need advice on buying case

[soulfood]

hey i'm not sure what case to get, i have looked a round: here are some that interest me; Antec 300, corsair carbide 300r, coolermaster elite 430 (or 431 plus), coolermaster Haf 932, i want to pay about $110-$75. can any one help? thanks

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Coolermaster, Antec, and Corsair are generally good brands.

The Antec 300 is a good basic case.

It's mostly personal preference. Some people like windows in the side panel and lots of flashing lights. Others like very low noise levels and no ostentation. What about you?

Make sure it is the right form factor for your chosen motherboard (ATX, micro ATX, etc).

Make sure it has no power supply if you already have one.

Check the fan situation. Some cases include fans, some don't. Some included fans can be very noisy. Ideally, you would want 120mm fan mounts front and rear.

Some cases accommodate long video cards much more easily than others.

Decide how many hard drive and external drive bays you will need.

A micro ATX case is usually large enough for the typical home PC, but may not be OK if you have 5 drives and are overclocking.

Try to find a full-length review of the case online. You might get some clues about it by reading Newegg reviews, but those usually don't have enough detail.

Cable management is difficult for some case models, but that may not matter to you at all.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Consider this the best extra 19.00 spent. Choose your color of choice and don't look back.
NZXT PHAN-001WT Phantom Full-Tower Case - E-ATX, ATX, MicroATX, 5 x 5.25 Bays, 7 x 3.5Bays, 200mm LED Fan, White at TigerDirect
Other wise I'm a huge Corsair admirer. The Carbide series I'd have you consider is this:
Corsair CC-9011013-WW Carbide Series 500R Mid Tower Gaming Case - ATX, mATX, 4x Ext 5.25 Bays, 6x Int 3.5 Bays, 1x 200mm and 2x 120mm White LED Fans, 1x 120mm Fan, 2x USB 3.0 and 1x FireWire Ports at TigerDirect

 

[fireberd]

I just ordered parts from newegg to build a new system. ASRock Z77 Professional motherboard, i7 3770, SSD, etc. I ordered a Corsair Carbide 500R case (the 400 would work too, just decided on the white case color). I looked at a lot of cases before I settled on this one. My old system is using an Antec ninehundred case and it is a nice case, except it's not "toolless" and a hassle to add/swap hard drives or optical drives.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Nice work fireberd,
That 500R is wicked. I love how it has all the features and actually better cooling then the 800D. Enjoy and post pictures when it arrives and you build it up.

 

[pparks1]

The 500R is an awesome case, and it's smaller than the 800D which I consider to be a huge benefit. Having to deal with a huge case is often not super advantageous. Most people don't need the space, and sometimes cables come up short in huge cases.

And the 500R is about 60% less expensive than the 800D.

The Fractal R3 is a nice case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352016
The NZXT case suggested about is a good choice. I recently used a cheapo NZXT and liked it.

 

[Phone Man]

Last year I got a Corsair Carbide 400R and really like it. After I bought it they came out with the 500R and now the 300R which has a few less features.





Jim

 

[fireberd]

Phone Man, that is a very clean looking build. I hope mine looks that good after I'm done.

BTW, I used to work in data communications. Had lots of (then) AT&T "long lines" circuits, both basic 3002 voice grade circuits up to T1 links. I was the Regional LAN/WAN Network Manager for SSA out of KC, MO. My screen name comes from the TTC Fireberd T1 Line test set.

Jack

 

[Phone Man]

Phone Man, that is a very clean looking build. I hope mine looks that good after I'm done.

BTW, I used to work in data communications. Had lots of (then) AT&T "long lines" circuits, both basic 3002 voice grade circuits up to T1 links. I was the Regional LAN/WAN Network Manager for SSA out of KC, MO. My screen name comes from the TTC Fireberd T1 Line test set.

Jack

Thanks Jack,
It was a fun build. Corsair did a nice job with that case.
During my career I ran a Data crew in Baton Rouge before the Bell split. Lots of time spend on the old analog data circuits. After the split I got into computers with ATT. Then back in the CO with Verizon Wireless and everything was T1 through OC48 fiber. Always something new but the T1 has never died.

