Help me decide on a case please.

Getting ready to build a new computer with silence (and performance) in mind. I'm having trouble deciding on which case to get.

I want:
- high quality, solid, sturdy case
- good looks, probably black
- (4) external 5.25" drive bays
- ease of access (easy pop off door like Antec's)

There's been two cases in the running: Antec SLK3700AMB and Globalwin YCC-61F1-B

Globalwin YCC-61F1-B
Pros
- Nice, large, roomy, good for cooling
- Unique, different looking, good looking black aluminium
- removeable motherboard tray
- extra slot up front for ports

Cons:
- Expensive $165 without power supply
- sharp edges
- aluminium may be noisier?
- scratches easily
- rare, hard to find, little info out there

Antec SLK3700AMB
Pros
- Inexpensive $73 with power supply
- shock mounting for drives
- (2) 120 mm fan design (in and out)
- easy open door
- general rugged build quality of Antec brand

Cons:
- Antique Metallic Bronze color, haven't seen, don't know if I'd like, not black
- Power supply: may not be quiet, buy a new one, savings lost
- Front door: seems like a hinderance not a help. My tower sits on the floor off to my right. The door would be in the way every time I need to access any drives. Also, I may put some funky fanbus with knobs in one of the bays, don't know if door would interfere.

Anyone care to address any of these issues I've mentioned with these two cases? Elaborate? Other brands or models I should be looking at?

Thanks in advance.

Well I've got an Antec 2600....very similar to the 3700. The color is actually a medium metalic gray, and very pretty. Almost an automotive finish.

The door actually keeps down the noise, but it's a close fit to the front of the drives. I suppose you could mount your device a little further back so you could close the door.

This is the best, quietest case I've ever had. Love it.

Might I recommend the gMono mid-tower? Only $45, and the black automotive paint job and front acrylic are gorgeous. I was extremely surprised. Not only that, but it has drive bays galore (4 exposed 5.25"), front USB and FireWire ports, and overall construction and build quality is fantastic.

The only thing I didn't like was the rather difficult time I had installing a PSU (Antec TruePower). Kind of a wedged fit, but that's partly because I did it after the mobo was installed.

And it has a neat blue LED light that refracts off the acrylic front =)

The SLK3700 is the best case I've ever used, I love the heck out of it. I've never been a FanBoy about anything but this case is testing my resolve.

The color is not "bronze" at all. I don't know where Antec gets this from. It's more like a very dark silver-metallic or a medium-dark gray metallic. I think CompUSA and Fry's carries the 2600 and it's the same color, you could check it out there, or look at these pics. This is pretty close to the real color but not perfect. The actual color is a tiny bit lighter and more metallic and it's very shiny.

The PSU isn't as quiet as a TruePower but you could always swap out the fans for quieter versions. There's been tons of posts about doing just that in the PSU forums.

The front door does keep the drive noise down a bit. Before I bought my first Antec SX1030 I was sure the door would bug me, just for the reasons you pointed out, but after I got my first one I found that I didn't mind the door at all. There is not much clearance between the door and the drive bays. If you're thinking of running a baybus/reobus you'll probably have to mount it below flush.

To the SLK3700 "Pro" list I'd add: Front mounted USB ports and built-in fan filter on front bezel.

In your Globalwin "Pros" list you talk about "extra slot up front for ports". Do you mean an extra floppy bay? If so, the SLK3700 has an extra floppy bay as well.

So much for not being a fanboy Ralf You're the one who turned me on to this case, and it's looking like the one I'll end up buying.

Would you order black CD's and floppy drives for this? Yeah, I know they'll be covered, but you wouldn't be the first to call me anal.

The slot I was referring to for the Globalwin case is like an expansion card slot -- the same size and shape as the 7 on the back of a standard case. This would be nice so you can mount whatever kind of ports you want.

Actually beige colored drives go very well with the grey metallic. Since you'll probably be using it with the door closed, I wouldn't mess with changing color.

