Could somebody help me decide which case to choose?

jchan

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Hey i'm gonna be building a system in a couple of months and i don't want to ponder about what case to get in the future... i want to focus more on the other stuff.

I've looked at a couple, they all seem really good to me, but if any of you have personal experience, could you give me some feedback and your opinions?

CM HAF 922
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

CM HAF 932
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

CM Storm Scout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

NZXT Tempest
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146047&Tpk=nzxt%20tempest

Antec 900
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Antec 1200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043

So these are the cases i've been lookin at... and i'm kinda leaning towards the scout or the 922. The Antec series seems to be overbought and everyone seems to have one in the gaming world. I heard the Tempest is not good quality? And i hate rebates. And the HAF 932 doesn't come with dust filters....


Things to keep in mind

1. I'm probably never gonna water cool so if the case doesn't have those holes, its fine.
2. I hate mailing in rebates, who doesn't
3. Dust filters are nice =]
4. Most cases have more than enough hard drives and 5.25 bays for me... so those shouldn't be a problem
5. The CM cases have a nice combo on Newegg with this 700w CM silent PSU thats modular and has one rail
6. I don't hate the Antec 900 and 1200 lol
7. The lower the price, the better. I'm def. not paying more than like $150 for a case, unless it's REALLY worth it
8. Free shipping is a must. That's one reason i didnt like the tempest =[ $20 shipping is lame.


Other questions

1. What's better, 4 120mm fans, or one 230mm fan? This pertains to the HAF 932. I saw a video on youtube that showed the case with 4 fans instead of 1 on the side panel... and it sounded like a hair dryer... but is the noise worth the cooling?
2. Which case would you recommend out of the ones i listed? If you don't like any of them, which case do you recommend?
3. Where do you buy 120mm dust filters? The CM scout has two places on the side where you can install two more fans but there's no dust filters.

I will probably have more questions later on, but these are the ones i can think for now :p

Thanks for reading all of this and i greatly appreciate your posts ^_^

 

micky_lund

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everywhere i look, they've got different opinions on the nzxt tempest.... some say its great, others say its really bad quality.... anyone on TOM's actually got a tempest so they can tell us?

and its got good airflow, from the amount, CFM ratings and position of the fans, its big, spacious, maybe a bit too big for some PSU with short cables...whats wrong with it? and y doesn't anyone here recommend it above the average 900, or the HAF 932, especially with the price difference?

MICK


P.S.
is it bias/opinion (looks), or is the TEMPEST genuinely dodgy? or is it just like the scythe mugen 2 for socket 1366. Great CPU cooler, but never gets mentioned here... its either the noctua NH-u12p or the TRUE 120.....
 

spinny

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If I were choosing between those, I would pick the Haf 932 or the Antec 1200. I like my cases big and those are both very nice cases.
 

meewog

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I agree, to be honest I prefer the HAF 932 as I own one. The massive fans do major cooling. The drive bays are too cool for words, the working room is great, cable management is also good. There is one downside and thats the noise levels. I actualy like to hear what I payed for, so my 2 graphics cards revving inside is a melody to me, but some people like their pcs to be silent. Cant go wrong with it ;)
 

tobensg

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For me its the Scout. I have one, I got mine a couple of months ago. Its the best case i've had, solid and very well build, good ventilation, and good cable managment. Also the grab handle is a nice feature too. With all the fans going in this case its still reasonably quiet but seeing as I use it for gaming then its fine for me.
 

micky_lund

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any advice on the tempest? does it just fail/suck majorly? or is it because it's not named coolermaster/Antec? or is because its the same price, the CM haf 932 is better? (cause here in aus, tempest is about 40-50aud cheaper than the CM 932)

mick
 

jchan

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thanks for responses.

tobensg- Is the scout's noise tolerable? And did you add the two extra fans on the side panel?

meewog- Is your HAF 932 stock? If so, could you give me a comparison how loud it is? Vacuum cleaner, or somethin lol.

mick- i wish i knew also
 

Bullheaded67

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I have a stock HAF 932. The loudest thing in my system are the optical drives and the my video cards. The case sits right next to my monitor on top of the desk so there is no noise impediment. I often check the fans to see if they are still moving air - they are that quiet. I have an i7 920 overclocked to 3.6Ghz and my avg core temp runs about 44C.
 

spinny

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The temptest doesn't suck, it's just more of a budget brand than CM/Antec, and it will have that slightly more budget feel to it.
 

micky_lund

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but the cooling is better on the NZXT...so its made out of plastic...is that the only reason...(and the fact of the non-existent removable motherboard tray :S) ? what is this 'budget feel' mean?
 

jchan

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bullheaded67- thanks for the feedback. That's good to hear because those big fans look like they don't push much air ... What kind of CPU cooler do you use?
 

