calling all case experts - newbie needs help

jpmad4it · Aug 26, 2005

hey,

i am looking to buy a new TOWER case for my setup.

At the moment i have a midi tower - and its all too cramped inside it. Ive cleaned the wires up, but its still to cramped and i want to add more fans. Instead of drilling / making holes etc i would like to buy a case thats already got the holes in it. Here is my cramped case (before i cleaned the wires), ignore the annotations they were for something else:

So - i want to buy a new one!!

I need a case that will be able to satisfy the following components:

-Tagen 480W PSU
- Room for a Thermalright XP-90 heatsink and 92mm fan
-Correct fittings to attach a Gigabyte GA-8IK1100 motherboard SOCKET 478 for a Pentium 4 processor, and the correct holes on the back of the case to facilitate the ports on the Motherboard.
-I need at least 7 PCI slots/AGP slots
-The case needs to have space to hold 3 Hards Drives, 3 cd-rom drives, 1 floppy drive - and possibly room for expansion.
-I also want it to have the usual reset and power buttons, HDD activity light, power on light.
-An intake fan opening at the bottom of the case, at the front - large enough for a 120mm intake fan.
-An opening at the rear of the case for a 80mm fan to expel air
-An opening at the roof of the case for a 120mm fan to expel air

By the way - im totally not bothered about colours/fancy styling etc. A plain old white tower case will be best

does anyone know where i can buy a good case that meets my needs? Or even better a make/model number would be even better - as im in the UK and i guess the majority of you guys are in the USA.

thanks Jp

Vulcan · Aug 26, 2005

jpmad4it said:
hey,

i am looking to buy a new TOWER case for my setup.

At the moment i have a midi tower - and its all too cramped inside it. Ive cleaned the wires up, but its still to cramped and i want to add more fans. Instead of drilling / making holes etc i would like to buy a case thats already got the holes in it. Here is my cramped case (before i cleaned the wires), ignore the annotations they were for something else:

So - i want to buy a new one!!

I need a case that will be able to satisfy the following components:

-Tagen 480W PSU
- Room for a Thermalright XP-90 heatsink and 92mm fan
-Correct fittings to attach a Gigabyte GA-8IK1100 motherboard SOCKET 478 for a Pentium 4 processor, and the correct holes on the back of the case to facilitate the ports on the Motherboard.
-I need at least 7 PCI slots/AGP slots
-The case needs to have space to hold 3 Hards Drives, 3 cd-rom drives, 1 floppy drive - and possibly room for expansion.
-I also want it to have the usual reset and power buttons, HDD activity light, power on light.
-An intake fan opening at the bottom of the case, at the front - large enough for a 120mm intake fan.
-An opening at the rear of the case for a 80mm fan to expel air
-An opening at the roof of the case for a 120mm fan to expel air

By the way - im totally not bothered about colours/fancy styling etc. A plain old white tower case will be best

does anyone know where i can buy a good case that meets my needs? Or even better a make/model number would be even better - as im in the UK and i guess the majority of you guys are in the USA.

thanks Jp

Check out the Antec P180, it fits your requirements quite well.

jpmad4it · Aug 26, 2005

thanks for the info that case is mad!!! Does the PSU go in the bottom of the Antec P180 case?? ITs a bit strange to put it there - heat rises? From the pics ive seen it all looks pretty cramped inside that case too. Lots of fans (good) but also lots of compartments etc to stop the airflow?

what about these other cases:

a-top x-blade deluxe
a-top gladitor
aspire x-navigator
lian-li PC 60 plus

would these also accomodate my needs???

rgds

jpmad4it · Sep 1, 2005

here is my new case - take a look!!!

the before and after pictures make it stand out even more.

Its not finished yet but its on the way. Need to sort out the sleeving on the molex cables. How can i sleeve the double molex cables like the one in this pic:

ive done the single ones no probs - but how can i do these?

jpmad4it · Sep 1, 2005

Ummm forget the stupid question! I figured it out that you have to sleeve the whole cable from the end once you have all the molex connectors off - D'oh!! So you can just comment on my mint new Antec 180

Oh and my Thermalright X-90C

Yamiyanazz · Sep 1, 2005

that's a ncie looking case! Looks very clean and solid. Excellent choice!

locaj · Sep 1, 2005

you wana see a mad case? this one is wicked, your gona want one the second your page loads. been waiting for this one for about 3 months now.

to the type and spec of case.
http://www.giga-byte.com/Peripherals/Products/Products_GZ-FSCA1-ANS(ANB).htm

when and where to get it at.
http://www.eastluna.com/hardware/details.php?ProductID=0852

Vulcan · Sep 1, 2005

locaj said:
you wana see a mad case? this one is wicked, your gona want one the second your page loads. been waiting for this one for about 3 months now.

to the type and spec of case.
http://www.giga-byte.com/Peripherals/Products/Products_GZ-FSCA1-ANS(ANB).htm

when and where to get it at.
http://www.eastluna.com/hardware/details.php?ProductID=0852

The Gigabyte case is not that nice. It has good cooling potential, but it does look a little funny. IMO, the P180 is superior.

jpmad4it said:
here is my new case - take a look!!!

the before and after pictures make it stand out even more.

