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LED lights are great. I want a flashy case, maybe with a windowed side so I can add completely-unnecessary lights to the interior. Example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

However, I'm getting old enough to be practical. I want a quiet case and hopefully no bigger than a trusty Antec Three Hundred:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&CMP=OTC-TechReport&ATT=11-129-042&nm_mc=OTC-TechReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

Is there a case for me out there? Or should I take an Antec 300 and just add LED's?

I'm a gamer, but not an overclocker. I'll probably build a system similar to the TR Editor's Choice:

http://techreport.com/review/23814/tr-w ... em-guide/6

Except that the Editor's Choice case is the Obsidian 650D which is too large and too expensive for my needs.

You could ruin a perfectly brilliant Fractal R3/R4 and get one of the ones with the window (ruins the sound dampening... and point of it...)

R4 no window (OOOOOO SEXY! My personal favourite case): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811352020
R4 with window (eewwwww!): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811352021

Or if you don't rock a complicated setup get something interesting and cute like a Prodigy.
Prodigy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811345016

The Logisys CS888CL is pretty much all window.

Something like the XClio A380 version with the color-cycling LED lights might suit you.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews ... colorplus/
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-and- ... ase-Review

The Antec Three Hundred Illusion may be too understated to satisfy your need for LED.


How does the Antec Nine Hundred Two v3 look to you?

JustAnEngineer wrote:

The Logisys CS888CL is pretty much all window.

I want this... I am afraid I would be scared to let people into my house though... in fear of them disowning me...

The acrylic cases aren't much fun to work with either, you have to be anal about ziptagging and tidying cables up and there's not a thumbscrew or quick-release mechanism in sight.

Great suggestions. The clear acrylic case is disturbingly tempting. I think the Antec Nine Hundred Two v3 suggested by JustAnEngineer is exactly what I'm looking for. About the same size as the 300 but far flashier. Perfect for impressing my kids.

My current PC is actually an Antec 900 (original)... It does look nice. The issue is dust. If I did it again... I would put dust filters / pantyhose or something on all the air intakes and exhausts...

I wonder if I can come up with some kind of clear filters that wouldn't block the LED's.

Although dust is not clear.

I'll probably be fine with the 902v3. My environment is fairly clean.

Look into the white Corsair Graphite Series 600T

Months later, I want to buy an Antec 902 v3, but Newegg lists it as discontinued:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129097

However, I notice that the Antec 900 is available and looks similar to the above case that I wanted:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021

This item is listed as having full USB 3.0 ports, so I'm guessing it is newer than the case I wanted, which had a mix of 2.0 and 3.0 USB ports.

What's the story on Antec's product line? Is the 900 newer than the 902 v3? (Perhaps because they are simplifying their marketing strategy?)

Unknown; and honestly, I've crossed Antec off the list entirely. Corsair and Fractal Design have replaced them for cases, and Corsair and Seasonic for PSUs. Throw Silverstone in for the really nice (and unique) cases, and you're done, unless you need something stupid light like a Lian Li.

But to answer the question, I'm not sure that there's much difference at all; you'd be able to tell as much as anyone else by looking it up. Either way, the Antec 900 series exemplifies everything that can be wrong with case beyond outright shoddy construction (and it's not terribly great there).

Zyntak09 wrote:

Look into the white Corsair Graphite Series 600T

Hmmmmmm white LED's... interesting...

Another vote for the Corsair 600T. I love this case, the white stands out and the black grills and door latches just top it off. the two fans with the white LED's are noticeable but not glaring. If the current LED set up is not enough for you I am sure you could add more. The white is actually white and not the creamy white of the late 80's and the early 90's. If you are a fan of the Storm Trooper armor from Star Wars this case is right up your alley.

It comes with a side window or you can replace the window with a metal mesh grill that you can install more fans on. There are filters built into the case as well.

I'd have to say that I'm not a fan of the 600T at all- but the white one is tolerable if you don't look at the others. My main complaint, other than personal preference against all sorts of flashiness, is that it's much larger and heavier than it needs to be.

My Fractal Design Define R3 is heavy, as is the current R4 model, but much of that heft comes from noise deadening materiel. The case is otherwise incredibly compact given that it can accommodate ATX boards and up two three full-size GPUs (I have two GTX670's with stock coolers). It has fan expansions everywhere and supports the dual-140mm integrated water-coolers like the Corsair H110. Even with just an H60, my system is quiet (and it'd be quieter if it had an Asus board with better fan controls and Windows software than my ASRock) with the 2500k overclocked to 4.5GHz (the GPU's are EVGA FTW's with factory overclocks, and I leave them there).

