• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Perfect case for aircooling

M

MustRotate

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 24, 2007
Messages
227
So i need the best case for aircooling. I narrowed it until now at these:
Lian Li PC-A16
Lian Li V1000PlusII
or
Antec P182
I am searching for a case with a well thought cooling path rather than a 2x25cm lateral fan monstruosity.
CPU cooling will be done by a TR Ultra120Extreme with push-pull config. Other comp:E6750, 8800GT, Corsair HX520/620(or a different modular PSU, havent bought it yet).
 
I thought that due to the restricted intake the P182 would not be so good...
Also Lian Li are made out of aluminum so that also helps in heat transfer.
 
i'm a p182 owner, and to me the p182 isn't anywhere near qualifying for best air cooling case. Imho the case airflow is best for passive setups but average otherwise. But your setup should work fine, matter of what case temps you are targeting. perhaps the dudes wif an 8800GT and a p182 setup can share their temps n stuff.
 
I don't know if this will win the popular choice award, but it is the case I will be going with. After much research I decided on the Coolermaster RC690:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

I like that it has room for 7x140mm fans if you are crazy. Especially, for those who are big fans of the 200mm Antec900 fan venting out the top, I like the 2x120mm (maybe 140mm) fans you can toss at the top of this case.

Link to more pictures including top fans: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1234744

Just my opinion, but like I said, this is what I will be getting.
 
anomili, I like that case you posted ... I modded my coolermaster praetorian with all blue LED fans, and the front glows blue like that .... it's cool :D

Also, FWIW chocolatepinkspider,

I've got a P180, with the following excessive amount of stuff in it:
  • Dual AMD Opteron 265 processors (dual core, running @ 2.2Ghz)
  • Dual SilentBoost K8 heatsinks (80mm fans, running @ 5V)
  • 4GB of DDR400 ECC/REG RAM (6 sticks)
  • Tyan Tiger K8WE (S2877) motherboard
  • 5 x 500GB, 1x 74gb hard drives
  • Areca 1210 SATA II 8-port pci-e RAID controller
  • XFX GeForce 7900GS pci-e video card
  • Antec NeoHE 550 PSU
  • Audigy 2 ZS (with front 5.25" bay addon)
  • 2x Pioneer DVR-111D DVD-RW drives
  • 4x Noctua 120mm fans (running @ 5V)
  • 2x Noctua 80mm fans (running @ 5V)
My case idles around 40 C, under sustained load, it's about 50C. A bit toasty, but it's also only 3 feet from my bed, and I can barely hear it.

This case, when setup with proper cable management and airflow design, has far better airflow than any other case I've had, which includes coolermasters, lian li's, aspires, and other antecs as well.

The P182 has the same airflow design, and also comes with some nice enhancements, such as external placement of the switches for fan speed control, and some pre-cut places for you to run your wiring, to keep that airflow going.

If you want lots of airflow, you'd need to just run the 3 tri-cool 120mm fans on high in the case. that'll keep any single processor machine cool with no problems. Read the reviews on spcr.com. Hell, you can even jam in two more 120mm fans in the front of the case if you *really* want to.
 
mate, with a TT blue orb FX i get 25C on a P4 in a 900, and i love the modular design, and the best thing is that its about $170 AUS.
 
MustRotate said:
OMG,what about the noise? 11 fans shouldnt be quiet...
Click to expand...
The neat thing about noise is that it's not very additive. 11 very quiet fans is often less noticable than one loud fan. Multiple fans can lead to weird sympathetic humming or 'beat' tones if you're not careful, but on the whole I'd rather have more fans than fewer.
 
i love my thermaltake armor series case 8000. :D It is quiet and keeps my quad cool. has 5 fan's not including cpu video and such. 1 120mm front 1 120mm back 250mm side 80mm top and other 80mm back top. i have my quad o/ced to 3.0/1333 and it runs very cool and the case or the fans is not loud at all.
 
MustRotate said:
Still waiting for some Lian Li owners :D .
Click to expand...

Hello :D

Lian Li v1200+

Nexus 120mm 1000rpm intake
Nexus 120mm 1000rpm exhaust/single 120 rad
Yate Loon 1300RPM 120mm on the graphics

They're the only fans in there apart from the PSU.

8800GT clocked to 750 core
e6300 @ 2.8ghz

temps.jpg


Load temps are 37-40 for the CPU, 45-49 for the graphics :)
 
Personaly i like my Xcilo Propeller

36cm fan on the side makes it quite and warmer sounding tone at highspeed (and with it just on allone i drop 4 degrees) and if you want to throw an exhaust fan on the back youd prob get a lower drop that is if the air in the case dosnt stay at room temp.
 
Anomili said:
I don't know if this will win the popular choice award, but it is the case I will be going with. After much research I decided on the Coolermaster RC690:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

I like that it has room for 7x140mm fans if you are crazy. Especially, for those who are big fans of the 200mm Antec900 fan venting out the top, I like the 2x120mm (maybe 140mm) fans you can toss at the top of this case.

Link to more pictures including top fans: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1234744

Just my opinion, but like I said, this is what I will be getting.
Click to expand...

That is a killer case. I wish I had it....
 
firebane said:
Hardly! For the price the CM690 will totally outperform the Antec 900 in EVERY aspect.
Click to expand...


I don't think he is worried about price rather overall air cooling abilities. So, this being the case regardless of price of course, we read what you wrote next. Your claim states that the CM690 will "totally outperform" the Antec 900 in every aspec, while I find this extremely outlandish of a claim, I will reserve my flaming until you provide some sort of proof to support your statement.
 
i would definately agree with Darkstofknightz you cannot possibly say that unless you have had both side by side with the same compnents in them, the nine hundred may be a little noisy, but replace those blue LED antec fans with some yate loons and your laughing. i really love the 900 and with all those fans, i don;t believe in spending the extra time and money to water cool a case, when air cooling this case is much more straight forward.

if you have some solid evidence that the 690 outperforms the 900 then i particularly would like to see it. It sounds more like you have just had a bad experience with antec and now hate the whole brand name for some reason, i mean, i really dislike ati becasue of the problems i've had with their older cards especially, but i know a lot of people that have them and use them daily, and yeh, i don't like them but that doesn't mean i have to put them down continuosly without even thinking...
 
The 900 and CM 690 are probally pretty even maybe a slight edge to the the Antec 900. But in terms of price, cable management, HD mounting, the CM 690 is way ahead imo. Considering the the CM 690 is 39$ AMIR, I think overall the clear winner is the CM.
 
WARNING 900 Vs 690 rant coming up...

(1 okay Vengance, since you weren't exactly bagging the 900 rather than promoting 690, so we're cool...

(2 the 690 may have toolless drive bays and expansion card slots, but in the case of the 900, antec has THOUGHT about how likely it is that people are going to be moving expansion cards and drives around every 5 seconds...

(3 the 690 may be cheaper, but the 900 is much cooler in that it has modular drive bays and not so many fans that it doesn't need.

(4 the 690 has room for 7 120mm fans or something and how likely is it that you are going to need that many fans!!! the 900 has 4 stock, well placed fans that keep the case perfectly cool and quiet.

(5 the 690 have the hard drives in a position where you can't see the cables at all, but the 900 has them so that the whole drive bay, with up to 3 hard drives in each, out to remove or insert drives.

(6 all the reviews i have read of the 690 have said that when they took the case out of its box, they found that the ycouldn't tell which way was up and becasue the drive covers are secured by CLIPS they broke at least 1 in the process.

(7 all up, the 900 is much better in every way than the 690, apart from the price tag, which by the time you factor in buying a PSU with lon enough cables, or doing them yourself, a side window kit, the fans AND all the hardware to go in the case, the 900 is way cheaper...

(8 finally, a part of a review that was listed on coolermasters own site:
The 690 certainly meets my expectations for its price point and what I expected from Cooler Master, but it wasn't overly impressive. The bottom line is there are some neat features that will guarantee a few buyers, but that doesn't mean it immediately rules out products with higher price tags like the Antec 900 and P182 or SilverStone TJ07 or TJ09, to name a few.
 
