PC case Dilema

[Pilotasso]

In my previous home build I regreted about buying an el cheapo case, although adequate cant cope with the temperature rise in summer because it has only 3 fans for ventilation no counting with the PSU.

 

I realy want a capable case with large fans 120mm or bigger, because my CPU and GFX will be realy high end and they need optimal air cooling and thus good ventilation inside the case. Im staying the friggin away from water cooling. Electric circuitry+H2o=RZzZzZzZTTT! And its very messy.

 

The CPU will be either a X6700 or a QX6700 from Intel mounted on an ASUS P5N-E_SLI (chipset 650i-1333Mhz capable), the cooler I have in mind will be the Tuniq Tower 120, but I heard I might have to rotate the thing 90 or 180 degrees because of some short capacitors arround the CPU socket wich rubbs on the heatpipes at the base of the cooler. Thus it might make the Tuniqs fan face upwards=> need a top fan.

 

If I opt for the QX6700 added with a NVIDIA 8800 320 I might need some aditional fans as well. This causes me some concern about the noise.

 

But I also wish to avoid premium price tags on the casing wasting money that I could use on other components. I dont want to spend more than some 100'ish Euros (some 120$) on any brands that I can purchase localy (no long range mailing please).

 

So I norrowed the choises down to these:

-Antec 180 silver

3 120 fans, front, back and top (this last top I needed as I described above)

good for X6700 but not so with the quad? 129є Euros.

 

-Antec Nine Hundred:

Plenty ventilation, 2 120mm fan at front, another at back and a 200mm top, with option for another 120 at the side panel. Call me crazy but the astetics of this case looks butt ugly to me, and thanks to its porous nature it accumulates dust FAST according to reviews.106є Euros

 

-NZXT BIG ZERO

Plenty of cooling, 4 intake 120mm fans on the side panel, another at the front and 2 more at the back and an 80mm top, sound insulation and dust filtering included. Seems an excelent case for me but it is rather big for the room I have and it realy streches my case budget to the limit. 142є Euros.

 

So guys what do you think?

Are there any other options I could have missed with these requirements in mind?

 

P.S. Pics from newegg reviews (excellent reference IMHO)

[Pilotasso]

Its been 2 hours, its a quiet dark night out there and I can hear the crickets. Anyone? :cry:

 

Oh I see, your jealous! haha :D

[thereminqblank]

You mentioned the Quad, so none of us want to play no more :D

 

Have you had a look at the Thermaltake Armour? It might be higher than the budget you stated. I'm not sure because I only search UK stores. I think it costs around £130 here. I mention it because it's a full tower with plenty of intakes/exhausts, including a 25 cm fan in the side window. It will definitely fit the Tuniq tower in (I hear it's quite tall and has some trouble fitting in some cases)

 

Here it is:

 

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/armor/va8003bws.asp

 

I have the Thermaltake Tsunami and love it. Very good quality. I think my next build would be in the Armour. Unless something better comes along by then :P

[thereminqblank]

I should be more helpful and comment on the cases you mentioned in your original post :P

 

I don't think the first one will give you enough cooling for a quad or extreme duo, especially if you're going to overclock.

 

An 8800 is going to increase the inside temps dramatically aswell. Therefore reduce your overclocking ability without excellent air flow.

 

The second one looks waaaay too small. especially if you're going to have a Tuniq tower and next generation vid card. The DX10 ATI cards are rumoured to be longer than the 8800s!!

 

The third one, even though you think is ugly, looks quite big and looks to have excellent air flow. But 4 120cm fans on the side might make it a bit loud. The 25 cm fan on the side window od the Thermaltake armour would be quieter.

[Pilotasso]

You mentioned the Quad, so none of us want to play no more :D

 

Have you had a look at the Thermaltake Armour? It might be higher than the budget you stated. I'm not sure because I only search UK stores. I think it costs around Ј130 here. I mention it because it's a full tower with plenty of intakes/exhausts, including a 25 cm fan in the side window. It will definitely fit the Tuniq tower in (I hear it's quite tall and has some trouble fitting in some cases)

 

Here it is:

 

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/armor/va8003bws.asp

 

 

 

Indeed thats an awsome case, pretty and plenty vantilation...cant seem to find that 25mm fan version in my local stores and judging by that price in the UK its gonna be premium here. Too bad.

 

The second one looks waaaay too small. especially if you're going to have a Tuniq tower and next generation vid card. The DX10 ATI cards are rumoured to be longer than the 8800s!!

 

 

That case has been reviewed and declared Tuniq and 8800 capable. Me thinks the large fan size might be playing tricks on your eyes, its by no means a small case. But it gulps up biblical amounts of dust I hear. And I cant stand its looks, never been much of a fan (no pun intended) of aestetics but this case is UGLY.

[thereminqblank]

It sucks having expensive taste :P

 

Anyways, its just to provide you with some food for thought. I would searchy more for you, but I should be writing a report for an MS Access assessment, and I'm already being distracted by Ruggbutt's joke thread...

[Groove]

Go for a solution where you have some fans blowing fresh air into the tower from the FRONT into it.

[Pilotasso]

It sucks having expensive taste :P

 

Anyways, its just to provide you with some food for thought. I would searchy more for you, but I should be writing a report for an MS Access assessment, and I'm already being distracted by Ruggbutt's joke thread...

 

:D

Its not a question of taste, its a question of need, I could take that Antec Nine Hundred but it will suck dust and clogg the fans and heatsinks in no time.

 

I apreciate your answers. :)

Go for a solution where you have some fans blowing fresh air into the tower from the FRONT into it.

