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Hardware

Cool Case 84

Posted by Hemos from the stylin'-and-profiln' dept.
A reader writes "I thought this may be a good read for many of the Slashdot readers. Here is a review of what seems like a great Lan Party Case. It's light, sturdy, and more importantly has two giant sized blow holes, for all you hardware fanatics and overclockers out there."
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Cool Case More

Cool Case

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  • Yeah, we bought a couple of these, expecting to have shit loads of space inside... NOT!

    The inside is split in two, one side to store the drives and front bays and the other half (there's just about enough space between the two to fit the cables through) is about as big as what you'd get in a minitower... want to put two smokin procs in there? good luck. As soon as we put the side doors on, the temperature went skyroof and we had to add a couple of fans in there (how are you supposed to get some flow when there's a barrier between flow in and flow out???).

    Can't tell you which one I'm using now (one that's 1.5 as large as a midi tower) but the 'leet factor aside, YY cubes are worth shit all. (you seen how ugly some of the other YY cases are? or how fragile? sofar, the best cases I've used are vasco [vasco.de] cases.

    PS: About sharp edges inside the case? well, these combined with having to pull on the old power connectors can leave quite a few battle scars on your hands... (not the sames as the ones you get from playing quake, though ;)

    ---

  • Why? (Score:3)

    by DAldredge ( 2353 ) <SlashdotEmail@GMail.Com> on Sunday February 25, 2001 @09:09PM (#403271) Journal
    Why on Earth would anyone use a case like this? 184 CFM fans + harddrives + CPU fan(s) + graphics card fan(s). It would sound like a jet taking off
  • Is it too much innovation to ask for a freaking handle on top of a lightweight case? That's what I really want for my LAN machine. The case I have now weighs almost 35 pounds and trying to get my arms around it while juggling my keyboard and mouse is just nuts. Maybe some mesh webbing on the side for those items.

    * Handle on top.
    * Mesh webbing on side for keyboard, mouse, cables.

    There, make that.
  • Edison thought AC was bad because Westinghouse had the patents to make money with that and he (Edison) had the patents to make money from DC.

    Posters such as yourself are why I sometimes think AC is bad.

  • Well, I actually managed to beat my head on the corner of a case while leaning over to pick something up once. It only happened once, and I am still alive, but I guess sometimes rounded corners might be good...
  • Oh that is great... I love it :)
    ---------------------------------------
    The art of flying is throwing yourself at the ground...
    ... and missing.
  • Yeah, the cube case! I got one of these (in black of course) and it is GREAT.

    For the price of it one would expect slightly higher quality but it's not bad at all. Keeps my raid array nice an cool tho


    ---------------------------------------
    The art of flying is throwing yourself at the ground...
    ... and missing.
  • There is a feature in ATX that overrides software-controlled shutdown if you hold the power button for over 4 seconds.

    Next time you want to crash a computer, use it ;-)
    --
    Leonid S. Knyshov
  • Were you feeling suicidal? ;-)
    --
    Leonid S. Knyshov
  • My right hand is currently sporting four thin slashes, two of them deep, one to the bone, and my left hand has a little one too.
    Last night I took apart a commercial-grade convection oven to fix the door latch. The inside of the multiply layered case was liberally supplied with razor-sharp metal edges.
    I am not amused.
    --Charlie

    "It's only funny till somebody gets hurt." --James
    "Yeah, then it's hilarious!" --Eric

  • For more stuff dealing with overclocking, cool case mods and other assorted soldering-iron-and-rivet-gun fetish stories, you really want to be over at [H]ard|OCP [hardocp.net], not here on Slashdork.

  • Recon 2k is coming up. Might want to transfer cases for that thing. I wonder what a Beowulf cluster of thoset things would be like!.

    Seriously, I wonder if it might be better to just drill out 4 5" holes on the side of the case, hook up some seriously bad-ass AC fans, and just crank that bad boy to a plug just before the input to the power supply. Anything is better than 5/12V DC. Go AC. Tesla had MUCH better ideas than Edison!

    But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

    JoeLinux

  • Power button on top to prevent accidental power offs

    clever indeed, but with my power button on front box, I've never had such a problem... has anyone? I like to pile things on top of my case... I'd imagine that would result in more power-offs for me.

    I wire the useless reset button in series with the power switch to provide some insurance against accidents and children. BTW, my case is a giant yellow cat which tends to attract such attention...

