PCFormat Forum Archive

Thanks Dae... seing as you mod with the stuff I seriously consider your input. Do you have pics of your mod ?

I had a Lian-Li PC-A71F and agree completely with DAE. It's in a completely different league to Thermaltake stuff, and the difference in price is well worth it IMO. After getting used to the quality and beautiful design of Lian-Li cases I also wouldn't be able to touch something like Thermaltake again...

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:

PureFire wrote:Im sorry, but those issues you had were YEARS ago.
MANY years ago.

And? What's that got to do with it? Thermal take stuff is still low quality, anyone can tell you that. The only things that resembled any form of quality that they've made recently is that level 10 case and that 750W tough power psu.

PureFire wrote:Its a case, not a CPU cooler, it cant fail on you.

Hmmm, if you say so.

RuadRauFlessa wrote:and then see if the extra $$$ for the LL is justified or if it is merely for the name.

it's definitely not just a name when it comes to LL. Those cases are hand crafted out of brushed aluminium, and feature what is almost unparalleled design and build quality. You'd be nuts to buy a TT over a LL if you could afford both.

Anyway, I just finished mod doing an A77F, and I'll tell you from personal experience, that case is awesome. Well designed, minimalist finish, etc. I'd be happy to use that as my case any day.

And how, almighty Dae, do you know that TT stuff is still such low quality?
Do you check all TT products for QC? Sit on their production lines?

And Please explain how a case is going to fail?? i would love to know!

Thermaltake have a range starting at low-budget going up to higher end stuff. Leon Lee don't have low-end products so all their cases are expensive. At least when you compare the two you should keep that in mind because you can't say Mazda is better quality than VW based on your 1977 VW Golfie experience.

edit: I have a Leon Lee case and it is terrible. The screw sockets have stripped after taking apart a few times and the case itself is a fingerprint magnet. They drives don't fit properly into the bays and the stealth drive thingy doesn't open properly. Worst R2000 that I ever spent.

I also have a R400 Thermaltake case and quite a few of their heatsinks. No problems to report yet...

it's a case... if it has good airflow, sufficient fan mounts and decent layout design i could care less if it was assembled by monks in some mystical andean retreat, lovingly polished with the skins of ritually slaughtered iguanas, or soldered together by a dyslexic shoe sharpener with a nervous tick...

it's a case... you're going to toss it eventually, why the need to get emotionally attached to it?

to be fair, i rarely fiddle with the case post install... aside from slapping in a new drive/gpu...

PureFire wrote:And how, almighty Dae, do you know that TT stuff is still such low quality?
Do you check all TT products for QC? Sit on their production lines?

And Please explain how a case is going to fail?? i would love to know!

You know what? I'm tired of the way you speak to me. I've never been rude to you, and every single post you make on this forum that addresses me is one of a similar nature to the post above. I don't know what your problem is with me, but just sort it out, okay? All I'm doing in this thread, and every other, is expressing opinion. Some people don't care what I say, and some people do. Either way, all I want to do is help. So get over it, dude.

rustypup wrote:it's a case... you're going to toss it eventually, why the need to get emotionally attached to it?

it's not about emotional attachment, its about being a smart consumer and buying something that will last.


Ruad.. have you considered Antec? We have 3 Antec cases in the house and they all solid.

GreyWolf wrote:its about being a smart consumer and buying something that will last.

so... a smart consumer spends 3x the value on something s/he will replace in the same amount of time....

how long does a case need to last?... 2 years?.. 3 years? 10?

antec do that funny overhanging skeleton thing, don't they? that was interesting... exposed, but interesting...

rustypup wrote:

GreyWolf wrote:its about being a smart consumer and buying something that will last.

so... a smart consumer spends 3x the value on something s/he will replace in the same amount of time....

So, you'd just buy any old motherboard or CPU? I mean, you'll replace it in the same time anyway, right?

Dude, a case is just as important to a build as the hardware inside. If the case has poor design or airflow, the machine will have a hard time being stable.

I don't really like the Antec designs.... they seem very brash to me for a lack of a better description.
I mean just look at the thing....

rustypup wrote:so... a smart consumer spends 3x the value on something s/he will replace in the same amount of time....

how long does a case need to last?... 2 years?.. 3 years? 10?

antec do that funny overhanging skeleton thing, don't they? that was interesting... exposed, but interesting...

Dude, I have had cases that fell apart in a year.