I won't be changing the colors. I'm ordering a new DVD/CDRW and a new floppy. Black is the same price. Does black look good too?

Well, you wouldn't be the first to call me anal either. I'd get beige drives and paint them to match the case. When I first got this case I threw it together with beige drives jsut to see how it ran. I didn't like the look of the beige + dark gray combo but apparently I'm in the minority here.





Here's a picture of my main rig in a Coolermaster case with the drives painted:

Well, I just voted in my own poll, chose the Antec case. I voted with my cash yesterday and ordered it.

Ralf - you've got black drives pictured in the Antec, right? I think they look fine.

Your picture of the Coolermaster is leading me to post-purchase doubt. My CPU sits to my right so the Coolermaster drive opening on the right hinge seems much more convenient. What is the model/specs on the Coolermaster?

Don't have second thoughts, you'll love this case.



No, those drives are painted to match the case. They are a dark gray metallic shade called "Medium Quartz Metallic" on the can.



That's a Coolermaster ATC-710. It's basically an Antec SX10x0 case with an aluminum front bezel on it. The door comes hinged on the other side (like all the Antecs do) but I was poking around and found that I could reverse the door just by moving some hardware around. You can't do that on any of the Antec/Chieftec/Chenming/Enermax clones without actually cutting and modding the bezel.

Here's a review of it. You can find more reviews by Googling. Here's the best (and cheapest) place to buy these from. I think they're a front for the Coolermaster company. I've been back in their werehouse (to pick up my case) and the entire thing is filled with Coolermaster case boxes. It looks like something from the last scene of "Indiana Jones". One advantage of the Coolermaster is that it comes without a PSU or fans so you're not paying extra fro something you're just going to pull out and replace anyway.

I have both of these cases and if I had to choose between them I'd go with the SLK3700. I just love this case. Don't get me wrong, the SX10x0-based cases are great cases, I just think the SLK3700 is better. I've even tossed around the idea of selling my Coolermaster to replace it with another 3700. Not only is it a better case, that way I'd have matching cases sitting side-by-side. Much better for the Feng-shui!

Like Ralf, want to be like Ralf....

You've got the display I want too! Is that a Dell 1900FP? I've got my heart set on the Samsung 191T and recently figured out that the Dell 1900FP is the same thing OEM'd. This is according to newsgroup postings I've seen on the subject.

Several people have mentioned that the Samsung 191T can pivot from portrait to landscape orientation. I don't think it's readily obvious that it can. Some did mention that software is included to reorient the display. Do you know if your Dell 1900FP (assuming it's a Samsung OEM).

One other thing: this display is on sale at Dell right now for 15% off $799, or $679.

Yes, that's the Dell 1900FP. It is, by far the single best computer purchase I've ever made. It is an absolutely phenominal monitor. The display is just stunning. I use the DVI input, it is much sharper than the analog input.

It is identical to the Samsung 191T except for two features. The first is the pivot feature, the Samsung does it, the Dell doesn't. The second is the ability of the Samsung to run in a "letterbox" mode to run games at 4:3. LCDs are 5:4 screen ratio and CRTs are 4:3. Apparently some games won't run at 5:4 and supposedly look "funny" when forced to run at that ratio. I'm playing NOLF2 right now which is the first game I've played that won't run at 1280 x 1024. It runs at 1280 x 960 so, supposedly, it should look a little stretched out but I sure can't tell. This issue is/was dealt with in a huge LCD thread in the audio/video section at Ars Technica.

I've used the Samsung with the pivot feature and, as far as I'm concerned, it's next to worthless unlees you're typing documents all the time. It's not too helpful for reading things like forums if you know how to use the "Page Down" key. The Samsung pivoting software (you need this) is kind of buggy too.

