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cases with PSU at bottom

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:17 am
by forester joe
can we make a list of cases with the PSU located at the bottom?
of course a review/opinion would be good.

I haven't got one.

but I can list a few to start:

Cooler master: 590/690/cosmos
aerocool: zerodegree
antec: p180/p182

Lian Li PC-A05

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:16 am
by KlaymenDK
There's also the Lian Li PC-A05 case, which has the PSU at the bottom front.

No personal experience, but here's a review, semi-randomly picked from a google search.

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:41 am
by pcy
Hi,

My PaQ 4U-550 also has the PSU at the bottom:

http://www.paqt.co.uk/documents.html


Peter

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:46 pm
by bgiddins
Antec Three Hundred

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:08 pm
by HammerSandwich
Antec Mini P180, Nine Hundred, Twelve Hundred, P190
Cooler Master Stacker 810
Hiper Osiris
Lian-Li PC-60F, V series
Mountain Mods (all models, I believe)
NZXT Khaos, Tempest, Whisper
Silverstone FT-01, TJ-07, TJ-09, TJ-10

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:03 pm
by Koolpc
Would you say it is better to have the PSU at the bottom?

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:48 am
by tonschk
HammerSandwich wrote:Antec Mini P180, Nine Hundred, Twelve Hundred, P190
Cooler Master Stacker 810
Hiper Osiris
Lian-Li PC-60F, V series
Mountain Mods (all models, I believe)
NZXT Khaos, Tempest, Whisper
Silverstone FT-01, TJ-07, TJ-09, TJ-10
Thermaltake have done already the Spedo and three or four other cases with PSU at the bottom , many of the Coolermaster cases have PSU at the bottom , Zalman GS1000 have PSU at the bottom ,

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:56 am
by tonschk
Koolpc wrote:Would you say it is better to have the PSU at the bottom?

Countries with warm climate temperatures there's no question that I'd choose a case with a separate PSU intake. It'd be a basic necessity -- no other type of case would be recommended





Image

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 9:24 am
by HammerSandwich
Koolpc wrote:Would you say it is better to have the PSU at the bottom?
I couldn't call it better or worse, but it does allow ducting setups that top-mounted PSUs don't.

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:45 am
by pony-tail
Countries with warm climate temperatures there's no question that I'd choose a case with a separate PSU intake. It'd be a basic necessity -- no other type of case would be recommended
Not really true !
Where I live it gets into the low 40s (celsius) and after having had both cases with and without separate PSU chambers there is little if any advantage and NONE of them have out performed an SLK 3700 AMB (made a few years ago by Antec) and this includes the P180 and mini P180 . Bottom psu chambers theoretically allow the PSU to suck cool air instead of preheated air . Once the room temp hits 35c or so the PSU has already started to ramp up any way . The old SLK ( albeit with the rear fan grill removed and other openings opened up or closed as necessary ) still runs cooler than any other case I have built . Which is why I have re-used it in a recent Phenom 9950 / Dual 9800GTS Sli build . I suppose I could build a modded P180 to out perform the SLK but if it did it would not be by much . From a silence perspective The primary advantage is the hard drive mountings , both cases have rubber grommets but a drive that is , or appears to be quiet in a P180 may be noisy in the SLK . From my experience it is as much a matter of fashion as it is of purpose . It looks good on paper ( I thought so - until I had had them for a year ) but in practise some times tried and true is just as good .

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:28 am
by Zenphic
pony-tail wrote:
Countries with warm climate temperatures there's no question that I'd choose a case with a separate PSU intake. It'd be a basic necessity -- no other type of case would be recommended
Not really true !
Where I live it gets into the low 40s (celsius) and after having had both cases with and without separate PSU chambers there is little if any advantage and NONE of them have out performed an SLK 3700 AMB (made a few years ago by Antec) and this includes the P180 and mini P180 . Bottom psu chambers theoretically allow the PSU to suck cool air instead of preheated air . Once the room temp hits 35c or so the PSU has already started to ramp up any way . The old SLK ( albeit with the rear fan grill removed and other openings opened up or closed as necessary ) still runs cooler than any other case I have built . Which is why I have re-used it in a recent Phenom 9950 / Dual 9800GTS Sli build . I suppose I could build a modded P180 to out perform the SLK but if it did it would not be by much . From a silence perspective The primary advantage is the hard drive mountings , both cases have rubber grommets but a drive that is , or appears to be quiet in a P180 may be noisy in the SLK . From my experience it is as much a matter of fashion as it is of purpose . It looks good on paper ( I thought so - until I had had them for a year ) but in practise some times tried and true is just as good .
I would say that the problem about bottom chambers of Antec is that the hard drives are located there and heat up the air taken in by the power supply. If the power supply could intake air directly from the outside of the case (e.g. like in the CoolerMaster CM690 which has a dedicated PSU intake), you might have had different results.

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:09 pm
by pony-tail
would say that the problem about bottom chambers of Antec is that the hard drives are located there and heat up the air taken in by the power supply. If the power supply could intake air directly from the outside of the case (e.g. like in the CoolerMaster CM690 which has a dedicated PSU intake), you might have had different results.
The mini P180 doesn't have the hard drive in the bottom chamber . I have had a Lian li with a bottom mounted PSU as well - but no I have not had a Coolermaster CM690 . I do mainly buy Antec cases or InWin because I buy online and I generally have to buy without actually seeing the item first and with those I know that the build quality will be good even if the design is on occasion a little flawed . The design I like is an upper PSU chamber like the NSK 3480 but you do not often see this in a Full ATX case .