I was just thinking that this recommended list would prolly need some updates now that SPCR has done those damn fine reviews on P150 and P180.

I'm not sure if the FK is even available in the US -- I wasn't able to find it listed anywhere.

Cases: Basics & Recommendations updated again -- Nov 9/05. Many small changes all around.

You can order it directly from FKi, as of a month ago the price was actually less than it used to be when you could buy it retail. Fk has started targeting the SI market more than the retail.

my only gripe is that picture at the top of the first page....THAT PICTURE DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE, becuase i can't discern what anything on it is... i mean, im assumin its sposed to be a creakout of a case and air flow arrows...but it is just a HORRIBLE ILLUSTRATION....hehe

The comment about the Acousti Products AC C6607 doesn't make any sense with this new revision. It references the row above it, but with the last revision that row is no longer there.

(Yes, I know what you mean, but I am not someone who read that article for the first time.)

One quick typo regarding the recent update: the link for the Antec P150 on page 2 (the one in the left column) links to the wrong article.

looks nice, other than that.

Very nice update.

One small qualification regarding the SilverStone SST-LC04 which it says has no room to suspend the hard drive. With an MATX mobo it's very easy to do it. I just placed it to the left of the mobo in front of the 80mm intake on two sorbothane strips. It gets good cooling there too.

I really like the latest version of this article - lots of information packed into an article that's short enough that no one has an excuse not to read it.

There's an amusing omission in the Yeong Yang "Mars" description: "very 120mm grills front and back for great airflow." Not sure how a grille can be "very 120mm". May I suggest inserting "open"?

I hate waiting, but the Antec P150 hasn't arrived in Australia yet...

OK, little corrections made.

good revision

on page 2 the link above the picture of the Silverstone LC04 refering to a LC11, actually links to the review of the LC01

Nice reading, even for the third time now!

@MikeC: found two small typos:

CAVITY RESONANCE

One poorly understand aspect of PC noise is cavity resonance. The air in any mostly enclosed box or space exhibits one or more resonances centered at certain frequency points. Any noise that falls close to these resonance points become accentuated and amplified. Note that this does not have to do with any panle vibration at all, but the vibration of the air in the cavity — hence the term cavity resonance. A good explanation of resonance concepts, including cavity resonance, is available from this page at the Sound and Hearing section of the HyperPhysics web site.

More typo & link corrections made. LC11 pic now in place...

[quote="cyberknight"]that's cuz Antec cases are easily accessible.

it's really hard to find a decent case that isn't a CoolerMaster or Antec in Canada[/quote]

There are many custom enclosure manufacturer in Canada. I like Protocase [ http://www.protocase.com ]. But you need to provide your details [like enclosure design in CAD format], and they will make it. I tried quiet a few time, and it works out damn well. Don't want to hang over to the off-the-self cases and compromise my design, when i can get what i want.

Some other case manufacturer in Canada:

http://www.ctidirectory.com/search/prod ... de=2751600

Hi guys, I just re-read the article based on the link on the front page. A couple of notes:

Page 1 says "Antec P180 breaks new ground in many ways..." I think that should be changed to "broke new ground"... P180 is not really new, and the feature mentioned specifically ("independent thermal zones for improved cooling of all components") is now available in a couple of other cases.

On Page 2, the table in the Media PC section says "On desktop next to monitor on on floor under / beside desk". I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be "or on floor".

Also, the Centurion 5 as sold now (at least on Newegg and at NCIX... probably also the others) comes without a PSU. The rear fan grill also changed for the better since the review (see newegg picture), but that's off-topic.

Personally, I'd remove the " (!!) " from SLK3700AMB's description on page three (the 120 mm fans, which the emphasis refers to, are a pretty common feature these days), but that's up to you.

qviri -- thanks for your comments re- the Aug 17/06 update of this article. Most changes made... along with a few other tweaks.

Updated a few times this year, the latest being Nov 16, 2007.

Hi Mike,

What about adding the Sonata Designer 500 (or whatever it is called) to the P150/Solo?

right -- done.

Hello Mike

I'd be interested to read some results about NEW CASES in the market, like
- antec P190
- nexus (all models)
- Lian-Li PC201B / S-80

It would also be interesting to have a comparisation of noise levels with the cheapest (not silent) ATX-midi case in the market, WT-FL07

Ditto on the P190
Impressive looking case - but is the price tag worth it?

anyone know if antec are planning to bring out a new case in the p18x series?

there is no mention of the HFX mini in this otherwise great article
i think this case deserves mentioning since it's pretty unique

I was hoping for a more updated list of recommended cases.

It's coming. Meanwhile, just go through the recent reviews.

Pretty much completely revised -- http://www.silentpcreview.com/Case_Basi ... mendations

Nice update, thanks!

One question... On the page 6 / current cases you list volume in litres as a reference to size (nice!) but don't show a rating for noise and airflow. On the page 7 (retired cases) you do show ratings for noise and airflow.

It would be nice to see a rating on the current cases to show noise and airflow... I really don't care how a case I can no longer buy performs, but it would be helpful to be able to compare cases that I may be buying in the future.

Is there any proof for this?

I'm not sure that's there's any definitive study which "proves" this, but I can vouch from personal experience that very low/no airflow PCs do tend to break sooner. For more info, just go through some electronics/thermal documentation sites. Try, for example, a search on Tony Kordyban.

We wanted to get away from this. It was too specific, and it's too dependent on chosen components and local conditions. Those things will be removed from the retired list as well. My reasons are detailed in the article: