If I go with an aluminum case (questions)

lessbluez · Post by **lessbluez** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:43 pm

would 1.2mm thickness be pretty decent for aluminum?

i have to say, my old lite-on fs020 (tank) was one of the quietest cases i've owned. i want to get a new case with 12cm fans that can hold at least six hard drives. i thought about the p180 but not really a fan. the fact that they still have door problems on their cases really bothers me too.

i'd like a fairly attractive case, 12cm fans, with or without a door.

a few i'm lookin at:

Akasa Eclipse

Silverstone Temjin tJ06

what i like about the akasa is the width, good for airflow and dual 12cm exhaust fans. kinda industrial looking which is neat. the aluminum worries me a little especially since i'll have 6 hard drives in it. when i switched from my FS020 to an Antec Sonata (.8mm) I was really disappointed, of course I now know why (thick steel).

TomZ · Post by **TomZ** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:06 pm

You might also want to look at the Lian-Li cases (http://www.lian-li.com). They are very well-built. I have a PC-V1100B, and I'm pretty happy with it. The aluminum is pretty thick.

I would say that 1.2mm is pretty good. You should also look for cases that have a lot of fasteners (rivets or screws) that hold things together. Also, dampening material on the inside will help (like the PC-V1100 has, or you can add it yourself).

lessbluez · Post by **lessbluez** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:20 pm

I did look at some lian-li's. The PC-V1100 is really quite nice, just out of my budget (~150, also buying an s12-430!).

Thanks for the dampening suggestion, will definitely have to get some.

I think with the akasa just about everything is removeable (sides, top, hard drive cages, mobo tray..). It looks solidly built, was hoping someone spcr might have one and can say.

from the akasa site:

The Eclipse-62 is an exceptional case, both in material quality and in design....smooth black exterior and interior chassis contrasting with the mirror finish stainless steel removable motherboard tray. Made from 1.2mm aluminium with removable sides, top and front panels, total access. Designed for front and rear 120 x 25mm fans giving massive airflow with ultra quiet sound level.

amjedm · Post by **amjedm** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 2:22 pm

I have the Globalwin version of the Akasa. Basically the same case but a bit older and no Akasa branding.

I cut out the rear and front fan grills. At one stage with my Barracuda IV and modded Fortron psu the computer was very very quiet.

Now it's quietish as it has a Seasonic 400W Tornado and a Barracuda V.

Hard drive is suspended and the front fan (Yate Loon D12SL) and rear fan (Yate Loon D12SM Blue LED) have blu tack and zip ties as mounting - thanks to SPCR.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:09 pm

1.2mm is pretty thin for aluminum.....not as flimsy as a Lanboy which is about 1.0mm. My AMS is 2.0mm, and is strong enough to stand on it.

Actually aluminum gets a bad rap around here....mostly due to flimsy cases like that Antec. The thicker the better. Go for a 2.0mm case if you can find one.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:27 pm

lessbluez wrote: ...P180... the fact that they still have door problems on their cases really bothers me too.

I've seen several posts regarding door issues... However, I havent noticed any problems with my sample, which was bought late january.

Without being sure, I tend to say you'll having a hard time finding a case, which is better suited for six HDD's, than a P180. And 6 drives will be hard to quiet down, unless you'll store them in another room

TomZ · Post by **TomZ** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 4:19 pm

Thomas wrote:I tend to say you'll having a hard time finding a case, which is better suited for six HDD's, than a P180.

The Lian-Li that I suggested eariler will hold 6 drives in the lower area alone, plus however many you might want to put in the 5¼" drive bays.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:42 pm

TomZ wrote:
Thomas wrote:I tend to say you'll having a hard time finding a case, which is better suited for six HDD's, than a P180.
The Lian-Li that I suggested eariler will hold 6 drives in the lower area alone, plus however many you might want to put in the 5¼" drive bays.

I cant find much info about the PC-V1100B. Does it come with some kind of HDD decoupling?

Maybe I wasnt speciific enough: There's not much cases with room for 6 HDD's AND some kind of decoupling; The P180 "only" have grommets, but they are of a very high quality and are pretty good for decoupling the drives.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 12:19 am

Bluefront wrote:1.2mm is pretty thin for aluminum.....not as flimsy as a Lanboy which is about 1.0mm. My AMS is 2.0mm, and is strong enough to stand on it.

Actually aluminum gets a bad rap around here....mostly due to flimsy cases like that Antec. The thicker the better. Go for a 2.0mm case if you can find one.

Personally I don't see a point in thick aluminium cases. Thick aluminium sort of beats the purpose of aluminium cases (light weight) and thin aluminium cases aren't ideal acoustically.

moritz · Post by **moritz** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:58 am

Actually, the purpose of aluminium cases is looking good, and thick aluminium performs admirably in that regard.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:34 am

moritz wrote:Actually, the purpose of aluminium cases is looking good, and thick aluminium performs admirably in that regard.

Good paint job (like Sonata or P150) is more important then the material, unless brushed aluminium is your thing...

Qwertyiopisme · Post by **Qwertyiopisme** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:45 am

If you dont care much for the aluminum then the CoolerMaster Stacker 810 is very good. It has space for extremely many harddisks (dont remember ATM, over 10 I think) and has very good cooling (ths entire front side is a mesh, and has two 120mm openings on the back).

