Searching for the perfect case....

Ethnod

Ethnod

Ethnod

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14 Nov 2012
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4
So building a PC for a friend. I've built a few for him over the last decade or so. We both like the Antec P-Series and last time around I built both our systems in a P180.
I recently built one for myself in the P280 and while he loves the case he now has 2 small children that love pressing the power button when they want his attention so the P280 while great might not be ideal. But I am having trouble finding the perfect case and was hoping for some help.

So, what does the perfect case in our opinion have?

In order of priority:
Quite optimised case for a quiet build
​Simple but stylish design
Power and reset button hidden away (or some kind of system to stop the kids turning the PC off mid game)
Good cable management
Not a cramped case

Any thoughts? Any help would be greatly appreciated


PS: Oh, The 280 is not a cheap case, so not too worried about budget. Probably less than €200 (US $270) but me might spring a little more if its
 
Honestly?

If you like the P280 get one.

Very few cases have power and reset hidden away that much, so what I would recommend is a slight 'bodge' so to speak.

Get the P280, and leave the switches, BUT, don't connect them up to the motherboard. (Kids can press those buttons all they want, and nothing is going to happen).

Then buy something like this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-405-LL&groupid=2362&catid=1770

It's basically a second set of power & Reset buttons.

Connect those up to the motherboard, and wire them out the back of the case through a PCI slot or such like. He should then be able to use those switches as Power/Reset, rather than the main ones which act as a nice decoy for the kids to play with :)

The alternatives are the Corsair 550D really, as fractal have had some issues regarding Quality Control - Or get a case from the OcUK 'Pre-Noise Dampened Cases' (I feel he'd probably like the Anidees AI-6B)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-007-AD&groupid=2362&catid=2297

kd
 
Coolermaster Silencio 650?

Bitfenix colossus has a locking compartment with the power buttons. Looks are according to taste :) It's not the coolest case either. The silencio or the 550D aren't either tbh.

I like my P280. If you can secure it somehow, it's a good case.

Oh, and if he likes big roomy cases, with great build quality, I used to have a PC-A71B (now updated with the PC-A71FB). Great case, cable management wasn't great though, and the front fan filters are a pain (you have to remove the front to access them). And no fan filter for the PSU, however you can put the PSU at the top of the case. It's expensive, but full aluminium, very big, and also very light. Noise was low, had some vibrations with a panel though.

I solved the cable management using cable ties in the frame for the PSU cables, in the end, it didn't look bad at all.
 
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P183V3? the power and reset are behind the door and you can lock it. You can still push the power button if you push your finger at an odd angle but if you don't want the power button to do anything in windows you can disable it in the windows options
 
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