Nice that you wrote a follow-up on this case. And thanks for the PSU flipping tip! Could've saved me a bit of trouble when I built a server for someone a few weeks ago.

Would have been nice to see some photos of the system fully built (since you had to build it to test it!) but nice review anyway.

For small cases, Antec should supply modular power supplies. Actually they should just make them standard across the board!

Sounds like the earthwatts PSU is pretty good, but not perfect.

I wonder if it could be improved with a nexus or s-flex fan swap?

One thing I didn't see discussed- how do you mount drives in the case?

Do optical drives and floppies use the P180 style rails?

How are 3.5 inch drives mounted in the case?

No rails, screws. 3.5" drives are silicone grommet damped. See NSK3300 review as recommended in the review.

I have both a P180 and NSK3400.

I think one thing that I would definitely like to see improved is the fact that NSK3480 does not have dust filters.

Alex

The 3480 is a very small case. Do you want the filters to be added on the exterior? Where? Do you want the filters to be added inside? Without increasing the case size?

If there was room to add filters, the non-filter folk would be clamoring for a smaller case... and there are more non-filter folk than filter folk, IMHO.

lethalox --

We've discussed P180 dust filters elsewhere. Yes, they help keep dust out but if you forget to clean the filters in a dusty environment, the component temps will rise up badly. On the flip side, if you don't use filters in a dusty environment, yes, the components will get dusty, but no way will the temps rise in the same way because air continues to flow through the case rather than being blocked at the filters. A dusty fan still spins and moves air, dusty fins with air moving across them still cools components -- the effect is not bad till the dust gets pretty thick.

Bottom line -- all computers need periodic cleaning, but forgetting to do so in a system with a dust filter can lead to overheating in a pretty short period of time.

ps -- I have not always held this opinion; I've come to it over time and experience with dust, filters, cats and pc cleaning.

Felger - I think the dust filters could be added in between the front bezel an the case like the Sonata.

MikeC - I was not advocating that you don't have to clean out the insides of the computer just be case it has a dust filter. I clean the dust filters on my always on P180 once a month, and the interior of the case once a year. I have open the NSK every quarter. A lot more work.

Alex

lethalox --

yes, I know. I'm saying people are mostly not so diligent as you. I only clean every 4-6 months w/ or w/o filters -- basically when I think of it. In such cases, no filter is safer. I don't that a filter makes/breaks a case, its the overall cooling / acoustic design that matters.

A. Will the 8800gtx fit in there without requiring any cutting?
B. Will the 380watt psu power a system with a 8800gtx?

A. Theres a good 2 or 3 inches from the edge of the motherboard to the front of the interior of the case, with no drive cages in the bottom front which is what usually interferes with such long vga cards. So i dont see an issue with fitting an 8800gtx in this case.

B. A single 8800gtx with say a C2D will draw around 225w or so at load. The stock psu may ramp up and be too loud for you, but as far as being capable, it will be.

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Ive got the originial 3300, and i love it. Everything i see in this review, to me, looks to be an upgrade from the original. That add'd to the fact that you can get the case with an 80+ certified seasonic psu for under $100 from newegg is amazing. If your on a budget, or you want something smaller than a P150/solo, this is the case for you.

I may want to upgrade the PSU on my 3300 in the future, i think ive seen others mod it to make a standard atx psu fit in them.

@oakdad: why get a 8800 GTX today, when in a week you should be able to get the 8800 GT, with performance between GTS and GTX?
Even if the GTX fits, it exhausts a lot of heat into the case, and may result in frying your bottom-placed HDD.
The 8800 GT should use about 60% of the GTX's power (less PSU ramp-up) and be easily cooled by aftermarket coolers - if they are compatible.

For some reason I remember hearing that the 8800 GTS is actually hotter than the GTX. Or at least the GTX has a better cooling solution?

he said 8800 GT, not GTS. Its a new upcomming video card.

a nice addition would be some kind of cats cradle suspension tray (there's a company that do them, just can't remember their name) to suspend a HDD in the upper chamber. DIY suspension would be a bit awkward due to space constraints.

Otherwise, this is a pretty neat case, certainly one I'd consider if I was in the market.

Most (all?) 8800GTS have the same style of two-slot cooler that the GTX has, so with lower clocks and less memory I see no reason for it to be hotter.

Will this PSU power a Q6600 @ 3Ghz 24/7 for folding ?
Will this BOX cool a Q6600 @ 3Ghz 24/7 for folding ?

I'll use a G33 board so no extra graphic card is required, just a HDD. No CD/DVD/... things.

R.

