Case recommendations?

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Hi,
Can anyone recommend a decent case that is currently on the market? I am waiting on 2 Coolermaster Centurion TAC05 cases which I have used before and was impressed with the quality/cost. Unfortunately these are out of stock everywhere and with no expected due date I am looking at alternatives. Any advice/opinions gratefully recieved. Its the new Intel chip being used so cooling is definately an issue.
Cheers

 

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I have the Antec Plusview 1000, comes with a side window, 2 case fans already installed but there is room for 3 more, it has 10 drive bays, is very big and robust, I took out the 2 fans that came with it and installed 5 LED case fans and the case looks so lovely with all those blue and red colours on the fans, I just bought a UV cathode tube with IDE UV cables and the damn things dont work! its all connected and turned on but no light!! anyway I am planning on getting an LED heatsink and fan for me CPU next, I want my PC lighting up from all angles...so check out www.ebuyer.co.uk and its the Antec Plusview 1000, I bought it Jan last year and its the best case I have ever bought. at the time it cose me £60 but now its about £10-£15 cheaper I think...have a look tho..you wont be disappointed...

EDIT: The 5 fans work as follows, there are two at the back and two at the front and one on the side window, make the front two intake and the other 3 out take and the airflow works fine, my CPU is AMD Athlon 2500 (overclocked to 3200) so its running at 2.2GHz instead of 1.8GHz and the temp has never gone over 42 degrees even in really hot conditions...so that says something.

 

cooling should only be an issue if you try and overclock your new intel chip
they work fine with stock cooling in a variety of cases

with that out the way
the new CM WaveMasters are looking suprisingly spiffy
as is the Stacker (but its a bit much for a standard system, i just bought it for my fileserver upgrade, holds 12 Disks and 2 DVD drives, with 2 power supplies and the lush 30cm cross-blow fan

as is anything from Antec
and you usually get the benefit of a bundled Antec PSU, they are VERY good

 

Phoenix is right the Antec PSUs are to die for...I actually bought a Q-Tec 550 watt PSU, it comes with two fans and is gold...really love it...but check out the Antec PSUs cos some of them have LED fans on the PSUs...make sure you go for 480 watt or above...and since your getting an Intel chip well again I agree with Phoenix cos u cant overclock an Intel CPU thats why I have that many fans in my case cos I wanted my AMD overclocked and if it wasnt for the amount of fans I think the CPU would die...but again the heatsink and fan for the CPU have held out really well...now time to get a new one..

 

err dont think you will be needing a PSU quite that big mate
not for 'general' use

my fileserver has a 380watt drive with a P3 733 processor, 512mb ram, and 7x 200GB Drives (SATA and PATA)

my main rig has a 380watt psu with a P4 2.8Ghz, 2GB ram, 1x 200GB PATA, 1x 146G U360 10k SCSI disk, Nvidia 6800 GT 256mb (requires TWO molex connectors) 2 DVD Roms, 5x Fans and a sound card that requires power

granted the main rig needs an upgrade, but thats only since getting the new graphics card took up two seperate connector rails, limiting my expansion options somwhat, a 480 would be sufficient for that priovided it had more connectors
for anything less the Antec 380 should proove sufficient, its a common misconception that bigger power supplies are needed, as really, they are not
a QUALITY power supply is whats needed, one that conforms to the ATX standard and has tollerances and decent performance at >75% load (cheap ones dont generally)

 

Thanks for the input guys,
I have always been unsure of the PSU requirements also so thanks for that Phoenix. Definately no clocking happening on these systems, I heard the new skt775 chips had to be in a case with maximum temp of 38c?
Off on the hunt for an Antec then, thanks again.

 

No probs MrNice always to be glad to help...thats why we're here...Phoenix I know 550 watt is a bit too much but I just bought it for the fact that it is 550 watt...

 

And here is the new case

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/components/caseandcaseaccessories/productView.htm?quicklinx=2QJC

 

good choice
a quiet one to boot eh?

 

looks good...but only has one fan but then it is a 120mm fan so I guess its big enough to cool the system...

 

I recieved my Antec Sonata yesterday, have to say I am less than impressed with it. The black metallic finish is way to shiny. It has key locks all over it (overkill on a desktop) and the front door is incredibley flimsy. The cheap plastic front contrasts badly with the metallic black sides etc.Think I will stick with Coolermaster next time.

 

Yuo should have gone for the one I told you about...it only has 2 locks one in the front and side window...two thumb screws for easy opening and quite spacey but never mind mate...

 

A touch late now, but i've got a Thermaltake Xaser III Lanfire case . Very good, aluminium, window in the side, 4 fans (2 90mm, 2 80mm). Fan speed controller (each individual) & temp monitor (sensor under the CPU). Cost about £75 without PSU a year ago. Build quality is high and its very quiet despite all those fans.

Coolermaster have got an excellent range of cases these days too.

 

ok the only thing im seeing as a real negative here is the flimsy door
and to be honest, most plastic facias with doors are pretty flimsy
the shiney part is well known, one of the reasons im actually getting an Antec case for my Media Center PC to go under the TV
Locks err, people use those things? you know the keys are generally the same on ALL cases right? lol


Ofcourse a case is a personal prefence thing, and it sucks you wont enjoy your new case to the fullest mate

 

The case sucks. Thankfully it's not for me, for a mate of mine who is coming round for a look tonight. Unfortunately the case he wanted was the Coolermaster centurion. I have that case and to sit them side by side is embarrasing. I can honestly say I have never had to unlock a system with locks!
My main grievance is the fact the case looks nothing like the one in the picture on dabs. I thought it was going to be matt black. I read with dismay the reviews on dabs the problems with the doors breaking and replacements being very hard to come by, I put this down to guy's not rtfm and trying to install drives with it in place. I can now see this is not the case - pardon the pun.
Dont even ask about the speakers I ordered, I am not even showing him them, straight on ebay. Cheap looking is way to flattering for these creations.
It's a minefield out there.

 

cant say ive had any experiance with that perticular case mate, ive primarily used the ones noel has, as well as the smaller form factor ones which i found very nice
sorry it didnt work out

was it not possible to get a CM case from anywhere then?

 

here's my tip MrNice visit www.ebuyer.co.uk and when your going to order a product make sure you read the reviews that people have left and that will tell you exactly what u wana know...yes I know u read the reviews on dabs but I never buy anything from dabs, purely cos they are rather pricey and ebuyer have some good stuff for low prices...cant fault them at all...