In search of computer case.

LessisNevermore · January 2011

Looking for a new case, for HTPC.
No fancy video cards, but needs to be a full size tower, NO mid-tower. They just don't (for the most part) have enough space for good airflow. I plan to load lots of hard drives. (6+)

I like a couple of cases from NZXT. They have a couple, the Whisper, and the Phantom that look very much like what I'm after.
Whisper

Phantom

Looking for suggestions, I've looked mainly at offerings from Tiger Direct, and Newegg. Not really familiar with other vendors, so I'm all ears.

Thanks

Glowrdr · January 2011

I've always been a big fan of Antec cases. Not sure about their full towers, but it might be worth checking out. Good features, easy access and they are built with quietness in mind

camtah · January 2011

In Illinois, I pick-up my stuff from Tiger, Frys or Microcenter depending on what I am looking for. The last tower case I bought I picked it up from Tiger

txcoastal1 · January 2011

Glowrdr wrote: »

I've always been a big fan of Antec cases. Not sure about their full towers, but it might be worth checking out. Good features, easy access and they are built with quietness in mind

I 2nd antec but can add cooler master...I have built my last 8PC's with these and they are all souped up. I like the cooler master with the pop-in hdrive harness and quite fans

Earthy · January 2011

I have a couple of Antec 900 towers. Big 200mm fan in the top and three tri speed 120's. It has plenty of room for all you mention, and can typically be had for less than $100. The Antec 1200 will hold 12 or so drives. More cooling too.

I use one of my 900's for my HTPC and it's quieter than several purpose built HTPC cases I have been around.

Good luck in your search.

ben62670 · January 2011

Check out HTPC cases at newegg. They have some silverstones that look nice too. Me personally have my HTPC in another room with the TV and stereo hooked up to it.

Earthy · January 2011

Not knocking the Silverstone cases. I have one of the GD04b's and it looks awesome. I just can't get it to be as quiet as my Antec 900's so it got the boot from the HT.

+1 Newegg Love the reviews.

ben62670 · January 2011

Is it the fans or the case design? Have you seen the wood one that looks like an antique radio?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204039

Jstas · January 2011

I've been using Lian Li aluminum cases for a while. No complaints.

I'm looking in to building a new computer myself in a few months and will probably go and get another Lian Li case. They are a Taiwanese company but good luck finding a non-Asian company that is affordable and/or available.

Earthy · January 2011

ben62670 wrote: »

Is it the fans or the case design? Have you seen the wood one that looks like an antique radio?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204039

I think the issue is the grating in the case. I put some 800 rpm fans in and you can still hear the air rushing through the grate. I am still experimenting with different fans, but so far I have been disappointed.

I have often considered that wood one. It's just doesn't fit my decor. I think it looks great, and it gets solid marks from reviews on the egg.

ben62670 · January 2011

Yeah the grates on a few of the servers I built made the air very noisy. That is one thing I also love about newegg. The reviews usually reflect info like that.

dcoil · January 2011

I also like the Antec cases. The last PC I built with an Antec P180B case. Very solid/sturdy design - you could easily sit on this case with no problems. Has room for several CD/DVD's, old style floppy, front USB's and firewire, and 4 internal HDD's. And with 2TB drives now at $99, that could be more storage than most medium sized countries could ever use. Also, the 2 internal case and 1 internal exhaust fan have a speed adjustment of high/med/low. This PC sits on an alcove off of my den, and 'quiet' was my main goal. I am running these fans in the meduim position, and I can't hear anything sitting right next to it. Now of major importance is the power supply and video card. If you have an ultra quiet case, but a noisy ps or video card it won't matter. My power supply, made by CoolMaster, adjusts the fan based on interior temperature. So unless it's hot, which is NEVER, the fan is on low and noisless. My video card is a top end, with lots of fan noise, so I replaced the fan with a water cooling unit. I also plumbed it to replace the CPU fan with a water cooled unit. The coolant lines to the 'radiator and coolant fan' run through the wall to a closet on the other side of the wall where the PC sits. In the closet is the radiator, fan and pump (just a large fish-tank pump). Even in the closet, there is no more noise than you would hear from a fishtank. It may sound like overkill, but I've got a real screming PC that doesn't make a sound - worth it in my opinion. This setup wouldn't work if the PC wasn't next to a wall where I could run the coolant lines directly behind the PC to the closet. You don't see these lines at all. If it were in the middle of a room, this setup wouldn't be an option. But keep in mind the power supply fan noise and especially the video card fan noise if you get an uppper end card.

