VOGONS


First post, by Serif

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Hello all,

For some time I have been hunting for the make and model and if possible, a place I can buy one of these vintage computer cases. When I was growing up, right after the release of windows 98se I believe, my father had built me my first computer. That computer has long since been lost to time and the storage shed, however I wish to build a Retro Gaming PC. What better way than to rebuild my first computer from 1999. So far I have only been able to find one source on the internet who has pictures of this computer case. This lead mentions it may be a Cooler Master ATX chassis, when I questioned my father on this he believes this may be correct. He also mentioned that he most likely purchased the case at Comp-USA as he had a grudge against Circuit City at the time and would not have gone there for it. I would really appreciate the help in discovering the name and model for this particular case. After I finish this project I will be jumping back on building a stealth sleeper gaming PC built out of an old Tandy 1000HX. That one will be a fun project. I still need to find a Tandy monitor though to cannibalize...

The following pictures I found on I believe a german blog detailing the rebuild of his computer to a more modern one inside this exact chassis; therefore these are the only pictures I currently have to go by.

trnUiMw.jpg
GrUh74Y.jpg
ix1HvVd.jpg

Reply 1 of 14, by wiretap

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I just saw one of these several months back on Ebay, but teal in color. Not sure the made/model though. 😢

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Reply 2 of 14, by KCompRoom2000

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I'd actually like to know what that case is called too. I'm using an identical case for my Mendocino Celeron rig, I can provide additional pictures of it if you want.

I do know that there are other color variants of that case which I've found on eBay 7 years ago, the color schemes include red, blue, green and orange, I want to say a graphite variant existed but that might be my memory mixing things up. Those cases look a lot like the PowerMac G3 B&W and G4.

Unnecessarily related side note: I've managed to track down the name of my Athlon 64 build's case (it's a 1st-gen Apevia X-Dreamer).

Reply 3 of 14, by Serif

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wiretap wrote:

I just saw one of these several months back on Ebay, but teal in color. Not sure the made/model though. 😢

You wouldn't happen to be able to backtrack your history for ebay and possibly the listing would you? The listing should still be there even if it has been a few months.
Thank you.

KCompRoom2000 wrote:

Unnecessarily related side note: I've managed to track down the name of my Athlon 64 build's case (it's a 1st-gen Apevia X-Dreamer).

Congrats, I actually had one of these X Dreamer cases roll through my computer shop a good 3 years ago, love running into vintage cases still in use.

Reply 4 of 14, by Serif

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So the search has reached many people on the internet who are helping me try to find this. The new leads are that it could possibly related to the PowMax brand as my father has remembered that the Power Supply came pre-installed in these cases from the store. Others have also come to this idea because of the styling that a few of the more popular Powmax cases have.

LFSzIuo.jpg

Reply 5 of 14, by emosun

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The case you are looking for is a TH-7614R

I own a bunch of these , they mostly do not have a particular brand. These were cheap cases that were made for the korean and japanese markets in the late 90s. They would frequently be sold out of catalogs to pc shops there and around the world. The reason why they are so rare is becuase a pc shop would have to order these from the catalog and sell or build a pc in them in their local shop.

I spent a good amount of time and money collecting these , heres my collection. and also an image showing the various options from around the wed that existed.
UNI3xdE.jpg
RlGao6g.jpg

Reply 6 of 14, by brostenen

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I remember those. That was back when Apple started that semi transparent shortlived craze. It was ok on Mac's I guess. Yet when everything had to be semi transparent, from salad bowls to fridges. Well. Then you kind of grow tired of the whole thing. Yet for historical reasons, these cases are truly an collectors item. (just not the salad bowl, please)

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Reply 7 of 14, by Horun

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Serif wrote on 2018-09-02, 19:47:

So the search has reached many people on the internet who are helping me try to find this. The new leads are that it could possibly related to the PowMax brand as my father has remembered that the Power Supply came pre-installed in these cases from the store. Others have also come to this idea because of the styling that a few of the more popular Powmax cases have.

