I'm in a pickle.
There's 3 magnificent cases I want, same price range.
I'm not worried on the amount of driver bays they hold, it's more on cooling and airflow.

http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=125_126&products_id=30263

http://www.coolermaster-europe.com/products/product.php?language=en&act=detail&tbcate=17&id=2908

http://www.coolermaster-europe.com/products/product.php?language=en&act=detail&tbcate=17&id=3927

Looks is much appreciated also.
Which is most recommended?

Personally i'm leaning towards the Antec 300, or the 590.

Well i have the 690 and its a great case.I love mine.That antec looks like a scaled down 900 which i think looks better.Id go with the 690 and if i couldn't get that then id get that Antec case,The I dont like the 590.The 690 has awesome airflow which can be improved on even more by a few easy mods.

http://www.overclock.net/computer-cases/294838-unofficial-cooler-master-690-club.html

Thankyou for your reply.
It sure does look like a scaled down 900, alot cheaper also.
I'm still in a dilemma.
Possible you can give reasons for your decision?

With your 690, what's the temperature readings of your 8800GTS?

Right now my 8800GTS is idling kind of high.Its at 55c.But i have all my fans running at less than 1000 rpms to keep it quite.But usally it idles at 48c and thats with it running core 740 /shaders 1800/ memory 1000 /so its OCed pretty good. My quad usally idles at 33c Oced to 3.6ghz. Right now its running a bit higher 40/40/36/38 cpu fan is running 695 rpms.


http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/1323/casetempja0.jpg

I really like your temperatures of your CPU.
My CPU is idle at around 48 degrees, which is kinda high for what it is.
It's an AMD 3800+ with stock heatsink and fan. The thermal paste is almost all gone off it, it's pretty much crumb.
Ordered myself some Arctic Silver 5 on its way.

Anyways, back on topic really.
All 3 cases are around the same price.
What's your reasons for the 690?

You should try the H/S in my sig.It can be forund for under $30 and its almost as good as the Ultra 120 Extreme.
That and AS5 would drop your temps to under 30c.When i had my 939 X2 3800 OCed to 2.7ghz it idled at at 28 to 31c with a Zalman CNPS 9500 AM2 so i know with this H?S yor temps should be even better than mine were,Your idle temps were my load temps

Dam i was just looking at the prices that places charges.Is that the same as USD? You guys pay more than double what we pay

Judging by the amount of fans, the cooling capability is in the following order.

Good Cooling -----------------------------------------> Best Cooling
Antec 300 ------------> Centurion 590 --------------> CM-690

So I, too, recommend CM-690, though the other cases are not bad at all. They all have very similar layout, too.

Weird, couldn't find Centurion 590 and Antec 300 in newegg. In fact couldn't find Antec 300 in Antec's own site. I guess just for Australia?

Mothow,
Alright, i'll look into the heatsinks.
I'm short for cash at the moment, so i'll make that change later on after I see what temperatures change when I apply AS5.
Seriously, there's hardly any stock thermal paste left. It's crusty and falling off.

Which out of the 690 and the Antec 300 would give more of a temperature lower?
I've been looking into them and I can't help but think they'd do the same performance.
I want the 300 for looks, I like the basic look.
Is there any point in putting 3x 120m fans in the front? or would 2x work just as well?




Dr. Peaceful,
If I were to run the 690, it'd be with 2x intake at the front and not the hole 3, unless I plan on doing another major upgrade.
Would the temperatures differ greatly between the cases?

For me, 1 front intake is enough. One, having more than 1 just take up drive spaces. Two, the air flow is block by the drive anyway. Having mesh grill is already suffice for air to come in.

The CM-690 basically provided 5 sided cooling to the mobo: top / bottom / left / right / back. The two fan on left also provide direct cooling to graphic card(s). Antec 900 only have one hole on the left. Also the 690 provides more possibility of cable management by having more space on right side.

Just my 2 cents, though. Case selection is mostly personal preference.

Thanks for your response.

Just wondering, what does the fan behind the mobo do? What DOEs it cool anyway?