Yea I can see your point. Which ever case you buy as long as you are happy, thats all that matters. Thats why there are tons of choices because not everyone has the same tastes. Both cases are solid, just each caters to a different crowd.
Just to make a point, just because there are 9 slots for fans, you don't need to use them all. Example in my build I currently run a 120 Yate-Loon in the front, 2 140 Yate Loons on top, 120 yate-loon in the back, and a 140 yate-loon on the side panel. All well placed and provides good airflow for the case.
 
and how many of them did you have to buy? oh wait, their all yate loons! you had to spend like $20 a fan whereas i spent $170 on the 900, then $15 on a fan to go on the side panel!!! i think that we know who wins this round... you spent $110 on the case (this is in AUD by the way) then $100 on fans, wheras i spent $170 on the case and $15 on the fan.

what other components do you have in there at the moment, what kind of temps are you getting, i get 25C on the cpu because of the 200mm fan right ABOVE the cpu, whereas yours has 2 140's in the top that are placed so they suck air off the whole case not just the cpu. my rig at the moment is probably among the worst on this forum at the moment, but that doesn't mean i don't get good results.
 
soundguy said:
and how many of them did you have to buy? oh wait, their all yate loons! you had to spend like $20 a fan whereas i spent $170 on the 900, then $15 on a fan to go on the side panel!!! i think that we know who wins this round... you spent $110 on the case (this is in AUD by the way) then $100 on fans, wheras i spent $170 on the case and $15 on the fan.

what other components do you have in there at the moment, what kind of temps are you getting, i get 25C on the cpu because of the 200mm fan right ABOVE the cpu, whereas yours has 2 140's in the top that are placed so they suck air off the whole case not just the cpu. my rig at the moment is probably among the worst on this forum at the moment, but that doesn't mean i don't get good results.
Click to expand...
I spend 6$ per 140mm fan, and 4$ per 120mm. So I spent 32$ on 6 fans:) When I get some time I will give some results. Right now with school and work, I just don't have time. Its clear you like your Antec 900 and I like my CM 690. I was commenting of something you had mentioned, that is all. BTW I spent 75$ on my case in USD and that includes high Quality Quiet fans.
 
look at the post again Kaldskryke i said "you spent $110 on the case (this is in AUD by the way)" menaing that i cannot be bothered to convert currencies to whatever you guys are using, so i am choosing to use AUD as an example. also, how much did you spend on shipping Vengance, i bet it was a lot, and what the 690 comes with 2 120's and you consider them high quality? good choice on the yate loons, but i again i am using an example of these fans INCLUDING SHIPPING whereas the fans may cost $4 or $6 USD, for me they cost about $15 AUD + shipping, which for 4 of the fans is a minimum of $65 USD or anything up to $150 USD in some cases.

i am not trying to start a war of 900 clan Vs 690 clan, but i think that we should both voice our opinions less openly about how bad we think each others cases are. anyway, you obviously have more money to burn than me Vengance, but that doesn't mean either of us can bag the S### out of each others choices, i suggest that unless anyone else openly bags each other's case than we should just leave this argument alone.

what did i mention? that fact that i get insane temps on a P4? or that i actually like my choice?
 
The amount of plastic in the 900 turned me off on it.

I'd get a PC-A16 or stacker 810 over both any day though.
 
what amount of plastic? there is no plastic in the case itself, there is only plastic making up the top part of the case, ALL the rest is aluminium or something...

just reminding you all again that i work in AUD not USD or whatever, so too bad if you use USD.
 
jimmyboy said:
Antec 900. It's all about fans everywhere, and lots of case vents. I'm seriously considering getting one of these. Check out the enormous 200mm case fan on top! :eek:

http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/cases/antec900/
Click to expand...

As the OP didn't say anything about noise level, I'd agree with trying the antec 900. It's air flow is superior to that of the p180/182 (I own both). Cheap too. Not the best looking tho. I have one for sale btw :p $50 shipped of you're willing to put up with some minor scratches on the window and just the case itself and probably not all the parts it came with, but sufficient parts for its functionality (meaning screws mainly).
 
