Which case to get?

[S!X]

Well its come to that time where I need a new case. I've done a fair bit of research and have narrowed my options down to two contenders, ONLY because of their reasonable pricing and availability. The two cases I've come up with are both Antecs, The "Nine Hundred" and the "P180". The P180 doesn't look too appealing on the outside but has a nice looking internal layout with the PSU on the bottom, and the side removable drive trays. The HD drive tray also has pre-installed rubber grommets to reduce hard drive vibration and noise which is another big plus. The Nine Hundred on the other hand has it's pros too. It comes with 4 large fans (3X 120MM, 2 for intake 1 for exhaust, and a whopping 200mm exhaust fan on the top). All the fans have blue LED's which would go very well with ocz modstream psu. It has basically the same internal layout as the P180 but without the "chamber" setup which is kind of questionable cause when you look at one of these cases with the psu in em you really begin to wonder if it gets adequete airflow being so confined there, and it lacks the HD grommets :frusty: The one thing I really dislike on the P180 is the front door, I'd rather just have direct access to the drives. Any thoughts on this?

Links:

Antec Nine Hundred: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21123&vpn=NINE%20HUNDRED&manufacture=ANTEC

Antec P180(Black) http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18512&vpn=P180B&manufacture=ANTEC

[clocker]

The P180 is a horrible PITA to wire neatly, I've only built into two of them but will never willingly do another.
I understand the P182(?) has minor revisions that deal with this issue but haven't seen one in person to confirm.
If you like the old "toaster series" Gateways you'll love the P180- same plastic cladding.

I still think the original Stacker (STC-T01) is the best bang per dollar, space and cooling-wise.

[S!X]

The P180 is a horrible PITA to wire neatly, I've only built into two of them but will never willingly do another.
I understand the P182(?) has minor revisions that deal with this issue but haven't seen one in person to confirm.
If you like the old "toaster series" Gateways you'll love the P180- same plastic cladding.

I still think the original Stacker (STC-T01) is the best bang per dollar, space and cooling-wise.

:dabs: How bout the Antec Nine Hundred, have you had any dealings with those? I was thinking of just getting one along with another tricool 120mm fan for the side panel. Then the internals should be cooled like a mofo.... it's not gonna be fun cleaning all the dust out of the fans though.

[Virtualbody1234]

I haven't worked with the Nine Hundred yet but it does look nice.

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15900


I don't think you'll need the extra side fan. The top 200mm fan should do even for hot systems.

[S!X]

I haven't worked with the Nine Hundred yet but it does look nice.

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15900


I don't think you'll need the extra side fan. The top 200mm fan should do even for hot systems.

K thanks for that VB, I'll go with that case more then likely. ;)

[Slapnut]

I have an Antec P180 myself. I love it. But I strongly suggest you make sure that your PSU cables are long enough to do what you need. The case is friggin quiet, even with it decked out with fans. It's also easy to clean. However, my biggest gripe, is the damn hard drive encasement...its a pita to setup, but they do run rather quiet and get a good amount of airflow ;) Overall I like the case, just takes longer than most cases to setup.

[suprafreak6]

is it really the case that makes the fans quiet?

[carsonauto]

Im no expert, but to the best of my knwoledge, you shouldnt need the extra fan

[S!X]

Im no expert, but to the best of my knwoledge, you shouldnt need the extra fan

Yeah, Adding 2 extra 120 mm to the case is a little overkill I guess. It's nice to know that you'll have mounting places for extra fans if you need them though :)

[S!X]

Well I got the case and set everything up, Still gotta do some cable management at the bottom of the case though, it's lookin kinda rough there. I'll post some pics in the pc pics sticky once everything is good to go :)