Lian-Li or Thermaltake?

[Yellowhello]

Hi, I am REALLY stuck on this. I can potentially get both cases at the same price. The cases are:

Thermaltake Armor jr VC3000SWA Silver Chassis : 0.8mm all aluminum Front bezel : Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

LIAN LI PC-60USB B2 Silver Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Both have there pros and cons, but I want to know what case would be better for this system:

MB: ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

Mem: CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

PSU: SILVERSTONE OP650 ATX12V / EPS12V 650W Power Supply 100 - 240 V RoHS, FCC, CE

HDD: Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YS 160GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

GPU: EVGA 256-P2-N751-AR GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

I might be running SLI and I am going for cooling, not so much looks. If you have any other suggestions for a good case for this setup, I'm all ears.

[Beetle Bailey]

It's been said time and time again. If you are serious about the cooling then the only case for you is Newegg.com - Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything but IMHO, this case outperforms anything else on the market. If your worried about dust, send me a PM and I'll set you up with some washable filters to help you out. Bailey.

[Capper]

I'll second the Nine hundred, but considering the two cases you can get at a good price....I'll definitely recommend the Thermaltake Armor Jr.

Paul reviewed it awhile back, and I can't say enough about my experiences with the Armor or Armor Jr myself.

[Computer-Ed]

I can tell you I have no experience with Thermaltake cases, hoping to fix that soon. (I love their PSUs and Coolers however) I might get flamed but I do not like Lian Li cases. They seem way overpriced and they have just never impressed me.

I will however join the others in saying that an Antec Nine Hundred is a hard case to beat when it comes to cooling. Opening the side panel while the computer is on is like turning on a box fan, the air flow is amazing.

[Capper]

As the saying goes "Lian Li" is Chinese for "Over-priced"....join the club Ed, I'm underwhelmed by their enclosures....I find them to be decent, but nothing spectacular.

[Dread]

I've always like the Lian-Li cases, extremely well built and top of the line. One
glaring deficiency in them is that Lian-Li seems stuck on using 80mm fans rather than the larger/quieter 120's as intake/exhaust.

I'd have to agree with the above. If you can spend it get the 900, or go with the Thermaltake if cooling is your primary concern.

Speaking of cooling, unless you plan on oc'ing the living hell out of that
4300 you won't need to worry about cooling that much. They are very cool running CPU's. Add an after market HSF unit like the Zalman 95/9700
series or the Ninja and it'll be that much cooler.

[Yellowhello]

Thanks for the replies. I have heard that the 900 is a little smaller for a mid-sized tower. Is this true? I would just like to learn the details of the case.

[gvblake22]

That Lian Li PC-60 is a pretty plain mid-tower for $100. It is built well, but that's about it, and not an extremely good value. The Lian Li PC-101 is a little nicer case with more features and room. Otherwise the Armor Jr is a nice lookin' case.

[Hitman]

I really like Lian Li Cases. They are high quality cases, and worth every penny. They aren't any more expensive then any other case out there. The PC-60 case has been around awhile, I first saw it in 2000, when I bought my PC-70. It's been updated a little but not much. The biggest issue with it, is it still uses 80mm fans while the Thermaltake uses 120mm fans. So I would probably vote for the Thermaltake in this case.

[Beetle Bailey]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Thanks for the replies. I have heard that the 900 is a little smaller for a mid-sized tower. Is this true? I would just like to learn the details of the case.

ANTEC Nine Hundred Case Review