tips for buying cases

[PCBONEZ]

Re: tips for buying cases

Yeah, Mac is great to people.
Non-user replaceable batteries in I-Pods proves it!
So does their service fee to do it for MOST PEOPLE [who aren't technical enough].
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/service/prices/#us
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2¢
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[PCBONEZ]

Re: tips for buying cases

My two favorite cases ever... just got them recently.

[2nd fav]
My new server will be in this one.
http://www.supermicro.com/products/s...-7045B-TR+.cfm
In black, yes that mobo came with, yes a rev 2.0 mobo.
It is new, never used.
Retails in the $900-$1000 range but the STUPID door was snapped off making it unsellable as far as they cared so I got the whole she-bang for $200.
[To me: YAY!! NO DOOR!!]
The PSU is not 80+ so it's getting changed out.
Not sure if I'm using the mobo yet. I have other options.
CPUs will be [dual] 5148 Xeon dual cores. - Low power, 40 watts each.
RAM will at 8 Gb.
Only thing left to get is the PSU. Then I can build it.


[#1 Fav]
http://www.supermicro.com/products/s...8R.cfm?PID=TWR
In black and came with everything too and also never been in service but this one is getting stripped and converted into a home media server.
Got it for $280 because of a gouge in the top panel.
[Who cares! - I have bondo and spray paint!]
SCSI bays -> SATA
Mobo -> X7DAL-E
The 3x redundant PSU is not 80+ certified so -> CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850w.
CPU - [single] 5138 or 5148 Xeon dual core which is, again, only 40 watts.
Only thing left for this one is the PSU too but for this one it's already ordered and I might have it before the holiday.
.

Low power use is important to me on these two because they will be run a LOT.
I went with the 850w PSU on the media machine over concerns of many drives and 3.3v/5v combined watts. The RAID card I have for it is a 12 port [SATA] and there's 6 more SATA ports on the Mobo. I'll be really pissed if the RAID card doesn't properly support spinning the drives down when they aren't busy!
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Interesting thing about these cases is that the top plastic cover pops off and underneath it they have a metal top with rail mounting holes. The holes are mirrored on the bottom panel. This allows them to be converted into 4U rack mount cases.
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Sorry for my rant..
These are just REALLY COOL cases and I can't help it!
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[PCBONEZ]

Re: tips for buying cases

Here's better pics of #2 Fav.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811152047
This PN is without a mobo but the chassis is the same.

[370forlife]

Re: tips for buying cases

Rosewill makes decent cases if you are on a budget, the ones bundled with a psu are almost always solytech/deer psu's and you would never want to use it.

All included psu's do is add to the shipping cost (usually like 5 or 6 dollars)

Most rosewills are plain black cases that are cheap and look decent if thats all you want.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147083

HEC/Compucase makes ok cases too, they are just overpriced like their psu's, if you can wait for a special on them. Same thing with their included psu's.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811121088 (wayyyyyyyyy overpriced)

I like black cases with blue lights/leds. I think that is a good combination, and most psu's and video cards with led fans are also blue.

Raidmax's are usually somewhat sturdy, but have cheap flimsy plastic and look like they are designed by a 5 year old with too much paint.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156202 (best looking raidmax)

Apevia's cases are pretty nice. They basically have 1 case that they just paint a different color. My brother has the purple version, it is very sturdy with good ventilation and a temp senor on the front.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144001

[gdement]

Re: tips for buying cases

I have a rosewill R5604 which has that same "0.8mm Japanese steel" advertising as on the R5605. I think they have 4 models based on the same basic case on newegg, just some differences in the front ports and etc. It's a good case. Not what I'd call heavy but average sturdiness. The cheaper rosewill cases are very flimsy.

The OEM for those better rosewill cases is actually somebody else... I don't remember anymore who the manufacturer is. I saw it referenced in newegg reviews once and looked up the OEM's web site and there it was in fancier trim.

The hard drive fan on the R5604 was the main draw for me. Some reviewers whined about it not being windy enough, but if you check drive temperatures (I compared vs old case) you see it's doing a great job. There's a filter here and also on the side vent.
It also has an exhaust fan below the PSU area.
I'm sure they're cheap fans, but same with any retail case.
On that note, I recently was looking for NMB brand fans, due to how long they've lasted in my old HP. I found Newegg has them under the "Rexus" brand name. Turns out NMB is now NMB-Mat (hooked up with Panasonic apparently).


