Which Case?

jamesy

jamesy

jamesy

Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2007
Posts
149
Location
Derby
Hi, i'm due to build my first rig but i'm at a loss as to which case to buy. I've managed to get it down to these few.
Akasa ECLIPSE-62 V2
Akasa MIRAGE-62
Lian-Li PC-A16
Antec P182
Coolermaster CM 690.
I've a budget of £100, so Silverstone and most of the Lian Li cases are unfortunately out of reach.
I'm really looking for a case with a removable MB and one that will last me years of upgrading.
So which one should I purchase?
Cheers
 
jamesy said:
Hi, i'm due to build my first rig but i'm at a loss as to which case to buy. I've managed to get it down to these few.
Akasa ECLIPSE-62 V2
Akasa MIRAGE-62
Lian-Li PC-A16
Antec P182
Coolermaster CM 690.
I've a budget of £100, so Silverstone and most of the Lian Li cases are unfortunately out of reach.
I'm really looking for a case with a removable MB and one that will last me years of upgrading.
So which one should I purchase?
Cheers
Click to expand...

Easy choice... Akasa ECLIPSE-62 V2 :cool:
 
SBD said:
Lian-Li PC-A16 gets my vote :D just love the build quality!
Click to expand...

The A16 is of poor design and build quality to all the other Lian Lis I have worked in :p Much prefer my PC60 with my spare rig in it :D
lol.
Found it a pain in the neck to work with. Not to say its a bad case, much better than the Antec 900.


Would be choosing from the Eclipse/Mirage or the P182. The P182 doesn't have a removable motherboard though, and personally, the removable tray on the A16 is rubbish where it doesn't slide out.
Sliding trays are much nicer as you can easily install the graphics cards and cooler before sliding it into the case.
In the A16 with a TRU 120 I couldn't get the mobo tray in.
 
So, as I imagined it's between the 2 Akasa's.
Then it's really just down to whether I want a door or not. It would be nice to actually see one in the flesh so to speak.
Does anyone know if the Eclipse that OCUK sell are V2's?
And has the Mirage got the same internal as the Eclipse V2?
Thanks for all the responces.
 
Leave the shop a webnote and they should be able to let you know. Alternatively there might be someone who has bought one recently who can tell! :)
 
Have just finished putting a new build in to an Eclipse and am very impressed. Initially I wanted the Mirage as I like to have a door but couldn't really justify the extra cost. People complain about the way the Eclipse looks but to be honest it looks much nicer than it does in any photos you will see. As time goes on it will grow on you as well so don't be put off by that.

As pretty much every review will tell you the Eclipse is an absolute joy to work with. The more time you spend with it the more you appreciated what a cleverly designed case it is. I used to dread having to open up the side of my Antec P180 but opening up the Eclipse is something to look forward to. No longer will you buy a long graphics card and worry if it will fit or not! The build quality is very high and it would be quite hard to break anything in it so it should last you a long time even if it gets moved around quite a lot. Because of its size and design cable management is an absolute breeze even the most laden case can be made to look neat and tidy within seconds. Finally, even though the case only has two 120mm fans the cooling performance will more than adequate for all but the extreme overclocker.

That's not to say the Eclipse is perfect, but then who would really want a perfect case (no room for modding etc). Here are the minor issues that I have had.

1) The fans supplied with the case are not the greatest... Can be easily replaced I know but that means extra expense.

2) Not the quiestest case. That's not to say it bad but maybe not up there with the Coolermasters which I hear are very good. I have an old IDE drive in my case which is very noisy... On the other hand my new spinpoint drive is barely audiable.

3) Motherboard tray not remnovable... Would have been nice but when you have the amount of space you do then maybe not essential.

4) The blue Power light is too bright and masks the HD access lights... Not a problem for me a I don't connect them.


All in all I think this is a great case which is a dream to work with. Can't recommend it highly enough!
 
I think the Mirage looks a lot better than the Eclipse because of the door, but thats personal opinion.

One thing you can do with the Mirage is install a fan bay in the 5.25 drive slots and it won't affect the aesthetics of the case at all, because of the door.

However.... my largest disappointment with the Mirage is also the door, its lightweight plastic and vibrates.
 
I can't vouch for any of the akasa's.

I can comment on the CM-690 though as I'm a proud owner of one. Very good case. Excellent cooling. Bargain for the price in my opinion. Easy to take apart, hard drive cages excellent idea (just remove the ones you don't need to improve airflow), excellent cable management, excellent self cooling PSU design (if you have one with a fan at the bottom), brilliant air cooling. Looks the part also. I would like to have seen this in tower form too, but it's still very roomy inside and you'll have no problem installing long GPU cards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom