New case thoughts and recommendations.

pparks1 said:

As the original poster said, he isn't into the look of the HAF X. It's not for everybody. I'm not into the "industrial" look as I call it and I really dislike lights and windows and all that fancy stuff.

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Just as you’re not into the "industrial" look remember that not everyone is into the conservative look either

As to the "industrial" look of the HAF X, I agree, it's not for everyone, but functionally, the case performs very well, especially if you're air cooling your components.

If you are not into the clear windows that’s ok. As far as the "lights"…. the case only has one lighted fan, and it can be turned off by a switch on top of the case!

Yeah, I loved the clean look of the Antec P182 myself, but it grew old and out dated for my needs. Incidentally, I passed on the Antec P193 because of aesthetics, to me that's one ugly looking front side on the P193.

But yes, to me, Corsair’s 700D & 800D does look better than the HAF X, but for my needs, and wallet, it's too big and too expensive for what you get.

Example, the HAF X comes with two hot swappable bays built in. You can only get these on the 800D, and the 800D is like 249, whereas the HAF X is like 199. You also get two SATA 3 connections; neither the 700 nor 800D has them.

Anyways it’s a moot point since the OP made up his mind on what to get, and a nice one I might add

I just wanted to make a point.

Peace

@ kylehimself, nice case

kylehimself said:

1) Current Coolermaster Elite 335 was a cheap case and didn't offer much in the way of upgrading options.

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Going with a nicer case, is a nice thing.

kylehimself said:

3) I'm a bit of a clean freak and wanted all my cables well hidden.

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I can certainly appreciate that.

kylehimself said:

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In all seriousness....that's a bit ridiculous . I can totally understand the desire to have some more room to work around...but honestly this just seems like way, way, way too much for the hardware that you have now and will likely have in the next few years.

kylehimself said:

I had heard some bad reviews about the airflow in this case, however my idle and load temps have dropped. H50 had my CPU as low as 25C. I also have 5 Akasa Vipers coming. 3 for the top and 2 to replace on the H50 rad.

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Any reason that you want the extra cooling? You certainly don't have a cooling problem. Adding those extra fans seems to be excessive simply for the point of being excessive.

kylehimself said:

So I'm very happy. Yeah this case is HUGE. Maybe even complete overkill

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Complete overkill is a great word for it. I'm happy that you are happy and I'm glad I got your directed towards a case that you really love. It's too bad they don't make a 1/2 size of that case with all of the same features because even that would have provided nearly limitless expandability.


With regards to the Antec P193...they need to lose that dumb think that sticks out on the left, it needs to be black on the inside and they need to put more holes through the motherboard tray and have a cut out for easily replacing CPU coolers.

Hopalong X said:

I didn't think they could make a case bigger than a CM HAF 932!
The height is about the same, well maybe, but yours is deeper, front to back by a couple of inches at least.

The HAF came with wheels but I think you may need a crane when you get everything upgraded.!

CM HAF 932 - 22.70" x 9.00" x 21.50"
Corsair 800D- 24.00" x 9.00" x 24.00"
You just had to go there and make everyone on this thread jealous!!!

Looks great! Enjoy!
Mike

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I always knew it was big and I even got the tape measure out to check before it arrived, but you only get the real idea of how big it is when you see it.

The funny thing is, I wanted a "subtle" case and while the styling is as such, the sheer size is as subtle as a brick to the head! lol

sygnus21 said:

Just as you’re not into the "industrial" look remember that not everyone is into the conservative look either

As to the "industrial" look of the HAF X, I agree, it's not for everyone, but functionally, the case performs very well, especially if you're air cooling your components.

If you are not into the clear windows that’s ok. As far as the "lights"…. the case only has one lighted fan, and it can be turned off by a switch on top of the case!

Yeah, I loved the clean look of the Antec P182 myself, but it grew old and out dated for my needs. Incidentally, I passed on the Antec P193 because of aesthetics, to me that's one ugly looking front side on the P193.

But yes, to me, Corsair’s 700D & 800D does look better than the HAF X, but for my needs, and wallet, it's too big and too expensive for what you get.

Example, the HAF X comes with two hot swappable bays built in. You can only get these on the 800D, and the 800D is like 249, whereas the HAF X is like 199. You also get two SATA 3 connections; neither the 700 nor 800D has them.

Anyways it’s a moot point since the OP made up his mind on what to get, and a nice one I might add

I just wanted to make a point.

Peace

@ kylehimself, nice case

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I can see where you're coming from mate. At the end of the day it's each to their own. Some people love the complete over the top and others like things a bit less oblivious.

As for the price though, I got it for £206 so not much more than the HAF X. Though most places I've seen it it has been £250 and some even as high as £280!

pparks1 said:

In all seriousness....that's a bit ridiculous . I can totally understand the desire to have some more room to work around...but honestly this just seems like way, way, way too much for the hardware that you have now and will likely have in the next few years.