Yea Antec built the skeleton thing. But also:

http://www.prophecy.co.za/antec-three-h ... 27706.html

and

http://www.prophecy.co.za/antec-solutio ... 38495.html

I have both of those. You would agree that the Antec 300 at R710 is a very good buy. I baught the desktop chassis for my media PC. Yes its a bit expensive, but I love the little things that make it special. The hard drive mounts have silicon grommets to reduce noise, the case is compartmentalized for heat management and it doesn't look like it was designed by a 3 year old.

On a side note, do you wear sandals and socks at the same time? Or even worse, crocks?

EDIT: above was meant for Rusty

Ruad... true they make mistakes. But MOST of their cases are not like that. Check my links.

I've got a R600 Gigabyte case. It's good as new, and it has an ALU bezel. No need to spend R3k there.

Ok Arguments aside. It is a case of how much you are willing to spend and what design you like most. To be honest I like the LL design more than the TT but that is currently purely on aesthetics as I haven't seen either of them in person yet. Also my current case I bout on the presumption that I won't buy another case for quite some time to come, yet here I am checking out cases. Now this came to be purely because I can't get any of the newer GFX cards into the damn case. If I slot in a GTX280 into it there is just enough space between the card and the hdd mounts for an IDE cable to go past it. Not good for some very obvious reasons. Hence me wanting to buy a new case and not wanting to fall into that particular pit again.

@GreyWolf: Agreed they do make some decent looking ones but they are all mini or mid-towers. I want to be assured that if I get a case I can at least get everything into it without scraping, cutting and bruising knuckles.

Cool man. I did vote "no" on the TT though. Like Dae, I have not enjoyed the experience I have had with any of their products.

Their products just seems flimsy.

If you get a Lian-Li PC-A77F or A71F you will NEVER have to worry about space, that's for sure.

Any ideas on the Gigabyte 3D Mercury?

@ryanrich: that was part of the idea

ryanrich wrote:If you get a Lian-Li PC-A77F or A71F you will NEVER have to worry about space, that's for sure.

This a thread for computer cases, not props from Stanley Kubrick's dreams...

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:you'd just buy any old motherboard or CPU?

not what i stated.. .a case is a non-functional piece of equipment designed to house hardware.. nothing more... it sits there, day in and day out, an inert lump of over-designed metal, plastic and fabric... imbuing it with value proposition keywords will not change this... :/...

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:If the case has poor design or airflow, the machine will have a hard time being stable.

as i stated before, these, along with mounting design choices and access, should be the primary concern... not surprisingly all of these, and more, can be had at a sensible price point...

GreyWolf wrote: You would agree that the Antec 300 at R710 is a very good buy.

nope. i would chew through my left elbow before opting for anything other than screw-less.. CM 533 - R744 from digtalsaonline...

CM HAF932 tower +-R1,7k

rustypup wrote:it's a case... if it has good airflow, sufficient fan mounts and decent layout design i could care less if it was assembled by monks in some mystical andean retreat, lovingly polished with the skins of ritually slaughtered iguanas, or soldered together by a dyslexic shoe sharpener with a nervous tick...

it's a case... you're going to toss it eventually, why the need to get emotionally attached to it?

to be fair, i rarely fiddle with the case post install... aside from slapping in a new drive/gpu...

SOO well said...

I like Cooler Master, they certainly have the best power supply that money can buy!

Silent Pro Gold 1000W Silent Pro Gold 1200W Silent Pro Gold 600W Silent Pro Gold 700W

rustypup wrote:CM 533 - R744 from digtalsaonline...

The internal structure of that case looks like the Gigabyte Poseidon.

rustypup wrote:nope. i would chew through my left elbow before opting for anything other than screw-less.. CM 533 - R744 from digtalsaonline...

dude... what the *****?! I see you finally found the droid you were looking for.

and you dare make fun of the skeleton?

GreyWolf wrote: you dare make fun of the skeleton?

not in the least.. it was interesting.. but they never went anywhere with it and the unit itself relies on screws - making installations particularly fun...

that and the nephews/nieces would have destroyed its contents about 7 times already...

I am confused. You obviously like the screw-less feature, and it is very nice.

However, you say you don't really open the case after you have assembled it.

In my view, the whole point of the screw-less design is for people who frequently swap out hardware, so...

GreyWolf wrote: the whole point of the screw-less design is for people who frequently swap out hardware

or lazy elbow who can't be earlobed to muck around with obstructed bays when installing....