Budget ~£135 - I challange you to find my dream case!

C64 said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-233-LL&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=187


best case for £135 ish overall in terms of looks + performance imo that or the Lian Li PC-9F or Silverstone RV02 Raven 2
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The Lian li pc-9f has no reviews it seems and the raven isn't rated too well tbh.

I'm also confused by the one you sent me a link to, the Lian Li PC-8FIB. As far as I can see, the Lian Li PC-B25FB does many things better:

1- It cools better
2- It has a removerble mobo tray, unlike the PC-9f where you can't get to the mobo power in the top left corner once the heat sink is on (a problem in my current lian-li case too).
3-It is cheaper
4- it looks better

I actually can't see anything the 8FIB has that the B25FB doesn't have or infact do better. Looks like you pay an extra 20 quid for a different chassis and blue fans.
 
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I don't think you could be more off the mark with your conclusions.

Cpu cutouts for coolers are pointless it's 100x easier and better to attach the cooler to the board with the board out on it's own.

The raven is rated very well, have you ever tried installing a cooler with the motherboard in the case ? why bother ? it's 100x harder I'd be there all day if I tried that with my tuniq or say TRUE.

I see no point of cpu motherboard cut outs even existing ? motherboard trays are overrated I have one in my eclipse and never used that function as it doesn't really matter outside of first time install and all it basically does is allow you to put screws in to the motherboard and attach to the tray no big deal really.

Lian Li PC-B25FB is ugly imo far worse looking than the two I mentioned to me it looks like some cheap knock off case.
And where do those front intakes draw air from ? looks totally airflow restricted to me.

Both the cases I have mentioned would allow you to hoover the front rather than take the front panel off to clean imo.

Leds on fans can be disabled and very few cases come with good stock fans ? most people swap them out.
The raven comes with very good highly rated fans.

What makes you think the Lian Li PC-B25FB cools better btw ? with those restricted front intakes I would say it cools worse guaranteed.


The raven is fine and very highly rated it's more or less a cheaper version the fortress ft02 the best air cooling case on the market.

Which bad reviews are you referring to ? only bad review I know of is by bit tech on an older revision of the case.
The raven comes with 3x 180mm air penetrator fans which cost £15 each and 1x120mm.
The raven is a great case it's only drawbacks are hdd space (easily solved by having hdd in the 525).

I'd go with the lancool K62 if you want a quality budget case for around £80.
 
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C64 said:
I don't think you could be more off the mark with your conclusions.

Cpu cutouts for coolers are pointless it's 100x easier and better to attach the cooler to the board with the board out on it's own.

I see no point of cpu motherboard cut outs even existing ? motherboard trays are overrated I have one in my eclipse and never used that function as it doesn't really matter outside of first time install and all it basically does is allow you to put screws in to the motherboard and attach to the tray no big deal really.

The raven is rated very well, have you ever tried installing a cooler with the motherboard in the case ? why bother ? it's 100x harder I'd be there all day if I tried that with my tuniq or say TRUE.
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Not sure what you are referring to here? The 8fib doesn't have a removable mobotray and the B25FB does. As I stated this was a reason to pick the B25FB over the 8fib. At least I havn't seen it mentioned in reviews so presumed it wasn't removable.

Lian Li PC-B25FB is ugly imo far worse looking than the two I mentioned to me it looks like some cheap knock off case.
And where do those front intakes draw air from ? looks totally airflow restricted to me.
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The door doesn't restrict air flow it has vents around it, just like the p183, which is a well cooled case. Along with the two front fans it also has 2 120mm fans in the top and 1 in the back which is why it cools better than the other lian-li.

Looks are of a matter of opinion, while there are things I dislike about the looks of both of them, I prefer it.

Both the cases I have mentioned would allow you to hoover the front rather than take the front panel off to clean imo.
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Not sure what this is meant to be of reference too either as the 825FB also does this as it is practically the same design. There is next to no difference between the two.

Leds on fans can be disabled and very few cases come with good stock fans ? most people swap them out.
The raven comes with very good highly rated fans.

What makes you think the Lian Li PC-B25FB cools better btw ? with those restricted front intakes I would say it cools worse guaranteed.
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The B25FB is one of the best cooling midi towers around. Also the lian-li fans are aparently quite good and pretty quiet, obviously not the most quiet but passerble so I don't intend on paying out to replace them. Though I do have some other fans I may put in instead. Also I've seen someone else on the forum's state their 8FIB doesn't cool too well.

My point is that the other lian-li is 20 odd more expensive and all it brings to the table is 1 less fan, worse cooling as a result and a differnt style of case. There is no improvements imo.

The raven is fine and very highly rated it's more or less a cheaper version the fortress ft02 the best air cooling case on the market.

Which bad reviews are you referring to ? only bad review I know of is by bit tech on an older revision of the case.
The raven comes with 3x 180mm air penetrator fans which cost £15 each and 1x120mm.
The raven is a great case it's only drawbacks are hdd space (easily solved by having hdd in the 525).

I'd go with the lancool K62 if you want a quality budget case for around £80.
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I did in fact read the bit-tech review as it is the review site I always use as I feel they are the best reviewers around. Perhaps I shall look into the raven more closely then. Though it looks absolutely huge and looks like the much smaller 825FB is roomy enough inside dispite being smaller on the outside.
 
