case for SLI rig

Herr_Ando · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:01

As title suggests, I'm looking for a case that can fit 2 7800 gtx cards without losing any of the hard drive bays, I looked at the Tsunami dream but it appears to have an identical interior layout to my old Antec SLK3000B which I know is too small inside to accomodate these cards without losing use of one of the drive bays.

Any pointers to good case with good ventilation and side window and in black would be appreciated. Also would like the case to be midi-tower sized (so no huge ass cases that take up my already limited space)

Yewen · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:10

Lian Li v1000b+

How much money you got for the case?

Noni · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:26

Coolermaster Stacker,

One of the best cases for Dual GPU setup. Big yes, but will keep your cards cool!

The V1000+ is good, but the cards dont get much cool air.

Good luck.

Yewen · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:28

Have you used the v1000+ with sli Noni?

Herr_Ando · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:28

I don't really mind spening as much money as it takes to get this done right. Will have a look at that case thanks

Yewen · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:31

The v1000+ is perfectly fine for a overclocked 7800gtx 256mb SLI rig, very cool temps.

The original and far inferior v1000 cooled my old 6800gt SLI rig just fine, the v1000's are perfect for SLI and they were designed for it by Lian Li.

It is the v1000 / 2000's intended market afterall.

Noni · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:32

Yewen said:
Have you used the v1000+ with sli Noni?

Nope, but look at the setup.

The exhuast fan is pulling the hot air away from the gpus yes, but where is the cool air coming from? I honestly dont think the holes in the front is enough for hot 7800gtx's.

with the stacker, its much more flexible and future proof.

Yewen · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:38

How is it more future proof, name one thing the stacker has for the future that the Lian Li does not?

There are very few holes at the front that get to the internals of the case, as this would ruin the airflow, the air comes in from the back and out from the blower, which is VERY efficent, so can be cool and quiet.

The stacker may push a lot of air like the Eclipse does, which is great. But there is more than one way to cool a case, the Lian Li lets the heat dissipate, and remember that airflow is not everything about cooling.

The Lian Li's can cool SLI without batting a eyelid, im quits sure they could do it without and case fans I am that confident in the design, would be toasty, but I am sure they could do it.

How is the stacker more flexible and future proof, please could you explain that as it features less of the modern requirements that the ATX form factor needs.

Which stacker are you talking about aswell, the 830?

DELETED_36704 · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:51

Don’t get the V1000+, it doesn’t have awesome cooling as Noni already pointed out. For an SLi rig you need to get air across the cards which the Lian Li is poor at.

The Silverstone Temjin TJ07 is very nice, i assume if your going SLi you have a nice budget??

Or maybe the new CoolerMaster Stacker 830?

Two very different looking cases, both well equipped enough to house an SLi rig.

Yewen · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:54

Cash money could you please tell me why you say that about the v1000+.

I am waiting for someone to present a counter argument not just say its bad, as in my experience, and my best friends it can handle SLI perfectly fine!

Cooling is not all about the amount of airflow!

DELETED_36704 · 2 Mar 2006 at 21:26

Dude! its been said by a few forum members on here and a couple of reviews on Google confirm that the V1000 series does not offer great cooling. We are not talking really bad but it’s definitely not on par with some other cases.

Yes it’s an attractive case and its well built but it does have flaws, one of them being cooling.

Few more reasons why i don’t recommend the case: it has silly castors, problems with some power supply’s, weird btx style layout and no reset button.

It’s not perfect as you keep saying!!

Siders77 · 2 Mar 2006 at 21:55

CaSh_MoNeY said:
Few more reasons why i don’t recommend the case: it has silly castors, problems with some power supply’s, weird btx style layout and no reset button.

The castors can be removed I think. No idea about the PSU's or the BTX style. A lot of newish cases don't have reset buttons. I hardly ever use the one on my case.

Yewen · 2 Mar 2006 at 22:03

Ok let me just knock a few of thoose points off straight away.

Castors are removeable, since the + revision there are no longer the PSU issues, weird BTX style is a alternative cooling method, I do not claim its the best cooling case ever, but it will FOR SURE RUN SLI NO TROUBLE OVERCLOCKED! The stacker and TJ07 will beat it for temps with sli yes, but it CAN RUN SLI FINE. 1 - 2 degrees more higher yes, but does it quieter in the meantime.

The reset button I never use anyway as pressing the power button in and holding serves the same function.

