My current case is a combination of very cheap, battered and a bit small, so I was looking to get a new one. Are there any particular recommendations around the £70 mark? To be able to fit a PA120.3 in the top would be ideal but not strictly necessary. Any particular favourites around here?
Thanks,
Michael
I'm waiting for this one to come back into stock
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=1005622
Lian Li PC-A05NB
Depends on how many disks etc you want to be able to get into it, not to mention the form factor
Englander (10-02-2010)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Fract...-inc-Front-I-O - Silver
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Fract...-inc-Front-I-O - Grey
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Fract...-inc-Front-I-O - Black
That's definitely the case I would go for. £10 over budget though.
Englander (10-02-2010)
Now that does look good. I'm not bothered about a tenner here and there, particularly. it's got fan filters, sound dampening, cable routing holes, modest design, rubberised PSU mounting, 90 degree HDD slots, plenty of room. Everything I wanted, in fact.Originally Posted by matty-hodgson
I'll definitely google some reviews/more pics of that case
And just for a bit of a bigger picture, I neglected to mention earlier that I don't have a vast quantity of 5.25"/3.5" drives. I have an SSD but have a 3.5 > 2.5" converter thingy so that's covered. And ATX is the order of the day, too
Silverstone stuff is good....
And if you want something to dominate your room and to bow down and pray at...
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Silve...-%28w-o-PSU%29
that's good value now
Englander (10-02-2010)
The Fractal is a great looking case with many features sadly cooling is not really one of them unless you start to add extra fans which puts the price up more.
The Silverstone is a very nice case for the money, great size, silver is the only off putting thing for me I tend to like Cases in black normally. Still thats only down to personal taste.
The Lian-Li case is yet another great case if you want a small PC not enough drive bays for a lot of people though.
Its always worth checking on Scans today only offers though I picked up a HAF 922 last week for around £78 again down to personal taste with the looks but it has very good cooling and a fair amount of drive space.
I used to go for cheaper cases myself but having built a i7 in a Cosmos S case not to long ago I found myself never wanting a cheap case again, its strange that people really do try and skimp on cases when it is normally by far the longest lasting component for your PC.
Englander (10-02-2010)
http://forums.hexus.net/chassis-syst...r2-review.html - Englander
Also this has two 5.25" bays and one of the bays has a little converter/ holder to hold an SSD.
Has ample room for HD's and will be more than enough to hold your hardware.
CiChildash is correct in regards needing more fans to get the extra cooling, but I would say it IS worth it, I personally bought the Fractal Silent Fans myself and think they are great, the system is so quiet with the added sound proofing they have.
I moved my hardware over and the temperature dropped by about 5 - 6 degrees over each core.
It really IS worth the extra money.
Last edited by Disturbedguy; 10-02-2010 at 05:50 PM.
It didn't fall off, it merely became insufficient at it's purpose and got a bit droopy...
Englander (10-02-2010)
I also say the R2 I have just built a system with it and it is a brilliant case.
Cant comment on the cooling of the stock fans tbh as i have replaced all of the stock ones.
I think I'm pretty much sold on the Fractal to be honest, thanks for the very nicely timed review, Disturbed
I can knick a 120mm fan from my current CPU air cooler, the case comes with a front fan, I'll have 3 fans blowing up through the rad so I think that's ample cooling. I suppose I could throw a few pounds at one more Yate Loon and put it on the back, or even steal one of my current stock case fans.
Do you think it would be big enough to internally mount a PA120.3 with one side of fans, Disturbed?
can anyone point out what fans they used/replaced in the fractal define ? also what colour did u guys get ,i kinda like the silver one !
ps there is a review here as well
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/201...-case-review/1
and
http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2010/01...-r2-follow-up/
Last edited by Taiko; 10-02-2010 at 06:56 PM. Reason: more info
Englander (10-02-2010)
I would recommend the new Coolermaster 690 II Advanced.
Definitely one of the best mid tower case around right now for the price,all black interior and awesome cable management holes and slick simple design can't go wrong there.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/177119
Englander (10-02-2010)
I used the Fractal Fans.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=Fractal
Specifically the 120/ 140mm Silent Series ones.
Very quiet but good.
Englander, in regards to the PA120.3 question, I couldnt answer that mate, I dont use water cooling and dont know the size of the rad and such.
It didn't fall off, it merely became insufficient at it's purpose and got a bit droopy...
Englander (10-02-2010)
That case does look really nice. Would have to think about using one for my next build.
Dimensions: LxWxD (mm) 430x128x61 Basically is there > 43cm of room at the top allowing for optical drives?
Also, my 8pin mobo connector is perhaps 30-40cm which I'm not sure will be enough? Sorry to be a pain disturbed but what are your thoughts on that? :S If not, I suppose I'll need an extender cable of some description.
Yes I'm not sure there's room for a rad&fans up top in that case.
Most of the mid tower cases don't really have much room up top for a rad & fans.
Also being a triple 120mm fan rad the PA120.3 is going to require some case modding in any case (at least I don't know of any triple top fan cases)
Then pre-fitted bitumen sound damping material in the R2 might be a real pain to work with.
You could look at the Xclio Windtunnel, http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Xclio...e-Fans-w-o-PSU
Not the greatest of cases but should make a very good blank canvas for modding.
[rem IMG]https://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/pob_aka_robg/Spork/project_spork.jpg[rem /IMG] [rem IMG]https://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/pob_aka_robg/dichotomy/dichotomy_footer_zps1c040519.jpg[rem /IMG]
Pob's new mod, Soviet Pob Propaganda style Laptop.
"Are you suggesting that I can't punch an entire dimension into submission?" - Flying squirrel - The Red Panda Adventures
Sorry photobucket links broken
Can't say I'm a fan of the aesthetics of that case, though :S
A bit of modding is fine, and I haven't got a problem with cutting just tubing holes in the top and then plonking the rad on top of the case. Would have been nice but I don't really want an enormous case either so a compromise it may have to be!
My main concern though is the apparent lack of length of my 8pin mobo power connector. I'm not sure how well it would cope with being mounted at the bottom and having to crawl the full length up the back of the mobo and then round the top.
EDIT: also, apparently on Scan the black Fractal comes with 1 case fan whilst the other 2 colours come with 2 case fans pre fitted. Is this correct?
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