hi, i've currently got an antec p182 with a couple of hard drives and optical drives and figured that whilst it's nice and all it is really bloody massive! so i was thinking that whilst i'm trying to get my motherboard replaced (gigabyte p35 ds3r) under warranty i might take the opportunity to downsize so i was looking for a new case recommendations and motherboard. i need it to fit my current setup which is 2 hdds, and i could dispense with one of my optical drives, so just the one. i also have a zalman cnps9700 cooler and a radeon x1950pro which is a reasonably long card. oh and a corsair hx520 psu i had thought about the antec nsk3480 case (and selling the PSU) as it has the rubber drive mounts. do you know if this would fit everything? also any suggestions on a replacemebt motherboard? it needs to have 1:1 memory ration thingy for overclocking and be pretty cheap! i've currently got a pentium 2160 running at 3ghz which is what i'd like it to stay at. thanks
cheers, was very interested in that (and still am) except it seems that the coolermaster elite 340 is exactly the same internally and much cheaper!
are you after a tower style or a cube style? I have this one http://www.mods-n-clocks.co.uk/?p=12 which you can get from ebuyer http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135581 also with different fronts. I have had my X1950pro in there with no problems and it takes a standard ATX psu so your corsair should be fine. Has two 5.25" bays for you opticals and 2 HDD bays. The Zalman 9700 won't fit unless you mod it like many others have done, but I have my E2160 (OC'd to 3.1GHz) running fine with a Zalman 7700.
i had seen those ones. was a bit worried about the cooling in it and i also saw that it was unlikely to accomodate my cooler. would it be easy enough to mod?
If you can cut through aluminium then you can easily remove the piece that obscures fitting a tall CPU cooler. I've also vented the side window to provide more air to my graphics card.
Removing the aluminium part that spans the case is very simple, I did it when I had my microfly - drill out the two rivets, and then dremel across by the drive cage. The only problem is that it makes the chassis flimsy as hell.
i quite like the idea of the cube case with windows etc but i'm just not convinced about thermal dissipation and don't really fancy weakening the structure. i guess if i had some spare metal and a rivet gun then i could try relocating the strengthening part. but i don't so i reckon i'll be going for the coolermaster. if scan had the silverstone tj08 in black for the same price as the silver one i'd have gone for that. but as this is about cost saving i'll probably get the coolermaster. unless i have a sudden change of mind and get the cube anyway! thanks chaps
I have this case, actually Ive just replaced it with a Antec Mini P180. Yes the case is awesome and is extremely well made, your entire list will fit into the case except for your Zalman cooler. The only high end cooler that would fit is the Scythe Mini Ninja. When having this case it wasn't the length that worried me it was the height. As cooler and graphic cards get more powerful their height is the main issue as they are getting bigger. With graphic cards anything that sticks out taller than the actual PCB is a big no no. Also total length of a graphics card you can accommodate in that case is 12.5 inches. I have a similar setup for a long time so i don't see why not you should have an issue. Just keep an eye out for the add in cards.