Its not finished yet but its on the way. Need to sort out the sleeving on the molex cables. How can i sleeve the double molex cables like the one in this pic:

ive done the single ones no probs - but how can i do these?

Nice work. So is the P180 working out for your pretty well?

locaj · Sep 1, 2005

Vulcan said:
The Gigabyte case is not that nice. It has good cooling potential, but it does look a little funny. IMO, the P180 is superior.

i personally love this case and my heart is content on it. he just said he needed room hince
the aurora case is full tower and the p180 is a mid.
the aurora case supports all liquid cooling systems. p180 you have to mod with not much room compared to the aurora case.
p180 Bottom placement of PSU/heat rises but i know it has a fan
problem is with cases with psu on bottom some psu's have shorter rails than others.
p180 has 4 hd bays/aurora has 5
p180 supports only Standard ATX/aurora supports ATX / Micro ATX
p180 has screws/aurora has Tool-less : Hassle-Free Assembly
they both have neat pointless Built-in toolbox's
they both come with 3 120 mm fans but aurora's are built-in blue LED illumined rear silent fans
on both fronts fan with 3-way intake
the only advantage i see is i have to wait till the 18th this month to get one.
i do not see how the p180 is superior to the aurora.
there aurond the same price / u still rock!

gimmie a feedback please sir vulcan.

Enablingwolf · Sep 1, 2005

Knowing Gigabyte, the fans will fail very soon. If they are built in that makes it much more fun to replace the part. Plus Gigabytes idea of quiet in not my idea of quiet.

I would go with Antec over Gigabyte on cases anyday. They are a proven winner in the arena of cases.

4GHZ_or_bust · Sep 2, 2005

If you wanted Gigabyte case anyway, replace all the fans just to be on the safe side.

Vulcan · Sep 2, 2005

locaj said:
i personally love this case and my heart is content on it. he just said he needed room hince
the aurora case is full tower and the p180 is a mid.

I'd consider them both to be larger than average mid tower cases.
P180:
- 4 x 5.25" external drive bays
- 1 x 3.5" external drive bays
- 6 x 3.5" internal drive bays
Aurora
- 5 5.25" external drive bays
- 2 3.5" external drive bays
- 5 3.5" internal drive bays

locaj said:
the aurora case supports all liquid cooling systems. p180 you have to mod with not much room compared to the aurora case.

All? The Aurora does not have any room for an internal system, basicly it has two holes drilled in the backside to allow hoses to pass through to the ouside. You could do the same thing to a P180 in a few minutes with a drill.

locaj said:
p180 Bottom placement of PSU/heat rises but i know it has a fan

And your point is? Sepperating the heat sources is really the next evolution in cooling. It prvents one component from dumping heat into another, atleast to a degree.

locaj said:
problem is with cases with psu on bottom some psu's have shorter rails than others.

Yes, cable length is definatly an anoying problem with the P180. They should have used an inverted motherboard design.

locaj said:
p180 has 4 hd bays/aurora has 5

Not true. The P180 can hold 6 hard drives.

locaj said:
p180 supports only Standard ATX/aurora supports ATX / Micro ATX

A Micro ATX board should still work in the P180. I don't know why you would ever use a Micro ATX board anyway.

locaj said:
p180 has screws/aurora has Tool-less : Hassle-Free Assembly

I'd rather have screws myself. Tooless systems usualy don't work as well as they should. It only hakes a few seconds to screw in a thumbscrew anyway.

Tyreal · Sep 2, 2005

i hate toolless systems. it really annoys me when something won't work and those tool less hard drive bays are a real big hassle. Especially the one on the thermaltake soprano.

I have to agree with vulcan in that i prefer screws.

I would go with the Antec P180.

jpmad4it · Sep 17, 2005

the case is mint!!! I have now got all the cables cleaned up and the graphics card cooler in place.

have a look:

Can i tidy it up anymore? still looks a bit messy to me - but im really fussy!!!

Twiggz · Sep 18, 2005

haha those cases are a dream to mine it's a 6 year old case made by VPR MATRIX i doubt anyone has heard of it cus i havnt found anyone who has yet.
i've been modding it myself in all sorts of ways since i got it but not anything like those monsters

calling all case experts - newbie needs help

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