Case Reccomendations please

[Darkst4r]

Hi , I'm looking to build my first custom PC but am unsure on what frame to build it around.

I like the look of the Antec 902 but the number of drive bays would be overkill for what I need.

Im planning on having 2 hard drives and one CD drive , a high end graphics card , performance ram (up to 4 gigs) and a Pentium processor.

I'd like it to be ATX and mini ATX compatible , preferably with a side window to see all the internals running with clean and simple lines.

Any recommendations ?

 

[Darkst4r]

Thanks a lot , like the look of your case but stumbled across the Antec 300 which looks pretty sweet and more what I need. I'll have to make a clear side panel myself and maybe do away with the side gpu fan but I think it has more than enough cooling if I install 2 120 fans in the front.

 

[Darkst4r]

For another £30 this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-055-SV&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1092

It's actually £80 more than the 300. I can't really justify spending that much more on something that essentially looks almost identical.
After looking around I don't thnk i'll get a better buy than the Antec 300 and it seems to meet all my requirements apart from the windowed side panel which I can modify at work.

 

[Darkst4r]

I thought the Antec 300 would meet all my requirements too, and for a while it did, but it is very limited in interior space, and is not at all good for cable mgmt. I cut out 2 sections of the mobo tray to allow for cables to pass behind it - see pics here - and even tho that's eased things considerably I am still looking to upgrade after only 6 months of having this case. If I had to remove one of my mechanical HDD's then I'd prob have to take out the GPU first!

The Antec 300 is great for what it is but you are right when you say that it 'essentially looks almost identical' - as that is all it is... looks.

The Silverstone Fortress is far superior in almost every way imo, quite apart from the cable mgmt side of things, the positive pressure air system which will help to reduce dust build up is also a huge benefit, and the removeable drive trays etc are also a good feature of a higher end case, and all this in a package which isn't that much bigger overall shows how the Fortress designers paid attention to every detail. It is more expensive, but you get what you pay for!

After watching a video review on youtube I agree with you. The fortress is far superior in every way but the difficulty in removing the top fan filter puts me off. I do like the idea of the positive air pressure system though and was wondering if this could be achieved with the Antec 902 if I reverse mounted the top fan to induct rather than exhaust ?