Octopus Overlords

I'm trying to decide on a new PC case. I need at least 6x 3.5" drive bays, and it needs to look like an adult's PC.

So far I've narrowed it down to the following choices. Which one looks better to you? Or is there one out their that's better? My limited is $250, and I prefer silver to black.

1) Silverstone SST-TJ05






2) Silverstone SST-TJ06 Silverstone SST-TJ06




3) Lian Li PC-V1000

I really dig the second one. Clean and classy.

Those cases are giant and intolerable. Go SFF.

The 2nd one has a cool layout for the hard drives too. Plus according to the reviews the CPU "wind tunnel" at the bottom makes a 3C difference on CPU temperatures.

RunningMn9 wrote:Those cases are giant and intolerable. Go SFF.

I'll have problems fitting my 5 hard drives into a SFF. (FYI I already have one of those already )

Byrns wrote:I'll have problems fitting my 5 hard drives into a SFF. (FYI I already have one of those already )

What in the name of creation do you need 5 hard drives for?

You are crazy. You don't need such an expensive case or so many hard drives. Spend the money on external enclosures.

Just get a decent mid sized case:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 140&depa=0

http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.p ... 116&page=1

Byrns wrote:

RunningMn9 wrote:Those cases are giant and intolerable. Go SFF.

I'll have problems fitting my 5 hard drives into a SFF. (FYI I already have one of those already )

/me swoons

~Neal

RunningMn9 wrote:

Byrns wrote:I'll have problems fitting my 5 hard drives into a SFF. (FYI I already have one of those already )

What in the name of creation do you need 5 hard drives for?

Some how I've ended up with a lot. And I'm tired of running so many PCs.

1x 60GB
1x 80GB
1x 100GB
2x 160GB

Plus I'm still running my SFF PC as a HTPC.

May as well use them!

How fast is USB 2 compared to IDE? Would I notice the speed difference?

You probably wouldn't want to run installed applications off the USB 2.0 drives, but the speed is pretty damn fine. It maxes out at something like 50 megs a second. You'd get only half the bandwith copying from one USB drive to another, of course.

If you don't need the space, just stick the two 160s in your new case and ebay the other drives. Enclosures are SO cool though, I never burn CDs anymore.

I am a big fan of Lian Li cases. Nicest case I've ever worked with. They aren't necessarily the flashiest and may not have lights and etched windows, but they do the functional things really well. No sharp edges, sensible layouts, easy acccess to everything, thumb screws on everything, washable filters, easily removable and replaceable front face on the case, built in rheostat to control the fan spees (and hence noise)and the list goes on. The best word I can use to describe their cases is "thoughtful."

I vote other:




I bought that case at Best Buy for about $80. Came with a 450w power supply (The one pictured has a 400).

Absolutely awesome case. Lots of space, two fans with room for two more, very easy to remove cover, awesome power supply (Antec makes good PSUs in my experiences).

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 120&depa=0

Couple more pics:

That grill right below the front side USB ports actually has an air filter in it that you can take out and wash off every once in a while. Kind of nifty. I'm a gadget guy.

Valael wrote:I vote other:




I bought that case at Best Buy for about $80. Came with a 450w power supply (The one pictured has a 400).

Absolutely awesome case. Lots of space, two fans with room for two more, very easy to remove cover, awesome power supply (Antec makes good PSUs in my experiences).

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 120&depa=0

That's an SL630II, right?

That's what I used for the machine that Santa is bringing the kids. I put an Asus p5gdc-deluxe in it with and used the serial ata instead of the IDE.

Anyway, it's the best case I ever worked with.

Everything I have heard about the Lian Li series has been absolutely positive (except the price). Newegg has one of those models on sale right now for $185 (roughly). I was contemplating getting one for a while (despite the price) but will likely go with something less expensive (either the Thermaltake Tsunami or the Antec Sonata).

Another case you might consider is the Cooler Master Wavemaster or the Chenbro Gaming Bomb II. Anandtech just did an article on the GB 2 and rated it very highly (it is between 200 and 250, so the price is up there).

As for SFF systems, try to fit a 6800 with a vga silencer in one.

Valael wrote:I vote other:




I bought that case at Best Buy for about $80. Came with a 450w power supply (The one pictured has a 400).

Absolutely awesome case. Lots of space, two fans with room for two more, very easy to remove cover, awesome power supply (Antec makes good PSUs in my experiences).

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 120&depa=0

The only problem I have with that case is the fact it's plastic. I would've got the Lian Li by now if it wasn't for the steep price. I've owned a Lian Li in the past and I love them. (Too bad New Egg doesn't ship to Canada)

the only choice:

Waaaay too flashy.



As for the plastic thing: The only thing plastic is the front of it, and it's plenty durable. And the fact that it has a 5 star rating from 108 voters has to count for something. I love the damn thing.

Quaro wrote:You probably wouldn't want to run installed applications off the USB 2.0 drives, but the speed is pretty damn fine. It maxes out at something like 50 megs a second. You'd get only half the bandwith copying from one USB drive to another, of course.

I run HL2 off my USB drive without any problems. Although I suppose that could affect load times. Meal alleges firewire is still faster.