Case Suggestions

[Cybie1111]

Hello Everyone. I am planning to build my first system on my own this year and I need some suggestions for cases. It can either be full tower or mid tower size and with a price limit of 100 dollars US.

I might buy one of these below. But if you find some better ones, please tell me. Thanks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144167
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811180031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119079

[bruins004]

Dracula Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811148014

This is my primary case....It is very big inside so it is very easy to put components in. It also comes with 2 fans (I bought a 120mm for the front). It is also a lot cheaper than the ones you are looking at. It also has small vents on the top of the case which helps out a lot. My case stays about 75-80 F (30-35 C) with just 3 fans which is pretty cool. The only down side was that I had to buy a temperature/fan control since this case doesn't come with it. Also, as a side note, you shouldn't use the PSUs that a case comes with since they are generic and suck. If you want to go slightly over $100 ($114 I think it goes for these days) then I suggest getting this case below:

Nemesis Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146007

This case comes with a temperature controller and is just as good if not better than the above case. It comes with 3 120mm fans and a PSU (which I suggest you dont use). Unlike most cases, it is light which is good if you move your case.

[Velocity]

If i were you i wouldnt go with a premod... the nicest cases are the simpler more professional cases (Lanli, Thermaltake, Coolermaster, Silverstone, etc)... my personal favorite is a thermaltake tsunami... i have 2... also antecs are great cases, and great for airflow... the problem with premods are that youll get it and love it, then start posting your system aroung and people will hate your system simply because its a premod. and if price is limiting you, wait until they go on sale... you can easily find a less expensive model LL for well under 100 bux... good luck, hope you find my advise useful.

ps... the third case is verry nice... thats what i would go with...

[Cybie1111]

I am starting to agree to Velocity about having a simpler case. I am going to continue researching for cases and I possibly not able to start building until spring break, I need to focus more on school at the moment because im a HS senior and I want to finish and move on. :)

[Velocity]

they are also open to more modding yourself on the cases... with premods there isnt much left to do to them...

[AMDCam]

Hey dude, what kind of cooling do you want? Air or water? Because with air, look for the biggest or most amount of fan slots available. I have to recommend my case, the best all around case I can possibly imagine, plus it doesn't look like a generic mod case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811209017
Mine is black/silver (silver inside, black primary) but this one looks good too.

I got it for looks, the screen, and fan amount. It's got a ceiling fan, 2 side fans, a window, 2 front fans, and 2 rear fans (slots). that's 7 80mm fan slots!
ATRIX is my preferred company, ULTRA cheap, good quality, GREAT features

[Urlyin]

Hey dude, what kind of cooling do you want? Air or water? Because with air, look for the biggest or most amount of fan slots available. I have to recommend my case, the best all around case I can possibly imagine, plus it doesn't look like a generic mod case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811209017
Mine is black/silver (silver inside, black primary) but this one looks good too.

I got it for looks, the screen, and fan amount. It's got a ceiling fan, 2 side fans, a window, 2 front fans, and 2 rear fans (slots). that's 7 80mm fan slots!
ATRIX is my preferred company, ULTRA cheap, good quality, GREAT features

Nice case Cam ... for 49 bucks .. looks like a good deal :)

[Cybie1111]

AMDCam, I am going for an air-cooled system.

What about this case.. I heard that these brand of cases work well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811112212

[AMDCam]

I don't know dude, it's not very attractive and has (from what I see) 1 ceiling fan and 1 92mm rear fan. Not great for ventilation, but if you like it, go for it. For $90 though, I guarantee you can get a better something in there, from PSU to case features (fan slots) to LCD displays to side windows to better style. I'm not tryin to bring you down dude, I'm just sayin, for $90 you can get a beauty, a state-of-the-art, or even just a full featured case that looks just like yours but has more ventilation.

[Cybie1111]

I see where your going now, and youre not bringing me down at all. The only thing that will bring me down is no comments. :)

Just to check, is the front case fan(s) 80mm or 120mm (120mm more preferable) since you are saying that the case can carry up to 7 80mm's?

[AMDCam]

Well I'd say 1x 120mm compared to 2x 80mm fans are pretty comparable. Both have plenty of ventilation they push. Either are great. If you tell us what you want we can help you out better. So what do you want to do:

Overclock? You'll want:
-Good ventilation
-Plenty of fan slots (especially on side panel for cooler CPU/GPU)
-Plenty of room for heatsinks and extra cooling supplies
-Plenty of drive bays (usually an overclocker loads their system up after a while with drives)
-Very powerful PSU (450w or more) if included
Optional- Front LCD display with thermal sensors to tell you temperatures
Optional- Good looking case, after a while you might want to mod it

Productivity? You'll want:
-Front USB/audio/firewire (depending on what you want to do) ports on your front panel
-Plenty of drive bays (more hard drives, more DVD/CD burners, etc)
-Good ventilation to ensure longer life of hardware
-Very simple no-frills type case

Game? You'll want:
-Front audio ports (for easy headset hookup)
-Power supply with over 500w of power (for SLI/Crossfire compatibility)
-Good Ventilation to keep top-of-the-line hardware cool
-Side fan slots to keep your graphics card or processor cooler
Optional- Good looking case, most gamers like showing off their rigs as much as showing off their skills

ADVANTAGES:
Overclock- Obviously great for overclocking and breaking records, also looks great
Productivity- Can be gotten very cheap (hey, all aluminum can hold hardware, why pay $80 more for the same thing?), and it's a simple case so they're easy to find
Game- Keeps your hardware looking and feeling cool, great looking cases

[Cybie1111]

My goal is for a gaming system with overclockability (only by a little). I am also planning to get either SLi or Crossfire on this system. I don't want any fancy-looking cases, just something that would cool things down (like the Atrix case you showed me). When new graphics cards come to the market from both sides, I will decide then which to choose (since crossfire is still too young to compare to SLi at the moment). If I am not able to find a good comparison to the Atrix case, I will buy the case.

Here are my planned specs:

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ or AMD Athlon X2
2 Gigs DDR 400
Will have SLi or Crossfire graphics capability (but will use only 1 Graphics card for the moment)
Sound Blaster Sound Card (idk exactly at the moment)
Approx. 600 Watt Power Supply
CD/DVD-RW drives (similiar with my current comp specs)
250 Gig Hard Drive 16 meg cache (not planning to RAID)

Approx Price: $1000-$1500 (price mainly reflects graphics card choice)

Since that will take some time for me to get, I have a plan B. If this dosent work out for me, I will get a case, Motherboard, CD/DVD Drives Hard Drive, power supply and transfer my CPU, sound card and Graphics to the new motherboard. Plan B requires a LGA775 mainboard with dual graphics either SLi or Crossfire, and I might have to buy DDR2 memory if necessary.

Approx Price $300-$600

[AMDCam]

Awesome dude, yeah I'd go with the Atrix, especially with the case fans on the side panel specifically built for SLI/Crossfire.

A suggestion on your processor though, you could get a virtual FX-57 for the same price as that 4000+. If you get an Opteron 144, 146, or 148 (148 is about the same price as your 4000+, because the 144's and 6's are too hard to find usually). They require more than a "little" overclocking though, but just a little because they're extremely good overclockers.

Good luck with your stuff man, and just keep asking if you have ANY questions about power or recommendations or anything else you want.