Antec 300, CM 690 or what?!?!

[kyle2020]

Right, im selling my Cosmos, and going back down to a midi case - I love the look of the P182's however they cost the earth, so Ive landed on a choice of 2 - the Antec 300 and the CM 690 Dominator s00per dup0rz case that everyone seems to get all fuzzy inside about.

So, what am I looking for?

1. Plenty of cooling. Need to keep everything super cool, I will be selling my H20 loop so no need for space for rads or anything. NEED TO KEEP MY GTX COOL!

2. Midi size. 100% essential.

3. Needs to look good. Minimalism is nice, but everyone likes a few LED's now and again.

4. Good cable management, id prefer not to be cracking the dremel out, however I will if needs be.

So, what should it be? The antec is far cheaper, and from experience, I know they are quite good for cable management - but how do they perform in terms of cooling? The CM 690 looks better for cooling, but is more expensive.

So, thoughts / recommendations for any other cases? Looking to spend a maximum of £70!

 

[King Wookie]

I went with the CM590.
Almost identical airflow setup to the 690, but cheaper.

Been a good case to work on.

 

[LittleLizard]

if u can go for the nine hundred two but if not, then go for the cm690

 

[kyle2020]

I went with the CM590.
Almost identical airflow setup to the 690, but cheaper.

Been a good case to work on.

Ill be looking that up later - minimalistic, looks very nice.

if u can go for the nine hundred two but if not, then go for the cm690

*sigh* the 900 series is a love hate relationship for me. I got rid of my 900 because I hated it so much, even after modding. seems like the new revision has sorted out those problems, but its damn expensive.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

I'd highly recommend the Antec 300 - I use that for all my privates builds both outside & at work. It was fantastically cheap, however the price has increased pretty quickly after all the attention the case has been getting.

If you're not keen on a bottom located PSU then maybe this case isn't for you - but I highly recommend from my own experiences. The air flow is great, especially if you add at least one fan to the front. Looks great too if you like simplicity.

 

[Thrackan]

The Centurion 590 rocks Simply put it's a 690 without the unnecessities and high price.
The 690 side panel with window can be put in it as well, fits perfectly.

 

[kyle2020]

Right so Ive had a look at the 590, however I must say I prefer the 300 (dont hurt me lol) but ill keep looking at reviews.

For now, Im getting my old modded Jr down from the loft and using that until I decide what im doing.

 

[Thrackan]

Right so Ive had a look at the 590, however I must say I prefer the 300 (dont hurt me lol) but ill keep looking at reviews.

For now, Im getting my old modded Jr down from the loft and using that until I decide what im doing.

I missed some features with the 300, it was a case I considered though.

 

[kyle2020]

I missed some features with the 300, it was a case I considered though.

such as?

 

[Thrackan]

Screwless install, "only" 1x top exhaust, no window available.
Right after that I fell in love with the 590, so it's not a fair race

 

[kyle2020]

Screwless install, "only" 1x top exhaust, no window available.
Right after that I fell in love with the 590, so it's not a fair race

can i just ask - in pictures the 590 is shown with 3 fans up front - are there mounts included to do this? Because I need max airflow and that would be wicked!

 

[Thrackan]

No. Use either more 4-in-3 modules or the Scythe Kama Bay thingy
In the box, one 4-in-3 module is included, which has a 120mm fan mounted on it.

 

[kyle2020]

No. Use either more 4-in-3 modules or the Scythe Kama Bay thingy
In the box, one 4-in-3 module is included, which has a 120mm fan mounted on it.

hmm, bit of a let down then. 300's are cheaper, but the two top 12cm fans would be better on the 590 . . .

 

[Thrackan]

120 or 140, whatever you want

 

[kyle2020]

I just wish I could have a "try before you buy" thing going on haha.

 

[Thrackan]

You're just a sea away from me... I could get you some decent pix of my install tonight.

 

[kyle2020]

please mate, would help me!

 

[oli_ramsay]

I think you should go for the CM690, it looks awesome and sleek, has excellent airflow, has a side window and is fairly cheap. Also has good cable management and plenty of room inside (one of the reasons I'm getting one).

http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=6911&cat=0&page=1#tabs

 

[kyle2020]

I think you should go for the CM690, it looks awesome and sleek, has excellent airflow, has a side window and is fairly cheap. Also has good cable management and plenty of room inside (one of the reasons I'm getting one).

http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=6911&cat=0&page=1#tabs

it just doesnt seem the airflow would be as good as the 300?

 

[Meizuman]

One thing I dislike in the 300 is the old fashioned HDD installation. Metal on metal with screws is not good thing when noise is one priority. I made a holder from thick rubber bands and placed my HDD in vertical position. But after the HDD died in few months, I'm afraid to that again.

