 V.5.0  APPENDICESAPPENDIX E DESIGNING A GOOD CASE FOR YOU Here's how I think about designing a good case setup: 1. Select a well-manufactured product. It should have features in it that hardware geeks can appreciate--quality manufacture, easy access, durable construction. 2. It must be capable of providing powerful performance. The box itself should be capable of accepting enough fans or larger fans to provide air cooling that will handle the most demanding load from the installed system. 3. Powerful performance should not come at too big a handicap. Use of the right fans can give you both the airflow you need for cooling the hardware, and quiet enough to allow you or others to work undistracted. 4. Review your current drive requirements--both internal and external. Figure out what current (and/or future) 5.25 and 3.5 external drive bays you need. This is not wishful thinking, such as "Oh, in a year I will probably add six more HDs," but an honest appraisal of what you will need to have in there. All of these cases do NOT necessarily do everything well. The GENIE, or the W8500,for example, handles multiple HD installations (more than two), better than the others without expending an external bay for an HD installation. or without special modification. In general, I no longer promote the use of external bays for HDs simply because they are not needed for today's HDs. Using a case fan for hardware cooling instead of a specialty item will be cheaper, quieter, and provide better airflow. Most of these cases provide cooling for HDs by the use of internal fans, saving money and keeping the setup quieter. 5. After narrowing the case selection by drive needs, then consider personal preferences for case type and size. If the buyer wants a tall, full-tower case, then the Addtronics 7896 is the logical choice. (My own bias is towards cases that can best fit under a desktop, for my office setup needs a computer that will fit in a space 25" or less. Because a case under a desktop is difficult to access, I want casters on it and I want extension cables so I can easily roll the case out to get at it. I tend to build lightly-resourced computers and then network them, but I also overclock and routinely enhance/upgrade/change my computers.) 6. Weigh the overall needs for cooling performance and consider modifications.. If you don't have a burner, you probably don't need a drive column fan, but you may need another lower front fan for cool operation AND higher performance for your video card. 7. Choose a PS that provides you with adequate power for the near future. None of the PSs I sell are "no name" products, but some do some things better than others. Because quiet operation is very important to me, and the quality of the product is important, I lean to the Enermax PSs over the others. Investigation of PS specifications seems to show that there is a lot of snake oil in this area, so go over the tables in the catalog and look up the manufacturer's specifications. 8. Set the intake and exhaust fan systems up for positive pressure if at all possible. Positive-pressure cases--ones in which the intake cfm exceeds the exhaust cfm are cleaner and require less maintenance--period. Negative-pressure cases can perform well--the Lite-On FS020 is a prime example of that--but they tend to be dirty and need more maintenance. 9. Weigh out all these criteria and specify a complete configuration. This process can be difficult: Cost really is a constraint for most of us--these cases are not cheap, and most of us do not have unlimited budgets for this part of our system. However, given the general quality of these cases, they will last for years, and could well end up being the cheapest part of a geek's system when you figure the cost on a per-year basis. So, take a minute and set down the order of importance for you. Is having the highest cooling performance possible the most important issue, over and above case height? Then figure on including modifications. Will you REALLY add more HDs to have a RAID 0+1 setup? Then look at the GENIE, or the 8500. Want an underdesk case that can be hot-rodded well? Consider the 6896. Want a high-quality server box with hot-swaps? Look at the Chenbro double-wides, particularly the NET or the ECHO. And on and on.... Addronics Cases and differences |