Four Unique ATX Cases Compared




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Profile: newbie
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Many buyers would like a case that represents a bit of their personalities, but not everyone has the skills or time needed to build a case from scratch. While modified standard cases often set a low standard for individuality, several low-volume products are available to meet finer tastes.

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Profile: stranger
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The Thermaltake Mozart tx looks like an amazing case. Does anyone have any specific knowledge if an 8800 GTX is going to fit in this case? I am seriously considering buying this case. I just need to know whether my video card is going to fit. Thank you,

Profile: member
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Some these seem to be as geeky as a gaming chair. I'd worry if you have one of these in your bedroom, visitors might think you care a little bit too much about your PC.

Profile: nimble knuckle
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I think the Drum case is pretty classy.
-cm

Profile: journeyman
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I built a computer last year using a beautiful black version of the Lian Li PC-777. Lots of room to go with LL's usual attention to detail. But the huge black mesh sides make for a somewhat dusty interior after awhile. And with three 80mm fans, the essentially wide open case can be a wee bit noisy for the home environment. I'd suggest that LL make a new version with 120mm fans and less mesh. Of course, If I had built it using the then unavailable Core 2 Extreme, noise would have been less of a problem.

Profile: stranger
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A few words of caution for anyone considering the Lian-Li PC-777. As a die hard Lian Li fan, I jumped on this case early last year as soon as it came out. Overall, I am very happy with my case, proudly displaying it on my desk rather than hidden on the floor. A few issues I ran into during assembly (I had to build one of these for my boss as well, since as soon as he saw mine, he needed one as well.) Be very selective with components when building one (even more so than with a normal build) becasue this case had a few surprising issues I had to deal with. Make sure you have a power supply with really long cables, even though this is more common. The run from the bottom of the case to an ATX 4 pin 12V line which can be in the top left corner of the board was really a stretch, I had to run it across the board and under the CPU fan fins to make it fit...same with the ATX connector. Also, since the case is very tall, A-Bit board owners will probably have to buy an longer floppy cable if used since they like to put the floppy port on the bottom left. The most annoying of all were that the cables from the power button and reset button ect were not long enough. I needed to extend them nearly 6 inches to get to the bottom of my board. extensions would not be too hard, I chose to strip and solder mine with some spares to make extensions, this was not what I would have expected from a Lian-Li design. Lastly and most important to my girlfriend was be prepared to cover the powerful blue power LED on the front of the case...Lian-Li usually has very nice blue ligts, but this one is an eye burner. My computer room is a 10X8 room, and also used to be in my bedroom...by the time the light got to the far side of the room it cast a 5 foot blue moon circle on the wall, illuminating most of the room, and if I woke up at night and sat up into the beam, it was like someone shining a flashlight directly in your eye. All in all, I love the case, and have solved most of my issues, but thought it may help some others who might have reservations about the case.

Profile: journeyman
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how about some url's Tom's guys. I'd like to do some pricing since there are none listed in the article.

Profile: Tom's Hardware Team
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Quote :

The Thermaltake Mozart tx looks like an amazing case. Does anyone have any specific knowledge if an 8800 GTX is going to fit in this case? I am seriously considering buying this case. I just need to know whether my video card is going to fit. Thank you,



That's an 8800GTX in the photo of the finished build.

Sailing in my Dreams
Profile: Forum Veteran
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I think the Drum case is pretty classy.
-cm



I agree. I liked its looks the best out of those presented. Maybe its because I played in a jazz band when I was young. Not sure about its real functionality though.

Profile: old hand
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yo guys...when i get a hold of a broken 360 or reg xbox iam going to build a computer in it...

anyone have any broken ones??

ill pay shipping...if not ill get one from a friend

Profile: member
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It looks a little big, and most of the space seems to be taken up with air and decoration. Going out and buying a slimline DVD drive is a pain, too, as I assume most people would have normal 5.25" ones. But if you're a modder, maybe that's not a problem. But, as the article says, if you're a modder, you're probably building your own case.

Profile: Tom's Hardware Team
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18" is big? A standard mid-tower is about 17" tall and 20" deep, sounds about the same size.

Sailing in my Dreams
Profile: Forum Veteran
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Quote :

It looks a little big, and most of the space seems to be taken up with air and decoration. Going out and buying a slimline DVD drive is a pain, too, as I assume most people would have normal 5.25" ones. But if you're a modder, maybe that's not a problem. But, as the article says, if you're a modder, you're probably building your own case.



This article has given me an idea though, and you pointing out that "if you're a modder, you're probably building your own case". Anyway, I was just looking at a spot in my sailboat where I might be able to put computer components, that is, use some of the boat's cabinetry as a case. I'm going to think on that and start measuring.

Profile: journeyman
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Quote :

The Thermaltake Mozart tx looks like an amazing case. Does anyone have any specific knowledge if an 8800 GTX is going to fit in this case? I am seriously considering buying this case. I just need to know whether my video card is going to fit. Thank you,



I posed same question and I already bought both. They definitely fit with plenty of room

Profile: Tom's Hardware Team
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Quote :

The Thermaltake Mozart tx looks like an amazing case. Does anyone have any specific knowledge if an 8800 GTX is going to fit in this case? I am seriously considering buying this case. I just need to know whether my video card is going to fit. Thank you,



I posed same question and I already bought both. They definitely fit with plenty of room

Yeh, ignoring the fact that, because the article showed the system with an 8800GTX installed, the original question was lame.

Profile: member
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That sounds a cool idea! How would you plan on powering it? I'd imagine a PC would put a hell of a load on a generator, but I don't know much about modern boat batteries, perhaps they'd handle it no sweat!

And, of course, you'll have to worry about comething other's dont, making it spray proof! Maybe a sliding waterproof plastic cover to expose it on a calm sunny days (when you want to play a DVD etc).

Sailing in my Dreams
Profile: Forum Veteran
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