Airmantharp wrote:

Unknown; and honestly, I've crossed Antec off the list entirely.

I have no idea what happened to Antec. For the longest time they made great PSUs and great cases. Not only are they discontinuing some of the great old models, they're failing to even replace them with new equivalents in some cases.

It's like they are actively trying to go bankrupt and become irrelevant.

sparkman wrote:

LED lights are great. I want a flashy case, maybe with a windowed side so I can add completely-unnecessary lights to the interior. Example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

However, I'm getting old enough to be practical. I want a quiet case and hopefully no bigger than a trusty Antec Three Hundred:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&CMP=OTC-TechReport&ATT=11-129-042&nm_mc=OTC-TechReport&cm_mmc=OTC-TechReport-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

Is there a case for me out there? Or should I take an Antec 300 and just add LED's?

I'm a gamer, but not an overclocker. I'll probably build a system similar to the TR Editor's Choice:

http://techreport.com/review/23814/tr-w ... em-guide/6

Except that the Editor's Choice case is the Obsidian 650D which is too large and too expensive for my needs.

I have the HAF X case and am very happy with it. CoolerMaster has brought out another case, the HAF XM which, had they both been on offer at the same time (the HAF XM is newer) I would have chosen the HAF XM.

For cooling and large enough I would go with the HAF XM if it were me.

Nec_V20 wrote:

For cooling and large enough I would go with the HAF XM if it were me.

It's definitely large and it has cooling- but it's not for me. While we're talking about it, I did buy a Storm Scout for my brother back when those came out (and went on sale), and it is a great case- though it did take some (literal) hammering to 'mod' it to fit the HD6950 I passed to him. That case, specifically, had the lighting he liked, and had the solid handle built-in which was useful for LAN parties, which he still frequented at the time.

But for me? It's a lot of nope. But I don't want bigger than I need, or flashy, or full of holes; I want small, quiet, and clean. I want people to have to ask me what it is, not go 'oh, is that your computer?'. But I'm not the OP, either .

This search is not going well for me.

My latest goals:

- flashy bling case (w/red LED lighting, if possible)
- front panel switch to turn off the bling lighting
- max 19" height (prefer 17" or 18")
- max 9" wide
- USB 3.0
- quiet

Apparently this case does not exist, so I'm looking at the Corsair Carbide 300R, but I'd like a more expensive case with a window.

edit: The reason for the size restriction is to fit in an Ikea under-the-desk computer holder.

CM Storm Enforcer
Red LED lamp
Red LED accent light
Red sleeved LED kit
Red flexible adhesive LED strip
Red flexible LED strip
Water resistant Red flexible LED strip
Red LED strip
Red LED stick
Red 8-pattern LED stick
2x8" Red cold cathode fluorescent lamps with inverter
2x4" Red CCFL with inverter
2x12" Red CCFL with inverter
15" Red sound-activated CCFL kit
12" Red rippling liquid neon lamp with inverter
XClio 256-color LED fan
Green Advil

The disco flashing lights can be obnoxious. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them could trigger seizures.

I will restate the recommendation that I made in this thread nearly eight months ago for the Antec Three Hundred Illusion.

LOL there's no red Advil?

Seriously, I was just looking at the Illusion. It is very close. Thanks for the info.

The questions preventing me from ordering right now:

Is the 300 Illusion identical to the regular 300, but with extra blue lights? If yes, can I order the regular 300 and put my own red lights in it? Or do I need to order the Illusion and throw away the blue lights?

No USB 3.0, but I don't care very much and I could add a USB card later if it was a problem.

How can I turn the LED lights off if needed? Some cases list a front-panel LED on/off switch, but not the Illusion, and I've never heard of any standard for controlling case lighting.

Looks like the Illusion just includes LED fans (and two extra front fans), as opposed to the non-LED fans in the regular ol' Three Hundred. LED fans will help with the lighting, but the vast majority don't allow control of lighting at all - if the fan's running, the LEDs are on.