So here is a question too. Does the orientation of HDD affect its life span? I have seen some PC's (Acer, HP) with HDD installed in different positions...

 

[Thrackan]

One thing I dislike in the 300 is the old fashioned HDD installation. Metal on metal with screws is not good thing when noise is one priority. I made a holder from thick rubber bands and placed my HDD in vertical position. But after the HDD died in few months, I'm afraid to that again.

So here is a question too. Does the orientation of HDD affect its life span? I have seen some PC's (Acer, HP) with HDD installed in different positions...

Basically either horizontally or vertically is fine. Try to keep a spinning wheel at an angle, some force will pull it to either a horizontal or vertical position.

Anyway

The 590 is basically the 690 but stripped down on looks. I even have the exact same window panel on it.
If the 690's looks were my taste I would have gotten that one, but I chose the 590 for its plainer looks. The 4-in-3 module is good for noise reduction and you can position it in any three bays you'd like for airflow.

Heres my post in my thread describing what I think about the 590:

So I've built my system into this Centurion 590 and it's nice! Here's a little sum-up on what I've noticed about the case.

• No sharp edges (no cuts!)
• Minimal amounts of plastic, some on the backside of the front panel and the top of the front panel where the power button is located, but it looks solid enough.
• The looks are exactly what I was hoping for, though the paint job looks a bit flimsy on the sidepanels.
• Window sidepanel is nice! Too bad it had to be bought separately, but I might use the original panel to mod some stuff.
• Multiple fansizes possible on most fanholes. Even though I only use 120's for now, that's a nice extra.
• The 4-in-3 module with fan is pretty nice.
• The fans that were preinstalled were amazingly enough pretty quiet.
• Cable management is doable, but a larger hole near the PSU or some more holes would have been nice.
• Manual hasn't been necessary throughout building.

There is some stuff I didn't really like (not that it's a total bummer):

• The tool-free clip-in system on the 5,25" bays sucks balls. I've screwed everything in since I could easily wiggle every bit I just clipped on (DVD, fancontroller, 3,5" adapter) except the 4-in-3 module, which was tight enough even without clips or screws.
• I tried to reverse the 4-in-3 module to mount my hdd's backwards (cable management!) but that was not doable. The SATA and power cables would have pushed on the front panel.
• One of the clips on the sidepanel was not correctly bent. Easily fixed, but it wasn't good.
• I think my PSU is giving a slight humming sound. Might be due to the fan being too close to the carpet now, so I will try reverse mounting it (fanside up).
• Some larger holes throughout the entire 5,25" bay rack on the right side would have been nice. I had to lead the cables of my fans through the only larger hole available, the one on the top of the bay rack.
• I mounted a backplate on my mobo while I was at it, but backplate + insulation + screws was too thick to fit on the mobo tray. I removed the insulation and replaced it with ducttape

And now, for some testing results. Remember, before, this system was in a cramped minitower!
...:shadedshu
The biggest bummer is that the CPU temps under load (with 80% fanspeed) are exactly the same!
GPU temps should be lower, but I still have to measure it due to my Catalyst Control Center being corrupt/dead after a Windows repair.
I'm going to fit some exhausts in the top later on and see if that helps. Otherwise, I might be going for a Scythe Kama Bay 3-bay 120mm fan in the top three bays or something.

Altogether, a 45 degrees under load isn't that much anyway though, and most of the time during normal use, my CPU cooler doesn't go past 40% fanspeed... Might be time to clock this baby back up to 3.2Ghz and beyond

To add to that, GPU temps have dropped immensely due to the fan in the sidepanel. Currently running GPU+CPU under 55-60 on load and OC'd.

 

[King Wookie]

You wanted pics?

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=1070035&postcount=372

 

[bpgt64]

You can't go wrong with the 300, I run a E8400 OCed at 4.0 ghz and it runs nice and cool thanks to the top fan(140cm) and rear Exhaust Fan. It's a sturdy case with plenty of room. I absolutely love mine.

 

[Ramo1203]

So here is a question too. Does the orientation of HDD affect its life span? I have seen some PC's (Acer, HP) with HDD installed in different positions...

I read the position doen't matter at all. They are made to be used in any positions.

Link : http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21533



By the way I'm also in the same situation.. CM690/590 VS Three Hundred

Kinda hard to choose, I mean both have excellent features, none of them beat the other in a significant way.

Really I agree with the "try before you buy" thing !

 

[Thrackan]

I'll try and get as good pics as I can tonight, someone please do the same for a 300?