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Modding Phobya Case Design Competition - Final Voting Round

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by arcticstoat, 18 Apr 2011.

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Which is the best water-cooled case design?

Poll closed 2 May 2011.
  1. Proteus by mick64

    88 vote(s)
    36.8%
  2. Phobya Gladio by Razer2007

    29 vote(s)
    12.1%
  3. II by Roboduck

    29 vote(s)
    12.1%
  4. Black Owl by SnowyOwl

    93 vote(s)
    38.9%
  1. Ending Credits

    Ending Credits Bunned

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    Black Owl is truly stunning.

    But it doesn't look like it's designed with watercooling in mind while the other two are too large so my vote has to got to II as it looks truly innovative as well as practical.
     
  2. SMIFFYDUDE

    SMIFFYDUDE Supermodders on my D

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    Black Owl for me
    Gladio needs its own room its so big.
     
  3. Phifty Cal

    Phifty Cal What's a Dremel?

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    Black Owl. It looks the least ridiculous :p
     
  4. Big Elf

    Big Elf Oh no! Not another f----ing elf!

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    If I was voting for looks then I'd go for Black Owl. However voting for the best watercooling case it would have to be Proteus then Gladius, II and Black Owl.
     
  5. Marvin-HHGTTG

    Marvin-HHGTTG CTRL + SHIFT + ESC

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    II for me. Black Owl takes too many styling cues from the G5 for me, whilst the others are so massive there's not that much innovation - any massive case would be good for watercooling, while the other two are a more manageable size.
     
  6. matt_lumley

    matt_lumley You're only supposed to...

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    Gotta go Black owl!! Looks amazing
     
  7. flibblesan

    flibblesan Destroyer

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    Black Owl.
     
  8. Jipa

    Jipa Avoiding the "I guess.." since 2004

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    Black Owl for me as well. Loving how it isn't... you know... a box like every case on the market. If you're designing from scratch, why not make it something special :)
     
  9. Apocalypso

    Apocalypso Fully armed and operational.

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    Another vote for Black-Owl here however it was a really close call between Gladios though.
     
  10. jhanlon303

    jhanlon303 The Keeper of History

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    Gladio. G5s I have/had. Besides, I like the thought that went into Gladio. Oh, and it's white!

    john
     
    Last edited: 18 Apr 2011
  11. Sheiken

    Sheiken Wat?

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    Black owl!
     
  12. bennyjh

    bennyjh What's a Dremel?

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    Proteus for me, All look awesome tho!
     
  13. password

    password What's a Dremel?

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    Black Owl by SnowyOwl for me
     
  14. Pio42

    Pio42 What's a Dremel?

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    II by Roboduck
     
  15. Bobfoc

    Bobfoc What's a Dremel?

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    They're all awesome, even the ones that haven't made it this far.

    Decision came down to the one I'd actually buy and that is Proteus by mick64.

    I love the Black Owl, but the lack of air flow coming into the case, and only three 5 1/4 drive bays slightly concerns me if I was paying £££.££ for a case.

    The Proteus is for me because:

    1) Has seperate chambers for the rads which is necessary as we all know we don't want that heat dumped into a poorly ventilated case.
    2) It supports two large rads very easily without modding.
    3) Has loads of 5 1/4 drive bays
    4) Is too big for a thief to easily cart it away if I ever get robbed!

    As long as Phobya sort out decent cable management in the thing (copy Corsair 800D) and price it appropriately (Looking at you Silverstone and your TJ11!!!!), I'm buying one as soon as it's launched.
     
  16. [USRF]Obiwan

    [USRF]Obiwan What's a Dremel?

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    I really like the design of proteus. But since I don't live in a server room its too big, the same can be said about the Gadio. Both designs can house-vest anything inside none the less.

    The II and Blackowl seems to take less space and look more slick. I do like the red LCD displays on the II but it probably going to cost two arms if they are included. Remove all the LCD panels and you got a basically standard looking black case.

    Leaves the Black owl (or white owl) little confused because I see two different case designs. I really love the triangle cut outs of the white one, but I do not like the big owl 'tattoo' on the top front and sides. I do like the minimalistic looks of the black version but I miss the triangle cut outs and side fan blowholes and cool looking phobia logo in bottom front that the white version has. I am also a little concerned about the HD rack, how are the HD's cooled in the top right position. I do not see any fan for cooling those.

    Place the triangle front styling on the black one. But leave out the top owl logo and owl on the side panel. Make a white and black version of this, and place a little plate on the top front saying "Black Owl" or White Owl" and explanation/fix of cooling the HD's and it got my vote...
    :)
     
    Last edited: 18 Apr 2011
  17. Lazy_Amp

    Lazy_Amp Entry AMD Engineer

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    Definitely II, I had considered a vertical setup like that for a potential design, just didn't have enough time/CAD experience to get it into this contest. Glad to see it made it to the finals!
     
  18. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    I just want a cheaper TJ-11 personally, so I went for Proteus :p
     
  19. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    A Silverstone TJ07 is 220 x 560 x 565 mm (w x h x d) and can pack a good watercooling-setup aswell with 2x 240 + 1x 480 rads. It's completely made out of aluminum, has a removable motherboard-tray and lot's of options to place HDDs or optical drives. That's the reference for premium watercooling cases these days imho.

    Proteus: No real improvements in this one over the available premium-cases imho, just unnecesarily bigger.

    Gladio: A little different, but overall not better then allready available premium-cases. Like the Proteus just unnecessarily big.

    II: Just as big as the TJ07 and the placement of components somewhat wastes some space. Not a bad idea with the seperate compartment for the rads in the front, but again the TJ07 wins this one for me.

    Black Owl: G5 design with no real options in placement of components. Too restrictive imho.

    As this content was about to design the best case for watercooling Proteus should win, because it offers the most possibilities to watercool your hardware, but the cooling-power of Gladio and II aren't far behind.
    So looking at it from a standpoint of design, size and options the II-design wins my vote, allthough I wouldn't consider buying it over a TJ07.

    EDIT: Looking at the results of the voting, it's very clear again that the majority just went with the fanciest renders instead of really thinking about the idea of the contest alltogether.
     
  20. Combatus

    Combatus Bit-tech Modding + hardware reviews Lover of bit-tech Super Moderator

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    I'd have to disagree on that one. Proteus has the advantage of having space for push-pull fan configurations but more importantly, both radiator chambers draw cool air in and expel warm air out of the case in a single motion. The TJ07 can only do this in the bottom chamber - any other radiator location will mean sandwiching the rads, exhausting air into the case or drawing warm air from it. You also don't have to remove the 3.5in bays to install the radiators in either section.

    In addition, we've found the TJ07 to be sub-par as far as air cooling is concerned (ie cooling the hardware that isn't water-cooled), whereas all the designs feature modern air cooling setups with rear exhaust fans and roof fans in come cases, with Proteus sporting a 200mm intake fan and 140mm exhaust fan too.
     
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