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Substance vs Style

What's your priority...

  • I don't care if my case is in a shoe box held with gum, just as long as it does what I want

    Votes: 23 18.1%

  • high end cases and detail should only appropriate high end parts

    Votes: 37 29.1%

  • low end parts belong in low end cases

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • my setup will always look good regardless of what hardware is in it

    Votes: 47 37.0%

  • who cares, my case is under my desk

    Votes: 19 15.0%
  • Total voters
    127
  • Poll closed .
D

Dark Prodigy

Jawbreaker
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
2,803
I hope this is the proper forum for this post/poll. Forgive me if it is not Moderators.

I would like to know the opinions of the [H]consumers, as we are the most hard to please. Modding, wire management, watercooling, wire sleeving, high end hardware & gaming - are all examples of what we do here on [H] and give advice on. What are the most important aspects on the choice to build/buy systems.

Most boutique builders go to great lengths to make their pc's look as good as they perform (Falcon NW, Voodoo etc..). Same idea with most of system builders here on [H]. Most mass production companies (Dell, Gateway etc..) focus less on exterior and more on the price/performance aspect of the business.

What is the priority for the [H] consumer... For example...would you take a computer that say..looks as good as a Voodoo Omen or Maingear with the budget parts of say an e-machine or Systemax...if that type of system met your needs...or vice versa, high end parts in a forgettable case and setup.. or would it really matter?

Please vote and comment.
 
Although I'm not going to drop $100+ for a case, I like my cases looking nice.
 
your friend walks in who knows nothing about computers...

scenario 1:
she looks at your shiny computer with neon lights and flashy colours...your laid

scenario 2:
she looks at your dust fungus green coloured computer...your not laid

so i guess i voted for i like my setup to look good no matter what i have :p
 
Yeah, women just spontaniously have sex with you because of your COMPUTER :rolleyes:

I honestly don't care about how mine looks. I have a pretty "basic" looking case (meaning no fancy lights wasting power). All i care about it how fast it is. Same goes for cars, the speed is all that matters :)
 
I really could care less how my computer looks. But I usually shop around until I find something that looks great for under $75, so I try to get the best of both worlds. Even if I did get a high-end case, I would always mod it to make it look better anyways :D
 
travbrad said:
Yeah, women just spontaniously have sex with you because of your COMPUTER :rolleyes:
you never know these days my friend...anything can happen, a chickmight be turned on by neon lights, the speed of the fans or the size of your BOX! (you might not understand if you dont live in england) ;)

btw its spelt spontaneously :p
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Mayhs said:
travbrad said:
Yeah, women just spontaniously have sex with you because of your COMPUTER :rolleyes:
you never know these days my friend...anything can happen, a chickmight be turned on by neon lights, the speed of the fans or the size of your BOX! (you might not understand if you dont live in england) ;)

btw its spelt spontaneously :p
Click to expand...

I think I can speak for most enthusiast when I say that the many hours of sleeving, desgning, picking parts and researching has to do more with personal pride and vision than impressing women.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
If you have high-end parts, you have the money to afford a classy case. No, I don't mean flashy neon and 20 fans. Classy like Silverstone cases are. I'm really into the sleek, front-door style cases, without side windows.
 
It isn't listed, but I buy cases based firstly on how good they are to work on, and secondly how well they cool the bits and pieces inside them. Thirdly, how good they look. Zero, of course, is the price. I wind up compromising on points 0-3.

It's definitely a bonus if the case looks good. And n3kkid hardware has good looks all it's own :D

Something I always try to remember is to get one that isn't an absolute PITA to work on.
 
I care a lot about aesthetics.. my setup is little outdated (T-Bred 1700+ running at 2000 Mhz, 768 MB RAM - enough for my needs) but it sits in a black Coolermaster Cavalier case...
 