  • It's light, sturdy, and more importantly has two giant sized blow holes....

    This quote comes from:
    A: National Geographic describing killer whales
    B: Slashdot describing computer cases
    C: Hustler describing blow-up companions

    Is that your final answer?
  • I made two servers out of tupperware cases. You know the blue ones with the little locking handles...

    Well anyway, I thought it was clever. They are rather small and fit a mid-tower sized motherboard, power supply, and hard drives.

    For me(college student) the average $35-50 per case is too expensive and takes up too much room in my dorm closet.

    $3 per case, and the whole server [racher.net] fits within 18" x 6" 12".

    Lots of people ask about my tupperware computers. But I just smile and respond, "I don't care what it looks like, it works doesn't it."

    ...and I'm not sure we should trust this Kyle Sagan either.
  • I will not consider any case to be truly LAN-party friendly unless it has a sturdy handle built into it. It would be nice if the handle was hinged so that I could tuck it away, but that would be a bonus.

    I don't need extra fans blowing on me to give me a cold. I need a handle to let me carry my box without dropping it in the driveway.
  • lostbrain.com really is brain-damaged. It doesn't have a *single* *word* of text on the whole site --- all the content is in the form of images, specifically, gifs. Any site that does this is pathetic and not worth going to. Incompetent assholes.
  • I have once or twice gone to eject the floppy disk from an install, and swore as I realized I'd just depressed the power button.... what follows is a install that proceeds with me firmly holding in the power button so it doesn't actually power down, until I finish the install and can halt the machine :)

    So ya, I can see it. Is it really that much of a pain to require a power button relocation to under the pile of paper on top of the box? Not so much :)

    I think maybe one of those cool 'fire missile button' covers that the guys in movies always smash before it can slide aside would be much cooler :)
    --
    Remove the rocks to send email
  • OK, here's the quick and dirty on the relationship between bouyancy effects and inertial effects created by a fan.
    Bouyancy effects in low speed flows are measured by engineers using a nondimensional number called the Grashof #. It is defined as

    Gr = g*Beta*rho^2*L^3*(Tw-To)/Mu^2

    Where g = 32.174, Beta is the coefficient of thermal expansion, rho is air density, L is reference length (in this case the distance between hottest spot, directly over processor, and exhaust port), To is temp at exhaust, Tw is processor temp, and Mu is the viscosity of the air (assumed constant here although mu is temp dependant.)

    Since there is no velocity term here to account for the role of the fan, we have to introduce the Reynolds # Rho*V*L/Mu. V is the average between the velocity of the air leaving the fan and the velocity of the air at the exhaust.

    Essentially, Gr/Re^2 becomes a new non-dimensional # called the Froude # for forced motion: Beta*g*L*(Tw-To)/V^2

    For Gr/Re^2 < 1, the bouyant effects are less important than the fan effects. The reverse is true for Gr/Re^2 > 1 .

    In a typical computer case, L = ~24 inches, Beta = 1/To = 0.002 (perfect gas below 500 R), Tw = 650, To = 518, and V = 12 in/s. Thus Gr/Re^2 = 2.82, >> unity -> bouyant effects are more important than fan effects on a global scale. However, on a local scale L= 4 inches or so, (in the vicinity of the processor), Tw= 650, To = 518 and V = 24 in/s, Gr/Re^2 = 0.015 << 1 -> fan is necessary to keep cool locally.

    The problem is that To rises to much higher than normal temperatures when the case isn't properly ventilated. So if you have a case with nowhere for the air to go, you may have problems. Heavy duty fans like those used by you crazy overclocker types help to solve this by moving air away from the processor, but a better engineering solution would be to simply increase ventilation.

    Taking the walls off your case almost always increases ventilation more than putting a big fan in; I've got a 750 tbird at 848 in a relatively small case with 4 (hot) 7200 rpm seagate 19171wc's and a voodoo3, and it overheats with the cover on in a matter of a few minutes. With the case top off (the walls don't really matter) it runs for days.

    Hope this helps,

    Rev. Neh
    Resident aero type
  • I'd just depressed the power button.... what follows is a install that proceeds with me firmly holding in the power button so it doesn't actually power down

    Too bad these pesky ATX mobo manufacturers have circumvented that sneaky ploy. :-)

  • duh (Score:1)

    by Masa ( 74401 )
    I can't see anything special about this case. Nowadays all components seem to carry some kind of fans with them (processors, video cards, even some hard drive racks have a fan). So attaching extra fans to the case seems a bit pointless. The whole thing seems to be noisy, power consuming monster. But then, this seems to be for overclockers.

