Advice/Opinions on a Case

[Uber_Gamer]

Probably a little after the end of this year I'm going to be purchasing a watercooling kit (Swiftech H20-120), and a new case along with some hardware upgrades. I've been researching cases and I want something that is really well constructed, aluminum, and looks beautiful. Thus I've been looking through cases made by Lian Li and Coolermaster among a few others. I just want advice on a case, but so you understand what I'm planning to do with it I'll outline what I'm going for...

I'd like something classy, sleek, and subtle on the outside, preferably with a side window and door on the front. Then I'm planning to put all the flair inside so it can be viewed through the window: Cold Cathodes, Cable Sleeving, UV reactive water dye, UV reactive DFI Motherboard... for a blue glow; classy somewhat simple exterior, gorgeous and glowing interior. And I'm going for an all black theme with case, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

The case that I'm looking at right now is the
Cooler Master Wavemaster. It doesn't have a side window by default, but they offer a replaceable side panel that has a large square/rectangular window in it.

My concerns for this case are:
1. flimsiness/Solidness of Door
2. brightness and overall appeal of the LED's on the front panel
3. airflow to the intake fans on the front
4. case design, i.e. how easy it is to work with/functionality
5. space (I'm going to have to fit a watercooling setup in here)
6. moddability
7. Overall quality

Does anyone have this case or are you familiar with it? Does it satisfy my criteria and/or would you recommend it?
Do you have any other case recommendations or suggestions?

[Vigo]

I haven't used a Cool Master case so I can only make a few general comments.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...119-030&depa=0

I dont suggest you buy it from there but they have some more pictures. You can see the mounting for the two front case fans. Nice smooth metal grills. Directly in front of the hard drive bays. Great for cooling the hard drives but anything in the bays would obstruct air flow. I also can't find any type of a grill on the front of the case panel. Doesnt look like it will actually be sucking air into the case... more like recycling the air inside the case. (This monitors a little dark though, so maybe I simply cant see the grill)

Standard "screw em in" drive bays but I never thought the plastic clips and brackets were a big deal anyway. Has a removable motherboard tray and thumb screws which should really make things easier.

21 inch depth is is 4 inches over what I have now and my internal drives barely hang over the mother board. Your motherboard should be clear from everything in the front. Thats roomy. Little slim on the width but I can't imagine any type of cooling system branching that far out from the mb.

Moddability? Well... the easiest cases to mod are made out of cheap flexible metal... so you can't have it all if you want a solid sturdy case.

Everything else... like I said, dont use Cool Max, so I cant really say. But for 100+ you'd think your getting "something". Read good reviews, for whatever thats worth.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...112-044&depa=0

Thats a nice case by Lian.

The fan grils arent as nice or smooth (for appearance and air flow) but theirs two exhaust instead of one. So youd still get better airflow. It also has an air filter which Im assuming is in the front panel since I dont see it. That would be a nice little feature to keep the pc dust free (as dust free as possible). Intakes do bring in huge amounts of dust.

Correction: The two intake fans are on the bottom of the case, so the filter would be there? Thats something I havent seen.. fans on the bottom of a case. Less air restriction than on the front though, and the air blows over motherboard and cpu more directly... so it would seem. The case has a longer height than depth.

Anyway... doesnt appear to come with a side window. But if you want a classy side window isntead of looking for a case with one you might want to do it yourself. Take the side panel off a case and take it to your local hardware store, ask them to cut a piece of plexi glass to the measurements of the case panel. Then all it takes is some black velcro or double sided tape. Press the plexi right on at the four corners.. you'll have a plexi glass side panel. Four nicely mounted pieces of tape or velcro in the corners shouldnt hinder its appearance, especially if its a black case and you keep it matching.

In fact, doing it that way you dont have to settle for flimsy plexi glass, you can go ahead and slap a thicker grade or better grade glass on there.

Just a suggestion.

[flanzig1]

Take a look at www.frozencpu.com . They have the cases you are looking at modded for water cooling. The pictures should give you general idea of space and layout of components.

[Huff N Puff]

Well you might want to look at this.
http://www.mountainmods.com/cases_ufo_blackpowder.htm
You see the 3 fans infront they line up perfectly with this.
http://www.thermochill.com/he1203.php
As for buying a watercooling kit don't. Buy the best availuable parts and ass. your own. This is a great pump
http://www.mountainmods.com/waterc.htm
Its 12v and it well do the job.
I know this does't met your door specs. But a more beatiful case there is not. Hand crafted this case is stunning and the best case around for adding watercooling. I just resently built 1 for a customer using a custom case from MONTAIN MODS. It had these on the sides and top. I couldn't get pics but I used 14 1/2" ship portholes 10" glass and in the top porthole i used this

http://www.paynetaylor.net/luminglass2.html
This is by far the most beutiful case I have ever done but at over $1000 + it is extremely expensive Just for the case.

[Uber_Gamer]

lol, this is a dead thread. If you look in my signature I've already purchased the upgrades and I am EXTREMELY satisfied with my gorgeous new Cooler Master Wavemaster case. Thanks for the suggestions though.

[Designer]

Just if you go with a DFI board I wouldnt recommend using Crucial ram with it as I had nothing but trouble

EDIT:- sorry, didnt rad right down thread before posting, Doh!