Let's talk about cases. I would like to purchase a new one. Hardware that's going into it: Intel i5 2500k @ 5ghz Thermalright Venomous X with 2 fans MSI P67A-GD65 4x8gb G.Skill DDR3 1600 XFX HD 6950 1gb Gelid Icy Vision 2 with a ghetto mounted 120mm fan Seasonic X760 OCZ Vertex 2 80gb Hitachi 7K2000 Some kind of DVD drive Currently, all of this is in a Fractal Design R2. However, it's a bit small and I would like a little more depth to it, as the 6950 is mere centimeters away from the non-removable drive cage. I'm also not a fan of the 90-degree door (or doors in general). I am considering such cases as: The Antec P280: I don't really like the front door. It's plenty big though, and reletively cheap ($130ish) The Silverstone TJ-09: It isn't very new, doesn't have much wire management, but it's huge, fully aluminum, I love the styling, and have wanted it since it came out. It's about $230. The Silverstone TJ-04E: I like how this looks, but it doesn't seem to be much larger (if it is at all). It's also about $160. The Lian Li Z60: I like how it's aluminum and plainly styled (not as much as the Silverstones though), but it doesn't seem to be much larger than my R2 inside, and it also doesn't have a lot of space behind the mobo tray (or so it seems). It's about $150. The Lian Li B25: Same as the Z60, but I don't like the styling as much (stupid blue circle), and it's about $120. The Lian Li A71F: I like the size, the styling, and the interior design, but it doesn't seem to have much space behind the motherboard tray What else should I look at ? (I don't like asymmetrical designs, like what NZXT offers, and I also have a long standing grudge against Corsair products.) Should I even bother with this, or should I just settle with my R2 and spend the money on something like a better SSD)
Get over your long standing grudge and go for the Corsair Carbide 500r...top case. Here are some pics of mine:- Great cable tidying options including a huge bulge in the side panel making tidying behind the mobo tray a cinch. Also, you can load it up with fans and if you use a combo of a fan controller and the silent options in the BIOS, you can have a cool and very quiet system
Failing that; Silverstone Raven RV02. Just get the -E variant, because the HDD-cage in the default case sucks more balls than Sasha Grey. Just watch out if you plan to go for really long GPUs. Things like the HD 6990 fit with milimeters to spare in this thing. If you happen to have lots of money spare, however, go for the Fortress FT02. It's the same as the Raven, internally, but much nicer to work with and look at, by all accounts. The Raven is just a fair bit cheaper.
I'm not sure if you mean the fractal R2 or R3 as not many places sell the R2. Either way I would recommend the R3 as it's a great case, imo
Will not be buying corsair, but thanks for the feedback. The 500r isn't much bigger than my R2, either Will definitely look into this one, as well as the RV03 and the Fortress. The R2 is what I have now, and I'm looking to upgrade.
Ah, I see. Well as I said the R3 is a great case; good cable management, removable drive bays, 3 120mm fan slots and 4 120/140mm fan slots (w/ 2 120s pre-installed). Plus, the door isn't all that bad, you get used to it
