Question Is anyone still using the same case from 8-9 years ago ?

[phenomk90]

Helo everyone, i'm pretty much one of those people where when it comes to building a PC, cases will be the last thing i will look into.

Currently i'm still using fractal design arc mini r2 bought like 5+ years ago. With modern hardware that requires ever more tdp to run these days. I wonder if my case is still enough to provide cooling for the likes of a 7900 XT ?

Anyone that still keep their old case with modern hardware in 2023? Would like your input on this.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Currently i'm still using fractal design arc mini r2 bought like 5+ years ago. I wonder if my case is still enough to provide cooling for the likes of 7900 xt.
Anyone that still keep their old case with modern hardware in 2023? Would like your input on this.

I don't have Fractal Design arc mini r2 nor 7900 xt.
So - you'll have to test it yourself.

If your setup can't handle cooling down components, then start thinking about necessary upgrades, to achieve that.
Improve case cooling, add more fans or change pc case.

 

[Misgar]

I'm still building new computers in old Lian Li full tower cases, e.g. V2000, dating back to 2006. Three cases were brand new, but the others were second hand from eBay. I prefer Aluminium cases to Steel.

My latest build, a 7950X with five hard disks, 3 NVMe drives, GPU, etc., was constructed in a Lian Li Silent PC-S80A case from 2008. It doesn't overheat despite being pushed hard for many hours with video rendering tasks.

The only slight problem as far as I'm concerned is old cases only have USB 2.0 front panel connectors, but I get round this with 3.5in bay adapters. I use big air coolers, so the lack of AIO radiator mounting locations isn't a problem.

I also have a few large Fractal Design cases, plus a number of HTPC chassis for compact builds.

 

[punkncat]

I had a Lian Li PC-Q25 that I used for ~ a decade or so. It was a M-ITX "server" type case with room inside for (5) 3.5" drives. It was quite a good case for what it was designed for, but airflow and powerful equipment was challenging. I used it as a NAS on FreeNAS for years, increased the storage and used it on Windows running an MMS (music server) on 24/7 for about 5-6 years.

As it got older the little push clips for the sides got loose and it started to rattle. It was easy to deal with by installing "foam" along the edges for a while, but eventually got so bad that the clips didn't want to hold so I retired it, as in sold it down the road.

 

[geofelt]

For the longest time, I used a Silverstone TJ-08E:

TJ08-E

In 2006, SilverStone launched the Temjin TJ08, an impressive micro-ATX tower case with then unheard of dual 120mm fan configuration. It helped pioneered the idea of big tower cooling performance in small packages. Five years later, improved technology and design has enabled SilverStone...

www.silverstonetek.com

It is very similar to yours.

It is even more reasonable today to keep a MATX sized case.
We no longer need extra slots for sound cards wifi adapters, sli graphics and so on.
MATX with 4 slots today will usually be cheaper than ATX.
If you want a dvd drive, they are hard to find on today's cases.

As to cooling, you can have 2 front 120mm intakes.
You can ramp up the fan speeds if you need more airflow for cooling.
A small case improves the efficiency for air cooling.
The 165mm height allows for a NH-D15 cooler which is as good as it gets and is comparable to a 240 aio.

You might want a front usb C port, but the 5 1/2 drive space can give you all sorts of options.

Bottom line.........................................
You chose well. keep it.

 

[stonecarver]

Yes quite a few. The oldest is a no name brand silver basic 2002 something I built for my Father and through the years he used until mid 2017. All his parts still tucked away in a keepsakes box and it now has a 8700k with a 3070ti.

Silverstone TJ-06 from 2004/05 waiting in the wings. Not sure if going a Xeon or 12gen i9, a pet project in the making. Still have the original parts that I built in it and every now and than bring them out and for the hell of it load up windows and game. It makes a great yard stick where I was to where I am now...Asus motherboard with yes AGP Nvidia 6800GT.

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/legacy/info/computer-chassis/tj06/

Twin Lian Li cases from 2007, one silver and one jet black.

Reviews Archive - OC3D

overclock3d.net

The black one is used as a server so no up date for that one 3rd gen i7. But the silver case is getting a AMD upgrade to Ryzen 7 5800x3D.

 

[phenomk90]

I'm still building new computers in old Lian Li full tower cases, e.g. V2000, dating back to 2006. Three cases were brand new, but the others were second hand from eBay. I prefer Aluminium cases to Steel.

My latest build, a 7950X with five hard disks, 3 NVMe drives, GPU, etc., was constructed in a Lian Li Silent PC-S80A case from 2008. It doesn't overheat despite being pushed hard for many hours with video rendering tasks.

The only slight problem as far as I'm concerned is old cases only have USB 2.0 front panel connectors, but I get round this with 3.5in bay adapters. I use big air coolers, so the lack of AIO radiator mounting locations isn't a problem.

I also have a few large Fractal Design cases, plus a number of HTPC chassis for compact builds.

Wow that's vintage tbh. Honestly it's a dream for me to have multiple setups like you do. And when you mentioned aluminium cases it instantly reminded me of 3dgameman and his famous quote "removable motherboard tray" lol.

