Whats the difference between steel and aluminum cases other than the weight? I notice that aluminum is alot more expensive than steel, but is weight the only issue?
You about summed it up, cost vs weight.
Aluminum cases don't help your systems temps anymore than an aluminum car body would make your engine run cooler. That's BS they use to try to sell them to the unthinking.
They do however look cool, and anodizing is purty.
Personally, I think a heavy steal cheiftec/antec is quieter than there Aluminum counterparts and I also think design is more important than steal or aluminum in dissipating heat
I have both steel and aluminum cases. I used to hate aluminum cases, until I decided to get one. Im never going back. It seems the al. cases have more quality and workmenship put into them, even the cheaper ones, and the look so much better, becuase they are normally all al. and dont have plastic bezels and whatnot.
Aluminum cases today have more fans attached to it than the steel counterpart so it would seem like it would cool better.
It's all marketing, that's how they going to sell it to ya thinking since you're already paying the big bucks for it might as well throw in a few extra fans, thus making it easier to sell.
Problem is, Aluminium cases seem to be magnets to fingerprints, plus they are expensive, hence you do tend to kick yourself once you dent them (it is easier)
Plus, scratches stand out a mile on aluminium, but on painted steel they can be concealed easier.
Al=lighter to MUCH lighter than steel, but also warps much more easily
Steel=heavy, tanklike, hard to damage, ideal for longevity
Al=portable
Steel=server
IMHO it's worth the extra elbow grease to get steel. The thermal conductivity advantage of Al is minimal, unless your mobo has a really poor secondary cooling path.
i think the biggest issue is whether or not you need an easy to carry system. like others said, a steel case will be much more sturdier when it comes to accidentally getting kicked. i know that my steel case is easy to hide scratches on i just use a black sharpie i had a huge scratch that you could see from across the room and then i just used a sharpie and my roommate couldn't even tell me where it was... pretty nifty if you ask me.
i think the ultimate decision is which you like to work with... i am going to try to use an aluminum for my next computer... i figure that i might be able to get the best of both to just see which i like better... who knows
I personally think that one of those HUGE aluminum cases like the one I saw at http://www.overclockers.com/articles475/ is cool.... but then, I kinda like steel better b/c you can run over your case with an 18 wheeler like on the maglite commercial
I am kicking myself because I bought a cheap (not the inexpensive kind of cheap either, it cost plenty--cheap as in I can't sneeze hard on it without denting it) aluminum case because at the time it looked cool because of the plexi window
I would recommend steel because of the raw strength...
When I consider that you can buy several steel cases for the price of aluminum, and that the steel case will stand up better to the type of abuse I'll subject it to, there is no contest...
Steel wins, hands down...
if you make the case heavy enough, a thief won't even think about stealing it... he'd have back trouble for the rest of his life trying to lift it
i remember somebody put their main rig in an old crappy case and put some junk computer into a nice case and somebody broke into his house and took the crappy computer because it looked more appealing to the thief, leaving his main rig there
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