New Case

HeatSurge

HeatSurge

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Jul 2, 2008
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I've been looking around for a new case. The one I have is a $60 mid tower I bought a few years ago now. Admittedly, it has 3x "aftermarket" 140mm Scythe S-Flex Fans - 1 intake front, 1 intake side (both filtered, custom filter on side stock on front) and 1 exhaust back, so it worked really well with my previous mobo/cpu, but I feel like it doesn't "cut it" with the i7 system, and I'm generally just sick of the cramped interior resulting in a mess of cables with my new PSU, and my new cooler having 0 clearance from the side panel (it actually kind of bends it as it's a mm too tall). As a result, I'm currently running it with the side off because I don't wanna push force all the cables in and potentially overheat the CPU with the shitty airflow. I also want a case with a bottom-mounted PSU which sucks cool air from the outside and exhausts from the back.

Basically, I am looking for (in no particular order):
- Any intake fan filtered (easy fix with aftermarket filters though but nice touch if stock).
- PSU mounted in a way it sucks air directly from the outside (side-mounted, bottom-mounted, top-mounted as long as air is being sucked directly from the outside)
- Good amount of space for cables, components, long video cards ("full-tower")
- Minimum amount of noise - hopefully minimal mesh except intake fans - also helps dust control
- Space to mount a triple radiator on top (140mm x 3 would've been ideal, but 120mm x 3 seems to be a lot more popular)

I'm heavily leaning towards:

- Cooler Master ATCS 840 (black)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Cooler_Master_ATCS_840-_-11-119-187-_-Product

Almost perfect. Many expansion bays, many hard drive bays and ideally rotated 90 degrees, removable motherboard tray on ball bearings, PSU filtered and bottom-mounted, pre-drilled holes for a 120mm x 3 radiator on top, plenty of space for a thick radiator, filtered front fan and 2x230mm top fans which will provide plenty of airflow before I get water cooling in and remove them. I am having a hard time coming up with a better design. I just wish they made a 230mm x 2 radiator. That would've been beyond perfect. For now, I'll stick with 120mm x 3 (probably will go cheap with the MCR-320 QP which I've already verified fits, or similar).

No meshes whatsoever means restricted and streamlined airflow, easy to filter dust out. With water cooling, the front fan + bottom intakes should be just perfect for the airflow needed for the 120mm x 3 fans. The fan on the back I will probably completely remove.

It's also relatively cheap for what you're getting - I found it cheapest for $180 shipped on... Amazon (wha?!) - that's right, Amazon. Lulz. Probably because Amazon gives truly free shipping (not "free" as in included in the retail price like most other "free" shipping places I found). Newegg had the same price, but ~$20 shipping.

I was considering:

- Cosmos S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1119150&cm_re=cosmos_s-_-11-119-150-_-Product

Relatively cheap, spacey, filtered case fitting almost all my requirements. My second choice before I found the ATCS 840. Tacky hard drive cage and not 90-degrees rotated, no "bottom compartment" separation which isn't necessarily bad, but I kinda like the arrangement on the ATCS 840. Everything else seems to be very similar to the ATCS 840 - what a surprise - it's also a Cooler Master case. Lots of mesh and side panel fan I didn't like. I don't like side panel-attached fans.

- Corsair Obsidian 800D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001&Tpk=corsair%20obsidia

Third choice. Perfect, except: no fan filters for PSU and intake fans, pricey (cheapest I found was $290 right now). Also, I kinda don't like the side window. Windows look tacky to me.

- A Mountain Mods Case (custom-built, mostly for watercooling setups - www.mountainmods.com)
http://www.mountainmods.com/computer-cases-c-21.html

Pricey, didn't like the "emptiness" of their designs. It seems like all of the upright cases are designed to have a radiator on the front as well, and I like lots of hard drive slots and 5.25" slots. Big pro is they are the only place which seems to sell 140mm x 3 radiator space cases pre-cut for you. It seems like there is no other case where you can fit a 140mm x 3 radiator without modding - either on top or on the front.

- Coolermaster HAF 932
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160&cm_re=haf_932-_-11-119-160-_-Product

Holes for a 120mm x 3 radiator on top, but one of the fans goes under the front "cage" and goes heavily into the 5.25" slot area - undesirable. Potentially more cramped than other choices, no filters, mesh all over (hello dust), generally ugly design (in my opinion). Cheap though, but for $40 more, I'd rather have the ATCS 840 for sure.

- Several Lian-Li cases
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...tion=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=0&srchInDesc=

Require modding for radiators, and generally unimpressed. There was no single one where I was like "this is it" the same way that I am looking at the ATCS 840.

