[hawkecho125]

Alot of the time they're what holds a PC together, unless your one of the inventive types that stick it all together in a drawer or sit the components on your bed (zenskas...)

personaly, i love cases. They can quite your system, allow for extra cooling and be decorated to show of your rig.

so to start it off

Antec 900II, a good quality case that has good enough fans to be a wind tunnel, but doesnt take up your entire desk (or wherever you place it), and will look bueatiful nonetheless. The only let down is the need for tools, but the price seems compensation enough.

[Zenskas]

Yeah my bed is a good place to test components
I have to say Antec are a decent brand right now. The p180/B/2/3 is one of the quietest full size cases you can buy cheaply and the P182SE with a few LED fans and a window cut in the side looks extremely cool. And the gamer series is awesome. Coolermaster and thermaltake are my next favorites. Lian LI make some nifty cases too. Mine is just a foxconn but it does the job ATM until I build something special.

[Tripredacus]

I have only bought Antec cases for my last few PCs. I enjoy case that looks very squarish and no crazy round shapes in there. I like my cars that way too. And anything that has a Futurism look to them, flat, bland, solid colors. I only care about the looks when it comes to a case. I have only bought 2 in the past 10 years so I'm probably not a good mark for this type of discussion.

[puntoMX]

I'm surprised you took Gigabyte into your list hawkecho125, those are nice cases for the price but are seldom seen in shops. I've had my hands on them before and they are well build, different (read less boring) styles and give good cooling features. Second would be Antec on my list and 3rd Coolermaster.

Also, Casetek (mostly known in Germany and the Benelux) makes great cases too but their design is a bit outdated. Inwin still makes sturdy cases but mostly more for mass production and not to stand out as an individual.

last words will go to Thermaltake; leave it where it is, don't even come close to it. It's shiny, looks not to bad, but is flimsy... In my eyes not a good pick for a real computer enthusiast..

I know you didn't ask for opinions about the brands, but keep it just in mind. Mostly it's personal what you pick .

[ripken204]

I have owned a few Lian-Li and Antec cases and they are both great companies imo.

[Thunderbolt 2864]

Coolermaster here. In my household I have a HAF 932 (Which I'm currently using), a Centurion and I use to have a 330 Elite. All high quality cases.

[CoffeeFiend]

Antec is good all-around. Great quality for the price. No complaints. Last 2 I bought were Antec, and the next one likely will be too.
Coolermaster also has some great offerings. The stacker is one of my all-time fav cases (I just love the old 810)
Gigabyte? Didn't even know they made cases, never seen one (not even in a store)
Lian Li is nice, but way overpriced IMO.
Thermaltake... Mostly about looks, but I've seen worse.
Others? There's always some others. I've been thinking about this Norco RPC-4020 for a while myself. This one's even nicer, but definitely out of my price range (especially when you add the pair of high end RAID cards and the 36 1TB+ HDs )

[Zenskas]

CoffeeFiend, on Jun 14 2009, 02:57 AM, said:

Antec is good all-around. Great quality for the price. No complaints. Last 2 I bought were Antec, and the next one likely will be too.
Coolermaster also has some great offerings. The stacker is one of my all-time fav cases (I just love the old 810)
Gigabyte? Didn't even know they made cases, never seen one (not even in a store)
Lian Li is nice, but way overpriced IMO.
Thermaltake... Mostly about looks, but I've seen worse.
Others? There's always some others. I've been thinking about this Norco RPC-4020 for a while myself. This one's even nicer, but definitely out of my price range (especially when you add the pair of high end RAID cards and the 36 1TB+ HDs )

Man thats a nice rack case there!
Yeah I like the Antec ones the most too. I think my next case would be a p18x or one of the gamer cases. You don't see gigabyte cases much but I have seen an ad for them before and man did they look weird But I think they are good cases anyway
I love the CM stacker 810 case too. Looks great and isn't it the case Zxian uses for his server? I think I have seen him soft mount a heap of HDD's using elastic in it in a thread

[CoffeeFiend]

Zenskas, on Jun 13 2009, 09:54 PM, said:

Man thats a nice rack case there!

20 hot-swap SATA bays for under $300 is pretty good anyways. It's about as much drives as one is going to get in a PC without going crazy expensive. You can hookup that many with the onboard SATA ports and some cheapo $30 4 port SATA generic cards with a silicon image chipset (works just fine). You can still manage to power that many HDs on a quality PSU that has enough "umph", without $1200 RAID cards that have staggered spinup.

