Help me decide between these 2 Micro ATX Cases?!

[diddlydoo]

Hi All,

These are the 2 cases:

Silverstone SST-SG02B-F PC Case: 67 GBP
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=182&area=en

Or

Aplus Blockbuster Storm Black Micro ATX Case With Window: 60 GBP
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Barebones-Mini-PC-HTPC,review-29752-5.html

I prefer the look of the Silverstone case but not to sure on the cooling and amount of space in the box.
I might go SLi/crossfire at some stage so need to think of cooling

Many Thanks

D

 

[jwk3]

hmm, SLI/Crossfire with an Matx build? both cases will, when you have the graphics cards pressed up against each other not provide adequate airflow to keep them cool/quiet.

if you still think you may go multi-card i'd go for the Silverstone, with the other case the PSU would be sucking/stealing fresh air or hot air away from the GPU, so it may either 'suffocate' or get hot and loud too due to the hot air it is drawing in. The SS seems to have a vent of some sort at the top so you could have them exhausting the air, or intake if it's a centrifugal fan type! even without airflow in mind, the build quality looks to be much better with the Silverstone!

what kind of graphics card(s) are you thinking of? does it exhaust the hot air out the back or out the sides into the case?

 

[diddlydoo]

Thanks for the quick reply jwk, GPU wise i've purchased the Radeon 7850 may get another one down the line. You make a good point about the airflow with PSU being right above the cards. I just thought the massive fan on top of the Aplus would help things? Def prefer the looks of the Silverstone though

 

[jwk3]

well, the large top fan should help the CPU and other motherboard area keep cool, but I think the GPU will remain largely unaffected due to the PSU being in the way. the main problem I have with the Aplus is that there is no intake vent for the graphics cards, whereas on the SS the side panel is perforated (see pic below)

even with any standard tower Matx case with more airflow, the airflow won't be enough to keep 2 dual slot cards cool and quiet due to the top card having next to no ventilation.

 

[diddlydoo]

Hmm looks like i might be going for the SS then thanks for your help