Cases Case options

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by dancingbear84, 26 Dec 2011.

  1. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    I have some money burning a hole in my pocket after the Christmas season and looking at my current PC I am thinking the most likely bit requiring an upgrade is the case. Looking at Scan's today only deals
    Cases on Scan today
    I was thinking the Bitfenix Colossus or the Fractal R3
    I really want to make the inside of my machine as "clean" as possible so cable management is important as is cooling.
    I don't want to spend more than £70 odd quid really so the BitFenix would be around the upper limit.
    What do you think, are there better options for my budget than either of these? If not which of the two do you guys recommend?
     
  2. MSHunter

    MSHunter Minimodder

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    Antec 900 is on offer but at 80 pounds a little over budget. Make sure to get V3 with from USB 3 and better cable management. I have the original still and its a great case.
     
  3. thetrashcanman

    thetrashcanman Angel headed hipsters

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    +1 for the R3 great case and very stylish if you get it in white, also superb cable management options with the gromited holes and the HDD Sleds, also obviously very quiet, only slightly problem might be cooling, but if your running a sandy bridge system that might not be a problem at all, although I have heard you can change a few fans to maximise cooling efficieny (although how much difference it makes I don't know) from what I remember it's two silverstone Ap's in the front and a gentle typhoon in the back, but obviously when you get the case you probably don't want to be forking out extra for fans, so from what I've heard the stock cooling is adequate but can be improved upon If you want to at any point
     
  4. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    I saw the 900 too but it didn't look like it had a lot of cable management from the pics I could see, although I've not read any reviews on it. The BitFennix was my first choice but after reading reviews the R3 seems to be cooler whilst having good cable management options, I also prefer the styling. I'll look for a review or 2 on the 900 as well. Thanks for the opinions guys
     
  5. fdbh96

    fdbh96 What's a Dremel?

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    I absolutely love my R3 :)
     
  6. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    Get the R3, the 900 is absolutely loud. Although it isn't bad for cooling, the noise for me is a dealbreaker.

    The R3 is also a bit more aesthetically pleasing given that it's quite understated too.
     
  7. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    Hmmm, I am seeing a lot of people like the r3, The 900 is out for me anyway, it is not the price, but I did a build at work and used a 300 and I did not like it much at all, noise is quite a big thing as the PC lives in the living room. I find it interesting that no one has recommended the colossus yet though.
     
  8. flame696

    flame696 Terminating People Since 1980....

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  9. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    I'd say that the thing that actually requires an upgrade is your GPU. Though of course if you aren't playing games a case or an SSD would both be good choices.
     
  10. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    Well I went for the r3 in the end, I have never bought a new case for my PC as I have always used old cast outs from machines we were chucking out at work, think beige/hideous/noisy or any combo of the above.
    Parge I do play games but never any of the most recent releases my steam list includes Alien vs Predator, Audiosurf, Batman Arkham Asylum, BFBC2, C&C4, C&C Red Alert 3, Crysis, Defence Grid, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Far Cry 1 & 2, L4D2, MoH:Airbourne, Monkey Island 2, Portal, STALKER & CoP, Secret of Monkey Island and TF2
    I have found with the exception of AvP my machine handles 1920x1080 without too much trouble.
    That said it is my birthday in just over a week and I still have some Christmas money left too so a graphics upgrade may be on the cards, depends what life throws in the way
     
  11. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    Damn it. My R3 has not even landed on the doorstep yet and I am already looking at graphics upgrades... will this constant upgrade cycle never end :eyebrow: It took 3 days to decide on a case, at least I have just over a week for a bit of research.
     
  12. thetrashcanman

    thetrashcanman Angel headed hipsters

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    it never ends dude ;D

    in a year I've gone from

    i7 950 with a 5750 and Asus Sabertooth

    to Rampage III extreme

    dual 5870's

    gtx 570

    3 gtx 580's

    i7 940

    Rampage IV extreme and i7 3930K

    from Antec 1200 > TJ 11
     
  13. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    At some point i hope to have some kit like that, I did a build at work using the i7 sb and they flew, I'd love to get one running on an ssd but apparently it is not a justifiable expense lol.
    Given the level of my build, if I went for graphics what would you think best. I see a lot of stuff about the 460/560 and the 6850/6870, depending on the generosity of friends and family I guess will be the biggest factor, but an slightly 580 will definitely be out, my motherboard can't do it for starters...
     
  14. thetrashcanman

    thetrashcanman Angel headed hipsters

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    Ah well I hope you do one day buddy, I've worked bloody hard to be able to afford the kit I have now, so its not like it been given to me on my lap or anything, used all of my 21st birthday money and christmas money to build it initially and then have been gradually upgrading it from then on.

    Well you said your not getting the money for a week or something did I read that correctly? AMD will be launching the high end 7000 series i.e. 7970 on 9th of jan (as I'm sure you've read) and I suspect 7870 and the like will follow shortly afterwards it Will also knock down prices of GTX 580's 570's 560 ti's and the entire 6000 series card range as they will co exist with the 7000 series, so maybe hold out a few weeks on the graphics upgrade if you can.

    even if it means just getting a 6000 series card at a cheaper price, you might be able to afford a gtx 570/6950 instead of gtx 560ti or 6870.

    If you where to buy now though I'd suggest either the 560ti or 6870, take your pick after that essentially, I personally would lean towards the 560ti, but thats because I feel generally nvidia got it spot on with pretty much all of the main 500 series cards.

    edit: oh and an SSD is ALWAYS NECESSARY ;D
     
  15. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    Wow, no I hadn't read about the 7000s, to be honest I've been avoiding component reviews as I know I'll be tempted to buy and I have a wedding in a little over 3 months that we are putting all our money into at the minute. If the 7000s are released the week after my birthday I can definitely hold off for a bit until the prices drop a bit on the older cards.
    I wasn't suggesting you had anything handed to you by the way, but it is really nice to see people saving hard for stuff, I think it makes it so much more worthwhile when you get it. I always value things more when I save for them.
    I agree with your views on ssd too, but when most of the machines I deal with a p4 2.8s you can see how I'm struggling. My manager is a cpc subscriber so I'm hoping that things may change some time soon.
     

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