The NXT Zero does that even better than the other ones, thats why I chose it (that and the top fan) because the panel fans transmit turbulent airflow from under the CPU heatsink and up with the hot air torwards those powerfull rear fans and the other on the top.

[hitman]

Where water cooling wont do the trick and you cant find a large enough fan in enough quantities...you can always get one of these :D

Couple of holes strategically placed for the cords, then youll have a refrigerated case and you got yourself a beer holder and a monitor stand all rolled into one...kinda makes this an obvious choice, dont you think???

[Pilotasso]

Thanx for the Imput Hitman! ^^^^ Chalk up another one for YOU!

:rolleyes:

 

1 more jealous slob joins the club... :D

[hitman]

Dude....Im not rugg....:( Wake up and smell the burning pancakes, you...Mines actually a good idea, lol...time to bust out the old fridge from college days and clean the mildewy beer spills outta the bottom of it.

[Pilotasso]

You deserved your name spelled wrong :P ANyway I fixed it (actualy I get you both confused all the time after similar sense of humour)

[hitman]

My funny side is more slapstick...plotisoo =\

[hitman]

Pilotass??

Pilatossa?

[Aeroscout]

huh? I dont get it...

[Pilotasso]

These jokes are too advanced for you :D (na realy it only takes you to read the first page)

 

Anyway, anyone has more usefull sugestions?

[51GRIZZLY]

My bid would be the Chakra case by Enermax, it has a gigantic airflow thanks to a 25cm monster fan with airflow direction change, and many other nifty gadgets.

 

http://www.enermax.com.tw/english/product_cases_detail.asp?PrID=46

[CoNa]

I looked at the Antec 180 when building my new PC, but I went with Lian-Li PC6070B as I wanted it to be quiet too. Why not go for watercooling while your at it? I had that as second option if I was not satisfied with the cooling or of it was too loud. But so far It's been jolly good.

[33rd_bratpfanne.]

I have the Antec 180 and i m quite satisfied with the airflow. i installed 4 Noiseblocker 120 mm Fans and put them on an innovatek Fancontroller. I programmed it to rise Fanspeed if Case or Graka temp exceeds a certain value and it works well. For Desktop usage it is pretty quiet and while playing games, it is a bit louder but cools well. I have a Scythe Andy Samurai Master on my Core 2 Duo 6600 oc @6700 and it never exceeds 43 degrees in Bios after excessive game usage. For better Airflow direktion in the CPU Area, i would choose now a CPU Cooler that blows sideways towards the exhaustfans, mine blows down on the Mainboard. U should also concider a Mainbord with aktive NB-Cooling for best OC-Performance.

 

Hope that helped a little.

 

S! Brati

[Fjordmonkey]

I'd personally go with the P180 but do as Bratpfanne and swap the fans for something a bit better than what's stock (can recommend the Noctua 120mm fans), OR if you really want to go massive: http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/Kandalf_lcs/vd4000swa.asp

 

Problem with the last one is price. Here in Norway it's at around 350USD. Cheapest I've found on the web is around $265, which is a tad pricey.

[Pilotasso]

I have the Antec 180 and i m quite satisfied with the airflow. i installed 4 Noiseblocker 120 mm Fans and put them on an innovatek Fancontroller. I programmed it to rise Fanspeed if Case or Graka temp exceeds a certain value and it works well. For Desktop usage it is pretty quiet and while playing games, it is a bit louder but cools well. I have a Scythe Andy Samurai Master on my Core 2 Duo 6600 oc @6700 and it never exceeds 43 degrees in Bios after excessive game usage. For better Airflow direktion in the CPU Area, i would choose now a CPU Cooler that blows sideways towards the exhaustfans, mine blows down on the Mainboard. U should also concider a Mainbord with aktive NB-Cooling for best OC-Performance.

 

Hope that helped a little.

 

S! Brati

 

Where can I add more fans on the 180? Front? is there enougth clearence for the airflow?

 

BTW I found the Thermatlatke armor with that 25mm fan mentioned on the first page, but im required to buy the side panels seperatly, total price is just over 200 Euro;; Yikes.

 

As for water cooling I wish to avoid it due to the complexity of the cabling inside, and the added price tag it gives.

 

gotta analyse further the other suggestions made with more detail, keep em coming and thX in advance.

 

EDIT:

After much analysing I think Antec 900 and NXT ZERO are still the finalists, adding more fans to the ANTEC 180 is going to bring it close to the price tag of the ZERO, but the ZERO has a better airflow system out of the box with noise insulation.

 

My favourite would actualy be that Thermaltake Armor (wich is very similar to the kandalf) with that 25mm fan side panel addon, that case is drop dead gorgeous but with a murderous price tag for my wallet too. Its not that I cant shell out more than 2000 Euro for a PC :D but its going to be a tad over the top for this hobby (and others). Ill keep in mind these suggestions untill the very few days before the order where I can acess my economical situation and make the final call.

 

Cheers! :)

[thereminqblank]

I believe you can buy those Thermaltake side panels with the large fan seperately. All you would need to to do is make sure it will fit the case of your choice!!

 

Dang, can't find a link to an example, but I have seen it!

[thereminqblank]

:shocking:

 

dear god. i think these people love their large fans

 

http://www.xclio.com/

 

 

The products section doesn't work, but the front page has a couple of cases.

[Pilotasso]

Those are strangely similar to these.

http://www.aplus-case.de/pages/products/TwinEngine/e_TwinEngine.html

 

pricing here is similar to the NZT Zero and you have to buy the exasut fans seperatly so guess what this will lead to. Ill check some reviews though to check.

[hitman]

You can always slightly mod the case to accept some filters over the fans...