Am I Asking too much

Angelus214

Angelus214

Angelus214

Associate
Joined
3 May 2012
Posts
6
Im looking at a new case and im going to start with air cooled but at a future date i want to go water cooled. I have a list of requirements but since my eyes hurt after reading so much i hope you folks could make a recommendation.

Internals:

USB 3 (internal headers)
Hot swap trays
Backplate CPU cutout
Floor mounted PSU
Good cable management options

External (incl Asthetics):

at least 2 front usb 3
integrated fan controller (not a definate)
Minimalist exterior looks (i.e. corsair obsidian flat brushed panels)
Side window (going for red and black LED)
Top mounted power button (as itll be on the floor)

Budget £140, Currently considered, Corsair 650D, Silverstone TJ07 (might break my budget)

Do you think any of these cases would fulfil all or most my requirements or any other recommendations?

thanks
 
The big things you're probably not going to get out your desires are:

Hot Swap Trays
Integrated Fan Controller
Maybe the USB 3.0 stuff.

Is there any particular reason you need Hot Swap trays? Most people just plug in their hard drives and leave them.

The TJ07 is way way way above your budget. The cable management options also aren't great unless you want to get a Dremel out. That said, apart from that it is one of the greatest cases every.

To be honest, I'd always say the decent watercooling cases are as follows:
Switch 810
Xigmatek Elysium
800D
TJ07

Then they really do start to get into crazy costs, but if you're interested it then becomes, Cosmos II and TJ11.

None of the above really meet your requirements. However, considering you're thinking about the Corsair 650D, which generally speaking I'd say is a mediocre water cooling case, as it can't support a huge amount of components. I'd say you want to have a look at the BitFenix Shinobi XL.

It has again, middle ground water cooling support, but I'd put it above the 650D in terms of its ability.

It has USB 3 internal, no hot swap trays, a massive CPU cut out, floor mounted PSU, a whopping 3cm of space behind the mobo tray for cable management. It has 4 USB 3.0 ports, a minimalist look (Shinobi even sell an optical drive bay cover to stealth your optical drive). It has your top mounted power button, a minimalist look and a side window.

The soft touch stuff isn't brushed metal like the Corsair, but it's much more forgiving on finger prints.

So yeah, Shinobi XL and this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BB-000-LP&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=189

Job done.

A possible idea would be a Silverstone FT02, but it's above the £140 budget.

kd
 
The TJ07 is, I suspect, the most modded case ever. So that has huge modding potential.

The Shinobi XL has some issues to mod because of it's Softtouch front and top panels. But this shouldn't really create an issue if you don't want to mod front or top. BitFenix are actually planning on making some colour strip replacements for the Shinobi XL (If they're not already out), so you can even do quite a bit of the modding yourself.

If I was modding a Shinobi XL I would probably go with:
Different colour strips and badge
Cut the 'supporting bracket' in the roof, which frankly seems to do nothing... It'll mean, much much better Rad support up there.
Remove the HDD bay. for a 240mm in the front of the case. For HDD's I'd either then put a ODD to HDD bay adaptor thing in to give me some HDD space back, or due to the massive room behind the Mobo tray, I'd actually try mounting the HDD's behind the mobo tray. Could be interesting.

Actually you know what, most cases come with some ability to mod them. To be honest, the biggest limitation on someone's ability to mod a case often comes through a person's lack of creativity.

kd
 
Personally I hate the integrated fan controller on my 650D. If there was a safe way to disconnect the fan controller wires I would have done it.
 
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