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LianLi Lancool K62

 

Mid Tower

$99 - $129 depending on sales, etailer etc.

 

Pros

HDD trays face side to side instead of front to back

You can install your hard drives with the connectors pointing to the right side of the case - hence hiding them from the left side panel view

Decent cooling in stock form - even better if you add a 120/140mm fan in the left panel window

Stock comes with a window - custom windows available or you can mod your own

Twin 140mm fans up top for exhausting hot air from the case

Decent build quality

Interior already painted black

Backside cutout in the motherboard tray so you can change cpu coolers without taking out the whole board (depends on motherboard socket location)

Entire case is pretty customizable

A good looking case IMHO

Great price point for the features and build quality

It's a stripped down LianLi :)

Fairly roomy for a mid tower

Tool-less PCI/PCIe system is outstanding - best I've ever worked with

Tool-less HDD racks work well

 

Cons

Wish the right side of the case had more room between the m/b tray and side panel. Pretty tight to get the panel back on after you've stuff a ton of wires back there

Side panel alignment with the top and front bezel is pretty poor on mine

Wish the motherboard tray was about 1/4 inch lower inside the case

 

Other thoughts - I love Cap's suggestion about a removable insert for the top vents. If you move your top fans to the inside of the case you can fit a 220mm rad on top, but not without cutting out the vent slots

Edited by wevsspot

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Mid Tower

 

$50 - $99

 

Antec SOLO

 

Pros

 

- Solid Quality Construction

- Hard Drive Suspension mounting system included, and does greatly reduce HDD noise

- Sound deadening panels (not substantial but work reasonably well)

- Front panel easily removed for access to front fan and hard drive bay

- Cable management hooks behind (right side) hard drive bays make cables easy to tuck out of the way

- Compact and understated styling

- Very quiet with the right fans and a fan controller

 

 

Cons

 

- Can be a little cramped to work in, PSU must be installed first. Large graphics cards may not fit.

- HDD Suspension elastic gets a bit slack (fatigued) after a while

- Limited cooling potential: 2 x 92mm front mounts and 1 x 120mm rear

- Included Antec TriCool rear fan is not quiet

- No case speaker (you'll need to have spare to connect if you want to hear beep codes)

 

 

Overall it's very good if you are aiming to build a reasonably compact and quiet system.

Edited by jammin

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Corsair 800D

$250.00-$300.00

@ Europe 350/400USD

 

Personal Opinion

 

Pros:

1. Top 360 rad mount or 480 [with some work]

2. Great and Unique cable management

3. All black and excelent outside finish

4. Hot Swap

5. Lot´s of space to work

 

 

Cons:

1. High price

2. Bad Airflow [aircooling system]

3. Very heavy

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139.99 USD NZXT PHANTOM full tower

 

Pros: sleek design

fan controllers

good airflow

GREAT cable management

almost tool less

if your thinking of modding you can make it AWESOME

 

Cons: have to mod to put some WHEELS (lol)

no side window

have to spent a lot more if you wanna have all the FANS

 

 

there maybe other pros and cons but thats what i can say about, is been with me for over a week so thats all i can think about it right now if some one can add more to it then please do so and as JK says LONG LIVE THIS THREAD !!!!! :evilgrin:

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All of this has got me comparing cases and reading case reviews again :)

 

I've found two cases on the recommended list that I really like based on features and appearance.

 

I'm really digging both the NZXT Tempest EVO and the Coolermaster 690 II Advanced, especially considering their aggressive pricing/feature set.

 

Both appear to be water cooling friendly with the option to incorporate at minimum an internal 220mm radiator. I wish CM would release a better

side panel windowed model though.

 

Last thoughts - why do the case mfgs. jump from 120mm side panel fans up to huge 200mm or larger fans on the side panel.

 

It seems to me that one or two 140mm low rpm fans would be ideal.

Edited by wevsspot

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Cooler Master HAF932

My opinions

Pros:

1.The best airflow case , I have modded it with 15 fans in total.

2. No tools needed to fit drives

3. Massive for the biggest cards

4. The window is nice to show off your stuff to people :P

5. Nearly all mesh so hot air escapes quickly

 

Cons:

 

1. Heavy

2. Dust (but if you're an oc'ing enthusisast like me then you do not care and want the best airflow :P )

3. Not black inside (but easily paintable like I did)

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Lian Li Lan Cool K58 $75-$90 depending on store.

 

Pros:

Looks nice.

Nearly Silent

Cools fairly well.

Roomy.

Optional side window.

No blue fans

 

Cons: (I really had to think about these.)

Not as many fans as the K62

Largest of graphics cards may not fit.

Heavy.

No blue fans.

Edited by gabrieltessin

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Yes, thanks NYT.

 

We appreciate the opportunity to make everyone into conformists and own only the cases we like :)

 

On another note - I happened upon a case mfg. that I think shows some great potential. Initial reviews show that

cooling still needs some work - but man they got everything else nailed IMHO.

 

http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/

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Micro Tower

NZXT Crafted Series Vulcan

- Price range: 70

- Personal opinion

pros

1. Great Air Flow (with Mesh Side Panel)

2. Top Handle

3. Filters (rarely seen in MicroTower)

4. Holes for liquid cooling tubes

5. Protable

6. Fits long card (such as 5970)

cons

1. too little expansion bay (in 3.5, ex 5.25 and ex 3.5, each 2)

2. the side panel mexh doesnt have filter...

3. not full tool-less design

4. High price

5. not much space for hiding cables

 

10092010182.jpg

Edited by jk336699

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