And in reply to you,
I know the fans can be blocked by drives, but I only run 1 HDD and 1 DVD drive. So blockage isn't an issue for me.

If I had the CM690, I'd try installing a shield between the bottom-mounted PSU and the adapter cards (esp. video cards) and mobo. It looks like it would be fairly easy to do, and might effectively lower some processor and RAM temps.

A test run with a piece of cardboard could probably provide enough info to indicate whether it would be worth it or not.

Anyone tried that?

If you give it a shot, post your results.
It sounds like a nice plan.

Something about the 690 I don't like is that the bottom intake at the front doesn't blow directly in as it's blocked by the driver bay.
Is this a case? or does the intake get through without any problems.
Sorta why i'm thinking of getting the 590.
Just not to keen on it.

Matt Iskov said:

I only have two hard drives so i remove the other 3 HD holders so the air can still get through.But i replaced that Blue led fan because it only puts out 17cfm..lol..seriously.Even with no fan my HD;s run about 31c

Matt Iskov
I know its a stock aluminum heatsink but you could give it a lap job.That should help your temps also

Possible you can post pictures of your case (inside, front preferably)
I've never seen the 690 in person, so i'm not sure on what can be done with it.

Damn I have a problem now.

If I got the 590 or the 690 i'm not sure of the PSU will reach the mobo.
Both the 24pin power and the ATX12V 4pin power.
I have an older PSU and I don't think it's going to reach.

Note-
Is this picture what I think it is?
http://www.highpowersupply.com/accessories/atx12v-show.jpg
http://www.i-tech.com.au/products/18769_ATX_Pentium_4_Pin_Power_Converter.aspx
Does this mean I can run off the molex as an extention and plug it into the 4pin ATX12V on my mobo, instead of running the chord right from the PSU?

Because the chord will not reach unless I use this molex, if I get the new 590 or 690.

I also saw this,
can someone tell me if this would solve my problem?
http://www.stonebridgecomputing.com.au/catalog/-p-12350.html

Can someone tell me if this is true?

Well to add my two cents to the discussion. I have the 690 and i love it. I live in the Caribbean for those who don't know there is no snow here nothing but hot sun. Summer all year round and trust me it gets hot. And the 690 performs great and i only have the stock fans. This time of the year now is the hottest in Barbados where i live and there is no AC of even house fans in my room and my system runs great. I play Crysis and never saw any heat issue of anything. The front intake fan down bottom in my opinion is for the hard drive cooling and not really to circulate air from the front to the back of the case. The second fan at the side is for CPU and VGA cooling. So i dont see the need to remove any of the drive bays

perro

Well to add my two cents to the discussion. I have the 690 and i love it. I live in the Caribbean for those who don't know there is no snow here nothing but hot sun. Summer all year round and trust me it gets hot. And the 690 performs great and i only have the stock fans. This time of the year now is the hottest in Barbados where i live and there is no AC of even house fans in my room and my system runs great. I play Crysis and never saw any heat issue of anything. The front intake fan down bottom in my opinion is for the hard drive cooling and not really to circulate air from the front to the back of the case. The second fan at the side is for CPU and VGA cooling. So i dont see the need to remove any of the drive bays

Which fans do you have in it at the moment?
It's really that good?
I really want it.
But I look back at my other issue I have now, being the PSU reaching the motherboard.
Anyone got any help for me?

Out of those, I like the 690. If you're gonna get an Antec, go for the 900 (I love it).

I am using the stock cooling. I agree with the writer. IF not the 690 i would get the antec 900. To both are great cases. Well for those people who worry about cable management i thought that my CPU power cable would not reach around the back it did and i have a very clean case. I don't know how to post pics here of my case if someone could tell me how i would post some pics i have taken of my work

I'm somewhat impressed with stock cooling.
I guess because I've seen over-heated CPUs most of my life.
I hope the cables reach the Motherboard haha.

I'm not sure on how you can post pictures here, but maybe try a free picture hosting program and paste the direct link here?
imageshack.us
photobucket.com

I think..