    What I would like to see, is a case without a cover. Just a rack holding the motherboard and cards. And the power supply at the bottom of the whole thing. I've tried to use regular mini-tower without the cover, but it is inconvinient, heavy and just too big. And quite unstable, because the power is at the top side of the thing.
  • I always see these wonderful overclockers cases and a lot of discussion about adding extra fans for cooling and all of this stuff. Has anyone done any work at making a quiet computer. Can you buy fans that don't make boot-up sound like a shuttle launch?

    My box is used for everything from digital audio recording to playing movies on my TV. It therefore holds a fairly sore thumb kind of role in my Living Room. Microphones don't like the noise.....and nor does my gf who unlike myself still hears the thing.........I just find it comforting.

  • I want the ThinkGeek.com case. I know I have to cut the hole myself, which is the only thing preventing me from buying it.
  • I think maybe one of those cool 'fire missile button' covers that the guys in movies always smash before it can slide aside would be much cooler :)
    From Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000) : molly-guard /mol'ee-gard/ n. [University of Illinois] A shield to prevent tripping of some Big Red Switch by clumsy or ignorant hands. Originally used of the plexiglass covers improvised for the BRS on an IBM 4341 after a programmer's toddler daughter (named Molly) frobbed it twice in one day. Later generalized to covers over stop/reset switches on disk drives and networking equipment. In hardware catalogues, you'll see the much less interesting description "guarded button".

    Something like that?

    Actually, I've more often bumped the case and had the rear of the desk hit the PSU's switch. I want a mollyguard for that badly.
    --

  • Can anyone tell me where I can get a rack mount, not the cases for the PC's, but the actual rack that you'd mount a bunch of them in, in New England?

    Mail ordering one of these babies from far away would be expensive, and I suspect the UPS man would stop talking to me.

    I live in mid-coast Maine. Portland, Maine is about an hour and a half drive away, Boston a little less than three. There's a lot of industry and some high-tech in South Portland, so maybe I can rent a truck or a van and get a rack there.

    Advice on rackmount uninterruptible power supplies would be helpful too.

    I do cross-platform development [goingware.com] and I'd like to set up a build and test farm of lots of twisty little 1U machines all running different Linux and *BSD distros, QNX, Solaris x86, UltraSparc Solaris at some point, BeOS and of course Mr. Bill's [geometricvisions.com] operating systems. I do Mac OS too but probably won't rackmount those, as it would mess up the nice Flower Power look [apple.com].

    BTW, I'm finally about to break down and by a Belkin Omniview 4-port KVM Switch [warehouse.com] with a Mac video/ADB keyboard adapter [warehouse.com]. Maybe if I save up I can get the 8 port with On-Screen Display [warehouse.com].

    While the Belkin may be expensive, the switching is electronic. I've worn out a Manhattan mechanical VGA switch [qualitycables.com] in about four months sharing a monitor between a Mac and a PC - I have to fiddle with the knob each time I switch it to get the connection right or the colors are all wonky. Also I'm sure to start shooting from the rooftops the next time I type into the wrong keyboard!


    Mike [goingware.com]

  • More cases with windows cut out so people can pj33r your boxens innards, but have it lit with a neon tube so it resembles a futuristic UFO or something! Oh! Oh! Or like...paint flames on the side! Or better yet...the Quake 3 or HalfLife Logos! That would hot!

    The Honda Hotrodders have their "Go faster stripes" and "Go faster chrome", and the UberClockers have their "Go faster windows", "Go faster neon tubes", "go faster flames", and "Go faster logos of popular first-person shooters"
  • Or the hiding behind AC to bash a fairly legitimate (but completely off topic) post. Besides, if you're so smart, what does it mean, smart guy?! Seriously, what the hell does it mean, if anything (besides being funny at a decreasing rate)?

    10 reply to AC
    20 bang head against wall
    30 goto 10

    bash# chown -R us /home/your/base/*

  • Two blow holes--The Ultimate Party Case (Score:4)

    by Ukab the Great ( 87152 ) on Sunday February 25, 2001 @10:06PM (#403297)
    You can frag your opponent at high frame rates and use it as a bong.
  • I've held on to a cheap 17, a cybervision something or other for travel purposes...It's worth the sacrifice of size for the damage done to my back.

