5x Akasa Ambers + ZM-MFC2, or just buy a new case?

[ezri]

I was originally set upon buying 5x Akasa Ambers 120mm and a Zalman ZM-MFC2 to help control noise in my case. However it's coming out about £70 for those, so I'm wondering if I might as well just add another £50 and buy a brand new case that already has excellent cooling / noise reduction and doesn't really need a fan controller?

It would actually solve some issues with my P180, which has various issues. Namely:

• Malformed side panels, they won't go on properly due to removing/putting back on
• It's the 180b - there's no way to route cables behind the motherboard like the P182
• I have to remove the middle hard drive bay to get my graphics card in due to the size of it
• I'm limited to modular only PSU's because I have to use the bottom hard drive tray due to issue above
• Antec TriCool's are about as reliable as a chocolate fireguard, I've gone through about 10 of them

The case issues *are* bareable however, but I'm really wondering should I just get a new case and solve all my case, noise, cooling and hard drive woes in 1 or just get the ambers and the controller?

I was thinking maybe the Coolermaster Cosmos RC1000 v2 for this if I went with the case instead of the ambers + zm-mfc2. Is this case silent (or near enough) and great at cooling? Any noticeable flaws? I checked the Hexus review of this case but I think this was V1 of the case and Scan currently stock the V2 so I'm not sure of the differences? If not the Cosmos, anything else around the £100 - £120 mark that is superb for noise/cooling/other issues I mentioned above?

Sorry for the questionaire, but I do like to be thorough before I turn over my hard earned case

Thank you for the help in advance.

[Will404]

New case, defo...or for a bit over you could get watercooling..?, which would cause your pc to run alot cooler and quirter

This could be a worthwile consideration.

[Ciber]

Antec nine hundred or twelve hundred be any good for you?

[Will404]

I just bought a 900, have not set it up yet, but however I don't think that ezri would be too keen on an antec case:

Antec TriCool's are about as reliable as a chocolate fireguard, I've gone through about 10 of them

[ezri]

Aye the Antec 1200 looks a really nice case, but Antec TriCool's were forged in the fiery pits of hell. Which is a shame because it's putting me off Antec cases until they get better fans installed at default. Still got my eye on the Cosmos V2, can't find anything hideously wrong with it so far...

Think I will go with the case option, now just to find a case

[Will404]

Lol, good luck, I don't think that there is much advice that can be given on this, its more down to personal prefrance.

The cosmos V2 is a nice case though...


get something nice.

Will

[TAKTAK]

you could do a volt mod on the fans... (i.e. the fans spin slower and are quiter)

or fit the case out with some yate loons (which are about £4 a pop) with the addition of a fan controller... so 5 Y/L's + 5 pointiometers = ~£30

or do the slow upgrade option of fitting a new noctua p12 every so often, i've got 3 p12's in my case plus 2 Y/L's and it's nice and quiet with the proccy and GFX being under full load for about 5days i think the loudest thing in my case is the GFX card cooler. and bareing n mind that my case is a Lian Li A05 the sides are quite thin as it is aluminium, but with noctuas its nice and quiet.

so... if your current fans are powered straight off the PSU (i.e. molex) then you can do a volt mod to shut them up. or get some Y'L's (£4 each). or some P12's (£13 each)

[Will404]

Good point TakTak...should have thought of that.

Here is a guide of how to volt mod:http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/other/137

Your fans will run on 12 volts, and by volt modding them you can change this to 7 or 5 volts, meaning that they run slower, thus making less noise.

[ezri]

I best shy away from volt modding, last thing I volt modded ended up killing my PSU when I modded it from 12v to 7v Thank you for the suggestion however.

[TAKTAK]

well if a volt mod is out... then i reccomend a nice case such as Lian Li's or Silverstone Tiemjins

[Will404]

Yer, I know what you mean about being shy about voltmodding...I decided to make a flashing light system for my pc, and when only one of the lights worked i decided to skip a section of the pcb, using a a bare wire, while the computer was on.......
.......it shorted, but the psu cutted out luckally, as otherwise all the power could have gone through me.

No volt modding for me either...