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Oh no doubt. I will have the HD5870 by the lestest the end of November and as I said, I hope to have a 2nd by mid 2011. presuming the 6xxx series will have been announced and the 5's will have gone down in price. Should also be adding a few new HDD's in there too because my 500GB just isn't enough. Even at the 800D will never be filled... but sure. It's massive but it's not in the way so the size isn't an issue. Plus given that I got it for £200 odd and the size isn't a problem, I might as well get as much case for my money right?

pparks1 said:

Any reason that you want the extra cooling? You certainly don't have a cooling problem. Adding those extra fans seems to be excessive simply for the point of being excessive.

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That is true, and from seeing my friends Vapour-X 5870 in action I know that when I pick mine up the temps will probably improve more without extra cooling but again, I've got the space, why not use it?

pparks1 said:

I'm happy that you are happy and I'm glad I got your directed towards a case that you really love. It's too bad they don't make a 1/2 size of that case with all of the same features because even that would have provided nearly limitless expandability.

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I'm happy, you're happy, I'm happy

kylehimself said:

I'm happy, you're happy, I'm happy

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That's the bottom line

Peace

sygnus21 said:

Peace

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Good man yourself!

kylehimself said:

That is true, and from seeing my friends Vapour-X 5870 in action I know that when I pick mine up the temps will probably improve more without extra cooling but again, I've got the space, why not use it?

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Reasons I can think of to not add unnecessary fans
#1). They cost money
#2). The add noise
#3). They will add more wiring to the case
#4). They consume more power
#5). They provide more annoying surface areas to gather dust.

Don't worry, if you don't agree with. I just wonder why so many people seem to feel a need to overcool...even when they realize it's not necessary, nor will provide any benefit.

My vote and purchase was all for the Corsair 800D but when I found it discounted then the freight was an extra $80.00 and when full price free shipping couldn't find both which for the saving of over $150.00 had me go with the Thermaltake Element V Black Edition. It's a little small for a full tower but overall I can't see anyone complaining about that. No removable mobo tray but every thing else is spot on.


















I feel that the case is one of if not the most important choices if purchased correctly it will never need to be replaced and that reduces crap in our landfills.

linnemeyerhere said:

My vote and purchase was all for the Corsair 800D but when I found it discounted then the freight was an extra $80.00 and when full price free shipping couldn't find both which for the saving of over $150.00 had me go with the Thermaltake Element V Black Edition. It's a little small for a full tower but overall I can't see anyone complaining about that. No removable mobo tray but every thing else is spot on.

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Nice pick up mate. How much did that cost you in the end?

linnemeyerhere said:

I feel that the case is one of if not the most important choices if purchased correctly it will never need to be replaced and that reduces crap in our landfills.

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Too true, my old one will be going in to a new build for my mum who will likely use it for 10 years. Her current system is older! and the 800D isn't looking like it's going to need updated... Ever! It wont so long as the hardware doesn't drastically change.

I notice you have an SSD in there mate. Do you use it for the OS? If so, how is it? It's something I've wanted to do for while but not sure if it's worth the cash, even just for a small one for the OS alone.

kylehimself said:

I notice you have an SSD in there mate. Do you use it for the OS? If so, how is it? It's something I've wanted to do for while but not sure if it's worth the cash, even just for a small one for the OS alone.

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I'll be honest, I've never encountered a single person who bought an SSD and later complained that it wasn't worth the cash. The only complaint I ever heard was, "why didn't I do this sooner".

I took the plunge a while back and went with the 80GB Intel for my box, just for the OS and my apps. By far, it was the single biggest upgrade that I have ever made on a computer. I just keep a 1TB WD Caviar Black in the box for downloads, music, and larger data files that I don't want sitting on the SSD.

pparks1 said:

I'll be honest, I've never encountered a single person who bought an SSD and later complained that it wasn't worth the cash. The only complaint I ever heard was, "why didn't I do this sooner".

I took the plunge a while back and went with the 80GB Intel for my box, just for the OS and my apps. By far, it was the single biggest upgrade that I have ever made on a computer. I just keep a 1TB WD Caviar Black in the box for downloads, music, and larger data files that I don't want sitting on the SSD.

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I've not played around with configured HDD's or anything before, so this question might be a bit daft. I presume the 2nd drive you have just connected as normal via S-ATA but shows up in "My Computer"? Almost like an external HDD?