Ravens cooling does look quite good actually, but whats with the transformer style exterior? Would've been much better if it was simplistic and the same layout design IMO.

edit: just seen the rv02, bit less transformery lol.
 
Just buy the B25FB already! :p

Regarding the front cooling. Anyone with half a brain would know that aslong as the front fans have access to air from the front i.e. they're not in a vacuum, they will push the same amount of air regardless. The air will move quicker through the vents due to difference in air pressure, which will arguably create more friction against the case, thus creating more noise, but it will not be significantly different.

Actually thinking about it, wouldn't vents like that be even better than a metal mesh front cover because of the smaller surface area for friction to occur? Yes, it's moving slower, but does it make much difference?

Apologies for slightly derailing your thread with my stream of consciousness, I could talk about this all day! :p
 
LiamJ said:
Just buy the B25FB already! :p

Regarding the front cooling. Anyone with half a brain would know that aslong as the front fans have access to air from the front i.e. they're not in a vacuum, they will push the same amount of air regardless. The air will move quicker through the vents due to difference in air pressure, which will arguably create more friction against the case, thus creating more noise, but it will not be significantly different.

Actually thinking about it, wouldn't vents like that be even better than a metal mesh front cover because of the smaller surface area for friction to occur? Yes, it's moving slower, but does it make much difference?

Apologies for slightly derailing your thread with my stream of consciousness, I could talk about this all day! :p
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Basicaly it will make didly squat difference. All it means is that the fans draw the air from a smaller space but it will not affect the air flow just like having a fan in your car doesn't work any less then having it outside.

It in fact makes it quieter because the door traps a lot more of the sound.
 
Up to you but I wouldn't go near that lian li personally.
Pretty sure it does make a difference in regards to amount of cooler air being pushed in to the case.

All of the best air cooling cases the fans have near enough direct large access to cooler air so there must be a reason why they design it like this.
 
The reason is that they don't care about looks.

If anything; higher pressure = faster moving air = cooler air.

L2PHYSICS
 
I don't buy that at all it's probably okay when the case has a door and more room for air though.
 
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8igdave said:
Hey, well basically I shall be upgrading to sandy bridge soon and I will be wanting a new case to go with it. My lian-li pc 60b plus II is just not big enough for my needs.

I am however lost, I see so many cases and none of them tick all the right boxes for me so I come to you with the challenge of finding me my dream case. My budget is flexible but I would rather it be as cheap as reasonably possible. Obviously I didn't set a budget of £135 to buy a £50 case.

Boxes you need to tick:

1- Must be decent sized but not huge. I'm looking to fit the biggest graphics cards to date with some room to spare if possible. I don't run a lot of hard drives so if there is an option to remove one of the hard drive caddies for this then that is fine provided I can mount up to 3 hard drives still.

2- I want it to be very tidy inside, which means some good cable management system. The corsair graphite 600T has the sort of thing I'm looking for but unfortunately not very good cooling at all. The p183's cable management I don't think is good enough for its price. It is also very heavy.

3- Minimalistic style, I love the looks of things like the p183 or the sleak lian-li cases. Sadly I can't find a lian-li case to tick the boxes, unless I have missed one?

4- Easy to use. I want a spacious interior to work with. I'm fed up of having to try and cram my hands down into tiny spaces in my current case so I want a nice gap around the motherboard to work with.

5- It goes with out saying I expect it to cool reasonably while being quiet.


Optional interests:

6- While I dont have any plans to water cool at the moment, a case that can accommodate it is always a plus.

7- Decent fans, failing that I will replace them. I want a quiet system.



Free internet cookie for who ever manages to find my case!

Cheers, good luck!
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disagree with you on the corsair cooling part....
 
subbytna said:
disagree with you on the corsair cooling part....
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Seems to be a mixed bag but I know who I trust more:

Bit-tech say its terrible cooling (giving it a 6/10 as well for cooling which is pretty poor) http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2010/09/23/corsair-graphite-600t-review/3

Antec say it's got excelent cooling:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4028/corsair-graphite-series-600t-cool-and-quiet/6

However bit-tech's rig they put in it chucks out considerably more heat and is directly compared to other cases. Antec isn't.

Overclock3d.net state its a poor cooler too:

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/corsair_600t_case_review/3

NathWraith said:
An excellent choice here.

Just a tad over £135 but two large intakes, many HDD bays and has enough space for a good high end setup!

Oh and its Lian Li so it must be win :D
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Nath, why would you pick this over the cheaper 825B lian-li case? The 825B has a removerble motherboard tray, an extra fan and better cooling and the same features inside apart from that. Unless I'm missing something?

C64 said:
Up to you but I wouldn't go near that lian li personally.
Pretty sure it does make a difference in regards to amount of cooler air being pushed in to the case.

All of the best air cooling cases the fans have near enough direct large access to cooler air so there must be a reason why they design it like this.
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Why do you presume that because there is a cover over the front it is not cool air? The air will be room temperature regardless.
 
Hey I got my coolermaster HAF X, which ticks most your boxes for £130 of a known computer shop....just keep checking cos 1 day it was £130, next £160 then a week later back to £130
 
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