I've been down this road before. I've got most of the parts for a new system, but I cannot decide on the right case. After my current system had a near-death experience yesterday I need to finally make up my mind before disaster strikes for real. Here's what I would want in a case: No deeper than about 52 cm. *Silent*!!! Adequate cooling (as I weigh silence higher) Preferably with a door, that can be opened to the right Enough space/depth for a current high-end gfx card (HD4890/GTX275) Preferably with a removable motherboard tray (I've been spoiled by my Lian-Li) Clean looks (I *hate* garish cases) Black or black-ish I currently have two possible candidates. They are the Antec P182 (or P183, even though I like the looks of P182 better) and the Lancool (Lian Li) PC-K10. Antec P182/P183 Pro: Known to be pretty silent Roomy? (enough for the graphics card?) Has door P182 looks very nice (my kind of nice ) P183 somewhat less so Con: Very heavy Door only opens to the left No removable motherboard tray Annoying fan duct on top (yes, I know you can take off the hood) A bit plasticky? (The P183 more so than the P182) Lancool PC-K10 Pro: Has door that can be mounted to open to the right Removable motherboard tray Silent? (it's supposed to be, but is it?) Not quite as heavy as the P182/P183 Looks good, but could look a bit better. Con: Is it really silent? Or at least quiet? There're two 120mm fans behind the door. Is it roomy enough? Top-mounted "front panel" inputs Might be off the market soon I've also looked at a third case, the Gigabyte Cupio 6140, but apart from a few pretty pictures not much is known about this case. It's touted as silent, but has a "ventilated steel mesh" on the side. It also seems to only be on the market in the Pacific area. Looks darn purdy, though. Go ahead. Let's have your valuable and wellfounded input...
Owning a P182 I may be a little biased, but it is a nice case. It is quite heavy when fully assembled though, but I like to think of that as being " sturdy" Were you going to be moving it alot? Are you going to watercool in the near future?
I probably won't be moving the case around very much and I don't plan to watercool. The reason I see the weight as a problem is that I have very little workspace and I believe a heavy case, which hasn't a removable motherboard tray, will make it that much harder for me to build a system in it. That said, I'm very taken in by the P182...
The CoolerMaster Cosmos is probably a pretty nice case, but it's way too deep. Like I said: about 52 cm. That's all I have room for. If I recall correctly the Cosmos is 60-something cm deep.
Also if its any help the p182 is 50.2 cm deep with the door closed and 69.2 when open. Edit: I wonder what the other sizes of my components are? Boredom+tape measure= something to do on a slow saturday
Thanks a lot for the info! But I can't believe your saturday is THAT slow that you'd rather spend time measuring out the innards of your (heavy) case.
how about this one it looks nice people say it's quiet but heres a video video. oh and it's about 49cm deep if i read correctly
It sounds like you've already discounted the P183 yourself (as would I), so I think you should go with the P182. You know you want to You've done a good job of summarising the pros and cons of each, and the cons of the P182 seem to be more manageable for what you need in a case.
Your right Azrael, the Antec P18x series are a bit plasticky, I'm guessing this is how they get such good cases at pretty low prices. A Silverstone Temjin will have a better build quality, but I'm guessing that's a little out of budget the P180 can fit my 4870X2 so you shouldn't have any problem, and the psu section and sliding door at the bottom help cable management. It's getting pretty cramped with multiple hard drives and watercooling though . . .
The Silvesrtone Fortress is a little bit cheaper and still looks good IMO, but is still more expensive than the P182.
Obsidian Series 800D from Corsair. Case Available very soon. look at the virtual tour below: Obsidian Series 800D
Lian Li. Antec build quality doesn't stand the test of time in my experience. Lancool insides look a bit crap in the grey, and they are SEC (?) steel which cuts down on vibrations, unlike the all alu boxes, but the Antec also comes with fan control built in. The Fortress is very nice looking but has silly filters. (check our review). The Corsair is $300 - it's Cooler Master ACTS 840 territory.
Thanks for your input, but that case firnly belongs in "garish" territory. Your input is still very appreciated, tough!
Yes, the Antec P18x series is pretty nice. The right case isn't really a matter of price, though. I'd gladly put down the equivalent of £200 or even more, if I could get the *right* case.
So you favour the Lancool? Well, it certainly has a lot of the features I like to have in a case, but I'm not sure how it compares with the P18x in the "quiet" department. Or how spacious it is, for that matter. I need to get a card in there of about 27 cm length. As for the Corsair Obsidian, it looks nice (although I could do without the window), but again it's way too deep at 61 cm. My problem is, my desk, which is just shy of 60 cm, stands against the wall and there's no possibilty for me to rearrange my furniture. You could say I'm "depth challenged"... By the way, sorry for not multi-quoting. I always seem to forget that option is there...
I favour classic Lians personally, the Lancools are nice but also a bit cheaper. We've done some reviews of them.
I love the Lian case they use for the Vadim Cepheus in CPCs Dream PC, a giant metal box with wheels and almost infinite modding and expansion scope
Thanks for your input, Bindi. Much appreciated. I also like Lian Li cases very much, which probably is the reason I've hung onto my PC61 for so long. I just feel it's starting to show its age of late. All three case fans are 80mm versions, the side panels tend to rattle a bit (on top of the extra noise usually generated by aluminium), and the drive cage doesn't allow for quiet mounting of the drives. I actually consider some aspects of the K10 superior to Lian Li cases. The SECC steel structure should help with the resonance and the steel removable motherboard tray probably won't pose the same danger of damaging the screw holes, which I noticed with the PC-B25. I don't like the case feet, though. I wonder if they can be replaced? By the way, I've noticed that CustomPC did a mini review of the K10. Any chance I could persuade you to check with them how it compares to an Antec P182 noisewise (and perhaps also spacewise)? Pretty please... I know bit-tech did a review of the K7, but it's doorless and hasn't foampadded side panels, so it doesn't quite compare.
