Akasa Eclipse 62 or Antec 900

[Thorsson]

Originally Posted by Madafwo

It's like a high end car. Just because it doesn't have all these sharp angles and flashing lights does not mean its ugly, it just means that those with some sense of style appreciate its looks.

With all due modesty I can probably say I was oozing style when you were oozing unattractive fluids...

It's nothing to do with not having sharp angles or flashing lights. It's down to looking like an old style beige box that happens to have been painted black.

Now I'll give you the inside looks OK when lit up like santa's grotto, but the front still looks pug-ugly.

[aidanjt]

Originally Posted by Metier9

Yer, for basically an akasa eclipse sales person your missing the demo product

Did you have a audigy 2zs before the X-fi... thinking of buying an x-fi when im at scan tomorrow

edit: Ill stick a pic of the eclipse up tomorrow.. should be funny with uv sata cables hehe

Yes I did have the Audigy 2 zs, great card, works perfect in Linux, even the windows drivers are pretty stable for creative. Kinda peeved at myself for giving it away now.

Look forward to the pic.

[DecomposingStar]

Well, no-one has really said anything bad about the 900, and seeing as i want a case with my next order, i don't particularily have to money for an eclipse, 2 fans (min) and a side window right now.

I'll mull on it a bit more...

[Madafwo]

Originally Posted by aidanjt

You got that lit up lovely there, did you not think of getting a windowed side panel (or is that it on, hard to tell with the low res pic)?

I do have the side panel, but I took it off as it messes up the focus and also coveres up most of the stuff. And it has bollocks written on it

And Eclipse FTW

Only other cases I'd consider are the Antect P180 (In black of course), or the TJ07 from Silverstone.

The Antec 900 just doesn't do it for me, airflow looks messed up to be honest.

Thorsson, never said I had style, just said those with a sense of style would appriciate its looks Then again style is all about a point of view, so some like it some don't. Each to their own.

It's understated, which is why it appeals to me. More so it is the easiest case to build in and offered the best cooling available at the time (only slighlty beaten now by the P180) It has ample room and the build quality is second to none. It looks great with the lights off not just when it is "lit up like santa's grotto"

I am the first to admit I am an Akasa fan boy, simple as, I have had a number of their products over the years and not once has any of them failed to impress me.

The Eclipse, being £84 with a couple of cheap (Akasa, naturally) fans and the side window comes in at a shade over £100 so yeah it is more expensive than the 900. But I believe the Eclipse will be going a lot longer than the 900.

[amjedm]

I have an Eclipse and a P180.

The Eclipse is the easier one to work in (no prizes for guessing that one) and although it's aluminium construction you can still quieten it.

Not sure how quiet the Antec 900 is though.

[amjedm]

Originally Posted by Madafwo

Over 500 posts and I can guarantee a fair few of them are me recommending the eclipse. To put it simply it's one of the nicest cases around.

Nice shot of the case and tidy cabling

I've recommended the Eclipse in most if not all posts as well unless a budget case was required.

[d032sh]

I'm just about to get myself an eclipse, my mate's got one and having had a poke about inside of it I'm convinced. :--)

[switchmode]

Is the front panel made of plastic or aluminium ?

[aidanjt]

The faceplate is made of plastic the rest of it is aluminum.

[chazt]

just noticed that no-one's mentioned the eclipse doesn't come with any sort of hard drive dampening. I recently swapped my p180 for an eclipse, and to be honest, i'm regretting it. Cooling ain't as good, and its noisier, which are the 2 main criteria for cases if you ask me.

[Dreaming]

Originally Posted by chazt

just noticed that no-one's mentioned the eclipse doesn't come with any sort of hard drive dampening. I recently swapped my p180 for an eclipse, and to be honest, i'm regretting it. Cooling ain't as good, and its noisier, which are the 2 main criteria for cases if you ask me.

Have to say on the P180 the dampening is only silcone washers, I mean it does the job perfectly (my computer is silent unless under 100% load when you can just hear a very quiet airflow, should change that 120 fan on the cpu cooler, it's a bit crap really), but surely something similar could be modded in for the eclipse?

[chazt]

I think the hard drives being in the isolated lower chamber helps a lot as well. I could mod my eclipse, but it means the costs keep adding up. If i were buying again i'd just get another p180 or perhaps a jeantech phong II

[Dreaming]

If I were getting a new system, then I'd get an antec solo. Just cos it's so much smaller. Probably put a slightly less powerful system in, but it'll still run 99.99% of everything I do. In fact, it will run everything I do....

[Thorsson]

Cooling is definitely not that good. I looked at the Hexus review, and although I have a faster CPU and a 7900 v 6800 video card my temps are comfortably below the review ones. And I only have a P160 at the moment.

Having tried out a number of cases in various builds for people I'm of the firm belief that having a mesh at the front improves cooling performance. IMO this should be filtered. We all know that leaving the side off cools things down, so a mesh at the side would also seem to be a good idea.

Cases that seem to have this 'happy' configuration are the Antec 900 and the Coolermaster Stacker 83x series.

The one thing that would worry me about the 900 is that it doesn't have any filters.

[DecomposingStar]

Originally Posted by Dreaming

If I were getting a new system, then I'd get an antec solo. Just cos it's so much smaller. Probably put a slightly less powerful system in, but it'll still run 99.99% of everything I do. In fact, it will run everything I do....

It's a replacement for my NZXT Nemesis Elite

Originally Posted by Thorsson

Cooling is definitely not that good. I looked at the Hexus review, and although I have a faster CPU and a 7900 v 6800 video card my temps are comfortably below the review ones. And I only have a P160 at the moment.

Having tried out a number of cases in various builds for people I'm of the firm belief that having a mesh at the front improves cooling performance. IMO this should be filtered. We all know that leaving the side off cools things down, so a mesh at the side would also seem to be a good idea.

Cases that seem to have this 'happy' configuration are the Antec 900 and the Coolermaster Stacker 83x series.

The one thing that would worry me about the 900 is that it doesn't have any filters.

I'm planning on putting a mesh filter on my fans, particularily the large 200mm fan on top. Fine black mesh netting would be perfect and fit in quite well with the case design.

[doddsy]

Originally Posted by Thorsson

Cooling is definitely not that good. I looked at the Hexus review, and although I have a faster CPU and a 7900 v 6800 video card my temps are comfortably below the review ones. And I only have a P160 at the moment.

How can you quote the hexus review and say that cooling isn't that good?

Originally Posted by Hexus

Pros
Stylish
Cooling performance

If you're referring to the review I was looking at you do know that it isn't the cpu temp, it's the temperature around the cpu area. Unless I'm gravely mistaken I doubt you have a thermal probe and are checking that way.