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William P.

William P.

Joined on 11/03/01

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 15
Most Favorable Review
Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic Compact ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic Compact ATX Mid Tower Case

Pros: Looks great, well laid out, easy to work in, pretty good cable management provisions. The tool-less fixtures work fine but there are also traditional screw holes if you prefer.

Cons: By taking the front off you can mount a 120mm fan in front of the 3.5" drive cage. However, there aren't enough holes in the structure to let a useful amount of air blow over any drives mounted in the cage. I took one egg off for that since keeping 3.5' drives cool is important to me, but if one were using laptop drives or SSD's it would not be an issue. The bottom feet aren't very tall so it sits about 3/16" off of whatever it's sitting on. So there really isn't enough clearance for bottom air intake, even though there is a power supply air filter and fan mounting in the bottom of the case. It's very difficult to get an 8-pin ATX 12V power connector through the opening at the top of the mother board tray. The only way to mount either a single or double 120mm radiator in the top is to use very low-profile memory and put the memory in before mounting the radiator. There is enough room for a single 120mm radiator at the back. There is not enough clearance around the front fan mount.

Overall Review: A great value case. Recommended.

Most Critical Review

Almost...

Thermaltake Contac Silent 12 150W INTEL/AMD with AM4 Support 120mm PWM CPU Cooler CL-P039-AL12BL-A
Thermaltake Contac Silent 12 150W INTEL/AMD with AM4 Support 120mm PWM CPU Cooler CL-P039-AL12BL-A

Pros: Quiet. Thermally effective. Have had good luck with Thermaltake in the past.

Cons: Mounting ring would not stay attached to the motherboard. After the second time it popped off, I ordered a different heat sink.

Overall Review: I really liked it until the mounting problem showed up.

Antec Gaming Series One Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Antec Gaming Series One Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Extremely well designed and laid out.

Cons: Cheaply made of light materials, but that keeps the price down.

Overall Review: You can't mount a Seasonic SS-400FL or -460FL in the recommended (inverted) orientation without the use of a file or Dremel tool. The power supply mounting bracket interferes with the power cord socket.

GELID Solutions Slim Silence i-Plus (CC-SSilence-iplus) 75mm Ball Bearing CPU Cooler
GELID Solutions Slim Silence i-Plus (CC-SSilence-iplus) 75mm Ball Bearing CPU Cooler

Pros: Low profile. Unlike the stock Intel fan for Celeron / Pentium Sandy Bridge CPU's, it's low enough to fit in an M350 Mini-ITX enclosure.

Cons: Doesn't cool particularly well so the PWM fan at about 2500 rpm at idle, which results in more noise than the stock fan. At idle, it is audible from about 6' away in a quiet room.

BIOSTAR H61MU3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
BIOSTAR H61MU3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Everything works.

Cons: The giant fold-out installation guide is more difficult to use than a small booklet. It's a little light on backplane USB connectors.

Overall Review: I have two of these.

LIAN LI PC-V2120B Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
LIAN LI PC-V2120B Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Pros: Big. Outstanding appearance, materials and workmanship. Easy to work inside. Big. Holds plenty of hard drives in well-ventilated cages. Quiet: The supplied fans and controller work very well. Did I mention it's pretty big?

Cons: Big. Could use more wire retention / management features, especially behind the motherboard tray. Power supply compartment is small and not well ventilated - not ideal for a fanless power supply. Fan filters are difficult to access for cleaning.

12/23/2011