Which case? Info inside

Space Monkey

Space Monkey

Space Monkey

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Hi guys,

I'm looking for a new case, I had the Coolermaster Cosmos previously, I have the CM Cosmos 'S' now but I want something better suited to my needs.

Needs in no particular order:

  • Quiet (inc. no vibrations etc)
  • Spacious inside
  • Excellent build quality
  • Good cooling
  • Window panel

I have a budget of £140 for the case, so any ideas?

I like the look of the Lian Li's, how are they for noise, do they rattle, vibrate etc...?
 
Got a Lian Li A70F here, very spacious and beautifully built. Never had any problems with vibrations/rattles, psu, hdd's are all rubber grommet/pad mounted, even the pci card clamps have rubber pads to prevent vibration.
 
I was in a similar position to you, but with a max budgett of £120.

I looked at 3 cases properly:
Corsair 600t
Fractal xl
NZXT Phantom.
In the end i went with the Phantom. Whch arrives tomorrow:D
No side panel though. Although i believe you can get one from NZXT.

You can also get the 600t with a side panel

The Fractal XL was vey impressive, and in the end it was very close. The inside of that case looks vey nice imo

I was also set on a side panel, but all the best cases i could find in that area didn't have one:)
 
I don't own one but have worked in them and have got to say ive been impressed with the CM690, its way under budget so you would be able to buy all new fans and a controller for the silence or put the budget towards a high end CPU cooler.
 
setter said:
Got a Lian Li A70F here, very spacious and beautifully built. Never had any problems with vibrations/rattles, psu, hdd's are all rubber grommet/pad mounted, even the pci card clamps have rubber pads to prevent vibration.
Click to expand...

Thats good to know, how is the Lian Li at hiding the noise & how loud are the stock fans that they spec?

Pighardia said:
I was in a similar position to you, but with a max budgett of £120.

I looked at 3 cases properly:
Corsair 600t
Fractal xl
NZXT Phantom.
In the end i went with the Phantom. Whch arrives tomorrow:D
No side panel though. Although i believe you can get one from NZXT.

You can also get the 600t with a side panel

The Fractal XL was vey impressive, and in the end it was very close. The inside of that case looks vey nice imo

I was also set on a side panel, but all the best cases i could find in that area didn't have one:)
Click to expand...

The 600t & the Fractal XL are on my radar too, just not sure on the build quality of the Fractal?

Get some piccies up of the NZXT when it arrives, what colour did you go for?

Sayso said:
I don't own one but have worked in them and have got to say ive been impressed with the CM690, its way under budget so you would be able to buy all new fans and a controller for the silence or put the budget towards a high end CPU cooler.
Click to expand...

I've also looked at the CM690 II, I like the look of the white one but I can't find a white panel with a window, only the black? and the idea of funds left over for better fans and a controller is a tempting one :)

My current list is:

Lian Li PC-P50R
Lian Li PC-P50B (with window)
Lian Li Lancool PC-K62R2 (or the black ext. with red int. version)
Silverstone Raven 2 RV02-EW Evolution
Silverstone FT01S-W
Coolermaster ATCS 840
Coolermaster HAF X (not sure on noise, also looks??)
Corsair 650D (have seen a few mention noisey side panels on corsair cases)
Corsair 600t

I'm sure theres more, but after looking at cases for the last few days and review after review, you lose all ability to think in straight lines :D
 
The PC-K62 is a brilliant case, tbh. A good choice if you want to buy some more fans or something.

If spending more, the Lian-Li PC-A71F is a brilliant case, and will easily satisfy every criteria but the side window. The case is a modder's dream for a reason though, and you could probably make one quite cheap.
 
I never used the stock fans on mine, as i swapped them out for some yate loons i had. All my fans are ran via a controller.

2 x 140mm 1400 rpm intakes
1 x 120mm 1500 rpm intake in the 5.25 bays
2 x 120mm 1500 rpm exhausts

When set to low-med on the controller theyre very quiet, but at full speed they are noticeable. Not that i run them that high much tbh.
 
KiiYzOo said:
id go with the nzxt phantom
or if you can stretch your budget a bit the rv01 white or the 700d
Click to expand...

LiamJ said:
The PC-K62 is a brilliant case, tbh. A good choice if you want to buy some more fans or something.

If spending more, the Lian-Li PC-A71F is a brilliant case, and will easily satisfy every criteria but the side window. The case is a modder's dream for a reason though, and you could probably make one quite cheap.
Click to expand...

setter said:
I never used the stock fans on mine, as i swapped them out for some yate loons i had. All my fans are ran via a controller.

2 x 140mm 1400 rpm intakes
1 x 120mm 1500 rpm intake in the 5.25 bays
2 x 120mm 1500 rpm exhausts

When set to low-med on the controller theyre very quiet, but at full speed they are noticeable. Not that i run them that high much tbh.
Click to expand...


Thanks guys for the info, all points are being considered :)
 
If it were my money and I was in the market for one (and wanted good looks) I would go for the Corsair 650D I think they have addressed the problems with the 600t like thicker fans now fit in the front no idea if that claim of vibrating side panels is true though ? I heard on the first batches there was a buzzing on the fans caused by the fan controller which they say has been remedied but who uses stock fans anyway and that issue doesn't exist of course if you don't use the fan controller.