Kylehimself,
I couldn't believe it I scored the Element V for $125.00 usd and it was delivery and tax free. Facing a realistic $280.00 to $320.00 for the Corsair which I lusted I just in the end had to pull the trigger on the Thermaltake. The quality is good but not on same level as the 800D. Oh the SSD, yes it's so freakin sweet. As an affordable 64gb model the Crucial real SSD is one bad ass drive in Sata 6. It only holds my OS and Apps. and I wish I could of afforded the larger 128 or 256gb versions but here again the price jump was too steep for me currently. But remarkably it has a good 28% free space after loading everything I need ! Yes the boot speed is good but really that's minor, it's how the system snaps to life when you call up a program/window or whatever. I'm sure this technology will get faster and cheaper in the near future as Hybrid drives give capacity and speed in raid that would be just too expensive in SSD only but for enterprise clients. That being said it is the single most important performance change made to my rig.

FYI, I changed out two Ultra fans on my H50 in PP to two Noctura's with the fans pulling air out of the case not in ! It has made a huge difference. Go figure and the H50 is mounted in my optional top case location.

Cheers to you,
The Cheese

linnemeyerhere said:

I couldn't believe it I scored the Element V for $125.00 usd and it was delivery and tax free. Facing a realistic $280.00 to $320.00 for the Corsair which I lusted I just in the end had to pull the trigger on the Thermaltake. The quality is good but not on same level as the 800D.

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To be honest mate I was lucky with the 800D. Everywhere I'd seen the case it was £230-£280. I was reluctantly going to drop the £230 and as luck would have it I found it on Amazon for £206. On Amazon a search for 800D bought up various sellers who had it for the prices above, but a search for Corsair Obsidian had it from Amazon themselves at the reduced price.

I'm glad you're happy with the case you got mate.

linnemeyerhere said:

Oh the SSD, yes it's so freakin sweet. As an affordable 64gb model the Crucial real SSD is one bad ass drive

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I was looking at that very drive. Cheapest I've seen so far. Might pick one up and just have a 2nd drive for all my music and videos.

linnemeyerhere said:

FYI, I changed out two Ultra fans on my H50 in PP to two Noctura's with the fans pulling air out of the case not in ! It has made a huge difference. Go figure and the H50 is mounted in my optional top case location.

Cheers to you,
The Cheese

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In my old case my H50 had my CPU sitting at like 30C Idle. On a cold day it would maybe drop down to like 28C but wasn't consistent. Whilst gaming it was usually around 45C which I was happy with. Since moving to the 800D my idle is consistently 27C dropping now and then to 26C which made me very happy. More so impressed though with the load temps. Played DiRT 2 last night and the highest recorded temp was 38C! I'm using two fans drawing air from outside with another directly above on the chassis roof exhausting. It's almost like there is so much room in the 800D it doesn't even get warm in there.

The H50 is a great wee unit. Don't know if you've seen but they have an H70 out now. Has a rad double the size.

Kylehimself,

As they say down under "Good on ya mate" that 800D is a dream case and I still wish I had held out for it, but alas no regrets as I'm very happy with the Element. Yes the Real SSD at 64 is the bomb for the coin and I highly recommend it, but do a clean install would be my advice. It takes longer but I've heard of people having issues on the Crucial site when loading an image. The H70 is now the new bad boy for easy sealed water cooling. I would recommend ditching the corsair fans for back up replacements of case 120mm's and order twin Noctura's right from the get go ! My system is now so quiet and the air volume is stunning with the P12 version.
The Cheese

linnemeyerhere said:

Kylehimself,

As they say down under "Good on ya mate" that 800D is a dream case and I still wish I had held out for it, but alas no regrets as I'm very happy with the Element. Yes the Real SSD at 64 is the bomb for the coin and I highly recommend it, but do a clean install would be my advice. It takes longer but I've heard of people having issues on the Crucial site when loading an image. The H70 is now the new bad boy for easy sealed water cooling. I would recommend ditching the corsair fans for back up replacements of case 120mm's and order twin Noctura's right from the get go ! My system is now so quiet and the air volume is stunning with the P12 version.
The Cheese

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I've currently got an Akasa Apache black and the original Corsair fan on there. I was going to pick up some Akasa Vipers but I'll give the Noctua's a look.

Kylehimslef,

Those Akasa fans look real nice as well. I'm sure you're just fine with that for the long haul. I just can't wait if I can find a deal on three more to lower the noise threshold to near zero in my case. Being an audiophile nut case any noise is very disturbing to critical listening. I have one of my two front 120mm fans that has a start up squeal so I think it's bearing is beginning to fail. I will check to see if they are covered under warranty. Is your mobo an ATX, because it almost looks lost in the case....lol. Isn't that great !

The Cheese

kylehimself said:

I've not played around with configured HDD's or anything before, so this question might be a bit daft. I presume the 2nd drive you have just connected as normal via S-ATA but shows up in "My Computer"? Almost like an external HDD?

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Yes, my C drive is 80GB and my D drive is 930GB.

Re. fans-Sharkoon Silent Eagles are extremely effective air movers and very quiet indeed, John