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Let's talk about cases

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First post, by ATi_Loyalist

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So I am planning another build, ATX, Socket 939, I have always used cases or rebuilt old systems I have had for years, and bought new cases for new systems. In looking for a case for an older system, I'd love something black, with a bottom mount PSU, and some of the slightly more modern trends like 120mm fans, but still need a 5.25 and preferably a 3.5 bay up front. Vintage cases are crazy expensive and hard to find so I haven't been pursuing that route. Tell me your thoughts! What is one to do these days? I can't seem to find anything decent that doesn't look utterly ridiculous. 😁 Even Lian Li and Chieftec and Antec don't really have anything ideal these days.

P4/XP Rig: P4C800 | P4 3.4 | Radeon X850 Pro
A64/XP Rig : A8V | A64 X2 4400+ | X1950 Pro
Ancient Rig: Pentium 166 W | S3 Trio

Reply 3 of 14, by ATi_Loyalist

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Thanks, I am liking the focus G. A couple others I have found so far that may interest someone

DIYPC
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16811353105

Cooler master N400
https://www.newegg.com/midnight-black-cooler- … N82E16811119277

P4/XP Rig: P4C800 | P4 3.4 | Radeon X850 Pro
A64/XP Rig : A8V | A64 X2 4400+ | X1950 Pro
Ancient Rig: Pentium 166 W | S3 Trio

Reply 6 of 14, by debs3759

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The large online retailer I normally buy new stuff from has hardly any new cases with external drive bays. 3.5" is impossible to find, as are budget cases with external 5.25". Cheapest with 5.25 is approaching £100! Time to explore a few other sites. I have lots of old cases, but will be wanting a new case with 4 x 5.25 bays later this year, for a water cooled AM5 build I'm hoping to afford.

See my graphics card database at www.gpuzoo.com
Constantly being worked on. Feel free to message me with any corrections or details of cards you would like me to research and add.

Reply 7 of 14, by Jasin Natael

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I just built a new system for a customer in a Phanteks Enthoo Pro.
It's huge, but a very nice case with good cable management options and decent airflow.
I selected it as he required at least two 5.25" bays and it fit the bill while also having a PSU basement.
Options were few and far between, but I think the build turned out nice.

Reply 8 of 14, by paradigital

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What you need is a Coolermaster ATCS 840. I’ve been watching one on eBay for months, but as collection only at the other end of the country I’ve not yet been stupid enough to go get it.

I can’t bring myself to buy new cases for legacy systems, mainly because I far prefer the aesthetic of the early to mid 2000s cases.

The newest case I have for a legacy system is my Lian Li PC-A71F, which again has what you are after, but is ruddy huge, they don’t tend to come up for sale often though (or the door-less version the PC-70).

Reply 9 of 14, by bartonxp

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There's a Lian Li Q25 on evilbay right now. I already have one , and I'm looking for a second as a backup, but this one's located in the UK and the shipping is quite expensive so I'm passing on it.

If someone is looking for one the best, nicest looking DIY NAS cases then take a look at the Q25. I like that I can leave my drives offline when I boot the NAS, hot swap them as needed and then disconnect them on their sliding rails when finished, since in my scenario an always-on NAS is not needed, a waste of electricity and a security risk since there's internet access to the network subnet in which it resides.

Take a look, best NAS case evar!

Reply 10 of 14, by ATi_Loyalist

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Funny story, I just sold my Q25 a couple months ago! It was absolutely beautiful but not quite right for my needs. I still have a PC-V354 around here somewhere too....

I am currently considering the Phanteks Enthoo Pro and the Fractal Focus G for anyone else looking at cases like this.

P4/XP Rig: P4C800 | P4 3.4 | Radeon X850 Pro
A64/XP Rig : A8V | A64 X2 4400+ | X1950 Pro
Ancient Rig: Pentium 166 W | S3 Trio

Reply 11 of 14, by smtkr

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paradigital wrote on 2023-04-18, 19:10:

What you need is a Coolermaster ATCS 840. I’ve been watching one on eBay for months, but as collection only at the other end of the country I’ve not yet been stupid enough to go get it.

I can’t bring myself to buy new cases for legacy systems, mainly because I far prefer the aesthetic of the early to mid 2000s cases.

The newest case I have for a legacy system is my Lian Li PC-A71F, which again has what you are after, but is ruddy huge, they don’t tend to come up for sale often though (or the door-less version the PC-70).

There are some Chieftech cases that look pretty cool on ebay. I can't really tell how the drive bays work though (the 5.25" ones).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175492093873

Reply 12 of 14, by ATi_Loyalist

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smtkr wrote on 2023-04-25, 23:23:
paradigital wrote on 2023-04-18, 19:10:

What you need is a Coolermaster ATCS 840. I’ve been watching one on eBay for months, but as collection only at the other end of the country I’ve not yet been stupid enough to go get it.

I can’t bring myself to buy new cases for legacy systems, mainly because I far prefer the aesthetic of the early to mid 2000s cases.

The newest case I have for a legacy system is my Lian Li PC-A71F, which again has what you are after, but is ruddy huge, they don’t tend to come up for sale often though (or the door-less version the PC-70).

There are some Chieftech cases that look pretty cool on ebay. I can't really tell how the drive bays work though (the 5.25" ones).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175492093873

Wow nice find! Oof shipping though wow

P4/XP Rig: P4C800 | P4 3.4 | Radeon X850 Pro
A64/XP Rig : A8V | A64 X2 4400+ | X1950 Pro
Ancient Rig: Pentium 166 W | S3 Trio

Reply 13 of 14, by smtkr

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ATi_Loyalist wrote on 2023-04-25, 23:26:
smtkr wrote on 2023-04-25, 23:23:
paradigital wrote on 2023-04-18, 19:10:

What you need is a Coolermaster ATCS 840. I’ve been watching one on eBay for months, but as collection only at the other end of the country I’ve not yet been stupid enough to go get it.

I can’t bring myself to buy new cases for legacy systems, mainly because I far prefer the aesthetic of the early to mid 2000s cases.

The newest case I have for a legacy system is my Lian Li PC-A71F, which again has what you are after, but is ruddy huge, they don’t tend to come up for sale often though (or the door-less version the PC-70).

There are some Chieftech cases that look pretty cool on ebay. I can't really tell how the drive bays work though (the 5.25" ones).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175492093873

Wow nice find! Oof shipping though wow

I'm thinking about buying one, but I can't figure out how the drives mount 😁 I had a Chieftech Dragon case back in the Athlon XP days and you used to screw these plastic things onto the sides of your drives and then they just slid in and clicked into place. This one, I can't tell from the pictures. Kind of makes me nervous.

I'll just mull it over for the next month and decide later (hopefully they don't all get sold).

Reply 14 of 14, by ODwilly

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The Antec 300 and older 2010ish era thermaltake cases kinda have the best of both worlds. Lots of 5.25, 120mm fans out the rear, often times usb 3.0 and 2.5 bays for SSDs as well. I had a Antec Gaming One case that came with 4 decent blue led fans that went for $55 in 2012. Decently thick steel (0.8mm iirc) the 900 and 1200 were my dream cases but that case has been repainted pink and white with pink fans.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1