The (new) Official PC building thread!

i dont have one sam. but i seen a couple of them over at micro center the other day one was water cooled.. those are some pretty sweet cases if i say so myself. i like that red lighted one..lol they had it and the blue lighted on....very tempting

 

Mort, I just think Aluminium cases aren't manly enough for me. Honestly though, I am open to All cases(except for the Raidmax ones). Honestly, Aluminium doesn't appeal to me, but if they have steel versions of the case I would be interested. I actually like that NZXT case that Sam has, and I considered purchasing it but I didn't have enough money at the time.

Rob, I'm gonna give that new BIOS a try and see what happens.

 

sammorris,

Yes, I looked at NZXT cases. One annoying thing is that why in the world do the make a door that opens right to left and than put the front usb, Firewire and sound card jacks on the right, rather than the left where you can see it and things will be much safer. I've repaired a ton of computers just for that reason. Somebody knocks into it (mostly little ones) and a jumpdrive, usb/firewire or headphone/mike is plugged in and usually breaks the socket or device plugged into it or worse, both! Mike and headphone jacks are the worst as the plug usually shears off flush!

I actually considered the Apollo, Trinity and the Hush. I just don't like the style of the Apollo's face. Nothing wrong, just a matter of personal taste! The Trinity with an intake fan will interfere with the airflow of the CPU cooler because of crossflow. At least with the FP-7 Pro. It may work very well as an exhaust though, as it would draw air sort of catty-corner across the case. At least they allowed for a static air vent on the other side of the case which should help cooling! The hush looks very nice but the airflow characteristics don't look very good at all! I've been doing the foam bit for years to help cut down noise. What I find works the besr is that foam they ship some motherboards on. The kind you can see through. Not quite as quiet as denser foam or acoustical foam, but it doesn't hold as much heat either so an extra dB or 2 won't bother me. What the less dense foam does do is pretty much eliminate whine type noises and stops them from bouncing off the metal case. The "Spooling up whine" of a lot of video card cooling fans is greatly reduced and no longer is annoying. Any high frequency pretty much goes away!

No case is perfect and the one I like, at least from a looks standpoint is the Cosmos steel case. It's just sooo... tall! LOL! Almost 25"! I'd have to stand up just to get at my optical drives! If they ever make a mid-tower in that design, I'm buying! I'll even live with the almost full length door! I'm not crazy about the usb's and such being on the top, at least not with the dust situation here, but again I could live with that if it was just shorter!

Best Regards,
Russ


Best Regards,
Russ

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmm???? ok i think i understand now.

 

Russ,

I really like the gull wing doors on my all aluminum mystique. they are not the least bit fragile. I don't like cases with doors on the front covering the drive bays. the gull wing doors open completely out of the way. they're one of the best features on the case and the all aluminum mystique is what I recommend to those that want a mid tower case. I wish they were on my stacker.

there are actually several features I like better on my mystique than I do my stacker. front drive bay door, the hdd mounting is tool-less and I think the tool-less optical drive design is a little better.

abuzar,

quality all aluminum cases are just as sturdy as steel cases and sturdier than some. they are made of an aluminum alloy and a little thicker gauge. I've built some pc's for friends using inexpensive steel cases and they were so flimsy you could dent a panel merely by pushing in on them. I would bet you could dent or bend a panel on your TT armor more easily than you can on my CM mystique or stacker.

 

Mort, have you ever used a TT Armor? Granted I have never used your case either but I just tested it out and it's not exactly easy to bend any of the metal parts.

 

no but I have owned and been around several antec cases. I'm not badmouthing your case. the point I am trying to make is that the aluminum alloy used on quality all aluminum cases is just as sturdy as steel cases and sturdier than cheapo steel cases. you get what you pay for. you can get flimsey in both aluminum and steel I'm sure but I can assure you both my CM cases are every bit as sturdy and solid as any of the antec cases I have been around.

 

I guess I will just have to try one out then.

BTW, my most favorite case would be the Antec 900. I don't really care that everyone and their brother has one, it's still has LOTS of fans lol.

 

Morty the Mistique is a nice case. They had one at CompUSA before they went out of business and the doors are actually pretty sturdy. I was surprised at the entire case really.

I'm looking at some different cases but I think I'll just do a RMA refund. I don't NEED another case I just couldn't pass up that case for such a small investment. NOW I can tho... lol.

....gm

add:
Been looking around and found this. NOT getting it but it seems like a pretty good case for the money. link to Ultra Black Aluminus

 

Mort81,

You need something like that here to keep the dust and dirt out. Mine opens about 150 degrees, so It's not in the way and it's only 2/3 the height of the whole case. The right where my right front speaker sits with my coffee cup right next to it! LOL!! The edges are a beveled fit, so dust is no longer a problem. Without a drive bay door my drives quickly grow hair and a beard! LOL!! You can seal them up, but what a pain!

Are the doors geared or something on the Mystique? How do they catch? Someone told me that they opened by pressing in on them and a spring opens them??

Best Regard,
Russ

 

they are geared. no button on top to push. not spring loaded. open one side and the other side opens too (gear mechanism on top and bottom). vice versa when closing. either door will close/ open both.

 

Has anyone considered one of these?
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=12380

We all know what they're ripping off, but nonetheless it's an interesting looking case, and reasonably priced as well by the looks of things.

 

sammorris,

I think they are following a trend rather than ripping off! LOL!!If it only had a drive bay door! (he sighs!)....

Russ

 

Well indeedy. Trouble is, I don't really like most case doors, I just particularly like the styling for my cases so that wasn't a problem, but a lot of cases have awful looking things on the front of them...

 

sammorris,

A drive door here is a must! Unless you want to seal allthe drives, and that's a pain. They stay absolutely clean with the door on my MC Cavalier, thanks to the closure design. The door overlapse the faceplate. I just have to take a paintbrush and clean the groove! That's it!

Russ

 

wow, the dust problems really are bad there...

 

sammorris,
It's like fine silt! When it does blow around in some parts of the County it feels like you are in the Serengeti! We joke about it all the time! We have to vacuum the walls! Weekly! The drapes have to be washed once a month at the least. I wasn't kidding when I mentioned the shovel! 6 months and you would have to us either a shovel or a large industrial Vacuum Cleaner! LOL!! If you don't sweep the stoop every couple of days you risk slipping on it. It's like tiny ball bearings!

Edit Did you resolve that DMI issue on the boot up? I asked once but didn't get an answer! I just wondered if it went away with removing the jump drive?

Russ

 

I'll be honest with you Russ, it hasn't bothered me sufficiently to try removing it yet! When I do I'll get back to you...

 

sammorris,

I think that's funny! I'm more interested in it than you are! ROFLMAO!!

Russ

 

Pretty much...
I'll need to remove my USB stick when I go to the LAN tomorrow, so I'll see how snappy it boots up without it plugged in.