Two of the three forum members of the top of my head had not even followed the Lian Li cooling recommendations for the v1000+ and had the back fan as a extraction one!

The v1000+ is more than capeable of holding a overclocked SLI rig at good temperatures, I know, I had one in the ORIGINAL one with much poorer cooling (toasty but fine) and my mate has a 7800gtx 256mb sli setup in one, just fine.

Sorry if that seemed a little aggressive, but bad day, and the v1000+ will run SLI without any issues, maybe 1 degree more than a stacker, but in MY experiences with THE CASES SAID the TJ07 cools a lot better, but is a LOT more money, the Stacker is not such a nice case, and cools SLI rigs better than both yes.

But my quibble is with people claiming the v1000+ is not up to the job, it MOST CERTAINLY IS.

"it doesn’t have awesome cooling as Noni already pointed out" no it does not, and the stacker does not either, for sli the TJ07 is awsome yes, but pricey, the Stacker is very good, and the Lian Li is good/very good.

Its not all about cooling, im never a big advocate of it as almost all PC's are fine at 80 degrees, yet people complain when theres is at 40, its just the OcUK mentatility, most old dell's get VERY hot inside.

The v1000+ is not perfect, the Stacker most certainly is not, the TJ07 is the best bits from both really, they high airflow from the stacker, and a attempts at a finnese cooling design, which works out quite well.

Castors: removeable
Power supplies: + version fixes it as long as its a ATX conforming PSU
BTX style layout: is not weird, is Lian Li's termal solution so as to not use high CFM in the case.
No reset button: personal problem with it, it is not that major as your rig should not need to be reset that often in the first place.

DELETED_36704 · 2 Mar 2006 at 22:55

Yewen said:
Ok let me just knock a few of thoose points off straight away.

Castors are removeable, since the + revision there are no longer the PSU issues, weird BTX style is a alternative cooling method, I do not claim its the best cooling case ever

So you agree the castors are terrible lol. I do actually understand the btx style is an alternative cooling method, i just don’t like it (thats why i called it weird) It clearly shows no benefit having it in the V1000 series.

Yewen said:
The reset button I never use anyway as pressing the power button in and holding serves the same function.

Well that’s personal preference really, i prefer a reset and power button.

Yewen said:
Its not all about cooling, im never a big advocate of it as almost all PC's are fine at 80 degrees, yet people complain when theres is at 40, its just the OcUK mentatility, most old dell's get VERY hot inside.

Sure, i see where you are coming from but imo the cooler the better, if i can drop my case temps by 2 degree's - perfect!! Yes it’s an OCUK mentality, but surely that’s why we are all here??

You have a fascination with Aluminium cases - the next guy has a fascination with lowering his temps, neither of you are wrong for doing what you are doing…

Yewen said:
No reset button: personal problem with it, it is not that major as your rig should not need to be reset that often in the first place.

Yewen said:
The v1000+ is not perfect, the Stacker most certainly is not, the TJ07 is the best bits from both really, they high airflow from the stacker, and a attempts at a finnese cooling design, which works out quite well.

Ill stand by what i said, i do believe there are better cases available for an SLi rig and im sorry if you think i am saying the V1000 series is not adequate, i never meant it that way, im sure its very up for the job - as you have already pointed out from your experience.

Anyway i believe the OP should go for a bank loan and purchase the Temjin TJ07

Yewen · 3 Mar 2006 at 01:42

I will agree with you on the TJ07

I do not agree that the castors are terrible, I got the case thinking I would take them off, but they add to the cases appeal.

Im not a aluminium case nut, im a fine case nut, why I like Chieffy's aswell

Its the OcUK mentallity, but 2 degrees often does not make THAT much difference, its all down to bragging rights, and also I would add, the BTX type layout is much better for cooling as the now hottest part in a pc, the GPU is at the top of the case, well away from the cpu so that it keeps the cpu cooler.

The power supply cannot heat the rest of the componants as its in its own compartment, same goes for the hard drives, so for a low CFM solution it works brilliantly.

The PC7+ is up to cooling a SLI rig, easily.

But I will stand by, to retain hard drive usage with a non modular PSU the v series for a low noise / high performance pc with very few compromises is the best solution.

If noise isnt a issue than the high CFM cases are the port of call, but these have there own problems but thats for another thread

Noni · 3 Mar 2006 at 16:38

Yewen said:
How is it more future proof, name one thing the stacker has for the future that the Lian Li does not?