  • Some of the best fans used in this manner are under 34db or so, which is fairly quiet. There are numerous ways to quite the computer further. Try sound dampening foam or some such, it works great! I've got a few extra fans and one of those damned GlobalWin-FOP38s which makes for a slightly loud case when the side is off (it's never bothered me though), but assembled, it's hardly louder than any typical machine. That damn 40X CD-Rom is still louder than the whole PC with the side off.

    Besides, it's all much, much quiter than the server room at work.

  • I've done something somewhat similar with what used to be a Dell Optiplex GX1. My only real complaint is no agp slot, but it's still a good travel box. P2@450mHz,128mb RAM,6gb drive,16mbTNT2. It's a tiny cube like box, so there is very little extra room, so I typically leave the CD-rom out (it kinda slides down b/t cpu and that signature dell expansion card. Everything else (sound/NIC/crap ATI video) is built on. Hell, you can stuff the mouse and power cables inside for travel too.

    It's only moderately smaller than a small mini-case, but it's very light and has a handle and cute little pop-top. It coulda been done a lot better, but like you said, it works!

    Need to take some damned pictures...I've had this thing for ages.

  • assuming of course they server their own site.

  • I've got one of these too. And you did reference one of the things that I've noticed about it. It's quite loud. It might just be that it seems noisy where it is, but I've only got one 7200RPM, ATA66 drive in it and all the fans it came with, and it still creates a lot of noise. And then I go and put a slightly wobbly CD in the 48X cdrom drive and create some REAL noise. Agh! It makes me want to get a Kenwood TrueX CDROM drive.

    Incidently, I got the SX1030(10 bays -- 2x3.5ext 4x3.5int 4x5.25ext; 300W PSU)B. Yes, it's black :). So it looks pretty cool, to boot. Here are some pics from GamePC:
    http://www.gamepc.com/images/rev-sx1030_1_LG.jpg
    http://www.gamepc.com/images/rev-sx1030_2_LG.jpg
    http://www.gamepc.com/images/rev-sx1030_3_LG.jpg
    http://www.gamepc.com/images/rev-sx1030_3_LG.jpg
    http://www.gamepc.com/images/rev-sx1030_5_LG.jpg

    The one bad thing that I read about this case that I can vouch for is the placement of the 3.5" drive cages. You pull back a lever and then slide them back and out. Very clever. However, they are also nicely aligned with your "top" PCI slot and/or AGP slot so you must remove that card if it's big enough or just be very careful if you're removing drives from that cage. Unfortunately, it's the one on bottom, so you'll likely put harddrives there (floppy/zip/ls120/etc would go above) and, since they get better so often, you'll want to change them occasionally and taking out your video card each time you change drives could get annoying. Well, that only goes for those of us using IDE. The SCSI people could always get an external enclosure.


    kickin' science like no one else can,
    my dick is twice as long as my attention span.
  • Souns like you might want this:

    --
    Ellison: How are you gentlemen !! All your database are belong to us

  • I agree completely... yet another reason not to visit VA Linux's site. [valinux.com] ;-)

    --
    Ellison: How are you gentlemen !! All your database are belong to us

  • I've been using an Antec "Performance Series Workstation Tower" [antec-inc.com] for about a year, and I think it's great. It has two 80mm fan mounts at the anterior (intake), two more at the posterior (outtake), an easily removable side panel, and quick-release drive bays. It may seem like overkill, but SMP x86 systems with SCSI-3 disks tend to get very warm. :-) Just keep the case under your desk or in a closet and the fan noise shouldn't bother you too much.

    Here's a suggestion... this case has almost an inch of space between the front of the metal chassis (where two of the fans are) and the removable plastic front. Buy an AC air filter, cut out a couple 8cm squares, and tape the pieces to the front of the metal to keep the fans from sucking in so much dust. Change the filters every two months or so. (That seems to work for me, and my systems are on 24/7/365.) You can buy filters which are designed to screw directly onto the face of the fans, but because of this case's snap-in fan mounts, those type of filters won't fit.

    I own three Antec cases and have had no problems with them... the company seems to employ some really nice people, too.

    I've bought all of my Antec cases from TechStore [techstore.com]. You can buy the case I described (the SX830) for about $75 here [techstore.com]. This is not an inexpensive case, but if you run powerful systems and/or overclock, I think it's a great investment. The case only comes with two fans, so you'll want to buy two more. Good sources for cooling supplies are Millisec [millisec.com] and Cooler Guys [coolerguys.com].

