Computer Cases?

[Hardicus]

I'm starting this thread to promote some discussion on the concept of computer cases. I'm in the process of shopping around, and I would like to know what everyone has (pics are welcome), what everyone wants, and any other useful discussion.

Particularly, i'm curious as to whether the price of aluminium cases is justified. I've heard that since aluminium is a better conducter of heat, the case in effect acts just like a giant heat sink. I'm also interested in any useful case silencing techniques everyone has...what are good silent case fans? silent power supplies?

I know this is a bit technical, but isn't that what this forum is all about?

Hope you guys can help me :)

[phunkdust]

No, aluminium cases arent justified, other than being nice and light for transport reasons. aluminium isnt really a better heatsink material than steel... the thermal coefficients are pretty much the same...

if you need good heat transfer, get a case that has holes punched in the sides so you can get good airflow

you can purchase quiet power supplies, the fan is on the inside of the case and pumps the air inside. this means that you're pumping slightly warm air into the case but if you have the aforementioned holes in the case then the air can circulate pretty efficiently...

as for processors, the P4 takes a smaller fan/heatsink combination than the athlon, you can get high efficiency heatsinks that the fan or fans blow across the fins rather than straight down on top. you could also consider water cooling or solid state (peltier coolers) which are more or less silent. peltiers suck up plenty of heat which is great if you want to run a fast P4... the downside is they need a seperate power supply, usually in the order of about 10 amps at 12 volts...

i personally do away with heavy cases and noisy fans and cooling problems by running a notebook. sure its twice the price of the equivalent desktop setup, but its silent and ultra-portable.

end of $0.02

[sleepingMyDayAw]

No longer will you have to tolerate the background whine of your machine and you will be free to appreciate the high quality audio which modern PCs can create.

www.quietpc.com (http://www.quietpc.com)

i wish now i'd devoted some time and effort into getting quieter components when putting my current system together

[Hardicus]

I heard that Aluminium keeps your CPU 8 degrees cooler, but that's probably just bullshit...

[phunkdust]

Originally posted by Hardicus
I heard that Aluminium keeps your CPU 8 degrees cooler

And Roland grooveboxes are musically useful.

[Serotone]

I think that they are fucking ridiculously priced because the market is just so much smaller...

I'm int he process of shopping around for a rack case, thought I'd found one (4 units...nice...) and was quoted 340 then the guy realised when i was about to order it that I wasn't a company and said no no no we can't deal with you

:(

[Hardicus]

Haha, good one Phunkdust :)

Ok then, so i guess i'll be going one of the MUCH less expensive non-aluminium cases then, good, give me more money to spend on another HDD.

Serotone - That's fucked :\

[Georgie23]

me i got a few pc's networked up, but one i like the most is my 4 unit rack mount pc so it's tucked out of the way and it has 4 fans in it, much better than a metal case .
serotone i know a guy who has 40 of thse and if you are not in a hurry can ship one out to you i know someone in melb who has one of them so you can maybe check it out ??

http://www.acme-technology.co.uk/rack_mount.htm
pc case at top in piccy is the one but in dark grey not gunmetal

georgie23....//<>\\....






life begins at 180 BPM !!!

[phunkdust]

actually if you wanted the ultimate in rackmount PC's, grab yourself an IBM NetFinity server... P3 Xeons, shitloads of ram and hot swap RAID hard drives... seksi... anyone got a spare 20 grand?

[hpstekno]

phunkdust re. alluminium being a better heat conductor than steel
sorry mate but i worked with both for close on 10 years and alluminium soaks up the heat 10 x quicker than steel matey..that is why most heat sinks are made of alluminium or an alloy composite....
as far as that goes regarding pc cases i'm not entirely convinced that it would make a hell of a difference in temperature unless
all the heat was directed straight onto the case i.e not buffered by bakalite and plastic mounts ......

[Hardicus]

Well, at the moment i'm looking at a Lian-Li case...Basically, cos it looks beautiful, is built like a tank, and has plenty of space and everything I need, and will probably last me forever. They weigh in at about $300, without a power supply, but I think i'll be willing to take the plunge, cos as I said, it'll last. The one i'm looking at has a blowhole on top, and has 2 front and 1 rear fan, which i'll be replacing with stealth fans. And the slide-out motherboard try is handy.

Here's what it looks like Lian-Li PC60B (http://www.storefinity.com/go/silverpcscom/*aBqALqCLlYwoptkqhmrqndumgzBCSZUTYVMZVZETL=NYUZyAG GGI=RJNKegpJDKIXITKUC&atpage=products-GROUP-131717&row=20)

Whack a silent 400W power supply in there and i'm ready to go.

*continues saving*

[phunkdust]

thanx hps, i'm well clued up on the thermal coefficients of different metals... dad, amongst other things, totes a phd in metallurgy ;D anyway yes aluminum makes a great heat sink (alltho copper is better) but it's not going to keep your CPU cool if you make the CASE out of it, rather than the heatsink

aight? good. ;D

[Hardicus]

phunkdust: Yeah, I guess it wouldn't keep your CPU cooler per se, but when there is a heap of hotair inside the case, i'm guessing the aluminium is gonna get it out quicker, but theoretically if you have good airflow in your case it shouldn't really matter :\