Zenskas, on Jun 13 2009, 09:54 PM, said:

I think my next case would be a p18x or one of the gamer cases.

I'm thinking about that too... Maybe a P182, maybe another CM, maybe the Norco, ... not 100% sure yet.

Zenskas, on Jun 13 2009, 09:54 PM, said:

Looks great and isn't it the case Zxian uses for his server? I think I have seen him soft mount a heap of HDD's using elastic in it in a thread

Yes, and yes. (this post typed on a computer sitting in a CM stacker 810 as well -- the one without the dual PSUs though). It's a shame they don't sell them anymore.

[Zenskas]

CoffeeFiend, on Jun 14 2009, 12:33 PM, said:

Zenskas, on Jun 13 2009, 09:54 PM, said:

I think my next case would be a p18x or one of the gamer cases.

I'm thinking about that too... Maybe a P182, maybe another CM, maybe the Norco, ... not 100% sure yet.

Zenskas, on Jun 13 2009, 09:54 PM, said:

Looks great and isn't it the case Zxian uses for his server? I think I have seen him soft mount a heap of HDD's using elastic in it in a thread

Yes, and yes. (this post typed on a computer sitting in a CM stacker 810 as well -- the one without the dual PSUs though). It's a shame they don't sell them anymore.

Yep I would probably get a P182 because I hate computer noise The gamer series are fairly quiet and the fans can be turned down in speed they are more open so lets the noise escape and the dust enter! What do you think about the P183? Looks a little weird?
Ah yes Zxian's post was in the post pics and specs of your PC thread. Looks like a quality case

[Maleko]

Personally I'm a fan of Coolermaster cases

[CoffeeFiend]

Zenskas, on Jun 17 2009, 04:21 AM, said:

Yep I would probably get a P182 because I hate computer noise The gamer series are fairly quiet and the fans can be turned down in speed they are more open so lets the noise escape and the dust enter! What do you think about the P183? Looks a little weird?

Well, I'm not quite sure yet. Honestly, there's one thing I really despise in cases (besides cheap flimsy crap, no airflow and all the really obvious stuff): front doors. Their only purpose seems to be being in your way every time you have to get to your optical drives

So most likely I'm going to go with something else, even though they're quiet, well built and so on.

For the same price as a P182 or P183, I can get a Cooler Master Haf 932 or something like that (no dust filters though...) Or perhaps for $40 more a Cosmos S.

Noise isn't my main problem here. I let HDs spin down when not used for a while, I got quiet fans, silent/passive vid cards everywhere and all. The kids make a LOT more noise

[DJPro]

My last one is Antec P182

Very quiet due to special three-layer side panels and front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum).
Nice design with a special metal black finish.

I like it very much, DJPro

[Zenskas]

CoffeeFiend, on Jun 18 2009, 08:11 AM, said:

Well, I'm not quite sure yet. Honestly, there's one thing I really despise in cases (besides cheap flimsy crap, no airflow and all the really obvious stuff): front doors. Their only purpose seems to be being in your way every time you have to get to your optical drives

So most likely I'm going to go with something else, even though they're quiet, well built and so on.

For the same price as a P182 or P183, I can get a Cooler Master Haf 932 or something like that (no dust filters though...) Or perhaps for $40 more a Cosmos S.

Noise isn't my main problem here. I let HDs spin down when not used for a while, I got quiet fans, silent/passive vid cards everywhere and all. The kids make a LOT more noise

I don't mind front doors myself-I don't use my optical drive much (internet, external HDD's and USB sticks are my main data transport) and it makes the case look neat while blocking even more noise especially from the HDD's and front fans (you could always take the front door off i guess)
But yeah the HAF and Cosmos are pretty darn good too. But if I was to get something awesome looking I would get an Antec 900V2 as it is fair bit cheaper than a HAF in my area.

EDIT: Oh yeah I got a baby sister (19months old) so my PC seems to become a little quieter thanks to that

This post has been edited by Zenskas: 17 June 2009 - 10:48 PM

[CoffeeFiend]

I don't use optical media quite as much as I used to, but I always hated those things and usually ended up removing them as they only got in my way. As for looks, I don't really see a difference, and noise wise, the computers are always buried by ambient noise anyhow...