    --
    Ellison: How are you gentlemen !! All your database are belong to us

  • Almost forgot... Yeong Yang [yeongyang.com] makes some of the l337est cases I've ever seen. The FlexATX [yeongyang.com] (wow!) and Mini NLX form-factor [yeongyang.com] cases are pretty slick (if you can find a decent mainboard that size), but nothing beats the "borg cube" case! [esc-tech.com]

    --
    Ellison: How are you gentlemen !! All your database are belong to us

  • Yeah, I got the 19 becuase my 17 went all bbbZZZt-pop on me. ;-) Oh well, it gave me 5 and a half years of faithful service so I can't complain too loud. (The 19 was only ~$50 more than a nice 17 what with this random super-duper rebate thing, which to my suprise the company actually honored.)


    --
    News for geeks in Austin: www.geekaustin.org [geekaustin.org]

  • ... it's the fsckin' moniter. My case is pretty light compared to my behemoth of a moniter (19" flatscreen, weighs about 60 pounds and is really unwieldly to carry). If somebody made a "moniter carrier" (like straps and handles or something), I'd buy it.


    --
    News for geeks in Austin: www.geekaustin.org [geekaustin.org]
  • Well, it is a very nice looking case. The only problem is that it is definitely not suitable for lan parties. It is definitely a good case for a box that will sit on (or near) your desk at all times, but carying it is no easy task. Anybody who goes to lan parties knows what I mean.

    The reason is that it is too big, and it has no handles or anything to make it easier to carry when compared to the case I have right now (a generic mid-tower case with 2 80mm case fans, and a bay cooler).

    What would be really cool would be something like the case featured on /. a few months back, made out of a suit case. Now that's a lot easier to carry around. The only problem with that one was that the suit case was plastic, and it was not very durable under higher stresses (such as un/loading it in a car)

    And since I'm on the subject, I'm actually looking to build a case like the suit case one. I decided to use an alluminum brief case. But I can't find any alluminum brief cases large enough (biggest one was a bit smaller, but just as wide and long as a mini tower). So any ideeas would be welcome.

    If I actually manage to work something out, I'll let you guys know. :)

  • This Please mod this comment's parent down. Better yet, force his posts to be scored -1 by default.

    Damn, my sig is more appropriate then ever. :(

    --

  • > Just curious though, how loud is it exactly?

    As loud as a 120mm mains fan - do you want A or B-weighted sound-meter readings :-)?

    Seriously, it's not like you can't talk over it. It just makes a little case sound like a server box.

  • Can't beat Lian Li... (Score:3)

    by Daniel Rutter ( 126873 ) <dan@dansdata.com> on Sunday February 25, 2001 @09:45PM (#403312) Homepage
    ...if you ask me. Light weight, lots of ventilation, nice looks, easy to work on. Expensive, but so's this Coolerguys thing. You you can retrofit fans easily enough yourself, like I did with this monstrosity [dansdata.com].

    If you want a small case, the Lian Li PC-31 (review here [dansdata.com]) is pretty funky. The PC-60 (review here [dansdata.com]) is still highly portable and has lots of space, and the new PC-70 (review here [dansdata.com]) is, um, an ideal case for people who really want to impress their fellow gamers. The darn thing still weighs bugger-all, at least until you put an actual computer inside it :-).

  • As wonderful as that sounds, it seems as though the article linked to has gone down. After three attempts to load the page, I have come to the conclusion that the server was insufficient to carry the load requested by slashdot's linkage.

    Now would be a great time for that server to use one of those spiffy cases mentioned in this article... With all that space and more blowholes, it would have been able to run bigger, better, and faster, and it would not be in the situation that it is now.

    They should practice what they preach. (I say that as if I am not a hypocrite. Hah!)

  • Routine downtime. Bad route. Whatever. It's back now. And now I want one of those cases. I wonder if it will fit in the lower left hand side of my desk... I had this awesome desk years ago to fit an old case for a Pentium 166 system, but all the newer cases are about two inches wider, and barely do not fit... ugh.

    So it goes...

  • Good point.
  • for a sizzling pentium 4. [lostbrain.com]

    tcd004
    Don't click here unless you want stock photos. [lostbrain.com]

  • *QuoteMstr,*
    We at lostbrain are *happy* you've had the chance to view our website. We also *appreciate* your negative post, since it managed to drive about 2,000 extra hits to the site in the past 3 hours. We're also down-right inspired by your use of astericks, to convey emphasis on individual words in your last post, much like italics, but far less conventional. You wear really cool sunglasses don't you?

    We like to belive that to those who find our content funny, (a select group, of course) we are a refreshing place to find original content--a standout amoung second-rate comedy sites who all post the same six illegally scanned comics from the November 1973 edition of Playboy Magazine.

    Because the site is put together by 1-3 people who each work 45-70 hours per week at our full time jobs, have other commitments, etc.--we have develped processes for posting content that require as little labor on our parts as possible. Lostbrain is not a commerical web site. It is merely an outlet for our creative endeavors, and apparently your angry rants. If you don't like our site, fine, don't click on it, and by all means, publicly criticize us, because it gets us tons of free traffic!

    tcd004

  • Reminds me of what happened to me, whilst installing OpenBSD once:

    PC: Please insert MFS floppy and press enter...
    I insert the MFS floppy, and promply press the power button.
    Me: Wait a second... Fuck.

  • Here is another site thats not slashdoted.
    http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/windtunnelplus/

    jason m
  • But let's put that aside for a minute here. Why do you need this kind of case? The free market is a wonderful thing for scientific innovation, but this is the sort of thing that makes me think back to that old notion in Marx that a capitalist economy tends to produce unnecessary stuff, waste, and duplicate efforts.

    Those communists are just jealous that they never came up with the amazing innovations we did, like beer helmets, pet rocks, pez dispensers, and sourceless operating systems...
    --
  • is that done with Arbiters? Awwwwwwww yeaaah.
  • MaximumPC did a great article on how to quiet down noisy PCs back in their August 2000 issue. They took their PC from a noisy 49dB to a really quiet 34.6dB. I wish I could do the same for mine. If only I could find that link...

    All you really need to do is buy high quality equipment, and when you can, anything from the "silencer" line from PC Power & Cooling. Try to make the most out of the fewest fans possible. Also, buy the quietest hard drives possible. If you can afford the slight performance hit, go with some brand new 5400rpm drives, and buy a silencer kit from New England Digital. The easiest way to quiet it down though is just to get it out of your line of hearing. If you have an entertainment center with closeable doors, close the doors!

    Hope this has been helpful. Moderators -- don't bother modding me up, since this is OT. Don't mod me down either, it's useful knowledge.
  • I'm impressed. That is a very well written article. You have inspired me to risk electrocuting myself yet again.

    Just curious though, how loud is it exactly? You mention in the side bar that most users won't tolerate the noise, and in your conclusion you say "the new fan is no louder than the fan-farm I had in the old case", but how loud is that?

    -Tommy
  • And since I'm on the subject, I'm actually looking to build a case like the suit case one. I decided to use an alluminum brief case. But I can't find any alluminum brief cases large enough (biggest one was a bit smaller, but just as wide and long as a mini tower). So any ideeas would be welcome.

    Check your local music store. Most of them have larger aluminum cases that would be probably be perfect for what you're describing, and usually the prices aren't that bad. Another thing to check into, also, is getting an ammo can or two from a military surplus place; some of those cans are damn big.

  • Didn't strike me as anything that hasn't been around for years at http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ [overclockers.co.uk]. For example, the case at the bottom of this page [overclockers.co.uk] pushes 514CFM as standard.

    Dave

  • I severely doubt a mainstream server like that is going to be running on a desktop, mate.

    Dave

  • I looked at those window kits as well and they look cool! Espescially combined with a neon light! Analyst
  • But let's put that aside for a minute here. Why do you need this kind of case? The free market is a wonderful thing for scientific innovation, but this is the sort of thing that makes me think back to that old notion in Marx that a capitalist economy tends to produce unnecessary stuff, waste, and duplicate efforts.

    I hate to tell you, but to steal a line from Sprite: Image is Everything. Take fashion (the runway/supermodel kind), all that money must be going for something, and it's certianly not scientific. Or beer: if you're trying to get drunk, what's the difference between PBR and Heineken in terms of alcohol content (since taste is rather subjective). Or coming a little closer to home, take Microsoft - what would they be without their marketing department (and lawyers)? A more direct comparison would be to Apple's computers. How much does that iMac catch your eye? If someone starts staring at your machine, they're much more likely to see you, and that's the reason we buy those designer clothes.

