Well, I've decided to sell my 2 8800GTS Cards (ooh, I'll stick them on the For Sale board) and I'm going to get a modular PSU (got a few in mind and need to decide which one).

I've done a quick tidy up of the inside of my case and it's looking a lot better now.

Once I've done that I'm going to get myself a new HS for my CPU (probably a big passive thingy).

Once all that's done it's going to be very cramped in my PC case

I've been looking at this... CLICKY and it looks very good especially for the price.

Does anyone else have any opinions on cases?

I'm looking for something simple looking plain, possibly a window on the side, no bling. I like the fact that the one I linked has a cut out for access to the back of the CPU. Means I can build it with the current HSF and get the new one at a later date.

And then add stuff (water cooling, extra GPU, whatever) at a later date if I want to.

Thanks for the help.

They look a lot like the P180 tbh. If they half as good, they'll probably be rather good cases. Never used any of the Pxxx series cases, or the one you linked to though...

Couple of questions Ollie:

What's your budget?
How significant is the noise the system makes?
How likely are you to go with watercooling?

Whilst the case mentioned does look from the outside like the P18x series, the inside is notably different, and as such I doubt it is as good.

Well, my first purchase is a nice modular PSU and my new case will have to reflect that most of all.

In order of importance this is what I'm after:

Simple but nice to look at (possibly with window)
well built
quiet
clean inside

watercooling isn't something I'm thinking about straight away but if I get a nice case with some tidy wiring etc (something I have never had before) then it is something I'm willing to have a go at (especially if there is a window through which I can see the stuff working).

I never really budget for things but I'm willing to look around and see what you can get for what sort of money.

If you are wanting a tidy build, both the Antec P183 and the Silverstone Fortress are real winners. The Fortress comes with a window, the Antec doesn't, however I believe there are places that sell replacement panels.

I'm part way through a build in a Fortress and it's quite possibly the best case I've used. Some bits of cable management can be a touch fiddly, but it leads to one of the neatest cabling jobs I done so far.

The Fortress looks nice.

Just having a browse at various prices and the Corsair Obsidian 800 looks VERY nice!

+£200 though

I've shortlist the Coolermaster ATCS 840 Tower as my replacement.

Cheapest price I've found is Scan at £161

Have you got that case yet? It looks great in the pics, but I'd like to know your thoughts on it.

Regards

Spreadie

Ooh, looks very nice.

I like the slide out mobo tray.

Lots of space for cable routing also.

The only thing I would do with it is turn the insides black instead of silver.

I really like the idea of the P193. John and Jon, have you built anything with one? What do you think?

That Fortress looks nice and it's certainly light (which would be nice in case I want to go to a mate's and game till the wee hours). But isn't it a touch small? I need room for at least 4 HDDs and decent but quiet cooling.

I've built in both the P182 and the Fortress.

Both are really good cases imho. The primary problems with the P182 are weight and the door. Also, if you have a decent sized GPU you have to drop the number of HDDs it will take to 3 to allow room for the GPU.

The Fortress is a better case in pretty much every regard, but it does cost more. Layout is nicer (although the P182 is still pretty damned good), it's much lighter, and it will take 7 HDDs whilst still leaving room for a large GPU. I also prefer the brushed aluminium look.

Both allow for very neat cable management as well, with space behind the motherboard tray for running cables.

If you want to, I have a Fortress on my desk at the moment which you're welcome to come and have a ganders at.

I'd love to pop up, but having just had my birthday in Plymouth, watched a Raiders game, been out on the large and done a full evening at Warner Village including Up 3D, dinner, bowling and arcade - I'm a little short on gas money right now!!

Any chance of some pics?

I didn't realize it was that roomy. That alongside the unibody Mac Pro-ness of it all and the weight make it a definite contender. Is it quiet though and what's the cooling config?

It's pretty damned good on the noise front. The sides are lined with foam as standard, which is a great start. Also, 2 out of the 3 fans are 180mm rather than 120mm, so they are a lot quieter for the amount of air they shift. The stock 120mm is pretty decent (much better than the Antec stock ones) at least as far as noise is concerned.

The motherboard is currently being RMA'd, but once I have it built I will take some pictures for you. I had a quick search on google images, but they were all done with no thought to cable management in mind, which I thought did it rather a disservice.

Jon, could you comment on the comments at the bottom of this page?