Good case for 100-150US?

M

Moloch

God of Wicked Games
Veteran
I want either a spacey mid tower or a full tower.
With emphases on cooling, so no antecs... would like side panel fans.
It will be housing an A64/7800GT system and will be overclocked hence need for something beefier than an antec.
I don't mind low pitched hums, but no high pitched wines.
Oh and of the major brands, the store I shop at caries antec of course, thermaltake, lian li (bit rich for my blood), coolermaster and gigabyte. (when they get the case business?)
Spanks
 
I bought two of these recently (the second after getting an upclose look at the first) : http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/gig-3d-aurora.html

So far so good. Love those two big 120mm fans on the back and the inflow on the side. My old full-tower had not-so-good ventilation. Using Asus probeII (yes, I know these things aren't all that accurate, but its what I have available), I went from 55c under load on the cpu (an OC'ed X2 4200) to 37-39c, by first adding the Zalman 9500 and then moving to this case. The Zalman fan is pointed right at the top most of the two rear fans on the case. Each was responsible for about 1/2 the temp decrease.
 
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radeonic2 said:
I want either a spacey mid tower or a full tower.
With emphases on cooling, so no antecs...
Click to expand...
Really? I though Antec were getting good reviews for their P150 and P180 cases (which is what I was going to suggest). What's wrong with them?
 
Antec put a lot of effort into their cases paying particular attention to airflow and the like. Luckily they avoid the "bling" factor of LED fans and other stuff.

If I were to get a case myself I'd go for the P150 at the moment or at least I would if they did one in black! Admittedly, enormous expandability isn't really of any importance to me.
 
Mariner said:
Antec put a lot of effort into their cases paying particular attention to airflow and the like. Luckily they avoid the "bling" factor of LED fans and other stuff.

If I were to get a case myself I'd go for the P150 at the moment or at least I would if they did one in black! Admittedly, enormous expandability isn't really of any importance to me.
Click to expand...
I wish they'd offer their P150 with a bigger PSU though. If you ask for one, they'll just tell you to get the P180, which is a lot bigger than the 150. They consider the P150 to be only suitable for mid-upper range machines, and don't sell the cases separately so you can't put a bigger PSU in unless you are willing to buy a spare PSU you'll never use. For instance, they won't endorse dual graphics card rigs in the 150, and will tell you to get the 180 instead. They'll tell you the 150 isn't meant for SLI or watercooling because it's been disigned at lower capacity to be quieter.

I wonder what they will do with the power requirements of R580 and G71? Just say their cases won't support them because they won't supply larger PSUs?
 
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros. said:
Really? I though Antec were getting good reviews for their P150 and P180 cases (which is what I was going to suggest). What's wrong with them?
Click to expand...
Well like the sonata for example only has 2 fan spots and a reviewer says generally antec cases run 2-4 degrees hotter than anything else.
The P160 also only can take 2 fans.. 120MM though, but I'd like a side fan to blow air around the graphicard area/mobo.
 
Which reviewer? Did they know what they were trying to achieve?

I dunno I get tired of repeating the same old mantra, but go to SPCR and see what folks are achieving there with moderate overclocks, stupidly low temps and Antec cases :???: Airflow is the key to silent computing and to overclocking, and fans != airflow.
 
nutball said:
Which reviewer? Did they know what they were trying to achieve?

I dunno I get tired of repeating the same old mantra, but go to SPCR and see what folks are achieving there with moderate overclocks, stupidly low temps and Antec cases :???: Airflow is the key to silent computing and to overclocking, and fans != airflow.
Click to expand...
well I dont really care about silent cases (as far as fans go) beause my 7800GT is louder.. since it's a small fan which spins fast, so what's the harm in getting a case that supports more fans?
Found the review.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/217/1/
I quote
The one concern I had with the Sonata was cooling. There was no side mounted fans, and in fact only one fan for system cooling, a rear mounted 120 mm fan, which in today's systems is simply not enough. When it came to temperatures, the biggest concern I had was for my HDD, which ran 3-4C higher in the Sonata than any other case. Antec did allow for a 120mm fan to be mounted to the side of the HDD section, but it was more of a hindrance than anything else. All in all, the Sonata is a great ~$100 case that I still use today.
Click to expand...
 
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