Antec 902 vs Cooler Master Storm Scout vs Lancool K62

kyledoo

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Hello, I am looking to upgrade from my current case (raidmax hurricane) which was left over from my previous system. It seems it just does not have the cooling power or room necessary to handle my new i7 build. Temps on my 920 are around 50c with my LARGE 120mm cooler (Asus Royal Knight) Currently I am running a full size ATX board with a PNY 9800GT, which is very small and does not even overhang the mobo. I did try fitting my friend's BFG 260 in there and it wouldn't go in. As said before, I have a pretty large CPU cooler, I had to remove my side panel fan to make it fit this case. I will be making a trip to microcenter in the next few days to do a store credit/return so I have to spend the money ;) Anyways, I am considering the Antec 902, the Storm Scout, and the K62, but am open to suggestions. I am running a 2 drive RAID setup now, but may want to expand that up to 4 drives in the future, as my mobo only has 6 sata ports and two are being used for cd/dvd.
Some considerations:
I do want a side window
My cpu cooler fan is white LED and PSU is Blue LED, but i guess mixing them wouldn't be TOO bad
I don't want to be restricted, if possible on going with a little bit larger video card, and even SLi/Crossfire with them. However, I plan on sticking with my 9800gt for the time being, and maybe adding another w/ SLi.
I carry my computer around a fair bit, but don't really have a huge problem moving mine now, and the weight doesn't bother me unless I'm carrying it a mile!
I will do interior lighting on any case I get with dual 12" Cathodes most likely.
My main concern is how much room it has and how cool it keeps things, and also how it looks, but I like the looks of all of these.

I am open to suggestions, but I would like to keep it less than $100

Locally:
Scout-$80
902-$105
K62- couldn't find price- I guess this one I could order.

either way tax and shipping will end up being close to the same so the difference between online and local is negligible.
 

kyledoo

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I am still looking for a case. I have pretty much decided against the 902, I saw it at microcenter and in my opinion it looked butt ugly, although that could have been because the fan filters were dirty, this shouldn't make it look as bad as it did. In place of that I have started looking at the Azza Solano. I know this is an off-brand, but to me the case seemed very high quality, while maybe not quite up to the level of the antec, at least as good or even better than the Cooler Master. Things I liked about this case were:
Its HUGE. Kinda smallish for a full tower, but I think it is almost the perfect size, pleanty of room for SLi with 12 inch cards as well as a full rack of hard drives without modding anything

It has a nice side window that is sturdy

Pleanty of room for my CPU cooler with the side fan on(I think). After reading a few reviews, it looks like this case is one of the best out there for cooling power( I don't care a whole lot about noise, just would rather not have a wind tunnel next to me)

Speaking of fans, it has TWO 230mm, TWO 140mm and a 120, as well as a few extra slots.

It is $80 shipped after mail in rebate right now from zipzoomfly.

not really too many ons I can think of. However, Is a full tower really necessary? Should I be concerned about it being an off brand?

I still have not handled or even seen the K62, so I can't really comment on that at all, and would appreciate some input from someone who has that case and has an idea of the cases I am comparing it to.
 
I have an Intel Core i7 860 system in a Lian Li / Lancool Dragon Lord case. Ventilation, airflow, and cooling are excellent with just the stock case fans. There is 290mm (11.4 inches) of space for longer video cards such as the ATI Radeon HD 5870 video card.
 

kyledoo

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I did take a closer look at this case and it looks really nice! I especially like all the tooless mounting. However, I have yet to find a review comparing its cooling to something like the solano. The looks of the K62 are MUCH nice in my opinion though. I am running an i7 920 with an Asus royal knight cooler and in my current case it runs at almost 50c.
 

MrComputerTecho

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Kyledoo, are you on a tight budget? Because if you were look for something a little more in price, you can get something like a HAF 922, which is great on airflow, and isn't as big as the 932, which is a full size. and its partially plastic so it shouldnt be heavy.

EDIT: looked into weight for the 3 Cases i just mentioned, or well two plus the 1000, and the HAF922 is only 3 pounds heavier.
 

Metroidman

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Yeah when I was looking at cases, I went through Lian Li/Antec/CM and a bunch of other brands. The biggest mid tower I could find was the HAF 922. There is an insane amount of room inside. It can easily fit a 5970 without problems.
 

kyledoo

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Well, I would not like to spend a whole lot, but a few extra bucks isn't going to kill because I just found out I won't be upgrading for at least another few months. I did just do an upgrade to a 4890, which will fit in my case so its not a huge rush, and also, I will not be looking at another graphics card until WAY later now. I still want something better than what I have, because reviews of my cooler say it should run quite a bit cooler than it does now, and with the side cover off the case, it runs about 10c cooler than with the cover on, and thats with the 9800, with the 4890 it will only be worse.
However, I would REALLY like the inside of the case to be painted black, if I will be paying upwards of $100, the bare metal looks kinda cheap. This really is the only thing I don't like about the 922.