    And about duplicate efforts... nothing sparks production and innovation like competition. You can't "engineer" people the way you can machines; it's more than just adding RAM or CPUs.

    Kurdt
  • I'm not sure how going through several cases just 'trying to get the hole just right in the sheet metal' (not to mention all the band-aids I'll go through from cuts to my hands, etc.) contributes to the idea that there will be 'less waste'. I'd much rather plunk down a wad of cash and get on with my life. THAT'S what I consider 'avoiding waste'.
  • > more importantly has two giant sized blow holes
    PLEASE dont encourage the trolls any more than is neccesary
  • Is it too much innovation to ask for a freaking handle on top of a lightweight case?

    As long as the case is light. I found this monster 386 tower for 10 bucks at a Goodwill once that had a handle on top. Just as I was leaving I picked it up and one of the handle points broke from all the weight! The thing had a 160 meg or so full-height MFM drive, and a motherboard big enough to play football on, and it must have weighed 40 pounds.

    Turned out the only really good part was the 4 megs of 1Mx1 DRAM chips (36 total), which went straight into an old Apple IIgs. But I might still find a use for an MFM drive that large.

  • I really hate to advertise on Slashdot, but there is a case I have seen that is a helluva lot quieter.

    There is a company, Koolance [koolance.com], out of Federal Way, WA that just came out with a Mid-tower ATX case that is liquid cooled. I saw one of their demo units at InfoTech [infotechnow.com]. They had a jacket strapped on the CPU and tubes going into the power supply, but later in March, they are going to release Video Card straps and Hard Drive coolers. When this thing is turned on, all you can hear are the hard-disk drives and Disc drives spinning. The ambient noise level is that of a single CPU fan. Price tag is $170, and you must have it installed at the store (for stability reasons).

    Maybe enough demand for something practical like this will stimulate some innovation to enable home users to perform such an upgrade safely?

  • This isn't anything that you can do on your own with a little ingenuity like going down to the hardware store, purchasing some metal sandpaper and doing it yourself (AFTER you remove all the components, of course). Save yourself a lot more money that way.
  • Some Cases have the power button dangerously close to the disk drive eject button, and if you aren't looking, it's easy to accidentally turn it off(ok, easy may be overstating it).
  • People would probably make fun of me for having a funky case, but then I could say "Hey! Get off my case!" when they started up. I bet they're gonna sell a buttload of these things.

  • briefcases? check out Zero Halliburton [zerohalliburton.com] - you can throw these off a 10 storey building with a ming vase inside.
  • You mean you didn't hire a Mexican to hold the button in for you so that you could preserve your uptime?
  • A case on my computer. hmmm. Well I still use the skeleton of it I guess, but I don't think the side panels have been on for a few months. Of coarse, in a dorm with poor ventalation and cramped areas, I don't need to move it much and need whatever airflow to the cpu I can get.
    Actually, you are better off with the covers on. I did a simple test once where I went and got a probe thermometer from radio crap. I dropped it in the case with the covers off, then with the covers on. The covers, with decent fan, systems will drop the temperature drastically. This was on a case with 8 hard drives in it and it dropped it 20 degrees.
    I am sure some of the physics majors can give us the reason why the case covers help the airflow and the formulas to prove it :)
  • Why are these recommended for "LAN PARTIES" cases always "BIG" and noisy?

    The last thing I want to do is lug a case that weighs as much as most monitors, and takes up space in my car (which is a Miata)

    An "Ideal" lan-party case for me would be similar to a streamline desktop, with possibly more than one fan out the back. Being a "party" case I won't need more than one harddrive, cdrom, and floppy... throw in my vid, sound, net, and a vortex fan (sit in slot between vid / other cards) and I think I would be just fine.

    The biggest joke about lan parties is watching just what some people are willing to bring!!! Hell!, rent a u-haul next time!
  • I saw the case,

    I said Yay,

    I clicked,

    I waited for the Chick Hardware page to load for ten minutes while I made my coffee.

    Oh, good lord, you people have slashdotted their site.

    But let's put that aside for a minute here. Why do you need this kind of case? The free market is a wonderful thing for scientific innovation, but this is the sort of thing that makes me think back to that old notion in Marx that a capitalist economy tends to produce unnecessary stuff, waste, and duplicate efforts.

    You can customize a case and make it lots cooler, quieter and cheaper than the flashy case spotlighted here. You eliminate waste and learn something while you work on this intimate level with your machine.

