Vista Tutorial - Which Rig for Best Airflow???

A while back I had started a thread about best fan setup for the best optimal airflow. A few people gave me some rig suggestions since my current one is not "up to par" for the strenuous gaming and graphic design work. Well.... since then I've come across two additional cases that I feel are better concerning two aspects: 1) airflow 2) asthetics. Here they are:

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 RC-830-SSN3-GP Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Please tell me how you feel on these three cases. I am particular to one of them, but I want to see what you guys think first to see if you agree with me.

Thanks guys for all your help.

Oh, and to attempt to answer any questions you might have right now:
- I prefer a full tower, cuz I want to buy another vid card for SLI
- Money is not a real issue
- I might be buying a second hard drive, but don't plan on utilizing RAID config's
- If you have any suggestions for a great case, not on the list, please let me know.

bumpage

My personal opinion points me to the HAF or the Antec 1200.

I own a 1200 and it is a crazy, crazy case in terms of the amount of air it can move.

I'll give my thoughts on it and hopefully someone can review the HAF for you.

The Antec is big. LOADS of room.
Three front 120 fans, two rear 120 fans, 1 x 200MM top fan as stock All LED blue. All are speed controlled. The front three have a small dial, the rear and top fan have speed switches located at the top left hand corner of the rear of the case.

Make no mistake, this think is an absolute hairdryer. It moves a LOT of air when you turn it all up full noise. And full noise is what it makes when you turn it up.

The airflow is great. It keeps my ram cool, board cool and when you turn it all up, it even drops the temp of the Graphics card.

A couple of negatives are that each drive bay, at the front of the unit, are attached by four thumbscrews on EACH side of the case. That is a lot of screws if you are messing about. The finish inside the case is decent. Average, nothing spectacular.

I think it loses out to the HAF in finish. Quick release drive bays, etc etc...a few more options with the HAF...and the HAF is crazy value for money.

I DID however choose the Antec over the HAF though... :P

pics of my rig are on this page 144 of this thread. Show us your rig

... and I chose a HAF over the 1200

Like the 1200, the HAF is also huge inside, has great cable management and with the stock fans is quieter than the 1200 while still pushing a lot of air.

However I replaced the side 230mm fan with x4 LED 120mm and added another x2 LED 120mm in the front mainly for aesthetic reasons, but with the added advantage of even lower temps. This obviously makes it louder, but it is a pleasant whoosh sound compared to a whining sound.

Like the 1200 it also moves a lot of air over all components which certainly helps in the overclocking department.

The only gripe I have is the lack of dust filters. The HAF is a dust vaccum But if you give the fan blades etc a quick wipe over every now and then, it doesn't affect temps at all. I'm really happy with this case.

For sheer airflow, both the HAF and the 1200 are great cases and it's unlikey you'd be disappointed with either.

@ Moirae, check your link mate. It has a double http:// that goes nowhere

I'd choose between the Coolermaster 830 and 932. You'd get decent temps with both cases, but 932 having a better price, so would be the better choice, really.

Thanks for all of your inputs, guys. I really appreciate taking the time and describing your personal accounts with each one. I am thinking about getting the HAF now. But I was actually leaning towards the Stacker case also. Other than being able to handle 9 120mm fans, is the fact that the case looks great aesthetically. The major downside is the price. $250 is a bit steep. If I get the HAF, I would also want to replace the side 230mm fan with x4 LED 120mm fans. How difficult was that? That was another main aspect I really liked the CM Stacker case. The fact that 4 fans are located on the side door.

Also, the link that was posted is not working correctly. So I am not able see your case.

Thanks again

Very easy in both removing existing fan and installing new ones

However I also added a Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme fan controller and have x2 fans per channel. A fan controller isn't a necessity though. All you would need would be two spare 4 pin molex plugs and a two 4 to 3 pin y splitter adapters (2 fans per plug).

Alternatively you could power a couple a fans off the mobo.

How does that controller treat you? I've heard a couple of horror stories on controllers with one of the fan knobs not working properly. Or it takes the knob to be turned halfway for larger fans to begin spinning? Any advice on fan controllers?

Edit: I looked up the fan controller you own and I like that one, gets a lot of good reviews. But the skin wouldn't match with the HAF case.

Edit: Scratch that. On another page is the same model, but black!

The fan controller is good, all the knobs work and I've got the black one

It's true that the fans don't turn on before half way, but you probably wouldn't want to run the fans lower than that anyway. About 3/4 is a good noise vs cooling compromise. I just leave them on full most of the time anyway

The only downside is the BRIGHT blue leds don't fit my total red theme but I have the controller recessed and the lights hidden with a cover, so it's not a big deal

I chose this controller because it can handle up to 30watts per channel. With other controllers I couldn't have 2 fans per channel, like the Zalman which is only 7watts per channel.

Yeah. I think that might be the only problem I would have. Since the HAF is a red theme. I could just easily change all of the fans from red to blue though i guess.

You could, but I like the red theme. Blue is nice, but everyone has blue

As I mentioned, I have the lights hidden so it doesn't ruin the red theme. The cover I used is actually one of the front grill/covers that belong to the case so it still matches