 

[phenomk90]

I had a Lian Li PC-Q25 that I used for ~ a decade or so. It was a M-ITX "server" type case with room inside for (5) 3.5" drives. It was quite a good case for what it was designed for, but airflow and powerful equipment was challenging. I used it as a NAS on FreeNAS for years, increased the storage and used it on Windows running an MMS (music server) on 24/7 for about 5-6 years.

As it got older the little push clips for the sides got loose and it started to rattle. It was easy to deal with by installing "foam" along the edges for a while, but eventually got so bad that the clips didn't want to hold so I retired it, as in sold it down the road.

Are you saying you managed to sell your decade old case?

 

[phenomk90]

For the longest time, I used a Silverstone TJ-08E:

TJ08-E

In 2006, SilverStone launched the Temjin TJ08, an impressive micro-ATX tower case with then unheard of dual 120mm fan configuration. It helped pioneered the idea of big tower cooling performance in small packages. Five years later, improved technology and design has enabled SilverStone...

www.silverstonetek.com

It is very similar to yours.

It is even more reasonable today to keep a MATX sized case.
We no longer need extra slots for sound cards wifi adapters, sli graphics and so on.
MATX with 4 slots today will usually be cheaper than ATX.
If you want a dvd drive, they are hard to find on today's cases.

As to cooling, you can have 2 front 120mm intakes.
You can ramp up the fan speeds if you need more airflow for cooling.
A small case improves the efficiency for air cooling.
The 165mm height allows for a NH-D15 cooler which is as good as it gets and is comparable to a 240 aio.

You might want a front usb C port, but the 5 1/2 drive space can give you all sorts of options.

Bottom line.........................................
You chose well. keep it.

Yep... I came from silverstone raven rv02 which had much larger footprint despite having exceptional cooling. At the end i decided to take on matx case for my last build because it's heavy and bulky to carry around whenever i need to.

And since my room didn't have an air conditioner. Pretty much my setup will have to endure higher operating temperature than most people with around 28-29 degrees Celsius room temperature. And now i even wonder whether my old case can handle such gpu with only 2x 120mm fans at the front.

 

[phenomk90]

Yes quite a few. The oldest is a no name brand silver basic 2002 something I built for my Father and through the years he used until mid 2017. All his parts still tucked away in a keepsakes box and it now has a 8700k with a 3070ti.

Silverstone TJ-06 from 2004/05 waiting in the wings. Not sure if going a Xeon or 12gen i9, a pet project in the making. Still have the original parts that I built in it and every now and than bring them out and for the hell of it load up windows and game. It makes a great yard stick where I was to where I am now...Asus motherboard with yes AGP Nvidia 6800GT.

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/legacy/info/computer-chassis/tj06/

Twin Lian Li cases from 2007, one silver and one jet black.

Reviews Archive - OC3D

overclock3d.net

The black one is used as a server so no up date for that one 3rd gen i7. But the silver case is getting a AMD upgrade to Ryzen 7 5800x3D.

Lian li cases. Back then their design were unique like silverstone does and didn't really conforming to mainstream taste at the time until just few years ago.

 

[punkncat]

Are you saying you managed to sell your decade old case?

Yes, and it was even second hand to me.

A buddy of mine was stationed in Baghdad doing their network. On his last contract he was there when they shut the whole thing down, so pretty much everything that wasn't screwed down had to be gone, or destroyed. He sent me some information on a few things and I picked up a nicely sized box of goodies that had been the personal equipment of the (folks) stationed over there. This unit originally had a little AMD all in one motherboard/CPU that was along the lines of 4C@1GHz and 4BG of RAM and was populated with (5) 3TB drives that were also already populated with an entire boatload of movies of every rating, particularly skewed to one end...anywho...The FreeNAS OS was actually on a USB drive, so there were none of the 2.5" slots populated when I got it.

When it got here, along with the other goodies, it was absolutely caked in a very fine silt/sand coating. It was everywhere. Luckily the mobo above was passively cooled, so it didn't add to the issue, but had to tear the whole thing down and clean, clean, clean. Even when done, if you looked really closely, there was still a small amount of it here and there. Tore up optical drives like nobody's business.

I ended up using it like that for about a year or two. Two of the drives flaked out so I ended up completely rebuilding it based on a 4th gen i3 and repopulated it with 2 or 3 TB green drives (huge mistake, the latency was a killer). I used it in that configuration for nearly the whole time. Right at the end of ownership I swapped to a better motherboard, put in a 4690 and a 960. It did not like the heat, so I pivoted to one of the Cooler Master Elite cases. I set up a new storage option and moved everything out. I took the original i3 and upgraded it to an i5 put a vanilla load of W7 on an SSD and ended up selling it to a fellow I used to know on paintball forums.

So far as I am aware the fellow is still using it to this day.

 

[phenomk90]

Yes, and it was even second hand to me.

