Case Choices

[Computer-Ed]

Okay guys we are working on a PC build that will supply solid base overclocking. That means we need good cooling but since it is a general home based system some noise reductions would be nice.

I have looked at a few cases and my choices are starting to be narrowed. We are looking at a P180 or a 900 case.

The system that will fill this is:

Core2 E6600 (Big Typhoon heatsink)
Corsair Dominator DDR2 (Have option fan kit but not sure if I need it)
Gigabyte 965P-DS2 mainboard
X1950Pro
X-Fi Gamer
WD SE16 HD
Samsung SATA DVD Writer

We are still testing PSUs so we do not yet have a choice but it looks like an Antec or Enermax.

They key is maximum overclocking with minimum effort. The Typhoon was my first choice because at the time I thought we would use a Thermal Advantage based case and the top down design would draw air perfectly through the vent. The new cases we are looking at do not have the vent and I am wondering if I would get better results with a tower cooler.

The way I see it the 900 will offer better cooling but will be a lot louder. The P180 will be quieter but not have the raw cooling power. The real question I guess is will the P180 offer enough cooling for it's noise level to be a deciding factor?

[garetjax]

I would definitely go with the Antec 900, hands down, especially if you are going to do some overclocking. The air flow design in the 900 is superb. We are talking about dual 120mm fans in the front, and a 120mm fan pushing air out the back. Although, this may not be a factor if you decide you like overclocking so much that you decide to go with water, in which case 120mm fans aren't really going to make that much of a difference. If you do go the water route, you might try the 180, but I am predicting that it may be a tight squeeze for all the hardware associated with water cooling.

In either case, each of the enclosures you are looking at are top notch and will serve you well. Between the two, I would go with the 900. It appears much more roomier and less constricting in my opinion, with more options for cooling, either air or otherwise. I wouldn't neccessarily worry about the noise with the 900. You can always replace the fans with some Arctic Cooling 120mm jobs that push serious CFM but with very low dB, somewhere on the order of 25ish dB or less I would guess. Besides, if you are still worried about vibration and noise, use some rubber grommets when installing your opticals and HD's, and you might want to line your case with some sound dampening material, although your case temp's may rise because of it.

For everyone's clicking pleasure:

Antec P180
Antec 900

HL reviews on the Antec P180 and the Antec 900 enclosures.

Arctic Cooling 120mm AF12 case fans.

[Panda Man]

The 900 from what I've heard isn't loud at all, you can barely hear it. And the cooling is superior to the P180. The thing you'll be fighting with alot is dust. Without the filters, all those fans bring in mounds of dusts. Dust bunnies, Dust kittens, dust cats, real cats, it all gets sucked in and coats hour hardware, which is bad for a highly Overclocked system.

The P180 is VERY quiet, and the rubber grips for the HDD make it nearly silent. I love it, and cooling is extremely well done. If you REALLY need more cooling around the Video Card, you can add a PCI fan.

Overall, for performance, I'd take the P180. For looks, the 900.

[Quakindude]

I built a computer last week for a very good friend of mine. He went with the Antec 900. Our review here wasn't glowing for this case, but my personal build experience with it was fantastic. The newest Antec 900 is now labeled V1.1. That version comes with two holes in the back precut and rubber grommeted for water cooling setups. After I removed the fan bracket off the rear of the lower drive cage, I had no issues at all with clearance and he went with the 8800GTX. He also had a couple of Antec Tri-Cool 120mm fans. I installed one of these in the provided slot on the side window of the case and his card runs surprisingly cool for having the stock air cooler on it. The Antec 900 comes with two front 120mm fans with a 3 position switch and a single rear 120mm fan with the same switch. Then, there's a 200mm fan in the top of the case with a switch. With all the fans set to medium and a CNPS9700 on his E6700, which easily overclocked to 3.4Ghz, he has nice loaded temps of just 50*C.

My computer is in a beat up Enermax case with a 250mm side fan blowing directly on the mobo/CPU and I'm sitting at 56*C. That's with my E6600 at 3.3Ghz and a CNPS9500. His 9700 only accounts for maybe -2*C, the case has the other -5*C that brings him down to 50*C and he's pushing more voltage than I am.

The Antec 900 would be an excellent case. Especially since it's surprisingly quiet for having all those fans.

[gvblake22]

The new Lian Li PC-A16 series cases look pretty nice and seem pretty flexible and functional for a mid-tower.

[JazzyJake]

a few tweaks i would suggest.
X-Fi gamer is kind of a rip.
take a look at a x-fi xtreme music.
make sure you get the 160gb or up caviar, those are the ones with 16mb of cache.
wait about another week and the 8600 series will be out, and cheaper than the 1950pros

and i would suggest either a 900, or a lian li case.
i've done prolly 7 or so builds in lian li cases, and they are simply the smoothest.
not to say the 900 isn't incredible.
i LOVE the lower-mounted PSU.
makes wire management really easy

[Quakindude]

Originally Posted by JazzyJake

i LOVE the lower-mounted PSU.
makes wire management really easy

How did I forget the lower mounted PSU? Cable management was easy....and this dude went with a PC P&C 1KW. That friggin thing has more wires on it than Dom Deloise doing a stunt like FatBastard.

[Computer-Ed]

Seems most people here think the 900 is the way to go. The other parts are already here and actually running so making changes is not gonna happen. The cases will be here by the end of this week and will be moving the parts into the new case.

The E6600 is right now running at 3.0 Ghz with stock voltage and cooling in a generic Antec Thermal Advantage case. At full load with an 80F ambient I am running the CPU at 54C and the high Core reading at 62C. Those readings are via the newest Speedfan and the core temp was verified with ITAT. The load was put on using Orthos. (The version for dual core)

[Capper]

Actually, I was very high on the ANTEC 900....my only real issue was the lack of filters considering all of the fans. I'd also strongly consider the Gigabyte Aurora 570, as its an exceptional case (we'll be posting that review Thursday or Friday

[Pete]

the Gigabyte Aurora 570 was the Best of the Best Full tower case in Maximum PC as well. Antec 900 was the Best mid tower case.