Case questions...

[Dogdaysdude]

Hi. Most of the cases I have been looking at have the front drive bays covered. On the Thermaltake, for example, can those covers be moved or slid out of the way or removed? Seems kind of ridiculous to cover the front. So anyway, I'm leaning toward this one;

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-124-106&DEPA=1

But replacing the power supply with a Thermaltake Silent Pure Power 560 watt.

[tosaw]

I agree. Though I've gotten used to it, it's a pain to have to open the door on my Thermaltake XaserII case every time I want to pop in a disc so most of the time the door is left open. It could be removed but then it would just look silly. Not sure which Thermaltake case you're referring to so I can't offer any advice there.

The Enermax case you're looking at looks decent, and the price is right. Some cheap aluminum cases are "buzzy" but this one is a good brand name and it's gotten good reviews so hopefully it's a solid as they claim.

I've had my Silent Pure Power 420 for 3 or 4 years now and I'm happy with its performance, right now it's powering 4 SATA drives, 2 DVD drives, 4 Panaflo fans and my Radeon 9800XT. My only complaint is that the output fan died a couple weeks ago. No big deal though, I replaced it and the input fan with Panaflos and now it truly is "Silent". Out of the box it wasn't, though I wouldn't say it's loud either. Of course what's loud to one person may be quiet to the next.

560 watts will surely be overkill but it's better to have too much power then not enough!

[Whyzman]

My son wanted one that looked "cool" with the swinging front door. I would agree that it's a pain!

My personal choice in cases is Enlight. My main reason is that they are screwless access...the front panel pulls of with a quick tug on its underside and then the side panel slides right off...

I too, replace the power supplies, but the ones I've bought have nearly had the PSUs tossed in for free. I keep at least one of the swapped out supplies around for troubleshooting...

[Dogdaysdude]

Thanks for the input. I will look at Enlight. I'm still not sure about the one I had picked out. Another question...has anyone tried the aluminum cases? Do you get a static discharge from it during the winter months when it's very dry? (I guess that doesn't hurt the components because it's grounded...or should be. But I think it would be annoying.)

[Mick_D]

Aluminum affords a lighter yet stronger material in case construction. An example of top line high quality aluminum case is Lian-Li but they are expensive. A quality steel case will be heavier and the lower quality steel will be lighter but may have very sharp edges and flimsy drive bays. Read some reviews of different cases to get an idea of the different levels of quality and what you might want to avoid along with how much you are willing to spend.
Recommending any one case is difficult because once you get past cooling, construction, and PSU, it's largely a decision of personal taste.
Oh, and don't worry about SED to the case exterior, only to the componants inside the case.

[Whyzman]

Recommending any one case is difficult because once you get past cooling, construction, and PSU, it's largely a decision of personal taste. (italics mine) Actually, I've no difficulty at all recommending Enlight! :D

I offer some futher considerations you might want to take into account as you make a decision.

If I were to select aluminum, I would for sure go with a higher end case whose reviews attest to it's solid construction. When aluminum cases were first being touted as the "cat's meow," I looked at some at the local computer stores.

Light weight was a big time selling point. However, I wasn't planning on any hefting this bad boy to an LAN parties. It was going to be a stationary piece of equipment.

Easier dissipation of heat was another publicized feature to consider. I'm not an engineer, but the most important consideration for cooling one's rig is air flow into and out. Even with the understanding that our CPU heatsinks are primarly aluminum due to its efficiency to transfer heat, I still have serious questions of actual aluminum case effectiveness in this regard.

The air within the case still acts as an insulating buffer. Granted, some components are directly in contact with the case itself, but the processor as the biggest heat generator is pretty much insulated from the case by stand-offs and spews its heated breath into the surrounding air. :(

I have not read any case studies (pun intended :D) with actual hard numbers comparing steel and aluminum. In my weighing of the logic behind the aluminum manufactuer's claims, I came to the conclusion that in this case :D, the theory was good but the benefit almost negligible.

When I then looked at the cost, I deemed it worth my while to simply add case fans.

Also, I've been on enough airplanes to realize that if you want to talk about the sound deadening qualities of aluminum, I will definitely have to turn the proverbial "deaf ear." :)

I think it was our PC Guide brother malcore who relished his invesment in an insulated case. You could actually see his smile as he talked about its dampening effectiveness! ;) I don't know that it was an aluminum case, but insulating an aluminum case would seem to defeat the intended purpose of heat transfer...

Now that I've aluminum foiled...:rolleyes:

I think your down to quality construction, price, ease of access, and aesthetics. Enlights are a quality constructed case at a reasonable price. I've had cases with thumbscrews and philips screws...I don't like screwy cases period. :rolleyes: And, I especially hate having to remove the whole cowling from a case (top and sides all in one piece).

Last but not least, find a pertty one that fits your fancy! :)

That's my 2 cents worth...and I'm stickin' to it! :D At least for now!

[Dogdaysdude]

Thanks again, guys. I am an electrical engineer and at times we need to do heat calculations on control cabinets to determine if an air conditioner or other cooling might be necessary. It depends on a lot of things...size of the cabinet, blocked surfaces, heat dissipation or heat generation of components inside, ambient temp, etc.
Hoffman has a free program for calculating heat loss of a cabinet if you are interested. Although it's geared toward larger cabinets than computer cases.

http://www.hoffmanonline.com/Technical_Info/DownLoadTherSoft.htm

[computernerd]

just rip the cover off

[PrntRhd]

just rip the cover off
Computernerd,
We do not give that type of advice here, you are taking a little vacation for a few days. You were warned several times.

[marik]

Computernerd,
We do not give that type of advice here, you are taking a little vacation for a few days. You were warned several times.

i think its been more than a few days lol. more like a few years lmao.

[mjc]

Holy necro bump, Batman!

Commenting on an 18 month old thread...sheesh.

BTW, circumventing a BAN is reason to bring out the banstick again...have a couple of weeks to reflect upon your transgressions.