The R5604 does have a door.
It also has a reset switch and a 3.5" floppy bay - you actually have to look for those features today.
Reset switch is a small type you hit with a pen cap.
Power, reset, USB, firewire, audio ports are all underneath a small door on the top of the case. I'd prefer no door on the ports but it's good for protecting the power switch. Also with the door open I get lots of dust in there.

It's a toolless case. The drive rails don't stay on the drives when loose, but once installed in the case it's not going anywhere. The cards are also toolless, with a single bracket that snaps over all the cards. Many people don't like that part of it.

It comes with a box to hold all the extra parts, which fits in the drive bay area but you'll have to remove it when you actually put the drives in.
My parts box was shattered, such is the chinese QC lottery. One of the fragments was completely outside the case when I received it, so I know it broke when the case was still open on the assembly line.

===

You can sometimes get a cheap case by looking for used ones at a local repair shop.

[370forlife]

Re: tips for buying cases

...On that note, I recently was looking for NMB brand fans, due to how long they've lasted in my old HP. I found Newegg has them under the "Rexus" brand name. Turns out NMB is now NMB-Mat (hooked up with Panasonic apparently)...

They now sell delta's, too. Under two names. Delta electronics, and 1st pc corp.

[ratdude747]

Re: tips for buying cases

me like tool-less


why i like my compaq's case and my chieftec

[PCBONEZ]

Re: tips for buying cases

This is only about PSU's that I know of but you have to pay attention when it says Delta.
There is a Delta that isn't THE Delta.
Specifically, there is an el'cheapo Chinese company that named one of some of their product lines 'Delta'.
They leave their company name off the PSU.
You will notice there is no THE Delta's logo and the UL number is E210473 which isn't a THE Delta UL number.
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[ratdude747]

Re: tips for buying cases

sounds counterfeit to me... POS alert

[PCBONEZ]

Re: tips for buying cases

It's not counterfeit, just deceptive.
Delta is their MODEL/Series, like Earthwatts is a model of Antec.

Back in the 40's or 50's.. [The story was told to me by my Mom.] .. some company in China named their Factory "USA" so they could put stickers on their products saying "Made in USA".
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The Chinese are old hands at that crap.
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[KeriJane]

Re: tips for buying cases

It's not counterfeit, just deceptive.
Delta is their MODEL/Series, like Earthwatts is a model of Antec.

Back in the 40's or 50's.. [The story was told to me by my Mom.] .. some company in China named their Factory "USA" so they could put stickers on their products saying "Made in USA".
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The Chinese are old hands at that crap.
.

LOL!

I thought that "USA, China" was a suburb of Beijing, not a factory. Oops.

Sounds like "Rulycon" to me,
Keri

[NxB]

Re: tips for buying cases

If it wobbles you can have board warping problems. If it cuts you, its probably flimsy enough to wobble.


Here is what I have.

I got it after being pissed off by my wobbly china case.

[ratdude747]

Re: tips for buying cases

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ultra=fuhyyu caps!!!! decent cpu coolers, dunno about cases

[willawake]

Re: tips for buying cases

mine still like it

[ratdude747]

Re: tips for buying cases

you dont wanna know... the ultra psu was blue with 2 fans and gold covers, but wussy heatsinks and 6 blown caps (the majority of the low number). what a POS. stripped for fans, etc.

willawake- nice case! makin me jealous...

[NxB]

Re: tips for buying cases

Its probably pricey but appears well made. Pretty similar to coolermaster above. Unless the board with the LCD does something crazy, I think its ok.

[370forlife]

Re: tips for buying cases

This is only about PSU's that I know of but you have to pay attention when it says Delta.
There is a Delta that isn't THE Delta.
Specifically, there is an el'cheapo Chinese company that named one of some of their product lines 'Delta'.
They leave their company name off the PSU.
You will notice there is no THE Delta's logo and the UL number is E210473 which isn't a THE Delta UL number.
.

they're sun pro.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: tips for buying cases

That's right. - I didn't remember off the top of my head.

[momaka]

Re: tips for buying cases

Sun Pro also makes some Raidmax PSUs. I have a "380 watt" KY-480ATX, and it's total crap. I'm starting to think they are somehow related to Powmax, mainly because of the same "7700" marking on the 5vsb transformer and the PCBs look very similar design-wise (though I have to say the quality of component placement is worse than anything I've seen).
The steel of the "380 watt" Raidmax PSU is also very thin, so I probably wouldn't trust their cases either.

[370forlife]

Re: tips for buying cases

Ha ha ha ha

My friend has a 450W raidmax sun-pro built unit powering his computer (5000+, 8600gt,) and he refuses to upgrade it.

He'll want to hear this, maybe he will finally dump the 20 bucks for that 400W delta on ebay.