Looking at different cases..

[holcikam]

I came to the realization that it would be very difficult, and really far more work to take apart my current pc and refit it. While I like the case (centurion2), I think it's time to get a new one and hand this one down to my bro, haha.

I was browsing a few places, and went into microcenter today to see if I really liked the antec sonata II or sonata III. I liked the sonata III ... but not much else that they had around.

So onto newegg(such a beautiful site) and I found this silver steel one. Sadly, either it's very bad, or no one likes the design of it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129036

I was wondering if anyone could shed light on whether this Case is pretty good.

I do plan on getting either a ASUS P5N-E SLI or P325N-E board (since from what I hear the P5N doesn't run true PCIe x16 - which by the way is that true?). Granted still in the air about whether the extra 50 is worth it.

I Digress!

As I was saying, I was wondering about the Antec Silver Designer vs the Sonata III for an intel dual core system and what experience people have with both of them.

Thanks and sorry for the ramble!

[Jamie Nixx]

Yes the Asus P5N-E does run true PCIe x16, its when you are running SLi that the slots revert to PCIe x8, which only amounts to about a 2% performance loss, and since you would be mad to run SLi (like me) you won't have any problems.

I don't really like that case, plus it looks to me like its a bit small, so you won't have much room to build in.

Whats your budget for case and PSU?

[The Wise Monkey]

What do you look for in a case? If its silver stuff, check out cases by Lian Li - they are very spacious and are all brushed stainless steel e.g.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112022

For great cooling, check out the Antec 900:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
This is ridiculously cheap at the moment too.

For general all round awesomeness, I recommend the Thermaltake Tsunami Dream case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133132
(I have this, so I am quite biased about it... :D)

[holcikam]

to be honest still feeling it out. I don't think I want something very large, and the psu doesn't have to be too powerful; however, I think I would need to be pretty well convinced to spend over $150-160 USD on case and PSU. I just don't feel like I would need to spend more to get a good psu and case, but like I said, I'm definitely open to suggestions.

And once again, thanks for any and all suggestions.

[Jamie Nixx]

I have the Tsunami and the Antec 900 :o

Both excellent, but the 900 is really for overclockers only and it gathers a lot of dust.

PSU wise, go for the Corsair HX520, if you shop around you can get it for $100.

The Antec 900 and Tsunami are both massive cases, so maybe you should go for a mid tower or something.

[holcikam]

I saw the Antec 900 at the store, I didn't like it. It looked cheap and liek something that would easily break.

The other two look cool but neither comes with a PSU it seems. To be realistic, what should I be looking at spending? It almost seems like my earlier guestimate is way off base.

[Jamie Nixx]

The 900 is far from cheap, its probably one of the best cases in the world after its big brothers the Antec P-180 and P-182.

Realistically, you should be looking at $120 for a psu and the rest depends on your taste in cases, but if you want a decent one your looking at over a $100.

[holcikam]

like I said, I probably don't know what to look for. I will take another look at it when I can. The tsunamis seems cool. I'll shop around. Any other suggestions? :)

edit: the tsunamis is not much larger than my current case at all. So I may go with that, thanks guys!

[The Wise Monkey]

I love my tsunami case - this is a picture of it in action:

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/TheWiseMonkey/29082007129.jpg

Ok, so its not the best quality, but it gives a good size idea - 17" monitor btw.

[ralphf926]

Why don't you stick with CoolerMaster. I'm in the process of a first build and I'm using a CoolerMaster CM-690. I just inserted my MOBO in the case and it easily fit. For a mid tower it is roomy and comes with 3 fans, front, rear and left side. Also no screws are needed for installing add on cards and hdd's. Power supply sits at bottom of case. Cost right now at ZipZoomFly is around $75. Take a look!

[the great pumpkin]

I am so tired of those cases made out of thin metal that the screws strip when you screw in the card. I like the ones where the bar locks the cards in. Anyone have a suggestion for a good gaming case that has this feature?