Which Case? PC-K62/3 CM HAF 922 CM 690 II

[nibbler]

Quality wise the antec Performance 1 series will not be beaten

[wannabgeek]

Quality wise the antec Performance 1 series will not be beaten

That actually looks OK (P180B) but its a rather old PC but building wise it looks straight forward. The newer one is too small.

[nibbler]

Current breed is the P183 really, but that's pushing up the price.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/Antec...ays-Quiet-Case

[wannabgeek]

too big i'm afraid!

I really want the lian li but it dont seem to have a top fan which is need as case will be in a gap with no side ventilation.

[c.ruel]

EDIT: pc-8fi has a 140mm fan slot on the top but is £130 quid, the fractal design cases also have top fan slots. If you are really willing to push the boat out what a FT01?

I think the R3 looks to be better quality than the p180! But still damn well undecided?

Does the Lian Li PC-7FNWB have a top fan ps and whats the difference between the others the PC-7FN?

The pc-7fn doesn't have a window the 7fnw does.

Maybe if you're still really undecided try and think about what you want to put in a new case, will it be a matx or ATX motherboard if you have a matx might you want an ATX mobo in the future? How many 5.25" drives do you need right now, how many will you need in the future, how many HDD do you have now ... how many will you need the in future, how much ventilation/space for cooling do you require, will you need more further down the line.

First and foremost any new case should be able to handle what you already have and anything you know you want in the future.

Then you need to think about the things that matter to you most and put them in order of importance ... i.e. noise, size, ventilation, steel or alminium, has a door, doesn't have a door, watercooling support, what kind of look: industrial (HAF/darkfleet series) or understated (p183/fractal design/lian li).

Obviously also think about your budget, how much are you willing to spend, you said you would spend £100. Now that you should buy you have a good mid tower but it won't buy you one that has every possible feature a.) because it's not enough and b.) because some things are mutually exclusive.

So basically in a nutshell we can help you more if maybe you give us a list of things you want and things you don't won't.

[wannabgeek]

Thanks for that.

PC i am building is around a AMD Phenom II X6 1050t and a ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 mobo. Ventilation is only a problem because pc will be in a gap with no side ventilation, hence reason i want a top fan. Other than this its not used for gaming just for video/photo editing (CS5 suite) No watercooling. Noise is not really a issue but quiet would be nice as would alu but as you said ive only £100 buget! I am leaning towards the PC-7FNB...maybe i can cut a fan into it if need be?
I will have another look at the R3 and make my mind up. Thanks for all your kind help guys.

Just reading about the p183. It apparently has a poor cable managment. But there are some things being said about the R3 (below)
http://www.overclock.net/computer-ca...-review-2.html

[nibbler]

Be aware that even a centremetre or two is enough depth for side ventilation to be effective.

[wannabgeek]

Be aware that even a centremetre or two is enough depth for side ventilation to be effective.

Thats good to know. Thanks

[Pob255]

The P183 isn't an amazing upgrade over the p182 , just a couple of minior tweeks

Going back to you original choises
Lancool k62 - very good air cooling, very quiet (comes fully loaded with fans so no additional fans are needed) fully filtered, fully toolless and good toolless that actually works very well.
Steel and plastic not aluminium.
If you want aluminium then the Armoursuit P50 is the case the K62 is based on (although they used the hard drive drive cage from the PC-7F)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/LianL...g-Case-W-O-PSU
The K62 is the best steel toolless case on the market hands down, Black out&in blue LED fans, there are a couple of other colour options however they where made in limited numbers so not so easy to find.
If you don't care about the black interia, window and led fans, then the K58 is much cheaper, although it doesn't come with top 140mm fans or the grommited scews to fit them so you need to get thoes seperately, however even with thoes costs it's still a cheaper option. (hard to find now )
Bad points, water cooling, using custom grommited fan screws and 2x140mm top fans and a single 140mm fan at the front makes for limited water cooling options (you need to use 140mm or 280mm rads as the top and front use 140mm fans only)

HAF 922 - Steel, HAF styling* (*the styling is a big turn off for some and looks great to others depends on your personal taste.) Alot of air flow with stock fans, lots of space inside (esp in width and behind the motherboard tray, just having hole to run cables doesn't mean there's space to put them in) alternative holes for 120mm fan or rads.
Down sides, HAF styling*, A real dust magnet, unpainted interia (this is a personal thing as it's not going to effect perfromance)

coolermaster 690 II Advanced
It is decent and well priced, flexable options for rads, all black in&out, good cooling, external sata drive docking.
Only semi-filtered (while the front is filtered there's still lots of unfiltered holes), only one ot two side panel fans can be used with a large cpu cooler, and while it can mount lots of fans it only comes with 3 so you need to factor in additional fans into the cost.

My choise I'd get the red edition Lancool K62 http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/cust...roductid=11238 or more probably hunt down the K58 and mod it
However currently the HAF 912 has got my attention but I'm looking at it from a modding view point and a like the slightly smaller size (less heigh not wide)

Another one I'll chuck at you the NZXT Phantom http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/NZXT-...Window-w-o-PSU black or http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/NZXT-...Window-w-o-PSU white
A little over budget but a really nice looking case, big, good to work on and has a nice built in fan controller.