    I am all for convenience, but let's see if we can't find some of the more extraneous technology being peddled out there by perfectly intelligeng people and steer them into some really crucial research.

    I am currently of the mind that some really useful work would be the development of a battery that can store lots of power for a long period of time, hence reducing the immediate power demand and enabling us to capture massive amounts of solar energy for use in dim places and at night.

    Perhaps we could school a few less marketroids and a few more engineers, too. There's another example of waste.

  • I'd like a handle on my case. Sort of like the one on the back of an iMac. That way I can carry my CPU tower to netparties. So practical, so useful! Opening side door good + add a handle = even better! The most obvious is always the hardest.
  • A case on my computer. hmmm. Well I still use the skeleton of it I guess, but I don't think the side panels have been on for a few months. Of coarse, in a dorm with poor ventalation and cramped areas, I don't need to move it much and need whatever airflow to the cpu I can get. It still crashes too much, but I'm too busy using it to get a tune-up. And yes, I am using windows 98. And no, I'm not going to change OS's because I don't have time to learn a new OS. I wonder if underclocking would help... better not, it's slow enough already.
  • A slightly less easy-to-use power button would be really nice. One of the first things my now 13-month-old son learned was how to turn a computer on & off.

    He's a real menace when I bring him to the office. Fortunately he hasn't found the power switch on my Sun yet.

    And veering towards off-topic ... why is it that all the cables in the back of a PC can be secured by screws, clamps, little clips, whatever, _except_ for the power cable?


    --
  • with the advent of the pentium 4, technology is set to combine the computer and the stove. i mean, what else are you gonna do with those nice degrees? i guess that's what makes this product really blow.
  • umm ive heard this expression going around for a while but I can't figure out what it means? Is it making fun of japensese games?
  • Heh, you misunderstand. 'Rounded edges' refer to the edges INSIDE the case (like the drive cages), which if left unrounded are very sharp steel! Trust me, you WANT this feature.

    Squozen

  • So Kishar (zvguevy@gnzcnonl.ee.pbz) on 2001-02-26 4:56 EST sez:

    "Actually, I've more often bumped the case and had the rear of the desk hit the PSU's switch. I want a mollyguard for that badly. "

    I was recently in the main branch of the Boston Public Library, and while waiting my turn on one of their Internet computers, I watched as someone else sat down in front of one and as she pulled her chair a bit closer to the desk, hit the power switch on the front of the towercase under the desk with her knee.

    POOF!

    There is much to recommend the old AT-style keyswitches in some environments.
  • You guys DO realize you could use this thing for a spray booth, right? In fact I have a spray booth for my airbrush that probably has a lower CFM rating than this box. Likely sounds like a 747 when it spools up.

    Why not get a "normal" case, stick a couple of cheapie fans in it, screw a handle on and be done with it? Spend your money on RAM.

    Paint flames on if you want a cool custom look, maybe a little metal flake. ~:D
  • With the cacophony coming from this LAN-party case, no one will be able to hear you giggling like a little schoolgirl as your massive reaver-drop-to-end-all-reaver-drops approaches the unmonitored rear of the enemy Zerg's base.

  • Features: (Score:5)

    by PicassoJones ( 315767 ) on Sunday February 25, 2001 @09:23PM (#403350)
    Some of the features:

    Power button on top to prevent accidental power offs

    clever indeed, but with my power button on front box, I've never had such a problem... has anyone? I like to pile things on top of my case... I'd imagine that would result in more power-offs for me.

    Completely rounded edges for safety

    In related news, today, an unidentified man was mutilated beyond recognition when he suffered a horrible accident with the edges of his PC case. The accident could have been avoided, officials say, if the edges had been rounded.

  • This is madness. (Score:3)

    by qpt ( 319020 ) on Sunday February 25, 2001 @09:17PM (#403351)
    I've been overclocking PC's for seven years, and I've never needed a special case.

    You're much better off just saving your money for more useful computing equipment - or, god forbid, something actually important - than buying a fancy case so you can feel leet.

    That being said, I have a friend who bought one of these cases, and although he was happy with it at first, it developed stress fractures after a few months. Now, he's very hard on cases (moves his machine a lot and such) but that still seems like a very short lifespan.

    - qpt
  • here's a lan case / pc I made :) The PortaPC [aber.ac.uk]
  • Is it just me or are some of these cases beginning to look like those things in my dreams.... what do you call them.... high speed modems, yeah that's it!
    statik_24@yahoo.com

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