Thiddy needs *another* case

For those that are very attentive, you may notice this is my third thread regarding this issue.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=555773
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=593025

The cases I have are as follows:
Cooler Master 690
Cooler Master 830 Stacker (custom painted)
Antec 300
Antec 1200
Mountain Mod Ascension
Norco 470

I've been through a lot of popular, and good cases. There is always something about the case that I do not like. Here is a quick overview:

CM 690
- Case was extremely small
- The fan grills were restricting
- Airflow, in general, was poor
+ Case was cheap
- Ugly case

CM 830 Stacker
- The "fan door" is a poor and annoying design
- Airflow in the case is awkward
+ The painted one I have (see above) is stunning to look at

Antec 300
+ Case is small
- Case is small (too small for my system or future upgrades)
- Poorly designed drive cage (hits video cards)
+ Good airflow design, low restriction

Antec 1200
+ Case is large
- Poorly designed drive cages (have to remove the whole cage to remove a single drive)
- Poorly designed stock wiring (see link above on how to fix it)
- Little room for watercooling

Mountain Mod Ascension (favorite)
+ HUGE
+ HUGE
+ HUGE
+ Easily to watercool
+ Insanely massive airflow
+ Can be extremely quiet
- Cost is very high
+ Easy to route cables (see link above)

Norco 470
+ Large case
+ Extremely cheap for the features
-+ Rackmounted, limits location
- Loud, for a desktop
+ High airflow (yay Delta)

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As you can see, I've gone through some nice cases and modded some along the way. I am so picky when it comes to computers, that it is frustrating. I have a difficult time finding a case that I want, that will support future builds and be perfect to my liking. I'm taking any and all ideas.

Personally, if I could get an Ascension again, I would do it without hesitation. I ordered the case a while back and it was extremely nice. I did full custom wiring and it looked sharp. I decided to sell it for something smaller, but I believe that was a huge mistake.

I'm currently using the Antec 1200, but I have no intention of keeping it once the cables are done. I need to order a fan controller, finish up the custom sleeving and boot this case out the door. There are little quirks with it that I dislike.

So, entertaining ideas!

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There are a couple rules:

1. Price is not a problem (to a point, I'll save for a good one), but cheaper is better
2. Size is not an issue, the bigger the better
3. I have no problem modding (removing grills, new holes)
4. Quiet is nice

The case MUST:

• Be able to support eATX
• Take AT LEAST 6 drives, they must be actively cooled
• If there is a front door, it has to have space on the inside for my fan controller
• Decent airflow
• I don't like large fans (200mm+), they don't push much air and have horrible pressure
• Color doesn't matter since I can "fix" that
• Weight/material doesn't matter

I have looked at:

• CM Cosmos (too little airflow...don't really care for the design)
• CM Stacker 830 Evolution (already have)
• Lian-Li 2000/2100 (love them, airflow is a little on the low side)
• Gigabyte 3D Aurora (not bad)
• Antec 900 (don't care for, too small)
• Antec 1200 (already have)
• Thermaltake Armor (loved this case when I had it)
• Thermaltake Armor PLUS (HATE, DO NOT WANT, uglier than sin)
• Thermaltake Mozart TX (don't like the design)
• Cooler Master Storm Sniper (too small, don't care for the design)
• XCLIO Blackhawk
• COOLER MASTER HAF 932 (Do not like the style)

I'm currently reviewing a Lian Li PC-V1020. It can fit an eATX board, but just barely. It meets all of your other requirements though. I don't want to show an installed photo and spoil the review, but here's a preview.



Hoping to have the review out sometime next week!

~250 in cost, not bad. I like the looks and it is a Lian Li. You sure it takes a eATX board? Looks like it could, but would be cutting it really close. I don't see it listed on their website as having that compatibility.

I'll check out some of their other models. I'm really liking that. Only downside I see is watercooling would be a pain. But, I haven't even decided if I'm going down that path again.

Water cooling would definitely be a pain. It would have to be air cooled unless you wanted to go external with the radiator. At least without heavy modification.

If you look at the MB tray, the eATX board I held up to it (didn't fully install it) came to the edge. Rather than using the pass-throughs for cabling, you'd have to go around the edge of the MB tray.