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:27 am

The Stacker might have good cooling, and definately a lots of room for drives etc. But it's mentioned in several threads, that if silence/quietness is the goal, then this case aint the way to go.

TomZ · Post by **TomZ** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:34 am

Thomas wrote:I cant find much info about the PC-V1100B. Does it come with some kind of HDD decoupling?

That cases uses a system of screws and plastic rails shown here:
http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/ ... 0/pg_4.htm
While this does decouple a little, it is not 100% effective, and some seek noise still does transfer to the case. I think there is room to suspend the drives by removing the plastic rails.

Personally I don't see a point in thick aluminium cases. Thick aluminium sort of beats the purpose of aluminium cases (light weight) and thin aluminium cases aren't ideal acoustically.

Even with thick aluminum, they are still a lot lighter than steel cases. The Lian-Li is around 5-6lbs. ligher than Antec P150 or P180.

Good paint job (like Sonata or P150) is more important then the material, unless brushed aluminium is your thing...

I personally like the look of black anodized aluminum. It's not real glossy like the piano black cases (doesn't show fingerprints as much), and you don't have to worry about the paint ever chipping - anodize is very rugged.

If you dont care much for the aluminum then the CoolerMaster Stacker 810 is very good. It has space for extremely many harddisks (dont remember ATM, over 10 I think) and has very good cooling (ths entire front side is a mesh, and has two 120mm openings on the back).

If you're interested in quiet cooling, probably should avoid open mesh cases entirely. They allow a direct path from noise sources to your ear.

Mr Evil · Post by **Mr Evil** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:36 am

Erssa wrote:Personally I don't see a point in thick aluminium cases. Thick aluminium sort of beats the purpose of aluminium cases (light weight) and thin aluminium cases aren't ideal acoustically.

Aluminium can be up to ~3x thicker than steel before the weight advantage is lost. Is that thick enough to even out the acoustic properties?

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:46 am

Mr Evil wrote:
Erssa wrote:Personally I don't see a point in thick aluminium cases. Thick aluminium sort of beats the purpose of aluminium cases (light weight) and thin aluminium cases aren't ideal acoustically.
Aluminium can be up to ~3x thicker than steel before the weight advantage is lost. Is that thick enough to even out the acoustic properties?

At least it is expensive enough...

Mr Evil · Post by **Mr Evil** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:45 am

Erssa wrote:At least it is expensive enough...

That is certainly a factor. Plus the environmental damage associated with aluminium.

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:45 pm

Mr Evil wrote:
Erssa wrote:At least it is expensive enough...
That is certainly a factor. Plus the environmental damage associated with aluminium.

?

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:59 pm

Looks at his aluminum case.....quiet, classy, reasonably light, strong with 2mm frame and panels, doesn't have "Antec" written on it......environmentally un-friendly? Shakes head...

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:21 pm

Bluefront wrote:Looks at his aluminum case.....quiet, classy, reasonably light, strong with 2mm frame and panels, doesn't have "Antec" written on it......environmentally un-friendly? Shakes head...

I bet he meant the cost of electricity it takes to manufacture aluminium...

Mr Evil · Post by **Mr Evil** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:32 pm

Shadowknight wrote:
Mr Evil wrote:That is certainly a factor. Plus the environmental damage associated with aluminium.
?

Erssa perceived my meaning. Aluminium is one of the most difficult metals to extract from ore. It takes huge amounts of electrical power to do it; aluminium refineries virtually require whole power stations to themselves.

In many applications this can be offset by the corrosion resistance of aluminium compared to steel, which can increase the lifespan of the part and the reduced weight can improve fuel efficiency of vehicles, but that doesn't affect PC cases. This is why it is very important to try to recycle as much aluminium as you can.

Flying Dutchman · Post by **Flying Dutchman** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 5:11 pm

lessbluez wrote: i thought about the p180 but not really a fan. the fact that they still have door problems on their cases really bothers me too.

I own a P180 SPCR ( edition

) edition and had the same issue with the door. However, sending a request to Antec solved this problem, I've received a new door (actually an entire new front bezel with door) today and just fitted it a couple of minutes ago. All it costed me was the time to send the request, some waiting days and frustration over my old door which wouldn't close properly. I now have the new door and finally my P180 is complete. If you like the looks of it so damn much like I do, order it! If it comes with a crappy door at least you know you'll get a new one sent to you.... for free!

Uwackme · Post by **Uwackme** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:50 am

Ill stick with my AMS CF1009, non-window case. I mod'd the front to use a single 120mm. Quality was excellent, and yes strong enough to stand on.

Plenty of air flow, I have a 3rd 120mm fan inside on a Zalman bracket, blowing on my DDR/Mosfets. All 3 120mm Nexus fans running 7volts, very quiet. Loudest thing is my 165 Opteron stock HSF.

I used 3 hard disk trays from SuperLanBoy cases, and rigged them up to mount a 250G ide, and 2 36G raptors on thier sides behind the front 120mm, so rubber mounts to the tray, the 3 trays fastened together, and resting on the case floor on a bed of acousta-foam.

Next issue is quieting my new X1900XT.

If I go with an aluminum case (questions)

If I go with an aluminum case (questions)

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Re: If I go with an aluminum case (questions)

Re: If I go with an aluminum case (questions)

hmmm