Pros And Cons about Acrylic Cases

I've Been thinking about getting a uv blue acrylic case for my wife's computer. Just wanted to know if any of you had any thoughts on the subject. Good points, Bad points, anything will help.

Dust, finger prints and scratches show. Like, really show up.

one concern i heard about was adequate cooling, as there are no clear cases with 120mm fans yet

Well.. the only reason to get an acrylic case is to make it look pretty...

And it takes a lot of work to make an acrylic case nice. You really need to be ready to go into some modding.. IE: Painting your drives / power supply blue (or some matching color) so they dont stand out like a sore thumb. Extremely good wire management (and even then, it only looks good from one side) or modular PS w/ sleved everything..

They look awesome when done right - the problem is the doing it right part :- ]

thats all i am really trying to achieve is "pretty" it is for my wife and she is a girly girl, doesn't know much about comps but she loves the sims, her old case has issues, it keeps eating mobos and psu's so i may get her a uv blue one. the modding and wiring isn't a big deal, plus it is going in a desk where you can't really see the sides unless you unplug it and pull it out, all that is really visible is the front.

If it is going into a desk and you will only see the front then I would concentrate on a regular PC case that has a nice looking front. One that may be easily modded to include lights.

yeah but the wife is the one who is picking out the case and she likes the looks of the uv blue, anything to keep the woman happy

martinjon666 said:

yeah but the wife is the one who is picking out the case and she likes the looks of the uv blue, anything to keep the woman happy

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Amen.

Well if that's the case, then make sure you make the front pretty :- ]

I've seen conduit used to trap wires together.. Since it will be out of sight, this might be a good idea.. and you might want to still paint the front of the optical drives so it matches the blue :- ]

For me, a windowed side panel shows off the best parts of a computer. Who wants to see the back of a motherboard? You have the fingerprint issue as mentioned before, plus the fragility of the whole case and cracking or scratching it.

once this comp is built it probably will never be moved again until it is replaced, that and she is nervous about her mobo grounding out like the last case and i figure acrylic won't ground out AT ALL.

martinjon666 said:

one concern i heard about was adequate cooling, as there are no clear cases with 120mm fans yet

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Here's an acrylic briefcase that I had for about two years with a 120mm. It had good cooling it was sturdy, and it looks great. I'd recommend you browse clearpc, there are acrylic versions of every case flavor (including micro or stacker) and they will even make custom jobs for you.

thanks fuzz, at the same time, i am no stranger to tools, last weekend we put 3 120's in my bro's case, 2 in acrylic and 1 back by the io plate, the metal was a bit rough seeing how it sparked at me constantly but the acrylic was easy, so if needed i can put more fans in the case

remember, you'll be able to see your cables from anyware in the case, so trying to hide them is not a option, lol

Why don't you just cut it out yourself?? I've done jobs on my clear window and put in a 120 mm fan using a hole saw, drill, and a dremel. with an acrylic case.. take apart (and I mean apart) the part you will be using. wrap it in saran wrap. the glad sticky stuff works best. they will bind to the acrylic and it's easy to take it off. this will protect your precious acrylic.. (mmm.. myyyy.. preciousssssss) sorry... i promise never to do that again..... to get the holes right.. just take the fan and position it.. tape it down if you want.. then take a drill a wee bit smaller than the fan screw hole then go down and make a starting gouge. it's also your reference for later. then look behind and usually most fans show the "exact" middle point (you know that nipple looking thing). mark it with a marker. once you know the middle point and screw points, you are set. drill a screw hole just a little bit bigger than a fan screw hole. use a compass to trace out a circle.. if you are lucky and can find a hole saw that will work for a 120 mm fan, KUDOS to you.. i have not been able to find one... i used a hole saw for a 90 mm fan and then made a hole.. i then used a dremel to enlarge it a bit.. and then made it 120 mm size with the 90mm hole saw by wrapping some heavy grit paper to it. go for the expensive paper it helps to get the job done faster. when you have it large enough, finish it off with some progresively smoother grit paper. you can try the car paper if you are picky like me.. wash it off.. wipe it dry.. take off the wrapping and show it off to your wifey.. she will love you for it.. "look what I did for you hun.."

lol.. make sure you wear a dust mask or something like that. and you WILL make a big big mess!!!!!! be prepared for it.. you can always get her to clean it up though... lol.. "i'm sooo tired hun... mind cleaning up for me??" lol!!!

Good luck!! have fun!!..

Cap'n Pedro said:

Dust, finger prints and scratches show. Like, really show up.

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Yes...I don't even like having a case *window* that, because I'm a klutz, tends to get smudged and scratched.

I have a friend who has a clear acryllic case, and within four weeks of his purchasing it it was pretty smudged and fingerprinted. They really show up with an LED or somesuch on in the case.

If she wants an acrylic case then you'd better get her one.

The wires, if sleeved with a braided silver like wrap and runs kept tidy might even look cool in addition to the other components. Get a nicely finished PS and any other large finished components so it all looks good. She wants to look at her computer and see all the inner workings I imagine so some nice UV or blue lighting would look good.

I got a window case because I thought I'd like to look in at things but I'm too busy looking at my LCD monitor to even notice. So next build will be either a metal mesh or just plain metal with no windows.

LOL...Thanks for all the ideas guys. Newbinerd, I work in a cabinet shop, i cut out a 120mm circle at work and used plastic inserts for the screws so all i have to do is drill the four holes for the mounting screws then mount my template and using a flush trim router bit......Ta Da!.... 120mm fans coming up!

Did anyone mention you can't hide a flask of booze in one?

martinjon666 said:

LOL...Thanks for all the ideas guys. Newbinerd, I work in a cabinet shop, i cut out a 120mm circle at work and used plastic inserts for the screws so all i have to do is drill the four holes for the mounting screws then mount my template and using a flush trim router bit......Ta Da!.... 120mm fans coming up!

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Be careful of how your cut or drill as acrylic can crack very easily.