Dark Prodigy said:
I think I can speak for most enthusiast when I say that the many hours of sleeving, desgning, picking parts and researching has to do more with personal pride and vision than impressing women.
Click to expand...

thats a good point and its true...but if the outcome impresses a woman whats to be shy about? ;)
 
Hmmm, I go for cases that high air flow performance with low noise. Also, I like my case designed for hassle free maintenance. Unfortunately, cases that excel in these areas tend to cost more.
 
I like my shit to look good no matter what.

And yes, I am one of those people who have spent nearly 300 dollars alone on a case and mods to go along with it.

It's more about pride, as someone else had said. After you finish getting your case exactly how you want it you get to step back and just think about how rad you are.
 
I had a hard time choosing between the first and last option. I like plain looking outside with no window for now. I will be using a fair amount of duck tape and have a beatup ole heatercore in my case. I manage my wires to increase airflow.
 
Function over form, here. I've never had a real computer desk, just coffee tables, dressers, etc. I've got a special version of geek-o-vision installed in my brain, I actually think a massive wires-running-across-the-floor four monitor (all crt's) bohemoth with 50 peripherals looks good. Is it weird that I like the fact that my computer uses up 3/4 of my room?
 
Vertigo Acid said:
If you have high-end parts, you have the money to afford a classy case. No, I don't mean flashy neon and 20 fans. Classy like Silverstone cases are. I'm really into the sleek, front-door style cases, without side windows.
Click to expand...

I agree I used to have a "hacked to death" Chieftec full tower case with 4 ccfl's, 14 fans, side panel window, etc. And now I have an Antec P180 and absolutely love the plain and clean look it has. The only external "moding" I have done was to put the case badges on the inside of the door at the top.

I voted high end parts in a high end case, if I had low end parts I would put them in a low end case as the cooling & ease of use would not be as much of a factor.
 
Dark Prodigy said:
I hope this is the proper forum for this post/poll. Forgive me if it is not Moderators.

I would like to know the opinions of the [H]consumers, as we are the most hard to please. Modding, wire management, watercooling, wire sleeving, high end hardware & gaming - are all examples of what we do here on [H] and give advice on. What are the most important aspects on the choice to build/buy systems.

Most boutique builders go to great lengths to make their pc's look as good as they perform (Falcon NW, Voodoo etc..). Same idea with most of system builders here on [H]. Most mass production companies (Dell, Gateway etc..) focus less on exterior and more on the price/performance aspect of the business.
Click to expand...

When you spend the time (or money in the case of Voodoo, Falcon, AlienWare ect) on computers that we do it should be something that's personalized to us. I don't have flames or custom paint on my car, it's a tool to get from point A to point B and little more. A gear head has customized their ride 7 ways to sunday and want people to know it, hence the lavish paint jobs, the chrome everything, the massive blower sticking out of their hood. Computer guys go for big flashing cases, windows to let everyone see your oragami wire folding, and UV reactive everything to stand out from the beige box brigade.

What is the priority for the [H] consumer... For example...would you take a computer that say..looks as good as a Voodoo Omen or Maingear with the budget parts of say an e-machine or Systemax...if that type of system met your needs...or vice versa, high end parts in a forgettable case and setup.. or would it really matter?

Please vote and comment.
Click to expand...

For the longest time I had my computer in a POS $30 Raidmax case. I had gutted it multiple times to make windows, 120mm fan holes, passive air intakes. It looked awful and was held together largely by duct tape and zip ties.
I just bought a Lian Li and am very pleased with it. I fully intend to customize it, a side window would be good, and mabye open up the top for a 120mm fan, but I wouldn't trade it for any beige box in the world.
 
Very diverse views so far... but it seems as though no one discriminates against lower end parts adorning higher end, detalied cases. As there's no voting for it so far at the time of me writing this.

Would people put the time & energy into case modding, sleeving wires, stealth wiring, painting, possible watercooling; if the parts are not on the mid - extreme high end.

If you went to a friends house..and they have this super nice, water cooled highly detailed and classy case, but they told you they had a P2, 128mb of ram, 10 gb HD, onboard audio and video... would you be turned off.. or still would appreciate the machine for what it is.
 