Jim

 

[fireberd]

The case came in yesterday. I'll be starting on the build today. I have the motherboard, CPU, stock Intel cooler that came with the CPU that I'll be using temporarily, one of two optical drives and power supply. The SSD and second optical drive are due in tomorrow.

If all goes well, it will get the smoke test, Friday.

Jack

 

[fireberd]

My cable dressing isn't going to be as neat as "telco's". The 24 pin and 8 pin cables are not long enough to route through the back side and then back in to the motherboard. I'm using an XFX 750 modular power supply.

 

[pparks1]

^ That's too bad. The whole purpose of the modular power supply is to get rid of the wire clutter.

 

[fireberd]

OK, here is the initial build. I don't have the SSD or second optical drive (due in tomorrow) and after that I can finish dressing the cables.

The two hard drives shown, the 1TB will be used for non critical programs, data, etc. The 1.5TB is used for Acronis backups.

 

[Phone Man]

Try mounting your PSU with the fan down. Your case should be almost identical to my 400R. Should be a filter on the bottom.This also allows cool air to flow through the PSU. This will allow the main MB power leads to be nearer the backplane. Then use the closest cutout and angle the cable across the back to the appropriate side cutout. Also right above the center of the PSU there should be a small cutout that you can run the 8 pin CPU power lead, then straight up to the small top cutout. Take a look at my rig and see what you think.

Jim

 

[fireberd]

I didn't think about installing the power supply up side down. I wonder what that will do for the cooling? I'm sort of afraid to do that. There isn't much room on the bottom (just the height of the feet) and that may or may not be enough air flow. Having dealt with computers both mainframe and PC (and 3270 terminals) for many years, we had a lot of problems that were traced to heat caused.

I think I'll wait until I have all the components installed and then ty-wrap and anchor all the cables and see how it comes out.

Modular power supplies eliminate some cabling, but not all. They would be truly modular if all cables were plug in type, then only what was needed could be plugged in.

 

[Wishmaster]

Yes, mounting the PSU upside down will be the way to go.

That way you can route all your cables to the back of the MOBO tray and hide a large portion of the clutter. There should be a grommet right be the PSU where the wires come out.

You should have a vent under the PSU mounting area. If so, cooling shouldn't be a issue. Just make sure theres some clearance from the bottom of the case to the floor.

For example, you dont want the case sitting on shaggy carpet so that its blocking that vent. Sitting on a hard surface, it will be able to pull air in just fine.

 

[Sardonicus]

My cable dressing isn't going to be as neat as "telco's". The 24 pin and 8 pin cables are not long enough to route through the back side and then back in to the motherboard. I'm using an XFX 750 modular power supply.

You can extend the 8 pin power connector.
Newegg.com - Athena Power Model Cable-AD10 12" EPS-12V (8Pin) connector Extension Cable - Internal Power Cables

 

[fireberd]

OK, I'm conviced. I'll change the power supply and see what happens.

And what happened is I will need the 8 pin power plug extension.

I'm going to Orlando tomorrow, I'll check CompUSA and see if they have one.


Jack

 

[fireberd]

Another setback this morning. I had "robbed" the power supply from an operational system to use with the new PC. I had a spare (non modular) power supply that I stuck in the operational system. That power supply died this morning (smoked) so I had to use the XFX modular that I was going to use in the new system.

I've ordered an OCZ 750 watt modular (completely modular, not just partially like the XFX Modular). Since I have to wait for the power supply I decided to order a Corsair liquid cooler for the CPU. I was planning on doing that later anyway. I also ordered the cable extensions as CompUSA doesn't stock that in their retail stores. Newegg should like me with everything for the new PC purchased from them.

 

[Zepher]

They do make 8 and 24 pin extension cables.
I just installed a cooler master Psu in a machine a couple of weeks ago and it actually had labels on both sides so if you mounted it upside down, you would have a right side up label on the open side of the case.