I've played with one at fry's before.

The whole front assembly is plasitc, even the drive bay covers, as well as most of the top.

Even my centurion which is 1/2 the price is more solid.
 
cleric_retribution said:
anomili, I like that case you posted ... I modded my coolermaster praetorian with all blue LED fans, and the front glows blue like that .... it's cool :D

Also, FWIW chocolatepinkspider,

I've got a P180, with the following excessive amount of stuff in it:
  • Dual AMD Opteron 265 processors (dual core, running @ 2.2Ghz)
  • Dual SilentBoost K8 heatsinks (80mm fans, running @ 5V)
  • 4GB of DDR400 ECC/REG RAM (6 sticks)
  • Tyan Tiger K8WE (S2877) motherboard
  • 5 x 500GB, 1x 74gb hard drives
  • Areca 1210 SATA II 8-port pci-e RAID controller
  • XFX GeForce 7900GS pci-e video card
  • Antec NeoHE 550 PSU
  • Audigy 2 ZS (with front 5.25" bay addon)
  • 2x Pioneer DVR-111D DVD-RW drives
  • 4x Noctua 120mm fans (running @ 5V)
  • 2x Noctua 80mm fans (running @ 5V)
My case idles around 40 C, under sustained load, it's about 50C. A bit toasty, but it's also only 3 feet from my bed, and I can barely hear it.

This case, when setup with proper cable management and airflow design, has far better airflow than any other case I've had, which includes coolermasters, lian li's, aspires, and other antecs as well.

The P182 has the same airflow design, and also comes with some nice enhancements, such as external placement of the switches for fan speed control, and some pre-cut places for you to run your wiring, to keep that airflow going.

If you want lots of airflow, you'd need to just run the 3 tri-cool 120mm fans on high in the case. that'll keep any single processor machine cool with no problems. Read the reviews on spcr.com. Hell, you can even jam in two more 120mm fans in the front of the case if you *really* want to.
Click to expand...

The p180/150/182 series of cases were designed with "silent" in mind first, performance second. A case like their Antec 900, it's vice versa. If it's the best cooling hes looking for in an Antec case, the 900 beats out the pXXX cases.
 
yes the top is plastic, but the drive bay covers are definately not, not so sure about the front of the case though...

and as if the 900 doesn't look good!!! even if you don't paint the insides it still looks great...
 
soundguy said:
oh wait, their all yate loons! you had to spend like $20 a fan
Click to expand...

Erm, even here where we get ripped off they're only £4 ($8), in the US they're about $5!

They are some of the cheapest and best fans you can buy.

Looks of the case are obviously opinion, but I think it's horrid. Any plastic is too much plastic, no cable management, not a very nice window, weird shape...
 
My personal experience with the Antec 900 is that while it is one of the best if not the best air flow case on the amrket right now it does have some design issues which are being addressed in the next version.

Cable management is a bear unless you mod the case or go the route I did and buy extension cables for the motherbaord power. The modular design works really well on the bay placement but please cut back the number of screws we have to use.

The Nine Hundred has two things people complain about, first is noise. With the fans on low the case is actually very quiet and provides excellent air flow. On medium the noise level becomes noticable but the air flow is outstanding, on high it makes some serious noise but the thing is a air blasting cyclone. The straight through air flow design is in my opinion much better than all those designs with side fans. The wind tunnel effect of the Nine Hundred does an awesome job of blasting in cool air and pulling the hot out fast.

When I did a PC build for my show we took a twist on it and was working for a design that would work at full tilt in a room at 90F. Using the Antec Nine Hundred case with the stock fans on high I kept an E6600 at 3.2ghz using a Zalman 9700 and ran this with a 2900 XT and an 8800 GTS. At not time after hours of video and CPU torture did the components have to back down from heat. Oh we flirted with the thresholds but was able to keep the temps low enough for full use at 90F in the room.

If you are looking for a serious air flow case the Nine Hundred is just hard to beat..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top