silverstone TJ05* (steel, sigh...) and TJ03* (2 80mm in rear and insane price...sigh); the Lian-Li v1200 (probably over-kill); Antec Performance I P-160 (eh...silver only, too...); or maybe just go totally silly, say "screw it", and get an acrylic...heh.

I was considering the WaveMaster but have since decided against it...


Russ said:
I'm thinking they both will probably be huge.
Click to expand...

??...no thinking required...

CoolerMaster Stacker 810 (RC-810)
227mm (W) x 536mm (H) x 584mm (D)
10kg = 22lbs.
http://www.coolermaster.com/index.p...ial=RC-810&other_title=+RC-810+CM Stacker 810

Gigabyte Aurora 3D (GZ-FSCA1-ANS / GZ-FSCA1-ANB)
205mm (W) x 522mm (H) x 510mm (D)
7.1kg = 15.6 lbs.
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=810&80268&91743

So Stacker = enormous...
 
enormous by 2 cm x 1 cm x 7 cm. Not too much more. I couldn't remember if the gigabyte gave the specs, I don't really care about exact size as long as my watercooling fits in it.

o yeah, and you guys mind cropping that big image when quoting in the future?
 
Xylo said:
Really??...Most of the reviews I've read on-line have said very much the opposite in that respect.
Click to expand...

Most of those review sites are cheerleaders who will say anything thats flashy and gimmicky is great. If you want a serious computer case, Supermicro or Intel server chassis are about as good as they come. That Chenbro is alright, but you just can't beat the stuff the pro's use. Silverstone is a luxury brand for the most part as is Lian Li. They're beautiful and well built and very expensive. Whatever case you use, DON'T use a TT PSU. They're such a ripoff. They're misleadingly specified and very noisy in my experience.

Swimming_Bird said:
holy shit you gave me such a good idea (prolly unoriginal) why not mod one of those old crappy filing cabnets for my computer and radbox.
Click to expand...

You better post pics of Phil Cabinet when you're done :)
 
Ok, so now that i've seen that filing cabinet, I am totally going to draw eyes on mine. Wicked.
 
BossNoodleKaboodle said:
BTW Xylo those TT cases are REALLY cheap in person. The door creaks and its just junk. Very poorly made.
Click to expand...

God you guys, stop bashing the Tt! I have the tsunami and it's the best case I've ever had. No quality problems at all. Door does NOT squeek. It's also nicely quiet. My only problem is I can't see anywhere to put a dual rad without doing a tiny bit of cutting... I want to watercool. Definatly room though.
 
Instant flame war right there, lol. Now the LianLi fan boys are going to come rushing in saying "Oh em gee, have you ever bought a Lian Li!?!?!"

Heh...
 
skudmunky said:
God you guys, stop bashing the Tt! I have the tsunami and it's the best case I've ever had. No quality problems at all. Door does NOT squeek. It's also nicely quiet. My only problem is I can't see anywhere to put a dual rad without doing a tiny bit of cutting... I want to watercool. Definatly room though.
Click to expand...

Nicely quiet??? http://anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2202&p=10

"Due to the louder fans, the Tsunami did not fare so well in our sound benchmarks. At 52 dBA, the Tsunami was one of the loudest cases, putting it on the charts between the Damier V6000A and Super Flower's X-Mask."-from Anandtech review
 
BossNoodleKaboodle said:
Whatever case you use, DON'T use a TT PSU. They're such a ripoff. They're misleadingly specified and very noisy in my experience.
Click to expand...

Hmm...well, I wasn't going to get a case w/ a stock PSU in it...but what about the TT TWV500?...seems decent enough...active PFC, good voltages, modular, single 120mm fan, ATX 2.0, etc....?
 
Russ said:
enormous by 2 cm x 1 cm x 7 cm. Not too much more. I couldn't remember if the gigabyte gave the specs, I don't really care about exact size as long as my watercooling fits in it.
Click to expand...

Your watercooling stuff would fit in a 5'x5'x5' steel cube. Doesn't mean you'd want to put it in there... ;)
 
I can understand that you would want a light case if you lugged it around alot, but most would want the extra strength of steel in their tower (Who likes putting on slightly bent aluminum side panels?)

As for thermals thats a really bad myth...

I just hate seeing steel get the bum wrap for no good reason.
 
Myth how? Aluminum conducts heat better than steel. Period. How much that matters with respect to a computer case is one thing and is open to debate, but the thermal conductivity is not.
 
Yea, looks ok (big!), but of course I can find about 2 billion different cases with that ventilation system. The two cases in this thread interest me b/c of the dual 120mm exhaust (my primary concern). I'm guessing they are going to be available for the Back to School rush.
 
Xylo said:
Myth how? Aluminum conducts heat better than steel. Period. How much that matters with respect to a computer case is one thing and is open to debate, but the thermal conductivity is not.
Click to expand...

Al cases have good conductivity but poor thermal mass and besides when you're pumping 150cu. ft/min of air over it, it matters very little.

Xylo said:
So replace the stock fans... ;)
Click to expand...

and Xylo, WHY would you buy a case and then NOT use the fans it comes with? What a waste of like 40 dollars!!!

Xylo said:
Hmm...well, I wasn't going to get a case w/ a stock PSU in it...but what about the TT TWV500?...seems decent enough...active PFC, good voltages, modular, single 120mm fan, ATX 2.0, etc....?
Click to expand...


TT PSU's are GARBAGE. DON'T buy into their labeled specifications!!! They are SO innacurate its not even funny.

Go with Supermicro. They come with Fortron or Sparkle PSU's and I think some might come with Zippy's. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811152005

That case is a serious piece of equipment. Sure its not very pretty but it outperforms just about everything else in that price range. If you must have pretty as well, get a Silverstone case and put a Zippy PSU in it ESPECIALLY if you're watercooling.
 
Xylo said:
How much that matters with respect to a computer case is one thing and is open to debate
Click to expand...

Its not open for debate, it doesnt matter if your case is made of steel or aluminum it will have the same temps. Air cools your components, not the case.
 
Xylo said:
1) Heavier (primary reason)
2) Bad thermal (secondary)
Click to expand...

1) Yes... Also less rattle and vibration noise.
2) Never proved. If your case is dissipating internal heat through case housing... you have different problem.
Real con is sheer weight to be honest. Harder to carry around.
 
Xylo said:
Myth how? Aluminum conducts heat better than steel. Period. How much that matters with respect to a computer case is one thing and is open to debate, but the thermal conductivity is not.
Click to expand...


Jesus, this argument is weak.

What percentage of heat is dissipated by the case material in anything other than one of thos zalman deathstar things? 0.02%? 0.025%?
Stupid, stupid, stupid. How hot does your case feel? if it feels even slightly warm , i suggest you try putting one of those new, high-tech thermal radiation dissipation devices in it
 
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