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Case getting full...
(14 posts, started )
Case getting full...
As you can see, my current case is a bit on the full side and I could do with a larger case. Can anyone recammend a decent quality, nice to work on, suitably large and, here's the killer, preferably beige case?

Although I want a larger case, I'm not really after a full tower case. That's a bit overkill, antough I would comsider if it fits the bill.
For reference, my current case (AOpen model) measures 20w x 39.5 deep (excluding clip on plastic front) x 42 high (all cm).
The depth is the main issue, as I can't use the bottom two 5.25" bays due to DVD drives clashing with mobo capacitors, my primary graphics card extends into one of the fixed 3.5" bays (since removed anyway), and my secondary grahics card cooler jams up against the SATA cable on my hard drive.
My house mates case is 7cm deeper and its a more modern design, so I'm guessing they've grown with time.
#2 - Jakg
Ta, fixed.

Beige rocks. I have beige monitors, cases and keyboards. It all matches. And given the current fixation with tacky silver shite, it looks somewhat retro.
Why are you still using a beige computer?

Sorry, I can only recommend a black (well, "gun metal" apparently, but it's nearly black) case - the Antec P182 I got a couple of weeks ago. It's quite big for a midi tower (52cm high x 21cm wide x 51cm deep), it has a gap behind the motherboard tray for running power cables, PSU is in its own "tunnel" in the bottom of the case with the lower HDD bay, then there's a 3.5" external bay, another HDD bay, then 4x 5.25" bays at the top.

Lots of room in there and my only complaint about the build is that there were so many nifty ways to keep things tidy that I got a bit carried away and wasted a couple of hours making sure the only cable that ran infront of the motherboard was the graphics card power cable.

I might take a snap of its guts later if my camera's charged up, but I don't think it is...
Enough beige bashing.

Yeah, it's the P180 my house mate has. It does seem nice. Not sure if that's what I want though. I'm not keen on the door, and I'd need some spare room to put my hard drive suspension system (the rubber gromits don't work as well and don't look as cool).

Mainly I'm just damn fussy.
Well you do get a lot of room, if that's what you want.

Note the rectangular gaps in the mobo tray at the top and right sides, so you can run power to the CPU and the mainboard behind the tray. There's a bunch of cable-tidy clips back there too. My graphics card looks about the same length as yours, but you can see there's plenty of room between the right edge of the motherboard and the drive bays. The HDD bays are removable too, so you could just pull out the upper one completely and bin it if you wanted.

And it's totally not a "bling" case. There's one tiny blue power LED on the front, the rest of it is plainer than plain, thanks to the door!

Quote from Bob Smith :I'm not keen on the door,

Yeah the door is a bit pointless. It keeps it a bit quieter, but doesn't do much (all the noise is at the back anyway). I thought it would bother me but it really doesn't - I only have to open it to press the power button in the morning and when I need to change discs, which I don't do very often. The rest of the time it stays closed, keeping my computer looking nice and minimalist.

Quote from Bob Smith :and I'd need some spare room to put my hard drive suspension system (the rubber gromits don't work as well and don't look as cool).

I can't hear my drives at all, but I did buy quiet drives. The trick with the grommets is not to over-tighten the screws when mounting the drives, and to make sure the drives are sitting on the fattest side of the grommets. I do like your ghetto knotted elastic solution though!

Anyway, I thought I'd mention it because there's lots of room inside and it's not a tower.
I am getting that Antec case when I build my new system. Many of my friends have bought it, and it was my top choice when I was searching around online. It is a popuplar buy.

If you don't like the door, you can fold it back and it will stay almost flush and attach to the side of the system. Eza showed me a video of how that works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJZdd7qhDiE

Though this is overall a better review video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbDD3VeDnmE

I personally like the removable fan filters that you can clean.
Tweak - if you can find one, I would recommend getting the P182 instead. The P180 doesn't have the raised motherboard tray. Sounds like a minor detail but it's such a clever idea, really helps keep the cables out of the way.
one case i can advise against is chieftechs (nice and beige though) for the severe lack of depth and hdd bays (ive got another one here which coud fir 3 more drives if it werent for my graphics card blocking any chance of ever putting a hdd in there
+1 for the P18x
What about Thermaltake VC3000BWS Armor Jr. (478 x 210 x 495 mm)
1x front 120x120x25 mm, 1300 rpm, 17dBA / 1xback 120x120x25 mm, 1300 rpm, 17dBA included.

Also tidyyour cables in your case/future case.You could do much better.
Some space would definately save if you would buy SATA DVD writer so you could get rid of theose 80pin wide cables.They shorten the space in case a lot.

Btw - isnt the Zalman CPU cooler nice piece.I had someone and couldnt be happier.
I just came across this Bob, and this may help if you have a few spare lego peices laying around.
Heh, cool. Don't have that much spare lego, sadly.
P182
I've got a P180 and I'm happy with it. But get the P182 as it fixes some monor problems, such as wiring issues.

Case getting full...
(14 posts, started )
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