It's pretty similar to the ft01 which I own but I have to tell you it's flaw which is if you want to run the top fan as intake the top fan filter is a royal pain to get out to clean but if you run the top as exhaust you obviously don't need the filter in there and another thing is the front and top are both 180mm and nobody seems to be making those fans other than silverstone which is fine I guess as they do make great fans.

Whilst I love my ft01 I would get the 650D over it subject to those noisy reports and making sure no other issues with the 650D.

The coolermaster Hafx would also be on my list yes it's not a great looking sleek aluminium case but it's spacious with great cooling and one feature I like is it has rear 140mm fan support not to mention many more features I like.It's just a shame there's no window only side panel yet and you probably have to remove the side fan to fit the taller coolers.

If looks weren't that important to me and I just wanted good air cooling (summer coming) ability + this will fit 170mm tall maybe even 180mm tall cpu heatsinks as well as the extra PCI slots, I would probably plump for the Haf x and hope at some stage they release different side panels.

End of the day all you need really is a good performing user friendly case and looks don't really matter so the Haf X is a strong contender.
It's not going to be as noisy as you might think as big fans can be very quiet as the 180mm silverstone fans have taught me.
 
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Thanks C64 (homage to the Commodore 64 by any chance?) Nice info :)

I think I may have problems with the FT02 as even Silverstone say on the Q&A that some mobos and GFX cards dont do well in the vertical position, and as I have a mobo with lots of heatsinks and my GTX470 has the MSI custom cooler I didn't want to splash £200 and then find the cooling was hampered by it!

So I'm currently looking at the following:

  • Corsair 650D
  • Silverstone FT01S-W
  • Lian Li PC-P50R
  • LanCool PC-K62R2 (or other colour equivalent)
  • Coolermaster HAF X

Am I right in saying that the FT01 does not have the Penetrator fans?

Does anyone know if the FT01 & the 650D come with a 5¼" to 3½" bay converter?
 
I've got a K62 sitting ready to build in, and from what I can see it's going to be an absolute dream... The only thing I can see that isn't tool less is putting in the motherboard, and putting in an SSD.

I have upgraded the fans in mine for another £40 odd though, (3 Xigmatek CLF's and an Enermax TB Silence) as I'm a bit picky about noise.. ironic when I've got a 480...

Also of course, as Lancool is a side arm of Lian Li, it has very much the same quality standard except it's steel rather than aluminium.

I'd also definitely take a look at the RV02 if I had the £140 myself :D

kd
 
King Damager said:
I've got a K62 sitting ready to build in, and from what I can see it's going to be an absolute dream... The only thing I can see that isn't tool less is putting in the motherboard, and putting in an SSD.

I have upgraded the fans in mine for another £40 odd though, (3 Xigmatek CLF's and an Enermax TB Silence) as I'm a bit picky about noise.. ironic when I've got a 480...

Also of course, as Lancool is a side arm of Lian Li, it has very much the same quality standard except it's steel rather than aluminium.

I'd also definitely take a look at the RV02 if I had the £140 myself :D

kd
Click to expand...

Thanks KD :)

Which colour version did you go for?

Also does the K62 come with the 3½" drive adaptor?

The RV02 falls into the same cat. as the FT02 and I'm not sure it'd be ok with my setup, so I think I'm going to leave them out of the list, shame really as I do love the look of them :(
 
I've just got the standard black one with an all black interior (the one off the OCUK website).

I don't believe it comes with a 5.25 to 3.5 adaptor :S

But don't quote me on that, because I can't actually remember tbh xD

kd
 
My issue with the ft02 and raven etc is they can only fit 160mm tall coolers and are a little cramped I certainly don't think the raven is worth is asking price and neither is the ft02.
 
I have Lian-Li pc50b armour suit, it's a nice case and it's the longest I have owned a case tbh, am actually going to put water cooling into it which it isn't the most suited for but buying the parts is expensive enough without forking out for a new case so I thought just go ahead and use what I got and it is definatly possible.

Would have prefered the interior in black though for the looks, the actual finish on the lian-li is actually quite durable, thought I had a few scratchs to it but it was actually just scuff marks that polished off and was quite suprised by that.

Only thing that is a real pain is the fan filters behind the drive bay covers they look bad after only a few days use, they do there job well but pulling out 8 covers and stripping each one and then cleaning the filter and then back together gets a little tedious, also the top cover is real hard to clean once it gets dusty inside the several thousand holes that is in it.
 
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Thanks for all the info and feedback chaps, it really helped me to narrow down my choices, and after a lot of reading reviews and comments online I have just bought the Silverstone Fortress FT02R-WRI, the limited edition black case with the red internals, it was cheaper than the standard FT02 as well so can't complain.

It basically had the best air cooling even trumping the mighty HAF X and also with quieter noise levels too :D

Can't wait to get it now and get my new pc built into it, hopefully I'm going to be one happy bunny when it arrives :D

Thanks again all.
 
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