I always used to cheap out on cases, until my latest build I "splurged" on an Antec 300 (like $60). Antec makes a hell of a case. I love it. It doesn't have side mounting bays, it has front mounting, but they are easily accessible.
If the 300 is any indication the 1200 must be spectacular.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_56YlEccjM"]YouTube - Thermaltake SPEDO Full-Tower ATX Case[/ame]
Ill probably be getting this one next time around.
^ Mmmmmmm i like that, how much £££ ?
I see, well thanks for your help. I googled Battle Axe and only came up with a cooler.
I'm really liking the Antec 1200 actually, take a look at the video I posted on my OP.
The insides are nice, but the outside...not so much :-\
Looks like a not as good looking version of the Antec 1200 IMO...
I have the 1200, and it looks freaking awesome. It lights up my room if I turn off the lights, and it is one awesome beast of a case.
However, I would not buy it again. Its a great case, don't get me wrong. But I mess with my HDDs enough that their mounting system makes me want to kick cute animals. They have three bays that hold three HDDs each. To remove the HDDs, you must unscrew the side, then unscrew the bay, then unplug the HDDs, then unscrew the HDDs, and repeat. And the cable management? Buy a modular power supply.
Those are my only complaints. Other than that, I love the beast!
For my next case, I'm debating between building my own, and just modding the one I have to get Side Mounting HDDs. We will see.
I already have decided to built a skeleton case out of some PVC pipe my friend has. The whole thing is coming together in my head, and when he gets back in town we are totally building it.
~Lordbob
I wrote this review at another Forum i volunteer on...
Worth a look.
Manuf. Link
I just completed a new build and ordered this case out of curiosity as it had recieved good reviews mostly at gamer's Forums. Although i'm not a gamer my needs for a roomy well built case that is easy to work in made me give this one a whirl. I was not dissappointed
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Features:
* Glorious mirror shine paint job
* Custom LED effect lighting
* Retractable side panel with handles for easy access and upgrades
* Fully removable motherboard tray, and hard drive cage
* Integrated slide out toolbox for case part storage
* Integrated click lock technology for tool-less drive installation
* Sliding PCI-E/AGP/PCI cooling fan
* Side & Rear Mounted 80mm Fans (w/ Blue LED)
* 2 x 120mm Fans (Front & Rear)
* USB 2.0 & Audio Ports
Specifications:
* Chassis Material: SECC Steel
* Motherboard Form Factor: ATX (12" x 10.5" Max)
* Drive Bays:
o 5.25" External: 4
o 3.5" External: 2
o 3.5" Internal: 4
* Expansion Slots: 7
* Dimensions: 20.5" x 8" x 17.75" (L x W x H)
I'll start with the features i love and end with the few minor quirks i didn't like...
Room: Plenty big enough for my needs. 2 burners and 3 SATA drives along with an IDE i couldn't part with plus a floppy drive ( i'm a purist OK ? ) all fit nicely and i can add more down the road.
Construction: Very well built steel case. Solid rounded edges and nice hinges on both sides. One of the knocks on this case is that it was heavy...i see this as a plus for me. He must have been a LAN Party gamer.
Features: Both case sides open all the way down and or can be removed...this to me was the slickest feature as the build could not have gone smoother. It's a dream to have the MBoard tray lying flat for the assembly. The only drawback was the 4 pin ATX power plug from the OCZ 750W PSU would not allow it opening all the way after everything was connected...this was remedied bu making an extension using a spare i had lying about.
I also added an EVGA 8800 GTX video card to this and for those that have one i don't need to tell you how BIG they are...this fit suprisingly well and created no issues at all with opening and closing the MBoard side of the case.
Toolless Design: Also a nice feature that i was skeptical of at first...drive installs take seconds and the plastic cam design on the drive holders themselves are sturdy and well thought out.
Cooling: Best i've seen in a stock case in a long time. 120MM stock front case fan blows directly over the HDD bay...nice thinking.
on the open side there is a removable rail that contains an 80MM fan that can slide into position so it winds up over the vid card. With the 8800 GTX i'm sure this will come in handy.
A 2nd 80MM is well placed directly opposite the CPU/Heatsink location...also well thought out. This vents to the outside of the case.
80MM rear case exhaust fan.
Cons: IDE clik rails are tricky to figure out the first time but a breeze after that.
Removeable swing-out HDD box is tricky the first few times as well but fine afterwards.
Rear case exhaust fan should have been a 120mm but i'm adding that later so no big deal.
Plastic case feet. For a case this well thought out i'd have preferred to see rubber but again i'm replacing those myself.
With the size of the 8800GTX i lose one PCI slot but this is more of a MBoard issue than a case issue.
Overall: I'd recommend this case to anyone doing a new build or a first time build as well. You need room for it as it's bigger than most. But with solid construction and well thought out features i give it a 9 out of 10.
patio.
It's not inexpensive; and it doesn't have a dozen fans; however, it is one fantastic case: the aluminum Lian Li PC-V2010 (black / silver @ newegg). I have 2 optical drives, 12 sata hard drives and 1 parallel IDE drive (in a removable tray) mounted in mine. The 8 side-mounted HDDs in the base of the unit are attached to an Adaptec 5805 array controller. There is also a 4-bay hot-swap HDD cage mounted in 3 of the 7 front 5.25-inch bays.
There are 7 fans in all: an 80mm in my psu, a 120mm and a 140mm intake, a 120mm and a 140mm exhaust, a 120mm on the CPU heatsink and a 120mm angled above the memory area. My video card is passively cooled. All fans are running at their "low" speed setting.
Under heavy load, my CPU temp is in the mid-50's and the GPU only about 10 degrees C higher. And although not noiseless, the entire system is very quiet.
Last edited by weh; 04 Jul 2009 at 19:34.
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