Also for NZXT on the lower end of the cost scale we're looking at the NZXT Tempest EVO, comes with all fans needed, looks are a bit like the HAF in that you'll like it or hate it, a decent all round case.

On aluminium cases you're looking at the Lain-Li PC-7FN or PC-6F The cooling will not be quite as good as the others we've mentioned and they are a bit smaller, while there is space in the top for fans there's no holes to fit fans so modding would be required to improve the cooling.

Thermaltake Element G, this would be a good option to consider if you don't like the HAF styling but still want the very high air flow.

Other wild cards
Zalman GS1000-SE Note not the newer MS as it's not as good.
The original GS1000 is steel frame, with aluminium panels and ABS plastic details, 3 of 6 HDD are hot swapable connectors (the other 3 can be made hotswappable with an additional part)
The GS1000 - SE same with a few minor tweeks, also side panels are steel and no hotswappable mounting included (although it can be added) cheaper

[Pob255]

Ok you posted more while I was typeing that and double checking my factoids.

I take it you're looking at onboard graphics, so you'll not have a major amount of heat to deal with (esp if you don't overclock)

If you must have aluminium because . . . it's aluminium! (ok I'll admit anodised brushed aluminium has a look and shean that no painted steel will match, and aluminium cases use thicker gague material, because they cannot get away with thinner as you can with steel and careful folding)
The Lain-Li PC-7FN or PC-6F are probably the choises for you

You could try hunting ebay or simular for the Hiper Osiris

Be aware that even a centremetre or two is enough depth for side ventilation to be effective.

Depends where that extra width is, the extra will not make an amazing difference to air cooling with a twoer cpu cooler (unless it's the difference between a 92mm fan cooler (140mm clearence) or a 120mm fan cooler(160mm clearence)) however it does have a big impact on cable management, space behind the motherboard will have a major impact on cable behind the tray and extra overall width has a big effect on hard drive cable management if the drive cage is at 90degrees.

Also extra case width is needed for the really big assed fans to be mounted in the front or top

[wannabgeek]

Ok you posted more while I was typeing that and double checking my factoids.

I take it you're looking at onboard graphics, so you'll not have a major amount of heat to deal with (esp if you don't overclock)

If you must have aluminium because . . . it's aluminium! (ok I'll admit anodised brushed aluminium has a look and shean that no painted steel will match, and aluminium cases use thicker gague material, because they cannot get away with thinner as you can with steel and careful folding)
The Lain-Li PC-7FN or PC-6F are probably the choises for you

You could try hunting ebay or simular for the Hiper Osiris

Thanks very much guys ive just purchased the K62...Only thing is its RED. But hey i never would of got it otherwise tonite. Thanks again.

[Pob255]

I prefer the red interia, red fans, black exteria to the balck interia, black fans, black exteria or blue interia, blue fans, black exteria

Did you get the windowed or non-windowed version?

[george1979]

I have the CM690 II Advanced and I love it. Admittedly it was my 1st build so I'm not as experienced as most of you guys but this case has great cooling, cable management options and it looks good. Quiet and well built as well.

just my two cents...

Also meant to add that this case made my 1st build go much more smoothly than expected. Tons of room and very easy to work with. The black powder coated interior looks great too.

[Butuz]

My 2p.

HAF 922 = FUGLY so that would rule it out for me no matter how good it is.
690 II = Seems like an ideal case at a good price. 95% great at 95% of things and its not FUGLY with it either (as many CM's are)
Lian Li PC-7FNWB = Love lian li have a BIG soft spot for 'em but annoyingly none of the midi towers have much cooling/water cooling support, e.g the 690 II demolishes it it terms of fan's / radiators. Would stil buy one tho....just cos there sexy.
Lancool's PC-K62 = Lian li but steel and cheap - still look sexy tho which is frankly the whole point of lian li!! Drawbacks = same as Lian li (cooling).

So I'd summarise as follows: If you want cooling/watercooling etc - CM 690 II. If you want sexy time PC-K62. If you want more sexy time and have more money for more sexy time PC-7.

Butuz

[Pob255]

The cooling on the Lancool is good, the only real thing lacking in it is radiator support and side panel vent/fan slot so gpu temps can be slightly hotter.
It comes with a full set of fans, which is something most of the cm cases lack, also by keeping the air flow tightly focused (ie without a whole lot of additional vents&holes) the dust filtering is very good.

The CM 690 II is a very good option though and much better now then when it was first released and was about £30 more that it currently is.

[Behemoth]

I've just gone for a HAF912 plus. I had similar criteria - cable routing, motherboard cut out. Space for large graphics cards, SSD mounting brackets. Could let you know what it's like when I do the build in a week or so.

I don't suppose you get some build pics of that up once you've got it ? I'm pretty sure I want one of those to replace my current Antec 300 with.