Yes it does look like a PowMax case, I have a similar one with silver color accents.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 8 of 14, by SirNickity

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emosun wrote on 2019-12-29, 21:43:
https://i.imgur.com/UNI3xdE.jpg […]
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UNI3xdE.jpg

This looks like the opening shot of a montage of a bunch of animated computers preparing to go kick some 😄.

Reply 9 of 14, by danute

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emosun wrote on 2019-12-29, 21:43:
The case you are looking for is a TH-7614R […]
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The case you are looking for is a TH-7614R

I own a bunch of these , they mostly do not have a particular brand. These were cheap cases that were made for the korean and japanese markets in the late 90s. They would frequently be sold out of catalogs to pc shops there and around the world. The reason why they are so rare is becuase a pc shop would have to order these from the catalog and sell or build a pc in them in their local shop.

I spent a good amount of time and money collecting these , heres my collection. and also an image showing the various options from around the wed that existed.
UNI3xdE.jpg
RlGao6g.jpg

I've been searching for a translucent ATX case online. I'm working on a sleeper build and really want that late 90s-early 00s look. After days of searching, I see your point that they are incredibly hard to find.

I stumbled onto this thread, saw your collection, and had to make an account to ask: is there any number or name associated with the case in the bottom left of the picture of your collection? I absolutely love it and it would be great if I could be on the lookout for one like it in the future.

Reply 10 of 14, by UncleBuck

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I registered just now to hopefully add some useful info* about this case since I've been searching for the teal/blue version for some time.

I know the OP's case as the Suntek stk7618, I believe there were letter suffixes to denote the color too.
I was only aware of the translucent teal & orange versions "back in the day" (2000ish), which of course mirror the first imac/ibook colors.
More research has revealed that they were also available in translucent purple and red/pink. All had translucent white front panels to the best
of my knowledge. I suspect the other colors were introduced later to keep up with Apple's colors.

I was not aware they were sold under the different part numbers/manufactures (TH-7614), but thank you emosun for that bit of info.

I used one on my first "gaming" build, teal was the only color the shop had, so teal it was. Mine also came with a psu preinstalled
but powmax does not ring a bell. I think the psu I had was an antec, and before I started searching and found this case under
the Suntek name/pn I remembered the case being an Antec too so maybe my memory is fuzzy or it was under that brand as well.
I'd really like to recreate that first "gaming" build for retro shenanigans, although finding an AGP voodoo2 2000 seems difficult too.

Another very similar case is the th7693, which is in emosun's first photo on the lowest metal step (it's forest green-ish). That case seems
to have been available in translucent black, green and orange with beige or translucent white front panels... it's likewise very hard to find as well.

*I apologize in advance if resurrecting this thread is a faux paux, I didn't see anything in the rules when signing up and I hope this info is useful to all
searching for these cases.

Reply 11 of 14, by TrashPanda

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Definitely a collectors item, they look cheap which I guess we can blame apple and salad bowls for.

Reply 12 of 14, by UncleBuck

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I recall the Suntek case being heavy and fairly well built... considering the time period and the plastic over metal exterior 🤣.

Found this in my bookmarks, archive of Suntek's website.
https://web.archive.org/web/20040626000347/ht … om/stk7618b.htm

No listing of the orange, but you can see that in internet searches... never seen any actual pictures
of the green and black versions the site shows.

Reply 13 of 14, by Plasma

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I remember seeing those cases in the TigerDirect catalog. I understand nostalgia but man they were ugly. I guess that's why they are so hard to find now.

Reply 14 of 14, by Wrkjr00

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The chassis you are looking at is the Antec Gemstone Series, available in 3 colors; Ruby, Sapphire and Onyx. I sold a couple hundred of these from the late 90s to the early 2000s. They were wildly popular for a while and suddenly you couldn't give them away.