Bullheaded67

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I use a Coolermaster V8. I also use 2 GTX285s in SLI - at full load I haven't seen either card go above 80C. I am in TX and it is HOT here. My daytime temps in the room go up into the low 80s F due to the amount of window space I have.
 

jchan

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Sweet i'm about to buy the same exact cpu cooler. I probably won't overclock that much so that case should be fine.

I'm kinda on a tight budget, do you think the CM Scout would be a good replacement for the HAF 932 ? Its like $40 cheaper, and the airflow seems good enough in the scout also. My only concern for the scout is if it is big enough for today's card?
 

meewog

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I have stock fans running, but I have a coolermaster V10 in there. Actually the loudest component would be the CD rom drive at full speed, other than that in normal computing and gaming not much of the other components are audible. you also have a nice window to show off your computers intestines :D
 

jcknouse

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Dunno if you considered it, but Rosewill makes a case called Wind Rider (i think) that is sorta similar at a lower cost.

Might be something to look at and discuss, if price is an issue at all.

Those are all good cases tho. Good luck.
 

jchan

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i think im gonna go CM scout cause i just seem to love that case idk why haha.

My $1000 budget is restricting me from going i7 ... unless some1 can help me out on that.
Right now, my gaming rig will (hopefully) be:

CM Scout
750w PSU Corsair
8gb 1333 G. SKILL memory
1tb WD caviar black
HSI 4850
CM V8 CPU cooler
ASUS M4A78T-E AM3
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0 GHz <-- I Might upgrade that to the 955 BE ...

All this comes out roughly ~$1000 after MIR

At my 1280 x 1024 resolution, i think a 4850 is good enough.

If some1 could build me a decent i7 gaming rig for like $1100-1200 , please help!
 

micky_lund

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COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KKN1-GP Black ABS Bezel, SECC Body ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119194

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233029

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.193835

PC Power and Cooling S75QB Silencer 750W Quad Power Supply (Black)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10005611

i7 920 DO Stepping
https://www.antaresdigital.com/cust [...] age=1&#034


Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151176


Total: $787.42
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265815-31-1200-gaming-build

basically, their list, with extra mobo + GPU
(their list maybe a bit old)

Gigabyte ud4p lga 1366
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374
$259.99

XFX Gtx 260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150398
$179.99


Overall Total
$1227, plus some shipping....u could find cheaper, this is a quick list, to show that its easily possible for around $1200

 

jchan

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Thanks a bunch man, and i'l look for some combos. I'll take a look at it at night, i'm in a bit of a rush atm :p

But with the hard drive, it might be up to $1300
 

micky_lund

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yeah...the combos are what to look for...shame there's no NEWEGG in the Aus.... oh well... we can only wait

that was just to show you its possible
MICK
 

jchan

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i changed up my amd build a little ... i'm still not sure if i should add the extra $300 for i7 =/

Samsung DVD/CD drive ~$24
Cooler Master Scout ~$100
WD Caviar Black 640gb ~$75
XFX 4870 1GB ~$150
Corsair 650w Power Supply ~$100
8gb G. SKILL PC3 10666 ~$140
Win 7 OS ~$150
Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler ~$62
AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE + ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 Mobo ~$345

So that all comes out to like $1146 and with the MIR for the PSU its ~$1126

With shipping... ill say... ~$1135

That's a decent build for gmaing and everyday use right? And is the 650w Corsair enough PSU for my system?
 

jchan

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Oh snap... hold on .... Maybe the i7 build isn't $300 dollars more ...

Samsung DVD/CD drive ~$24
Cooler Master Scout ~$100
WD Caviar Black 640gb ~$75
XFX 4870 1GB ~$150
Corsair 650w Power Supply ~$100
Win 7 OS ~$150
Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler ~$62
Core i7 920 + ASUS P6T + 6GB OCZ Gold DDR3 1600 ~$558

That comes out to ~$1220 and then ~$1190 after MIR
With shipping, roughly ~$ 1200 ???????

Did i miss something? My previous i7 builds were never this cheap... i must be missing somethin ...