Cases I think I have now officially reached the limit of my Chieftec Dragon Clone

Hey guys


I did this last wednesday and I was pretty satisfied despite the few setbacks. Temps were fine, especially after I noticed the fan of the H50 was only running at 490rpm. However, since it makes too much noise at 1600rpm and I cannot set it to any speed in between, I decided to leave it at low and see how it goes. It was fine at first but after letting the pc "cook" for two days I just noticed the sad reality of an 9 year old case designed for first gen Athlons and PIIIs ...




That's right, everything is literally cooking in there. With regular air cooling, all my hard drives were 20°C lower, the videocard was about 10°C lower and my mosfet weren't at a whopping 100°C. Oh and this is right after rebooting btw. I didn't game or do anything intensive since I installed the H50



So yeah I don't want to change my case because it's a classic and there is nothing sturdier our there. With that said, I don't want it to be responsible for the death of all my components either ! I really don't feel like spending (again) but there's no way I'm going back to air cooling after partially decapitating my case for it. There is only about 2 or 3 cases that I liked since I bought this one (7years ago). If you find one I do like, you'll get infinite rep


So tell me, internets, wat do ?











thx

 

I'm going to assume that the H50 fan is an intake and there are no roof exhausts? As there's your problem if that is the case.

Could you not mod some fans into the roof?

 

h50 fan as intake, only exhaust is the psu. Even if I added a fan on top (which I won't), there wouldn't be enough place for any airflow. It's really camped in there

 

Looks like it's new case time then really

Budget? What cases did you like the look of then?

 

No room eh?

Not even for a turkey, i reckon it will be done in a hour with those temps..

I agree, its time for a new case with better airflow/exhaust fans...that will allow for your h50 and the rest of your kit.

What about cutting your side panel and fitting a 120/200mm fan as a exhaust out the side?

 

In the interim you might want to see if leaving a case door off helps at all.

You might also want to just deal with the H50 on max for awhile to see what changes that makes. If it's anything noticable change the fan for a quieter one at high RPMs.

Last resort: Lian-Li?

 

I would rank something like the NZXT Phantom as an amazing little case, I've yet to do any damage to it with my usual heavy-handed methods, and the fan controller is a godsend if you don't want to listen to the constant hum of fans shifting air.

Could always try and fit all of your gear into something like a ridiculously cavernous Antec P183 or P193?

Edit: Flippin hell. Doubleninja'd.

 

Something Lian-Li I suppose or the coolermaster 840.

 

Guys,let me warn you, this is going to be difficult

1)I'm not cutting any panel. No way

2)nzxt phantom = ugly and not a brand I would trust (but that's only me)

3)coolermaster 840 = not easy to find and quite expensive but it looks good. It looks like it would be prone to straching, though.

4)Lian-Li = all overpriced and only a handful of them are actually good looking imo. This one would be alright. It looks great but it's quite expensive and I don't really like the interior. I guess I'm just too old fashion

EDIT: The first thing I'll need to try is to set the fan at about 1000rpm and see how it does. Unfortunately Q-Fan doesn't seem to want to apply "standard" with this fan. It only works in silent mode (500rpm) or disabled (1600rpm)

 

Would it really bother you if the case was expensive?

If you get the same ammount of years out of a 840 it's money well spent IMO

I can understand people not wanting to spend 400 pounds on a GFX as it's out dated in two years but a case/ PSU is a different story.

 

Oh I totally agree but I try not to spend that amount of money too often. I did spend over 500$ 3 weeks ago for a receiver and a set of speakers and I didn't plan on spending on something trivial. Now that my parts are in "danger" though, I'm afraid the situation could get kind of dramatic. Over 60°C for a hard drive is not good and losing any of my HDDs would kill me

EDIT:

with the fan @ 1600rpm the cpu's core #1 is at 42°C idle, which is fine. The mosfet have dropped to 85°C, which is better and the hard drive that was suffering the most is at 49 instead of 66

I'm not out of the woods though. I really, really liked how silent the whole pc was @ 500rpm

 

Grow a pair and buy a case that will last you another nine years...whatever the cost.

 

how about the Corsair 600T?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-600t-graphite-series-black-mid-tower-gaming-case-w-o-psu

Wouldn't be my choice but I get the feeling we have different taste!

alternatively chieftec are still making cases but they can be difficult to find over here, this looks pretty good

http://www.chieftec.com/Mcase_BM-02B.html

or if you like em silent the fractal design R3?

 

How do you like the look of the HAF line?

A lot of people hate the looks, but you mention sturdiness and HAFs sure are sturdy! Speaking as a 922 owner, there's plenty of room for a full ATX with a large graphics card, a handful of drives, and an H50 as well.

A quick quip on expensive cases: Get a case that fulfills your needs and will last, not just the most expensive case. I've had a $25 Rosewill case for 5 years now because it's all the components inside need.

 

The 600T looks like I could go bowling with it but the fractal design is secksay ! The price doesn't go with the look though so I'm wondering how thick (or thin) the steel is. I hate when you can't open a side panel once without bending it out of shape.
Sorry Sloth but the HAF is too fugly for me

 

+1

70 degrees is pretty toasty.
At first though that was at load first.

Might be worth saving up a bit.

Nothing worse than see your new case for the next few years and thinking to yourself, darn I should of spend that extra 100 dollars to get that case I wanted.

 

Agreed! I used to have one of the gigabyte cases because it was cheap at the time, looking at my Lian still makes me smile when I remember what a heap it was.

600T was the closest thing to the dragon i could think of, times have changed though eh?

bit-tech review of the fractal here

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2010/10/29/fractal-design-define-r3-review/1

Its made of steel so should be sturdy, it has noise reduction on all panels too so will feel fairly strong i would imagine, the front door is plastic though, worth noting. Would certainly be quiet and understated

 

Definitely. That's my mentality with everything. I never go cheap but everything I buy lasts for years

I think I checked too many Lian Li and Silverstone towers prior to your recommendation of the Fractal Design. 160$ is still quite a lot of money and it can't be cheaply made

I'll read the review thoroughly and see if I can get it somewhere for cheap



thx for putting up with me, guys

 

I have a Fractal R2, it is very, very solidly made and very quiet due to the heavy sound deadening material. It also can house as many fans as you would ever need.

They also do an XL version which would allow you to segregate your hard drives in the lower compartment: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2010/11/19/fractal-design-define-xl-review/1

Not bad for $159 CAD...http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=55284&vpn=DEFINE-XL-BLACK&manufacture=Fractal Design.

There are few little details of the Fractal that I love;
- you can turn it on and off with the door closed (after using a case for four years where the power button was behind the door, I can't tell you how liberating this is);
- if you decide not to fill it up with fans then the fan mount blanking plates mean that the smooth lines are not spoilt by gaping holes that let dust in (and that I usually have to close off with duct tape);
- it is made of steel so I can repaint it if I scratch it badly;
- the cable routing is great, especially after my Sonata II or my Antec 300;
- all intake fan mounts have dust filters;
- fantastic build quality without an outrageous price tag;

I think you get that I like it...

 

Seems a popular choice I'm sure you wont be disappointed, pics when its sorted please