Should I get a 900D or Cosmos 2 if aircooling ?

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Aircooling now but *might* watercool in future.

Here is my current case. Just waiting on my gtx 780 classified's and creative zxr.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=24640068&postcount=3126

However the look of the case is not growing on me at all. I want something that cools as well, is quiet (my current case is using asus thermal radar and is very very quiet), but importantly looks stylish.

I had considered the Silverstone FT02...had the Raven RV02 before so I know what to expect cooling/noise level wise, but not gone on the lack of space behind the motherboard tray on the FT02 for cable management, the fact it won't fit the Phanteks with the fans raised (needs 172mm clearance), and niggles like the way the paint chips all too easy on the panel edges and thumbscrew points annoy me. Not to mention only 7 expansion slots though I don't know how big a negative that is, as I won't be going beyond sli.

So now I am considering the Corsair 900D or possible the Cosmos 2. I don't expect either of them will outperform my current setup for aircooling but should match it at least. The Cosmos 2 appeals to be more visually compared to the 900D, but the rubbish fan controller (even rev2 buzzes at low speeds with aftermarket fans), the fact it's heavily laden with plastic, and lack of space for thick rads above the motherboard tray (should I wish to watercool) puts me off. The 900D has none of these issues, but I am concerned about early reports on forums about the lower panels along the side not latching properly and as it has an acrylic window, one wipe with a microfibre is going to leave hairline scratches, swirl lines but I guess that's more of a pet peeve from my auto detailing days, and the reason I just don't like windows on cases.

So 900D or Cosmos2 for aircooling now, watercooling in the future. Or is there something better out there ?
 
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Personally, I keep visiting the 900D page. One of these mornings I'm going to just buy it... but £300 for a case :eek: Maybe I should just mod my XL
 
do you plan on going watercooling in the future? or need lots of HDD space?

If so i would go for a 900D got one myself/ the case is brilliant. its still a very good case for aircooling,but its abit of a waste if you are only going air unless you need a a lot of HDD space (12HDD)

I was going to go for the FT02 myself, before i decided to try out watercooling.

The cosmos 2 is actually similar dimensions to the 900D but usable space is superior in the 900D. im running 2x 480mm (45mm,60mm) rads. wiht no mods needed.
 
Thanks for the info. Yes I will likely watercool but not for some months.

I won't be going beyond 2 SSD's, and 2 3tb storage drives so I don't need a lot of drive bays.

An obvious choice might therefore be the Corsair 540 air but not sure about the thinness of the metal used in this case.

The Cosmos 2 really appeals to me despite having less potential for watercooling compared to the 900D. The amount of plastic for the money and the fan controller does not. However I understand CM now sell their own branded 120mm fans with individually controlled led's which behave correctly when used with the fan controller. So I guess I would also invest in 8 of these (3 for roof, 3 for hd, 2 for gpu).

As regards the 900D, how do the stock AF120L fans compare to the retail AF120 quiet edition ? For air cooling initially, would you recommend populating the roof with AF120's also ? Any design or build quality issues with the case ? Seem to remember reading reports about how the lower case door/hatches would not stay clipped in place. Also some paint issues.

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showpost.php?p=660678&postcount=5
http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showpost.php?p=663045&postcount=10
 
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I don't have any retail version of the AF's so I can't say. But the stock fans are seem to have pretty decent airflow and noise is not too noisy. I'm running 16 sp120 quiet editions and have them connected to a lamptron fc touch and have those running at 5v and its
Very quiet. Or use the 7v resister extension. So if you use a couple for exhaust and run them on 7v you will have a quiet case even if you run more fans.

So far I have not had any problems. Mos of the cases that have had problems are from the early batches and are mostly from the US. I know it's a lot of money for a case, but the upgrade possibilities without modding is very good. The only other case that would come close to this is a case labs case. Which costs double.
 
I used to have an old cosmos sport. I liked the styling but it was rubbish for Air Cooling even when I added multiple aftermarket case fans. It was probably more suited for Water cooling.
 
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