Recommendations for new computer case

[paladin]

I need some recommendations for a new computer case (maker and model). My motherboard is an ATX form factor. So size isn't a problem. Needs good air flow.

[Terralthra]

Need a price range.

[General Zod]

Get the cheapest case you can afford that will accommodate your mb? Seriously, a case doesn't really have any major effect on performance.

[Stark]

I recently moved my stuff into a silencio 550. It was cheap and I have fairly strange needs around fucking pet hair, but it's a quite minimalist case with plenty of room. It even comes witha hot-swap bay Ill never use! :v. Good cable management, airflow and sound suppression with easily cleanable fan filters is a winner.

[Jade Falcon]

I've got this one

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1049.html

I wanted one with plenty of expansion space and the selection locally wasnt the best. Now I know someone will say I should have went mail order but I prefer to see something like that before buying. It's not the cheapest case but the three fans give good cooling as well.

[Edi]

I recently moved my stuff into a silencio 550. It was cheap and I have fairly strange needs around fucking pet hair, but it's a quite minimalist case with plenty of room. It even comes witha hot-swap bay Ill never use! :v. Good cable management, airflow and sound suppression with easily cleanable fan filters is a winner.

That looks a fair bit like the Antec P180B I've got, except it has more space for fiddling around with the cables. The Antec's drive bays take up some space that is left vacant in the Silencio. Something like that is a good choice, with the sound proofing in the side panels offering much reduced noise in the room.

[Borgholio]

Go for the Antec 900. It has plenty of room to work inside and insane airflow. Yet, despite the number of fans, it's very quiet.

http://store.antec.com/Product/enclosur ... 900-5.aspx

I'm able to stuff a full-size atx board, 5 hard drives, two PCI-E video cards and an optical drive with room to spare.

[phongn]

Fractal Design R4?

[Stark]

I recently moved my stuff into a silencio 550. It was cheap and I have fairly strange needs around fucking pet hair, but it's a quite minimalist case with plenty of room. It even comes witha hot-swap bay Ill never use! :v. Good cable management, airflow and sound suppression with easily cleanable fan filters is a winner.

That looks a fair bit like the Antec P180B I've got, except it has more space for fiddling around with the cables. The Antec's drive bays take up some space that is left vacant in the Silencio. Something like that is a good choice, with the sound proofing in the side panels offering much reduced noise in the room.

Mine came with three fixed 5.25 bays and a hot-swap bay, four fixed 3.25s with a 2.5 adapter for SSDs and a removable middle drive section for another three 3.5s. I think it's for longer GPUs, but I took mine out to try and remove an obstacle to airflow.

The biggest downside to the case is the apparently non-removable door. The front panel and controls are on the top, so you don't need to use the door constantly and it's a part of the attempt to reduce noise, but I still hate it.

[Executor32]

I would suggest the Cooler Master ATCS 840 I got last year for my current build, but it's since been discontinued and I haven't yet found anyplace still selling it. If you can find one, though, go for it. It's the best case I've ever had, with tons of room for even the most ridiculous build, easily removable fan filters, and it's quieter than a whisper. Unless something comes along like the switch from AT to ATX, I see myself keeping this case for years.

[Stark]

Don't you keep all your cases for years? I was stuck with my horrid tsunami with the horrid milled aluminium door for years too. :v

I'm a but sad to hear fan filters are pretty common. The silencio was the only one if found with them in at least fifteen minutes of online shopping.

[Executor32]

I meant I could see myself still rocking that case in the 20s, with a third or fourth generation of internals. I don't have all the cases I've ever had, but I do still have my cases from my '06-'08 and '08-'11 builds. The former, along with what internals I didn't recycle for the latter build, is currently serving as the vastly superior replacement for my mom's old '03 Dell.

[Edi]

I recently moved my stuff into a silencio 550. It was cheap and I have fairly strange needs around fucking pet hair, but it's a quite minimalist case with plenty of room. It even comes witha hot-swap bay Ill never use! :v. Good cable management, airflow and sound suppression with easily cleanable fan filters is a winner.

That looks a fair bit like the Antec P180B I've got, except it has more space for fiddling around with the cables. The Antec's drive bays take up some space that is left vacant in the Silencio. Something like that is a good choice, with the sound proofing in the side panels offering much reduced noise in the room.

Mine came with three fixed 5.25 bays and a hot-swap bay, four fixed 3.25s with a 2.5 adapter for SSDs and a removable middle drive section for another three 3.5s. I think it's for longer GPUs, but I took mine out to try and remove an obstacle to airflow.

The biggest downside to the case is the apparently non-removable door. The front panel and controls are on the top, so you don't need to use the door constantly and it's a part of the attempt to reduce noise, but I still hate it.

The Antec is similar. Four fixed 5.25" bays and one of the removable bays fits three 3.5" drives and the other fits four, but at that density, it gets really cramped really fast. Doesn't fit the very large GPUs either unless I remove a drive bay, but I don't have a big one. My GPU (a Radeon HD5750) is positively tiny. My case also has a nonremovable door and it's annoying because the power on button and reset are behind it, but I like the added noise reduction. It also helps keep the cat hair out somewhat, but the built in dust filters also help. I wish I could buy mesh that fine somewhere, because I'd install some around the back of the case too.

I need to look into the Silencio and other options for my next machine, because then the old one will get relegated to backup and testbed purposes.

[Stark]

I believe there's a larger one coming out. The soundproofing doesn't work too well for the low tones (like my totally fucked C2D cooler) but it hides all the mid stuff like the GPU and case fans well. I haven't noticed temps rise either (although I switched GPUs at the same time).

[Edi]

Fortunately getting a new comp isn't that much of an immediate priority for me since upgrading the busted HD a month ago pushed that back. For bigger cases, the Antec lineup has several good ones, such as the P193, which is somewhat larger than the P180. They also have the absolutely monstrous P280, but there is no need to go into the ridiculous.

At least I have time to look into what I need and do things at my leisure. I'll keep the upcoming stuff in mind. Thanks.

[Stark]

My cats ability to produce fluff killed my 8600. I wasn't planning on sending any money on my computer either.

The lesson is don't have a cat. Or carpet.

[Edi]

My cats ability to produce fluff killed my 8600. I wasn't planning on sending any money on my computer either.

The lesson is don't have a cat. Or carpet.

Just the one?

I've got three, two of them ragdolls. The bengal doesn't count, because she sheds so little fur compared to the raggies.

Which means periodic cleaning out the computer case, including the fan mechanisms of all components that have them...

[Napoleon the Clown]

Go for the Antec 900. It has plenty of room to work inside and insane airflow. Yet, despite the number of fans, it's very quiet.

http://store.antec.com/Product/enclosur ... 900-5.aspx

I'm able to stuff a full-size atx board, 5 hard drives, two PCI-E video cards and an optical drive with room to spare.

These are wise words. My computer's guts run several degrees cooler than is normal because of the airflow on the 900. It's a fantastic case.

[Zaune]

Just the one?

I've got three, two of them ragdolls. The bengal doesn't count, because she sheds so little fur compared to the raggies.

Which means periodic cleaning out the computer case, including the fan mechanisms of all components that have them...

You'd think that after over thirty years of desktop computers aimed at the home user, someone would have come up with an intake filter that actually works.