That's from holding up a Crosshair IV Extreme to see how it would fit. Its mounting holes are the same as ATX. That's the only eATX board I've had though, so I'm not sure if all eATX boards have the same mounting holes as ATX.

I only see the filler article you have right now, no pictures.

eATX has mounting holes at the edge of the board. Otherwise, the extra PCB just "hangs" and could cause issues with plugging things in.

Huh...it just hangs on the CIVE (photo).

That is definitely not eATX. That is slightly over ATX specification. Take a look at the hole spacing on a real eATX board (compare the bottom holes):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Image...s Processors (Magny-Cours) Server Motherboard

Woah, ok. Definitely not eATX in your use for sure. My bad. FWIW, it was based off of ASUS' specification: Form Factor - Extended ATX Form Factor -12 inch x 10.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 26.9 cm ).

Thid, honest question/suggestion and something I am looking at doing.

Custom case from MM. As in, other then the frame, designing everything else with them.

I am trying to track down who at work has solidworks installed and knows it enough to let me hire them off hours to save me a few hundred in initial costs. (MM will take solidworks drawings or charge a couple hundred to do the design work for you)

Not sure what your end game mission is though.

No worries Hokie. I appreciate the feedback thus far.

Adragontattoo said:

Thid, honest question/suggestion and something I am looking at doing.

Custom case from MM. As in, other then the frame, designing everything else with them.

I am trying to track down who at work has solidworks installed and knows it enough to let me hire them off hours to save me a few hundred in initial costs. (MM will take solidworks drawings or charge a couple hundred to do the design work for you)

Not sure what your end game mission is though.

Click to expand...

Would be interesting to see what you come up with.

Found one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811123131

No idea what I want at this point. I should probably figure out what my next computer is going to be before I buy a case.

Someone help me, please. I don't think I can stop. I opened Newegg and started looking at boards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131643

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819105271

I CAN'T CLOSE THE TABS. Holy hell, this is so sexy and cheap. ;____;

You can always look into the non-cube MM cases. I've been looking at one for a bit now, but I'm just kind of deciding what I need to use it for.

I would have to say build a custom case if your needs are very specific.

Adragontattoo said:

I am trying to track down who at work has solidworks installed and knows it enough to let me hire them off hours to save me a few hundred in initial costs. (MM will take solidworks drawings or charge a couple hundred to do the design work for you).

Click to expand...

That's neat. Do they take AutoCAD .dwg files as well? I'm pretty sure SolidWorks can open them, but AutoCAD can't open SolidWorks 3D files b/c AutoCAD isn't technically a 3D modeling program. I'm curious because I've taken 6 AutoCAD classes, and I might want to look into their cases. I'll probably end up making my own though because it's so much fun

Uh uh uh, RAM is even cheap. I'm toasted now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231421

64gb is the max that takes if they are these kind (unregistered, non-ECC). I think I could deal with 16 cores and 64gb of RAM.

More ideas, please! Still looking.

i would like to point out at this point, that thideras should NOT be allowed to control what he buys, or how he spends his money, this man is insane i tell you all! -gets bundled into van by cia.- nah im kidding, i love your threads, so much hardware i wish i could have!

ever considered silver stone cases? i mean the tj07 was a design classic but i dont think its stock air cooling is very good at all, but has very good hdd cooling.

I did, but the cost is a bit of a turn off.

I remember checking that case out before I bought my Mountain Mod case. I'm trying to find a balance between looks, quality, design and cost. I know I can't get all of it, but I can reduce some impact of each (looks, cost, etc).

if you can find one

Lian Li V2000B plus II ... i put a scythe kama bay in the front for a front upper intake on mine.... Probably not necessary but its rounded out everything about the case.

tons of room, space for 12hdds, 2 psu's 7 optical drives and a eAtx mobo, Also its nice cus its inverted ATX... which IMO is a much better layout. Cable routing is decent, i found spots to run / hide all my cables n whatnot.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3319620&CatId=1510

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6338801&CatId=1510

I'd appreciate more feedback than two links with no words.

I dislike both of those cases because of the design. The Ultra is just flat out bad and looks extremely cheap. The Thermaltake is way overpriced for what they are giving in addition to the design/layout issues I see.