- Several Thermaltake cases
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...op=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Order=PRICED

Fine, fine air-cooled cases. No case that I found had space for a triple radiator on top though, without extensive modding. Also, layouts were meh a lot of the time - geared heavily towards fans and air-cooling. Their SwordM case is very intriguing, but it's fucking HUGE, expensive, and just too over-the-top for my taste. Plenty of fans I will have to remove for water-cooling and generally just too ridiculous.

Does anyone else have any other suggestions I should consider? With the relatively cheap price (I was prepared to spend $300 if I have to), I might even order this over the weekend...

Edit: Links added FTW.
 
Looks small, unappealing in design, ridiculously overpriced for what it is (imo), and is discontinued. Holes will need to be cut for the reservoir on top too...

It would be very difficult to make a complete case by myself, and would certainly take me more than the two days that it would take to make that money to make one by myself + a lot more trouble, so I don't think it's a good idea.

The ATCS840 ships with brackets which enable the installation of a triple 120mm radiator on top, and the holes on the motherboard tray or the bottom fan (which I will not use) look perfect for installation of a reservoir / pump - with a bracket or two from water cooling shops.

Basically, I'm going to use the air cooling to boot, but eventually I'm shooting for a relatively simple liquid cooling system (2 blocks - CPU and GPU - most likely the new GTX 470 or 480) looking basically like this:

Inside1.jpg


I am even considering a second 2x120mm radiator behind the hard drives, which will enable some serious cooling (5x120mm area) ALL inside the case, with very, very low speed Scythe Gentle Typhoons. And all of this with absolutely 0 inconvenience (all trays can still be used including the top 5.25", nothing has to be removed in the hard drive cage, nothing has to be cut - at all.

Several build pics to get an idea of the size of the thing on the CM forums ;-) :

http://forum.coolermaster.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10923&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=120

http://forum.coolermaster.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10923&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=150
 
For a multiple system builder; I would go with Cool Master. I don't know how many HD's your using or what type radiator your have; but, Cool Master is very flexable. Sixer & I both have this case & love it. I have 3 radiators; 2x120 on top and 1x120 on the bottom; I also made a dual bay reservoir to take advantage of the fillport on top of the case. This case has not heat issues; along with that I have 2 SSDs & 2 HDD's with room to add 3 more HDD's. One thing I would change about the the case is the hole cut out for the processor; with my MB layout it needs to be extended a bit to utilize my CPU cooler. With some MB you could mount your MB & add the CPU later down the build. One thing I did before the build is painted the inside with a black satin paint. Throw in optional casters & this SOB is bad ass.
 
I looked at a ballpark figure of what all the watercooling shit will cost and... it's definitely not cheap, that's for sure. Just the fans will set me back $75 - unless I can find them cheaper.

petras.png


I might just stick with the top radiator which will cut costs considerably, but we'll see... I'll have to read into it more when the time to buy actually comes.

I can only imagine the cost of the waterblock for the GTX 470/480 at release too... $120 at least.

Overall, the new case + my desired parts + the waterblock for the GTX 480 (assuming it's $150) + $50 for tubing and fittings and shit will probably total about $650-700 - on top of a $500 pop for the GTX 480 potentially... so yeah this is in the "dreaming" stage for now, but depending on things I might actually do something stupid like that over the summer :-D .

I think I'm getting the ATCS 840 (no watercooling yet) pretty much immediately though :-D .
 
Oh yeah, forgot to add this one (and the FT01).

I definitely looked at them both, and actually I think it's a really nice concept.

The biggest problem with it is again the possibility of future water cooling.

There is not much space on the bottom. Even after removing the fans, tall radiators + shrouds + fans on top of them would easily bump against the motherboard and long video cards.

Moreover, this time the awesome idea of air intake on the bottom would work against the case - the air exhausted from the radiator would go INSIDE the case and flow over all hard drives, video cards, the CPU PWM, Memory, etc. and dump the whole heat inside.

It's also a bit on the cramped side, although I have to admit the design and layout is pretty much perfect if you just want air cooling.

I think the "heat being dumped into the case from the radiator" pretty much precludes all cases where the radiator doesn't fit on top, on the back side, or at least on the side. Because of case designs, I seriously doubt that there can be a case where the rad. fits on the back side fine, so it's gotta be on top. It's just the most logical place for it to be - cool air goes through the case and then is exhausted through the radiator upwards.
 
I'm with Balls; the HAF 932 rocks. The cooling is awesome, it is quiet for all the fans (the only real noise I have is from the pair of 260's), the inside is roomy, and it has great cable management. The mesh everywhere is not as big a problem as I thought it would be (and my office is dusty with a 90lb dog always around the case). They include a bridge for the CPU power cord so it will wrap behind but my dog ate it, but overall I love the case.