A buddy of mine was stationed in Baghdad doing their network. On his last contract he was there when they shut the whole thing down, so pretty much everything that wasn't screwed down had to be gone, or destroyed. He sent me some information on a few things and I picked up a nicely sized box of goodies that had been the personal equipment of the (folks) stationed over there. This unit originally had a little AMD all in one motherboard/CPU that was along the lines of 4C@1GHz and 4BG of RAM and was populated with (5) 3TB drives that were also already populated with an entire boatload of movies of every rating, particularly skewed to one end...anywho...The FreeNAS OS was actually on a USB drive, so there were none of the 2.5" slots populated when I got it.

When it got here, along with the other goodies, it was absolutely caked in a very fine silt/sand coating. It was everywhere. Luckily the mobo above was passively cooled, so it didn't add to the issue, but had to tear the whole thing down and clean, clean, clean. Even when done, if you looked really closely, there was still a small amount of it here and there. Tore up optical drives like nobody's business.

I ended up using it like that for about a year or two. Two of the drives flaked out so I ended up completely rebuilding it based on a 4th gen i3 and repopulated it with 2 or 3 TB green drives (huge mistake, the latency was a killer). I used it in that configuration for nearly the whole time. Right at the end of ownership I swapped to a better motherboard, put in a 4690 and a 960. It did not like the heat, so I pivoted to one of the Cooler Master Elite cases. I set up a new storage option and moved everything out. I took the original i3 and upgraded it to an i5 put a vanilla load of W7 on an SSD and ended up selling it to a fellow I used to know on paintball forums.

So far as I am aware the fellow is still using it to this day.

Ohh you mean you sold the case together with the hardware inside..

 

[phenomk90]

For the longest time, I used a Silverstone TJ-08E:

TJ08-E

In 2006, SilverStone launched the Temjin TJ08, an impressive micro-ATX tower case with then unheard of dual 120mm fan configuration. It helped pioneered the idea of big tower cooling performance in small packages. Five years later, improved technology and design has enabled SilverStone...

www.silverstonetek.com

It is very similar to yours.

It is even more reasonable today to keep a MATX sized case.
We no longer need extra slots for sound cards wifi adapters, sli graphics and so on.
MATX with 4 slots today will usually be cheaper than ATX.
If you want a dvd drive, they are hard to find on today's cases.

As to cooling, you can have 2 front 120mm intakes.
You can ramp up the fan speeds if you need more airflow for cooling.
A small case improves the efficiency for air cooling.
The 165mm height allows for a NH-D15 cooler which is as good as it gets and is comparable to a 240 aio.

You might want a front usb C port, but the 5 1/2 drive space can give you all sorts of options.

Bottom line.........................................
You chose well. keep it.

Only one potential issue that's going to retire my case is because of the layout on my motherboard my pcie slot for gpu are using the 2nd slot downward which means any thicker gpu will be close to suffocate for air by the psu blockage.

 

[geofelt]

Love the case.
I would not worry much about psu blockage on several counts.
First, a 2 slot card still has 2 slots available.
You really only need one to draw some cooling air over the bottom gpu fan intakes.
And, even at that, the psu extends only half way.
In a similar situation, I used a slot cooler to generate a bit more airflow over the gpu fans.
One key to good airflow is to remove the bottom hard drive cage to allow the bottom front intake fan to work better.
With ssd prices down, and m.2 device availability, conventional 3.5" hard drives are no longer so useful.
And, the ultimate fix is to use a pair of higher rpm 120mm front intakes.
You can buy noctua 120mm fans at up to 2000 RPM.
They will move a LOT of air.

On my TJ-08E I found the panels to be thin.
Silverstone make acoustic pads to mitigate noise.

Amazon.com

 

[phenomk90]

Love the case.
I would not worry much about psu blockage on several counts.
First, a 2 slot card still has 2 slots available.
You really only need one to draw some cooling air over the bottom gpu fan intakes.
And, even at that, the psu extends only half way.
In a similar situation, I used a slot cooler to generate a bit more airflow over the gpu fans.
One key to good airflow is to remove the bottom hard drive cage to allow the bottom front intake fan to work better.
With ssd prices down, and m.2 device availability, conventional 3.5" hard drives are no longer so useful.
And, the ultimate fix is to use a pair of higher rpm 120mm front intakes.
You can buy noctua 120mm fans at up to 2000 RPM.
They will move a LOT of air.

On my TJ-08E I found the panels to be thin.
Silverstone make acoustic pads to mitigate noise.

Amazon.com

What i meant just now is Because of the design layout of my asrock b450m pro4 motherboard. The first pcie slot of my case becomes useless since my gpu slot into the 2nd slot. Moreover i'm going to be using a xfx merc 310 card which is a 3 slot or almost a 3 slot card which will only left around less than an inch space between the gpu and psu. Which means there will be less than a slot of space between my gpu and psu.

This is my current motherboard

ASRock > B450M Pro4

Supports AMD AM4 Socket Ryzen™ 2000, 3000, 4000 G-Series, 5000 and 5000 G-Series Desktop Processors; Supports DDR4 3200+ (OC); 1 PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 PCIe 2.0 x16, 1 PCIe 2.0 x1; AMD Quad CrossFireX™; Graphics Output: HDMI, DVI-D, D-Sub; 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), ELNA Audio Caps...

www.asrock.com