I'd definitely get the 1900FP for the $679 if I was you. You might look around on Fatwallet or Dealcatcher or Gotapex or Techbargains for other Dell coupons. When I bought mine I got 20% off, plus free 2nd day shipping. Even with all that I paid just over $1100 back when I bought it last April. Another good reason to buy from Dell is that they have a VERY good return policy. They don't have any kind of "dead pixel" policy like most vendors do. You can return it for basically any reason, i.e. one or two dead pixels.

Newegg has the Samsung 191T for $800 if you're interested but they have an "8 dead pixel" policy.

My 1900FP had zero dead pixels so I didn't have to deal with it but my previous LCD monitor (a 17" Samsung) did have one dead pixel. The good thing was that it was off to the side. I've seen an LCD with a dead pixel near the center and it was disconcerting, depending on the background color.

the Antec SLK3700AMB looks pretty slick. I might get it due to the price, functionality, etc. But one question was brought up that wasn't answered. Would a baybus get in the way of the door? i was thinkin of adding a 3.5" baybus to regulate the fans. would that prevent the door from closing? DAG! if this thing had one more 3.5" bay I'd buy it right now!

o ya... how quiet is this case? did u do some sound-proofing on the inside? thx again for the info... awesome pics!!

The door is pretty close to the face of the 5¼" bay covers. I highly doubt that the knobs/switches would clear. Maybe you could mount it directly to the metal plate of the case, that way it would be recessed enough to clear the door.



The case is very quiet with no additional soundproofing materials added. It's pretty thick steel plus it has grommet-mounted HDDs which contributes to the lower noise.

Ralf -- does the SLK3700AMB have a removable right side panel?

You betcha.

That's one of my biggest gripes with the Sonata - it doesn't. I don't know how in the h*ll Antec could even think about making a case w/o a removable right-side panel.

One thing missing from this case -- an internal speaker!

I think that maybe my Asus P4PE with built-in audio may be smart enough to use the external speakers though. Do most cases these days not come with speakers?

You know I too was wondering about the non-removable top and right side on my 2600. But when you look at it closely you see how much more sturdy, solid and less vibration-prone the riveted-together one pice top and side makes the whole case. The setup IMHO greatly adds to the quietness of the case.

Yeah but it makes it a PITA to hide your unused PSU wiring and to run your existing PSU wiring. I f you look at the pics of my case in the Gallery you'll see no wiring in it. It's there, it's just hidden/routed behind the MoBo tray. You can't do that on a Sonata. That's just not acceptable to me. YMMV.

Yeah I saw your setup....very nice. But my 2600 has every slot filled, duct-work to channel fresh air to the cpu, a DigitalDoc5 with all eight sensor wires attached everywhere, a set of hard drives in a cage sitting on the bottom, foam sound deadening stuffed everywhere. Hell you can hardly find the wiring even if you look. And since the case has no window, who cares if you can see the wiring when the side is off?

The 2600 uses 80mm fans...more readily available. And in my case, I have air filters over the front and rear fans. The slightly smaller 80mm openings made the fitting of good filters possible. I use hi-quality pleated paper filters front and rear. My case stays clean...very clean.

It also has a front 120mm intake. I would advise cutting out the grill they have because it is rather restrictive.

Why would you put filters in the rear? Also, it would be nice to get some pics of your rig (if you haven't already posted them somewhere)?

Well I guess I should take some pics, but I'm not 100% finished. When I think it's done, I'll get some posted.

To answer the filter question.....both front and rear fans blow into the case. This is called a positive pressure setup, and is intended to keep the case as clean as possible. For the front filter I use a Briggs and Stratton filter #5028. It's a tight fit but it does fit behind the front cover of a 2600, and covers the 80mm fan port nicely. However, it is somewhat restrictive because of it's relatively small size, so I only run the front fan at 1600rpm.

The rear filter is a PowerCare (lawnmower) filter #165-036 H-KAF-110. This is a much bigger filter and fits perfectly over the rear fan port of the Antec 2600. The rear fan can be run as fast as possible with little restriction. Both the filters can be found at HomeDepot.