Good MATX case?

squiffy

squiffy

squiffy

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Quiet- sandwich type panels
At least one 5.25" bay
Standard PSU size, will allow standard PSU (Enermax Liberty seems quieter than the one in mates Qpack- ok case but could be improved)
No gaudiness or tacky LED's, unless LED's can be snipped
No need to front panel LCD.
Cube or Hi-Fi sized case. Not more than £100
 
Any others? Doesn't seem to have any sound proofing case, also 6cm fans so pretty loud (either disconnect or replace with slower ones)
 
Sound proofing on a case does nothing towards lowering sound, it is a marketing gimmic, cases next to each other that are comparable it makes no difference. The noise of the coolers (graphics especially) determine the total noise of the computer. Replace the GPU cooler with a zalman alternative (vf700/vf900) and stick a zalman cpu cooler on in the sugo and you are laughing.

Volt mod the fans and buy newer ones, the stock fans for 99% of the cases are rubbish, and the stats NEVER reflect the actual fans, you have to use them yourself; or ask another sugo user.

I add a vote for the Sugo, by far the best for your needs.
 
What about the Antec Aria?

Getting on a bit now though, but it is cheaper and comes with a PSU.

I prefer the looks of the Sugo though.
 
The Sugo Evolution is just a really nice case to work with and coupled with a Zalman CNPS7700 it can be made near silent too.

I hate to admit it but Silverstone really have produced a top case and it beats any of the lian-li cubes they have in their portfolio.



/me hands back Lian-Li fanboy membership card before attacks start
 
Sugo is nice, but it gets quite hot inside.

Aspire Q-pack is a very nice case too (removeable mboard tray etc etc) Which is very nice to have in that confined space. Also a 120mm exhaust. But build quality wont match the sugo.

I would personally go for the Aspire.
 
Noni said:
Sugo is nice, but it gets quite hot inside.
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Depends what you put inside it, surely? I was running a P4 Prescott 3.4GHz with an AC Alpine 7 cooler, 2 big HDD and a 6800 Ultra on an Abit LG-81 Motherboard and the internal temperature never went above 30C. I was using 60 and 80mm Acoustifans which are optimised for silence, not high CFM.

Noni said:
Aspire Q-pack is a very nice case too... ...Also a 120mm exhaust.
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The exhaust fan is very high CFM and VERY loud. Pretty much everyone replaces them. Also the PSU was something of a mixed bag. later ones are ATX 2.0 and supposedly better, but you'll still want to replace it with something proper.

Noni said:
But build quality wont match the sugo.
Click to expand...

It won't match something made from paper and string :D

Noni said:
I would personally go for the Aspire.
Click to expand...

I had one and built several for others, but ultimately looking at the mess of cables inside depressed me, so I sold it. If you do get one, get the one without the windows, long term, you'll be happier.
 
I've actually just bought a Lian-Li PC9300 microATX desktop chassis which is super 'Old School', but just the job for what I want it for. Tighter than a ducks rectum fitting 3 optical drives and a floppy in there though ;)

Also - it's microATX PSU only, so no good for you.
 
WJA96 said:
I've actually just bought a Lian-Li PC9300 microATX desktop chassis which is super 'Old School', but just the job for what I want it for. Tighter than a ducks rectum fitting 3 optical drives and a floppy in there though ;)

Also - it's microATX PSU only, so no good for you.
Click to expand...

Nice one! Make sure to post pics when you get it :D
 
WJA96 said:
I've actually just bought a Lian-Li PC9300 microATX desktop chassis which is super 'Old School', but just the job for what I want it for. Tighter than a ducks rectum fitting 3 optical drives and a floppy in there though ;)

Also - it's microATX PSU only, so no good for you.
Click to expand...

Wow was waiting for someone to come up with the new case Lian Li thread. :p ;)

How do you find it and what PSU are you using?
 
It's a bit of a mixed bag to be honest.

The PSU was a nightmare - Try and find a decent microATX PSU that the screw holes in the corners! - not the normal ATX pattern. Jeantech and Seasonic have the screwholes in the normal ATX places. In the end I got a 300W FSP 'Green' PSU from a competitor. Seems to be very stable and it has plenty of oomph too as I've got a full-on HTPC in there with Twin-tuner DVB card and a 6800GS just for good measure.

The ADDA fans were way too loud.. So they had to go and were replaced with 2 Dustproof Acoustifans. Even at the 12V setting they are silent.

Next I needed a low profile CPU cooler. The Zalmans don't fit (too wide) so I've got an AC Alpine 7 (It has the 92mm fan like a Freezer Pro, but mounted on it's side and half the price).

The drive cages were my next source of non-amusement. Once I had figured out that the drives were meant to be screwed in so they slant upwards I thoght I was home and dry. But the case is made for proper microATX motherboards, not the slightly bigger ones that pass themselves off as that now. Full-size optical drives foul the SATA, PATA, floppy and power connectors on my Abit LG-81 so I did the usual and put in laptop drives.

So apart from the fact that it looks like has two black eyes, it's a pretty decent HTPC case. I might look into getting it black anodised as I don't know of anywhere that does the conversion plates in silver.

Plus, it was actually built for a practical joke - we have a customer who reckons computers were faster in the old days and all the multimedia stuff on CPU's just slows them down etc. and who never lets up about this to his colleagues, who take the mickey out of him something rotten. So we've built up an 'Old Desktop' and put Windows XP on it. He has allowed himself to be deluded into thinking it's a 486 (a fast one, naturally) and we're going to let him prove his point to his colleagues in his office. Naturally, it's got a 3.8GHz overclocked P4 805 in there with 2Gb of Patriot PC5300 RAM and it will have a 36Gb Raptor as soon as I can lay my hands on one ;)
 
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WJA96 said:
Depends what you put inside it, surely? I was running a P4 Prescott 3.4GHz with an AC Alpine 7 cooler, 2 big HDD and a 6800 Ultra on an Abit LG-81 Motherboard and the internal temperature never went above 30C. I was using 60 and 80mm Acoustifans which are optimised for silence, not high CFM.



The exhaust fan is very high CFM and VERY loud. Pretty much everyone replaces them. Also the PSU was something of a mixed bag. later ones are ATX 2.0 and supposedly better, but you'll still want to replace it with something proper.



It won't match something made from paper and string :D



I had one and built several for others, but ultimately looking at the mess of cables inside depressed me, so I sold it. If you do get one, get the one without the windows, long term, you'll be happier.
Click to expand...

Cleared a lot up for me! I always hear that sugos are hot and noisy. The evolution changed some things but I always thought of it that way. But it mostly depends on your ambient temp.

Aspire build quality is fine :P, but it will never match the sugo's!

The exhuast fan and the psu are both crap. Yes definatly replace them. A enermax liberty does not only act as a exhaust with its 120mm fan but also provides modular cables so you can hide them. But yeah, a no window one is a option :) .

I would still go for the aspire! But im thinking about the sugo lol.
 
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