Argh! Case choice!

Richeh

Richeh

Richeh

Soldato
Joined
24 Jul 2003
Posts
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Location
South East Coast
Hello,
I am planning on building a new PC, my first in over 6 years!

It will primarily be used as an HTPC running XBMC etc BUT it will also double as media storage server (require at least 5 internal 3.5 bays) and for some gaming (BF3).

This all means that 90% of the HTPC cases about will not fit my requirements or limits me to MicroATX. I will be running a Core i5 2500k with a MSI 7850 GPU so know that I have to take the size of that into account.

I am after a very nice quiet case without having to spend a fortune that has subtle/understated looks. As in, it wouldn't look too out of place next to or on an AV rack. I have looked at a lot of the cube designs but most are MicroATX. I have a few i'm looking at here and was wondering if you knowledgeable people could help me finalise!

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-015-FD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1556

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-236-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-FD&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1556

I have been looking for a week but only just found the Cooler Master one which I think is the most attractive (I also notice OCUK do this with a 650Watt PSU which is apparently silent, if I was going to get the CM case as I don't have a PSU yet is the one included good value, performance and silent'ish?).

Are there any others I should be looking at, I really want it for 70% HTPC use but as it NEEDS to have room for extra HDD's (I will be putting in an SSD, and will take apart my 2 externals so 3 slots will be taken up anyway) and then it also needs to be able to accomodate full size GFX cards as well.

I plan on ordering this week so any advice, recommendations/negative comments about the above or others I hadn't considered are appreciated.

Cheers.
 
R3 is the one you want.

For reference it's about on par with the 550D (which would be another viable option)

Define Design XL is it's bigger brother if you wanted LOADS off HDD room....

kd
 
pocket rocket.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £173.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £94.99
1 x Fractal Design Define Mini Computer Case - Black £74.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £62.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £58.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/AM2/AM3) (CWCH60) £56.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £29.99
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7280S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £799.40 (includes shipping : £13.75).



Also worth considering

Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £109.99

But the R3 seems to be the best all rounder. Although complains about QA.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. As mentioned above though I was aiming for an HTPC case there were too many compromises as far as HDD bays or just generally being very fiddly so had almost no choice but to go to a mid tower. A full tower is unfortunately ridiculously too big, even the R3 is bigger than what I wanted but again I believe the Mini versions may be too small (also generally don't like the designs on the newer ones). Was also not wanting to spend a lot but £70-90 seems like the going rate for a decent case.

Requirements basically are:

Small
Silent`ish
decent cooling
Unassuming (Fits with AV gear)
Takes ATX
At least 5 3.5" HDD bays
Not ridiculously expensive
Fits a MSI 7850

and whilst thank you to Olivier I don't need a full system spec, certain parts already purchased and certain others just waiting for them to hit weekly specials etc although the PSU is still needed which is one of the reasons was so interested in the Cooler Master as they do the case with a 650W PSU at a bit of a discount. Any opinions on this PSU?

Thanks again.
 
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