So yep it'd be quite easy to replicate the Illusion in red - grab the vanilla Three Hundred, and enough red LED fans to cover your holes (1x 120mm in the rear, 1x 140mm in the top and 2x 120mm in the front), and you've effectively got a red Illusion. That said, the fact that the blue Illusion comes with a full complement of fans for just 15 bucks more isn't bad, at all. They're Antec fans, too - a lot of guys here will tell you that doesn't mean much, but they're certainly not the worst of the bunch. And if they're TriCools (three-speed models with switches), that's even better.

If you want a good, solid light through your side window though, you'll want to supplement with a CCFL or two, or a LED strip or two - as JAE recommended in the post above. For red, LEDs give a far 'bloodier' red than CCFLs do. In a (long-given-away, unfortunately) Lian Li case of mine, I used one of these sleeved LED cables, strung around the inside lip of the case:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=16004

I Paired it with a couple of mounted red LEDs (like little spotlights) to provide lighting 'deeper' into the case. The LED cable has a switch mounted into a PCI blanking plate so you can control it manually, as did the Spotties. I initially had unlit fans in there, but later swapped in some BitFenix Spectre Pro fans, and a fan controller which allowed me to turn off the fan LEDs:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?mai ... s_id=20625

Short of the uber-expensive Corsair Link system, this is about the most elegant fan-LED control system I've run into. The result was a very impressive red, and a lot of money.

The only other case I've seen control fan LEDs was the CM Storm Sniper?, which used big 200mm blowers. I used to be able to push the button on the fan controller and the LEDs would go off - this needed special connectors on the fans, though. By-and-large, fan LEDs are always on.

Just adding a little experience to JAEs good list for you above. Hope it helps mate

Juzz86 is right about the Three Hundred Illusion just having extra fans and adding LEDs to them compared to the basic Three Hundred. Note that the newer Three Hundred Two has USB3. None of them has a window.

Those obnoxious under-vehicle lighting kits are illegal to operate on your car in most of the country, but they'll work off of your 12V computer power supply without breaking the law. So will many other automotive lighting accessories.
Sound-activated LED flaming skull
Sound-activated window sticker

Here's a cherry on top:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 1W20HK0429

Chrispy_ wrote:

The acrylic cases aren't much fun to work with either, you have to be anal about ziptagging and tidying cables up and there's not a thumbscrew or quick-release mechanism in sight.

Once when I was considering an acrylic case, I just happened to decide to vacum the dustbunnies out of my then-current case. It was coincidental; but the timing was superb for me. There was so much in there and in so many creative shapes ranging from merely tumbleweed-like to animal-shapes (and only after just a year of service), I decided that an all-acrylic case would not be desirable.

You want your case to be a showcase for your computer, not a trophy case for your dustbunny menagerie!

sparkman wrote:

LED lights are great. I want a flashy case, maybe with a windowed side so I can add completely-unnecessary lights to the interior. Example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

However, I'm getting old enough to be practical. I want a quiet case and hopefully no bigger than a trusty Antec Three Hundred...

...well, the HAF series is a very good case; roomy, easy to work with, and easy to cool. I have a HAF 932 and it is big and quiet. I would get another one, or a HAF X or HAF 942. You can install lights or not.

There is a lot of talk about the Fractal Define R4 here.

Sorry to derail the thread, but for a micro ATX build, given that the price was the same, would you go for the R4 or the Mini?

cynan wrote:

There is a lot of talk about the Fractal Define R4 here.

Sorry to derail the thread, but for a micro ATX build, given that the price was the same, would you go for the R4 or the Mini?

R4 every time. The real difference in size between ATX and Micro ATX is three slots- that's how much shorter a case can be, and while it can make a difference, it isn't a whole lot. The R4 is otherwise the best in it's class, and believe me when I tell you, it's small for ATX, actually too small if perhaps you wanted to put three video cards into it (which I ever so briefly considered).

My old P180 dwarfs the R3 I have, for a point of comparison, and the R3's feet are much larger. Just note that like the P180 series, these are dense cases .

cynan wrote:

There is a lot of talk about the Fractal Define R4 here.

Sorry to derail the thread, but for a micro ATX build, given that the price was the same, would you go for the R4 or the Mini?

I went R4 of the two. The R4 isn't much larger, but it is newer by about a year, so it has some nicer refinements like more space for routing cables and 140mm fans as standard.

You can check out the CM Storm Scout 2 like mine. I find it really quiet until the god awful gpu fans hit 70%. If you want to forego the side vents, I recommend finding a case that can support a 120mm bottom fan next to the PSU.