Case recommendations?

[Doghouse Riley]

I am looking for an ATX case that meets the following:

(1) Plenty of wiggle room inside for ease of cabling and cooling. (I plan to install three or maybe four HDDs)

(2) A good quality 500w+ power supply OR no PS at all

(3) A conservative design, no lights or bling-bling trim.

I like the Antec cases but I've read a few reviews that indicate they may not be so good on point (1).


Thanks for any advice!

Doghouse

[maxnik]

check Antec Sonata III. It's very nice and comes with a decent 500W Antec Earthwats PSU. I use a older Antec Solution case and I've had a max of 5 HDs in it and it was fine.

[Katreat]

The antec P182 is nice. Cable management is pretty decent behind the MB tray and plenty of HD slots. I am using a Antec 900 and found it easy to work with although again with bottom mounted PSU cable management can be a challenge and it is on the flashy side with lots of lights. If you really want space and dont mind size, the Coolermaster Stacker, Themaltake Armor, and Gigabyte Auror (sp) are very nice full towers. and for quality take a look at some of the Lian-Li cases. I have found them a bit tight, but never worked with one of their towers so expect they full towers have plenty of room.

Kat

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley I am looking for an ATX case that meets the following: (1) Plenty of wiggle room inside for ease of cabling and cooling. (I plan to install three or maybe four HDDs) (2) A good quality 500w+ power supply OR no PS at all (3) A conservative design, no lights or bling-bling trim.

Take a look at this Chenming case. It's a server/workstation case that can hold up to 6 hard drives and 4 optical drives. Cooling is good. No power supply. Construction quality is good. Pretty plain looking. It's a bit heavy though...about 20 pounds empty.

Cricket

[pctime1]

I think Antec Sonata III is a good choice.

[Devastator]

Originally Posted by pctime1 I think Antec Sonata III is a good choice.

Yes this is a great case, however, I think you would probably want to buy an extra fan for it if he's loading it with HD's. The 500W PSU is good and it is very quiet and cool at the same time and has some good features and is very easy to set up.

[Stuey]

I'm a huge Antec fan as well. In addition to the Sonata series, I'd suggest taking a look at CoolerMaster's 690 case - plenty of space, and with a conservative look.

[Doghouse Riley]

Thanks all for your help. (Cricket - your Max avatar is great, I use the little guy as my avatar on a couple of other boards)

Doghouse

[Ahura]

Cooler Master 690? I do not have much experience w/ other case, but so far the case has been a breeze to work w/. Spacious, lot of fan options, simple yet pratical and it seems solid. Its ventilation rivals the 900. It is The choice if yu want a 900 performance case, but moar business look and lower price tag. Right now, Newegg have it for liek 50-60 all together after rebate.