[rescue] PC Cases

[Nadine Miller]

Phil Stracchino wrote:

> Seriously: I have a number of hand-me-down cases still in service, but
> aoo of the most recent cases I've bought have been Antec.  I've recently
> learned that the big Antec tower case I particularly like is actually
> OEM'd for them by an outfit called Chieftain, who also make cases for
> Alienware, and from whom the exact same case can be purchased direct for
> about 20% less than Antec wants for it.
[...]

> Antec makes (or resells) excellent power supplies that are bright enough
> to detect a short on the load side and shut off power before magic smoke
> escapes.
> 
> Personally, I've been avoiding aluminum cases; most of the ones I've
> looked at don't bother to use steel thread inserts for things like case
> screws, and threads in sheet aluminum strip out horrifyingly easily.  In
> that context, one of the features I like about the big Antec/Chieftain
> case is that once the machine's assembled, you virtually never need
> touch it with a screwdriver again.  Drive bays are removable and latch
> into place, fans and drive rails snap in, the side door has a locking
> latch and a pinless hinge....

I have to agree with Phil on this one.  I *love* these
cases, since all the edges are rolled, too.  But the
drive bays are what made me go for them initially.

I have an ugly beige one before the nice colored ones
came out (ala alienware), and also a smaller aluminum
one that has a smaller foot-print mobo in it.  Very,
very nice.

The 5.25" bays have locking rails that you screw to
the drives and slide in from the front.  The 3.5"
bays have levers on the tops that lock them in; you
screw the drives in as you normally would.

The side of the case has a spring-loaded latch so
there's no fighting with alignment.  Very well
designed for a PC case.  I've considered using one
of the colored ones to build a Franken-G4 (since
beige would be just so wrong for a Mac :-).

My over-clocking PC geek friends stand by Antec PSU's
as well; I'll probably buy one the next time I need
to scratch build a PC.

=Nadine=