<img src="http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/9361/img9420.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/><br/>By <a target="_new" href="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/chuckthehammer">chuckthehammer</a>, shot with <a target="_new" href="http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=Canon+EOS+DIGITAL+REBEL+XT&make=Canon">Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT</a> at 2010-03-24

<img src="http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8674/img9418w.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/><br/>By <a target="_new" href="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/chuckthehammer">chuckthehammer</a> at 2010-03-24
 
It's beautiful, but it's also $100 more for no real benefit that I can see (except hotplug drives which I don't care about, and "cooler" internal look which I don't care about either.

The watercooling options are basically limited to a single 120mm x 3 rad on top.

At least I think I can fit a dual 120mm rad behind the hdd cage (might need to cut the bottom fan grill a bit) on the ATCS 840...

I looked at the Silverstone TJ07 today too, but I don't really like it...

I think ATCS 840 it is...
 
Dude most of those cases you posted are fucking ugly. Now the HAF 932 is sexy as shit and functional.
 
ill get pics up form the interior of my 922. i need cooler master to get more of the big fans for sale. newegg has been out of stock for 3 months.
 
Soldier4Real said:
Dude most of those cases you posted are fucking ugly. Now the HAF 932 is sexy as shit and functional.
Click to expand...

See the thing is, I think we have different ideals here.

To me, the HAF actually looks more ugly than the ATCS 840, and that's partly why I prefer the ATCS 840. It's also because the ATCS is a bit longer, and I have something in mind for it...
 
Your probably one on those rare individuals that think there is a manufacture that makes a case appealing; that's like saying a Toyota Scion is sexy. They are all boxes, none of them look any better than the next...IMO. I look at a few things; functionality, how quiet, how much shit I can fit in it & price. Cool Master by far is user friendly...great choice; but, beyond that cooling your MB is a big issue; I noticed the 840 doesn't have any side fans. I had a 690 for a while and I think that had room for a dual radiator; you might want to take a look at that.
 
I'm basically thinking of installing 2 360 radiators in it - one at the top, and one behind the hard drive cage.

I actually like the fact that it doesn't have side fans and it's a plus in my opinion. I think the airflow from the front and back panels, as well as the bottom port going through the roof should be more than enough to cool the radiators.

My current case has a fan on the side, and honestly I think fans on the side panel are more trouble than they're worth.

I actually really like the fact that on the 840:
- there's very little mesh
- there are filters on all intake spots (front, bottom two ports). I might actually flip the fan on the back as intake, but I suppose I can buy a filter just for that. Having stock and removable is nicer in any case. I also have 5.25" drive bay mesh panels with foam dust filters inside as well (bought them on ebay for like $3 each I think) which I'll carry over to the new case most likely.

With this build, I'm going most of all for QUIET.

Dual radiator build with lots of fans, but very high quality (scythe gentle typhoons) turned down considerably, as well as the 3 230mms turned down as well (even though they should be rather inaudible at full speed).

My idea is lots of radiator area for heat dissipation at very low fan speeds = silent.

The ATCS 840 is also nice because there is lots of room on the side panels and I might actually purchase and stick thick sound dampening material on there too. I also like the front intake, because it's "shielded" from noise - there's a solid object in front of it, so it's not "openly" bleeding noise from inside the case.

That's also the reason that I want intake for the PSU from the outside - so it can keep cool at low fan speeds.

By the "690" do you mean this?:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/898/1

If so, it's a mid tower so not as much space to work in in general, I'll have to do some major cutting/modding on top to make a triple radiator fit whereas with the ATCS 840 all I have to do is screw the bolts on. It's just going to be WAY easier to install what I want in the ATCS I think than anything else. Perhaps the HAF 932 would be similar, but I don't necessarily like it as much for the reasons I mentioned above - even if it is a bit cheaper.

I was also seriously looking at the Silverstone TJ07, but I just didn't like some things about it. You can install a quad radiator in the bottom on that though, which is quite insane/nice, but you have to sacrifice HDD bays for that, and then you have to put the HDDs on top, etc... annoying.

Looking at all of this, I really can't believe that NOBODY has designed a case which is amazingly well-geared towards water cooling - with dedicated places for pump, reservoir installation, and two triple radiators. All current cases seem to be designed for air first and foremost and the water options mostly an afterthought - so you have to resort to places like http://mountainmods.com to really get something specificall for WC, and then their cases are very "bare" too...

I'm thinking of a loop like this

Pump -> CPU block -> triple rad on bottom -> GPU block -> triple rad on top -> reservoir -> Pump
 
if your OC'ing cooling the MB is critical; of course you know this. This is why side fans come into play.
 
I could add a NB waterblock if things get toasty, but I feel like the residual air flow from the radiators will be enough.
 
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