Zenskas, on Jun 18 2009, 12:45 AM, said:

But if I was to get something awesome looking I would get an Antec 900V2 as it is fair bit cheaper than a HAF in my area.

Cheaper indeed. But a lot less place inside. Less cooling. Less extras e.g. no wheels and no PSU extensions like you often need on bottom mounted PSUs, one less port at the front (albeit minor), less drive bays (matters a lot to me -- one of the biggest factors actually)... Besides price, the only place where the 900 is nicer is the air filters.

If anything, I'd want a couple more drive bays, a more plain looking case (no ugly side windows, no fans that light up, no weird looking plastic stuff) -- basically another CM Stacker 810. The Cosmos is probably the next best thing, but it's twice the price as a antec 900 indeed. Anyhow, there's many other options worth looking into. NZXT Whisper Silent perhaps. Or even the Antec 1200.

Either ways, it's not for now. I got a pair of new LCDs to buy before that at least.

[nitroshift]

I'm using the case in attachment (Raidmax Ninja Black). Not worried about airflow since i'm using watercooling, nor about optical media, my DVD-RW drive is only used for installation purposes, I don't think it wrote more than 10 disks in ~1 year since I got it...

Attached File(s)

•  1.jpg (18.58K)
  Number of downloads: 1

[Zenskas]

CoffeeFiend, on Jun 18 2009, 03:24 PM, said:

I don't use optical media quite as much as I used to, but I always hated those things and usually ended up removing them as they only got in my way. As for looks, I don't really see a difference, and noise wise, the computers are always buried by ambient noise anyhow...

Zenskas, on Jun 18 2009, 12:45 AM, said:

But if I was to get something awesome looking I would get an Antec 900V2 as it is fair bit cheaper than a HAF in my area.

Cheaper indeed. But a lot less place inside. Less cooling. Less extras e.g. no wheels and no PSU extensions like you often need on bottom mounted PSUs, one less port at the front (albeit minor), less drive bays (matters a lot to me -- one of the biggest factors actually)... Besides price, the only place where the 900 is nicer is the air filters.

If anything, I'd want a couple more drive bays, a more plain looking case (no ugly side windows, no fans that light up, no weird looking plastic stuff) -- basically another CM Stacker 810. The Cosmos is probably the next best thing, but it's twice the price as a antec 900 indeed. Anyhow, there's many other options worth looking into. NZXT Whisper Silent perhaps. Or even the Antec 1200.

Either ways, it's not for now. I got a pair of new LCDs to buy before that at least.

I just think it looks neater with the front door as the case looks the same all over and you can use odd color drives and it won't detract from looks when the door is closed. The 900 has plenty enough cooling power for me and I don't reckon I will need wheels on my PC right now But I have heard it is a little small for some but I have never owned a large expensive case so its OK. Don't need any more than one optical drive bay and two HDD bays either so thats OK for me. But if I did have a lot of HDD's I would buy one of those big cases for sure.

[cluberti]

I voted CoolerMaster. After debating between the Antec 300 and P18x models, I found the CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000 KSN and it was exactly what I needed. Good airflow, nice drive bay design, lots of room, and just barely fit under the desk .

[CoffeeFiend]

cluberti, on Jun 18 2009, 10:25 PM, said:

I found the CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000 KSN and it was exactly what I needed.

Very similar to the Cosmos S I was looking at. Different side panel color, couple drive bay's size, a couple different fans, but it's nearly identical (only $5 difference at ncix as well). I'm also leaning towards that right now. In fact, I most likely will pick the 1000 over the S now. Thanks!

[cluberti]

CoffeeFiend, on Jun 18 2009, 10:43 PM, said:

cluberti, on Jun 18 2009, 10:25 PM, said:

I found the CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000 KSN and it was exactly what I needed.

Very similar to the Cosmos S I was looking at. Different side panel color, couple drive bay's size, a couple different fans, but it's nearly identical (only $5 difference at ncix as well). I'm also leaning towards that right now. In fact, I most likely will pick the 1000 over the S now. Thanks!

No problem. Pair it with a nice modular PSU like the Enermax MODU series (using an 82+ myself) and you won't be sorry. The drive bays with fans over them directly has been quite nice too.