Not unless I was very bored :p. A system like that would most likely be either a folding box or an HTPC/file server.
 
FreiDOg said:
.
I just bought a Lian Li and am very pleased with it. I fully intend to customize it, a side window would be good, and mabye open up the top for a 120mm fan, but I wouldn't trade it for any beige box in the world.
Click to expand...


But what would you put IN that case.. sure most Lian-Li cases are very nice but since you are buying a high end case and are putting time and effort into making it really look good and stand out.. are you going for high end parts simply because of that fact? Or you'd be happy with whatever hardware you have in it....
 
I'm kind of mixed. I've personally always liked very clean aluminum case designs. My last three cases have been the PC-60, Praetorian, and PC-7.

However I have an idea this summer to build a "sleeper" machine into one of these cases..

Antec%20SLK1650B.jpg


I've built a ton of office machines into that case and they're incredibly sturdy and quiet. Very simple, small, and unsuspecting. What I want to do is build a Conroe / GTX SLI / Raptor II / RAID 0 machine with this case and a Seasonic PSU and all Nexus fans. No windows, no lights, at most a simple black rheobus in one of the 3.5" drive bays. Maybe a stealth drive mod on for the DVD-RW.
 
Sounds good to me, I recently bought that case for my parents (gave them my IC7-G, P4 2.8C, and 6800GTOC) lucky bastards :rolleyes:, j/k :p. My only grief was how the side panels come off, taking the top off as well is kind of a pain in the ass but not too rediculous.
 
Dark Prodigy said:
But what would you put IN that case.. sure most Lian-Li cases are very nice but since you are buying a high end case and are putting time and effort into making it really look good and stand out.. are you going for high end parts simply because of that fact? Or you'd be happy with whatever hardware you have in it....
Click to expand...

It's currently housing an AXP-M, but really is the first step of my Conroe build.
Were I not building a new computer, I wouldnt' have bought the case now. But the sad state of my old case made it neccessary to buy a new case fairly soon; be it next week or six months from now I would have probably been -encouraged- to buy a replacement and stick my hardware in it.
Cases (at least the mid-full tower designs) are pretty static. I was going to buy something to lasts. Something that can be tossed in a car, kicked at LANs, cut and customized and still hold together was a big plus. The look of the case is a plus, but quality of construction and similar drove the buy. This is case to last years and years, house multiple computers in varrious states of 'high-end-ness' and look good doing it. The flimsy metal and mediocre construction of the bargain bin cases probably won't stand up well to what I'll do to them - my last one didn't anway.
 
Voted for "Gotta look good". For me, "style" can also help with function. For example good cable management improves air flow. High end cases have more room to work with and gives your hardware room to breath. Aluminum cases are lighter and help keep your hardware cool. High end cases usually include 120mm fans which keeps your hardware cool AND quite. Oh and let's not forget a feature that I consider essential: a removable mobo tray. In the end, I believe you get what you pay for, at least most of the time. :D

Loving the look of my Stacker 830. It's got function and style.

PS I consider cases above $150 high end. Would almost include a p180 in there if it wasn't for that darn plastic front door. Other than that, it's a great case. :D
 
I got a Stacker 810... big and simple. :)

It looks sleek and its got a whole lotta function.
 
I really could not care what my case looks like.. But then again, my main rig is in a LianLi v1200B.. My legacy gaming box is a mobo tray and drive cage screwed down to a piece of plywood, with the psu and every thing else scewed down to it as well.. My kid has an Antec 830sx, and my wife has a no-name with the sidepanels missing.. But that is under her desk inside a cabinet so no-one sees it anyway..

I do hate to see uber-modded cases with crap hardware inside them.. Kinda like I hate to see a stock engined 85 civic with ground effects, expensive paint job, and a stereo system that is worth more than the car it's in...
 
