Hello First post here (did post a few times back on CPC’s forum). I’m finally getting around to buying my new PC (my old one is now 7 years old). The system is for both gaming and programming and I have speced out most of it apart from the case (spec bellow). CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Mobo: Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 CPU Fan: Thermaltake Frio Case Fans: Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 120mm Ram: Corsair Memory XMS3 Classic 4GB DDR3 2000 Mhz Graphics: HIS ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB Sound Card: Asus Xonar DS Power: Antec TruePower New 650W Hard Drive: 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 As I have already said I can’t make up my mind about the case. So I thought I’d ask for people’s views and experience. I currently have 3 cases I like. There all have things that I like and but also things that concern me SilverStone Raven RV02B-W Pro I like the orientation of the Motherboard Con Has gone up in prices recently (but I can afford it) From my understanding the main martial is plastic which fill can make a case look and fill cheep Xigmatek Utgard Pro I like the built in fan control Con Concerned that the single front in tack wont be enough Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl Pro I like the simple look Good sound management Con Concerned might be a bit small No motherboard tray I have to admit after writing this I believe that I’m expecting to much but I still think it worth asking people. General Points: Generally from a case I’m trying to get good cooling and relatively quite set up (I expect some sound). Since my last build (of my own PC) I have learnt a lot about system building (thanks CPC) and I want to try and get a tidy interior with good air flow. As I expect you have seen above I’m looking at the new ATI HD 6870 cards which might be to big to fit in these cases. I don’t mind adding extra fans if necessary (I’m a great fan of the Sharkoon Silent Eagle) Like I said earlier any views, opines or experience would be welcome. Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for the long post. -Seeds
I would say Raven is best all-rounder. Utguard is good but looks a little cheap compared to the others. R3 is awesome as a quiet PC but may be a little limited on cooling with a 6870 installed. If it was me i would go for the Raven.
I have a lian li and a silverstone TJ107 I love both for different reasons .. both swallow up large cards though and have excellent cooling potential I have been eyeing that new Silverstone case with interest mind you .. it looks a laviathan mind you
The rave has shot up in price from what i can see, although a great case. The fractal R3 is a brilliant case, although lacking in cooling a small bit. Did you look at any of the Lian-Li cases? Also consider the Coolermaster Advanced II
The R3 is plenty big enough to fit everything you've specced. There's a good 3 inches between the end of my 6870 and the drive bays, for starters. Also the cooling is brilliant if you're replacing the stock fans, because there are 7 fan slots. It's also much better looking than the Utgard and much cheaper than the Raven, as well as being quieter and than both. edit: also I have no idea why CPC/BT is recommending the HIS 6870. They say its the cheapest but the Gigabyte one is only £180 on Scan.
Thanks for the repiles. That sounds good. Just for peace of mind it is the R3 nor R3 XL? Also I understand that it come with only 2 (maybe 3) of its fan slot occupied are the fans in these slots any good? I have to admit I can convince myself to like the Coolmaster Advanced II. As for Lian-Li and will have a look at them again (I haven't looked at there range for a while). Any you would suggest? Out of interest which Lin-Li case do you have? -Seeds
The case I have is the R2, which is identical to the R3 in terms of size. The R3 comes with slightly faster fans though; 1350rpm instead of the 800rpm models that mine came with. From what I read they're much the same though: silent but not particularly effective. I use mine as the two exhausts at the top of the case and they work fine. I have some Silent Eagle's in the front for intake fans which I can crank up if things get a little toasty, which doesn't happen often... actually I think they're pretty much always set to their minimum speed.
Apparently the XL isnt anywhere near as good as the R3. Money no object i would choose the Raven..... although saying that... The R3 is a loveley case, quiet, good price point, and has the flexibility to add further fans if you need to improve the average cooling. It also looks really smart and has a 'quality' look about it. Also might be worth a look is the HAF 922. Gets nice reviews, can accomodate a tidy build and is around £79 on scan i believe.
Im a fan of the Lian Li PC-P50 and the Lian-Li PC-B25 (There are a few varations of this one side window, blue lights etc) There not cheap but i can be sure a lian li will be my next case.
Hello Thank you for everyone’s input. I have started looking at some of the Lian-Li and I have to say I like the look of the PC-B5. At the moment I’m starting to lean towards the R3 (with some extra fans, 2 intake at the front and 3 extract the back). I have also just found out PC World dose a good select of cases so I might wonder over to my locale one on Sunday just so I can see the cases (I wont buy from PC World just test run). This decision was so much easier last time, but back then I was younger and was not reading CPC (don’t think it was around back then). So I ended up with the Thermaltake Tsunami which looks good but is not as practical as a lot of the other cases now a days. -Seeds
Its a ermm..... PC 77a ? The full tower with the LCD mini readout at the top There is a pic of it on profile page someplace
The best case out of the ones you listed is the RV02 but the R3 is a great case and not as deep (I guess it's not a problem if you have the space). Have you read the reviews of the cases posted on bit-tech? The R3's cooling isn't that bad and that's with only 1 intake fan (instead of 2).
Once again thanks for everyone's input it has be most useful. I have been rereading the reviews for all 3 cases (rereading a few times) and I have also been able to look at the Utgard at my local PC World which has been very useful. I believe (90% sure) that I will go for the R3. -Seeds