There are very few holes at the front that get to the internals of the case, as this would ruin the airflow, the air comes in from the back and out from the blower, which is VERY efficent, so can be cool and quiet.

The stacker may push a lot of air like the Eclipse does, which is great. But there is more than one way to cool a case, the Lian Li lets the heat dissipate, and remember that airflow is not everything about cooling.

The Lian Li's can cool SLI without batting a eyelid, im quits sure they could do it without and case fans I am that confident in the design, would be toasty, but I am sure they could do it.

How is the stacker more flexible and future proof, please could you explain that as it features less of the modern requirements that the ATX form factor needs.

Which stacker are you talking about aswell, the 830?

The stacker has both BTX and ATX support, 2x power supplys. For watercooling you do not need to mod the case.

It can also be a blank canvas for modding (although i do agree the V1000+ looks better if done right).

I know your a fan of the V1000+, but there are better cases out there. The V1000+ has limited airflow, the stacker has a simple no frills airflow pattern, WHICH WORKS.

Im talking about the stacker 810. The 830 is a nice case too.

Neoni · 3 Mar 2006 at 17:34

the shark is a good one because it has the mesh

Yewen · 3 Mar 2006 at 17:50

Noni said:
The stacker has both BTX and ATX support, 2x power supplys. For watercooling you do not need to mod the case.

It can also be a blank canvas for modding (although i do agree the V1000+ looks better if done right).

I know your a fan of the V1000+, but there are better cases out there. The V1000+ has limited airflow, the stacker has a simple no frills airflow pattern, WHICH WORKS.

Im talking about the stacker 810. The 830 is a nice case too.

BTX is a old standard now, and will not come into the mainstream.

Its got a no frills cooling system for high cfm yes, it works brilliantly.

The v1000+ has poor airflow by the stackers standards, but it cools almost aswell due to its more refined methods, if you put the time in it can be super.

Yes the stacker is a great case, I would be telling porkies if I said it was not and I have not said its a bad case at all.

Im just defending the v1000+ that it can cool any system you put in it very well with ok noise levels.

Cases are too much of a subjective decision to say there is better out there.

The stacker is on a par with the v1000+, swings and roundabouts but neither is poor at anything. But there are MUCH, and I mean MUCH better cases to be had than the ones in the £300 or less price bracket.

Noni · 3 Mar 2006 at 17:54

Yewen said:
BTX is a old standard now, and will not come into the mainstream.

Its got a no frills cooling system for high cfm yes, it works brilliantly.

The v1000+ has poor airflow by the stackers standards, but it cools almost aswell due to its more refined methods, if you put the time in it can be super.

Yes the stacker is a great case, I would be telling porkies if I said it was not and I have not said its a bad case at all.

Im just defending the v1000+ that it can cool any system you put in it very well with ok noise levels.

Yep it can cool a system nicely within, that is if you put some time into thinking about your setup and getting a sutible cpu cooler etc etc (I.E. The 9500 wont work).

To me, that is a a lot of work for a £140 case. Even if I am paying for the quality and re-sale value.

The Stacker is a better case for SLI, SLI is HOT, and the stacker has great airflow to keep the cards cool and in balance. The re-sale value is not as good as the lian li, but you will get a good price.

To be honest, if your going SLI, your system is going to be loud anyway.

Good luck.

Yewen · 3 Mar 2006 at 18:03

Agree with everything you just said in that post Noni.

But the v1000+ also has great airflow for sli in the form of the blower fan, just to cool the SLI setup, so it adds a local high cfm around the graphics cards, you can also get a newer revision blower fan now which is quieter and pushes more air.

The stacker is not a better case for SLI, it is just another alternative for SLI, the v1000+ is just as good if your going for the noise does not matter, however the stacker with SLI will get the noise/cooling balance slightly better.

SLI is hot, but it is not *that* hot that it cant be cooled by just the graphics cards cooler, most of them are made to work in a 4cfm case so should have no problem running in most, temperatures would be what you would consider high, but well within the manufacturers specification.

Both the stacker and the v1000+ are much better at removing heat than the manufacturers specifications state they need to be, so both are fine for SLI.

Cases are not a objective decision, mostly it comes down to what you think looks nice, then you think if it can do the job you need. That's the reason why I have a new boxed Wavemaster on my bed at the moment, it can do the job of holding a pc, but hotter than a stacker, yet it looks a lot nicer. A throwback to the ATCS era and the only one still in production

If you are bringing watercooling into the mix, then you need to consider the v2000 case, then it is a fair comparisson.