GORANKAR said:
I do hate to see uber-modded cases with crap hardware inside them.. Kinda like I hate to see a stock engined 85 civic with ground effects, expensive paint job, and a stereo system that is worth more than the car it's in...
Click to expand...


So...heavily modded cases gives the appearance of speed and PPP (Pure Processing Power) and the parts should reflect what's on the outside. No sense in having a watercooled, painted, windowed, and wire sleeved setup unless it has high end or extreme high end parts...is what you are saying basically...
 
I think a better analogy would be a C6 Z06 with a Civic powertrain. All show and no go.
 
To Dark Prodigy: Yes
To Stellar: Yea, a Corvette with a civic power train would prolly be a better analogy..
All show, and no go sucks.. Even trailer queens are usually packin' heat under the hood... And an uber-modded case prolly should as well..
 
Stellar said:
I'm kind of mixed. I've personally always liked very clean aluminum case designs. My last three cases have been the PC-60, Praetorian, and PC-7.

However I have an idea this summer to build a "sleeper" machine into one of these cases..

Antec%20SLK1650B.jpg


I've built a ton of office machines into that case and they're incredibly sturdy and quiet. Very simple, small, and unsuspecting. What I want to do is build a Conroe / GTX SLI / Raptor II / RAID 0 machine with this case and a Seasonic PSU and all Nexus fans. No windows, no lights, at most a simple black rheobus in one of the 3.5" drive bays. Maybe a stealth drive mod on for the DVD-RW.
Click to expand...
Nice case but I was never partial for the front bezel. It's a nice case anyways. I really like the CoolerMaster Cent 5 cases though.
 
Volucris said:
Nice case but I was never partial for the front bezel. It's a nice case anyways. I really like the CoolerMaster Cent 5 cases though.
Click to expand...

Centurion 5 is a great case.. but that would blow my whole idea. Lots of people use the Centurion - 1650 would be far less suspecting, especially because it's a mini-tower.

Actually my idea now is to powdercoat the interior black and cut a window in the side panel. Wanting to get this done before Quakecon. It will be fun to see the reaction when someone sees me plunk a boring looking mini-tower down and thru the window they will see powdercoating, 2 GTX 512s, LEDs on the RAM, and so forth.

..or maybe they'll just think I'm a retard, who knows. I can swap it all back into my LiLi afterward and use the 1650 for a spare build.
 
Dude... regarding one of the questions... does anyone really put their pc in a shoebox? or held with gum? or both?
 
Personally I don't think that a good looking case necessarily has to be expensive. To look at mine you wouldn't recognise it for what it originally looked like - a biege box with an ugly front and terrible cooling. All of my machines look nice, even though all are fairly average spec'd, Above all though they are functional - good cooling and quietness is paramount to me.

With some time, and not much money my main machine is now powdercoated black, sports a custom front panel with dual 92mm fans cooling for the hdds, and a watercooling loop exhausting through a 120mm blowhole. There is no window, but inside is still tidy, with a few custom parts in there to make it look nice when people want to look inside at LANs. The fact that it houses an AMD 2400XP w/- 1GB and a 9600Pro is irrelevant, it looks good, does what I need it to, cools well and runs quietly.

On the other hand, if I had an expensive Lian Li then I wouldn't expect a setup like mine in it....
 
For me I have two cases, one untouched and one that is still being modded. After working on the case for more than a year (its my gaming machine so i use it constantly) and needing a file server I am thinking about turning my year long mod into my server (PII or PIII) while moving my gaming rig into a larger case to stealth a few things and add better wire management. I would love to have a hi-end case but since i dont have the money i will just take freebies from friends and mod them to my desire no matter whats inside.

In the end i am split depending on what i got time/money to do
Mak
 
I think it really depends on the application. For my desktop, it's less important, as you can't really see it without having to look anyway.

My HTPC, though, is in a cabinet with a glass door in my living room, so I went out of my way to get a case for it that looks appealing, at least from the front.
 
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