I don't see any reason why not, without looking it up I'm not exactly sure where the Q6600 TDP is and overclocking to 3GHz is only half the story, the important factor is how much voltage will it take to get to 3GHz. Even so I would guess CPU power consumption 100-150w so 150-200w for the whole system under load. The PSU will power that no problem, how quietly I'm not sure. Like wise the case has twin 92mm fan intakes and 120mm exhaust, same as many full size cases, like the Solo/P150. Even if the front intake is a little restrictive there is the side air duct and the vented PCI slot covers to help air in, that the PSU has it's own chamber helps too. So cooling potential is there, but may not be the quietest.
I believe the latest "G0" stepping Q6xxx CPUs use less watts to start with and overclock easier, ie with less voltage increase. The ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme seams to be about as good as it gets for air cooling. Other large 120mm fan tower favourites like the Ninja (possible with mounted with bolts not pins) should work well too, I don't think there are many issues with case size and large heatsinks.
Regards, Seb

I'm investigating using one of these cases as my HTPC rig, and I'm wondering if it is possible to make room for some extra hard drives. I'm looking to have at least 3, but hopefully more.

So basically, 1 dvd burner (is it possible to buy really short blu ray drives?) at the top, one hdd below that in a 5,25 -> 3,5 converter thing (with rubber to dampen vibrations of course).

Then I'm guessing it is possible to mount 1 hdd in the floppy bay, although I'd really like to see how the screw holes are aligned at the other side so to speak, to see if what I'm suggesting below is possible at all.

Now to the building part, is it possible to create some kind of drive bay below the floppy?

It would be nice to construct rails down the case to which you could attach hard drives. This would make use of one of the 92mm fans that are so conveniently placed. Also I'd like to know if by doing that I happen to obstruct anything on the motherboard? It is kind of hard to see when you don't have a case in front of you.

I need all these disks because I'd really like my legally backed up dvds to be available in a snap!

Do you know if it is possible?

Addendum:
I just now realized the bottom placement of the hard drive, by reading the 3300 review. Perhaps it is possible to somehow mount two or more drives on top of each other from the bottom, instead of letting them hang down below the floppy bay.

Cheers,
J

NewEgg just sent me a 3480 and I was kind of shocked to see the power supply was already flipped from the factory.

I own this case (EU model - I live in Italy) and I don't think you could fit 3HDDs + 1 DVD in this case... it's a great case, but 1 HDD (bottom soft-mounted) + 1 dvd is the "right" config.

If you put a 2nd HDD in top bay, it would block some airflow to the PSU.
The floppy bay is sufficient for just a floppy or a memory card reader...

Better you look at another case for your HDDs' array

So, is it 100% safe to flip the PSU? I bought this case 4 months ago, and I got the "classic" PSU location...

To those who asked about the real power this PSU can output: I am using an Intel Dual Core e2140 @2660 MHz (fsb from 200 -> 333) and a PEAK RADEON x1950 PRO 512mb (gpu: 580MHz; memory: 1400MHz), a 400gb Seagate sata2, 20x dvd-burner.

No problem at all: internet surfing, dvd-burning, 3D games like Half-Life 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Everything goes 100% ok.

This PSU it's great, all the real power goes to the +12V (the really useful one).

I'm just going to flip it to make it perfect, LOL.

I have 1 little problem: I bought 2 silent 92mm fans - but only then I realized that the thin, long screws bundled with the case are too slim for the regular fans' holes.
Also, there are no soft-mounting rubbers.

I already took out the back fan (the noisy Antec TriCool!) and mounted a silent Tacens Aura. Luckily, the back fan screws were standard (and standard holes too).

Give me some advices to fix the front fans, please

Can someone recommend a DVD-RW (sata preferably) that fits in the upper space. One of the few marks left on my build. Thanks.

nm. I choose this one:
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM

I've got the SAMSUNG SH-S203P and it works just fine.

Nexus Silicon Fan Mounts?

yeah, thanks, good idea.

Another question: I tried 2 dvdrw drives in this case - the width of both was about 3-4 mm less then the width of the inner side of case.
Any tip on how to fix this? I glued some metal washers (only those available, at that time), but I'm looking to swap them with silicone or rubber washers. Silicone/rubber is better then metal, right?

I just build a system with this case and found myself in trouble with the second HD. It couldn't fit on the bottom of the case because the passive 9600GT videocards cooler would basically touch it.. However!

When you get the HD ''tray'' and bend two of the mounting 'lips' 90 degrees, you can put the HD on its side, between the side panel and PCI cards, just fitting below the Scythe Ninja, and allowing more airflow over the gfx card.

Just a pair of pliers and you're done! It is not ideal from a vibration point of view probably, but space is so limited, it at least works well. Even thought he 9600GT is a 'radiator', the HD sofar never went over 35c..