Earthy · January 2011

We just sound proof our server room and remote in from our offices. It's so noisy where I work I don't even worry. At home, I try and make all of our PC's super quiet. As for my Silverstone, I may try and drill out the grates. Just hate to putz up the power coat.

It's obvious reading from the reviews, lots of different opinions on what constitutes quiet. My GD04 got positive comments for quietness, and it is fairly quiet. Just not quiet enough for me.

ben62670 · January 2011

I love my Antec case too. Like you said it is built like a tank!

LessisNevermore · January 2011

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it. I ended up going with a Corsair.
If you haven't seen these yet, they are very impressive as far as features go.

Graphite series

For a mid-tower, this thing is BIG. Should have it in a couple days.
This is for a transplant, not a new build, so it didn't need to be extravagant, but still needed to be large enough for good heat dissipation.

Thanks again for taking the time.

Earthy · January 2011

Looks great. Those dual 200's should keep it cool and quiet.

Sherardp · January 2011

NZXT phantom, I just ordered one in white.

AsSiMiLaTeD · January 2011

I know you've already got yours, but for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread, I have the Antex Twelve Hundred and it's a nice full size case, it's the bigger brother to the 900 already mentioned.

concealer404 · January 2011

ben62670 wrote: »

Is it the fans or the case design? Have you seen the wood one that looks like an antique radio?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204039

Whoa! That is SICK! :biggrin:

Sherardp · January 2011

If you do order the Phantom from FrozenCPU you can save a little coin by entering pcapex at checkout.

I have the Antec 902 and love it, but I decided to build a new rig with the spare AMD 965BE I have with latest USB3, Sata 6 etc mobo. I'll upgrade to a 128gb SSD that can take advantage of the mobo speed. Just ordering a few pieces here and there, no rush as my current rig is very fast.

dcmeigs · January 2011

This is obviously a left-field question, but I'm earnest in asking.

Why is the advantage of having six drives when you can buy a couple of two-terabyte drives?

BTW- I've just a little background with the noise across the grill (grate) issue. The noise is caused by the sudden acceleration of the air. The pressure drop if you will. The way to quiet the sound is to allow the air to gradually accelerate. Think of the air stacks on the big AA fuel dragsters or one of those cones the vet puts around your dogs neck after surgery.

And everyone who sees it will think you have lost your mind.

Sherardp · January 2011

I'm guessing more drive space when using a PC as media server. Movies take up a good amount of space. I personally run 1 SSD for OS/required programs only, 1TB drive as secondary, and 1 TB drive for media.

erniejade · January 2011

camtah wrote: »

In Illinois, I pick-up my stuff from Tiger, Frys or Microcenter depending on what I am looking for. The last tower case I bought I picked it up from Tiger

Agreed!! You might be in the same area as me LOL. DG ish.

Sherardp · January 2011

Thought I would share my current build. Just ordered a few parts but in the end.
ASUS M4A87TD EVO mobo
AMD 965BE (shooting for 4ghz on the overclock)
Thermaltake Frio Cooler
4gb Gskill Ram
Crucial Sata III 128gb SSD
1tb Samsung spinpoint as secondary
1tb WD Black Media Drive
Radeon 6950 video card
lite on BD burner
Lite on DVD burner
NZXT 750 watt power supply in white to match
NZXT phantom case white
Asus D2 Sound card

I already have some parts onhand, waiting on case, SSD, and video card. Heres a pic of the mobo assembly. Look at the massive Thermaltake Frio.:cool:

LessisNevermore · January 2011

Holy hell Sherard, I hope the weight of that cpu cooler doesn't snap the mobo in two.:eek:

Looks like a nice rig, I wanted to go with the Phantom, because of the # and size of the fans, but felt the looks would be a bit out of place in my living room. The Corsair was a nice compromise, as a HTPC-type case doesn't allow for very many drives.

Why is the advantage of having six drives when you can buy a couple of two-terabyte drives?

I'm going to run 4 of these in a RAID 10 array, for redundancy. I'd like to do a 5+spare array, but my board doesn't support it. Eventually, I'll replace these 500GB drives with larger ones. I do have a 1.5TB drive for storage and a 2TB external to back that up. I just spent almost 100 hours re-ripping my cd collection, because hard drives eventually go bad, and my backup wasn't complete. I scrapped it and started over, not taking any chances this time around....

Earthy · January 2011

LessisNevermore wrote: »

Holy hell Sherard, I hope the weight of that cpu cooler doesn't snap the mobo in two.:eek:

Might need a hood scoop for something that tall.

Earthy · January 2011

Hey Sherardp. I saw a reference to the Frio being too large for the NZXT Phantom case on Amazon. Hope your not going to have any issues.

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Overclocking-Universal-Cooler-CLP0564/product-reviews/B003DW0GO2/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

This review is from: Thermaltake Frio Overclocking Universal CPU Cooler CLP0564 (Electronics)
looks nice but its too large for nzxt phantom case with rampage formulate III mobo, its extending over 2 ram slots, since one of those slots has a stick in it, its not possible to install the cooler, its also too high, even if the ram was not in the way i would have to remove the 200mm side fan to install the cooler. Also when the item came it looks like it was returned at last once already.

Sherardp · January 2011

Thanks for the heads up Earthy, I'm hoping the side fans don't get in the way. I did ask if the cooler would fit in a forum on overclock.net, but if it is an issue then I'll just install my Xigmatek Dark Knight and use stock cooler on the current rig.

cheddar · January 2011

LessisNevermore wrote: »

I'm going to run 4 of these in a RAID 10 array, for redundancy. I'd like to do a 5+spare array, but my board doesn't support it. Eventually, I'll replace these 500GB drives with larger ones. I do have a 1.5TB drive for storage and a 2TB external to back that up. I just spent almost 100 hours re-ripping my cd collection, because hard drives eventually go bad, and my backup wasn't complete. I scrapped it and started over, not taking any chances this time around....

I'd go with the larger drives in the first place. Most low cost RAID solutions aren't friendly to resizing existing arrays. And if you want a higher RAID level, just get an add-on card. I really like RAID 5 arrays since only one drive's worth of space is needed for back-up and the rest of the space can be used for storing new data. So for 3+ drives you get a lot more available space.

LessisNevermore · February 2011

Ordered the parts late Sunday night, and have them today. :eek:

Impressive doesn't quite do justice in describing this case. Someone forgot to tell it, that it's a mid-tower. The fit and finish on this thing is pretty stunning.

There's about an inch between the mobo panel, and the access door. Lots of room for excess cable. All visible case wiring is black to match the rest of the case. There are silicone grommets to isolate the retaining pins on the hard drive caddies. Built in dust filters that are ridiculously easy to remove and clean.

The only thing missing here, is some sound deadening material on the access panels, but that's splitting hairs. Gotta start the transplant now....:biggrin:

cheddar, the 4 drives are spares that I already have on hand. All of the real storage is going on a 1.5TB internal, and a 2TB external. I'm going to try the raid 10, and if it's not happening, I'll go with the extra card and raid 5. Thanks for the tip.:cool:

JimAckley · February 2011

I shop for mine on www.xoxide.com. Good luck on your search!

In search of computer case.

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