New case

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 9:04 am

I just ordered the new Cooler Master CM Stacker case, thought I would be able to mount my entire W/C kit in it as it has 2 120 mm fans and 2 80 mm fans, once I get it, and get it up and running I'll post some pics, also replaced the Chaintech board I RMA'd with an DFI Lan Party Rev B, and it is upgradeable for the near term (not that that matters much after reading this month MAX PC, which all buts says just about everything currently out there, from P4 to socket 478 is dead).
Also, does the way the new 775 board is setup bother anyone else, I see nightmares coming with the pin setup they changed to.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 9:12 am

Capper...

Whats wrong with the Socket 775 board layout? Look at the ABIT AA8-MAX that I am testing today. Seems like a solid layout to me. Am I missing something?

P.S. I think that looks like a solid choice for cases. BTX and ATX compliant

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 9:26 am

No actually I think the setup looks awesome. A couple things I have read scare me, first bent pins on the board, I read that it is a major concern (I don't know because I haven't seen one myself, just what I read). second, most of this months Max PC is dedicated to BTX, and the future of intel, they think because of the death of Tejas, that the 775 is a short term solution. Basically Intel screwed the pooch because they couldn't control the heat issues with the Prescotts and Tejas'. It seems that everything will end up going to dual processors.
But, who knows, I find Max PC to be a little less than reliable (I read it and several others to get different points of view)... there just seems to be alot of conflicting information out there

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 9:35 am

Good looking case. Your kit and everything should look good in there. As for the pin situation im with you, a little scared that the pins are going to fail. I have read that most new 775 sockets are only good for ~20 installs and thats if your real careful.

I would not worrie about btx, its a new standard and will be slow to production because it was intells way of passing the cost of cooling a prescott off to the mobo makers reather than bringing down the heat. I do think that its a good thing. The new design offers alot better cooling and when there is a good solid socket with the right cpu then i will jump but not until then.

It is very likly that intel will have to redesign both the chipset and the socket for dual core although im sure their spending lots of cash on finding ways not to. So yes i think that skt775 and the 915 chipset will be a short term product. think 1-2years on the life cycle of skt775 and 915. BTX though i think is comming one way or another. It will be interesting to see if AMD can redesign the memory controler in the A64's to run the longer trace distance to the BTX memory location.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 9:56 am

Infinite,
Glad I'm not the only one with concerns. Maybe they will be calmed once I see one in person, or once Apop puts it through its paces.
As to the case I used a couple of considerations. First, there is more room, second it supports ATX and BTX, third is cooling, more room, bigger fans, the crossblower fan, and something they addressed that I had issues with, I always felt there need to be more room behind the board, for better circulation, and thats what they did. I hear this is a heavy case, and a little wider, but I think it is a big step up for cooling. I'll have everything by this weekend, so lots of pics and thoughts on it.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:43 am

/me is looking forward to that.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 5:34 pm

Last I heard is that AMD is not going to go to the BTX route, it's only going to be a Intel thing. I'll have to find where I read it though.
As for the case..........

.....It's just plain huge.........tons of room for everything you own, I think you'll be very happy with it.......a little on the heavy side though......I take it you're not a Lan goer............. :D

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 6:22 pm

Nah, this forum is about as social as I get, so the case size isn't a big deal. Very sturdy case, I'm excited about it.
As to AMD and the BTX form, they are undecided according to Max PC, for what its worth. I personally think that if they don't switch over, their fan base will grow while Intels sinks. I think people are pretty weary of Intel right now, they just release multiple expensive processors, have a serious thermal problem, then they say they are switching from ATX to BTX, then in another year will be going to multi-core.
I think the sluggish chipset sales that Apop brought up could be an indicator that people are tired of spending huge sums of money foe flawed technology.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 6:33 pm

Not sure why it logged me in as "guest" but that was me who made that last post. I was logged in as well

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:25 am

Got my new Cooler Master case this morning, excellent product, very good looking, very well built, excellent air flow. A great case if you are looking for something to put around an extreme cooling kit, and it is ready for the new BTX boards.
I forgot to mention earlier that I put a second 120mm fan on the radiator, one to pull, one to push. dropped my temps about 2C, running 3.84 at 34C/28C on the ASUS board.
Still haven't decided whether I'm going to use the Lanparty board, the Abit board, or the Epox board in my new case, might just stick with the ASUS board. I have been going through all the ABIT forums, seems that the memory voltage thing is a real problem, as is ABITs horrible customer service (forums view, not mine). The Lanparty is very intriguing, but Pastor Jay said it didn't O'C as well as others.
Anyway, pics to be posted some time this weekend when the new case is up and running.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 6:32 pm

Great that you got your new case and it's what you were looking for.......

And it didn't get screwed up by the UPS guy either I guess...........

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:16 pm

Will post pics tomorrow. Got it up and running.
Without a doubt the nicest case I have ever seen. Very sturdy, tons of room great circulation and air flow, multiple configurations.
Now the negative.... the front covers are very hard to work with, brittle and dent easily. Horrible instruction manual, good thing its only a case, can't screw that up too bad. I'm not sure if the people at cooler master know what "tooless" means, evidently not you need a screwdriver to assemble this thing. 3 in 4 cage for HDD and floppy is nice, although because I put my resevior and HDD in it, there was nowhere to mount my FDD, and because of case configuration there is no way to add one.
Overall an awesome case if you want internal water cooling.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Sat Jun 19, 2004 9:12 am

Here it is!!!!
Great case. My temps are 34/30C stable. Runs much quieter than it did externally. I used 7.5 ft of tygon tubing, a little extra, but this way I can move things around and replace parts as needed. One part that you can't see in the pics is the case door, to which I mounted a 80mm panaflo that blows directly on the board. I guess initially at least these cases won't include the crossblow fan, you have to buy it seperately.
As to the cooling kit. Danger Den finally sent me the nozzle kit, looks neat but they sent me the wrong one, I got the kit for the RBX block instead of the TDX block. Their W/C kits include "reusable" clasps, don't use these, use simple zip ties, I found that the clasps, if used more than once, don't tighten all the way, and sometimes slip off their teeth sideways....which can be a very bad thing. I also recommend that if you are using their NB block, that you invest in some neoprene pads to protect the chipset, they should include this in the kit. I had to mod the clips that hold the NB block on, they tend to slip off and shoot several feet, which can be a bad thing as well. I just cut a small groove in the clip head so it would grab the 478 hooks better.
[img]http://gallery.cybertarp.com/albums/use ... CF0052.jpg
[/img]

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Sat Jun 19, 2004 2:07 pm

That looks amzing. Some good info and suggestions to help out too. I took a look at that case in a few reviews and its a nice case. I think that the cost would keep me from buying it i would rather go rackmount if i was going to spend ~$250-$300 on a case.

One other thing it would be nice if you could srink down the picture and post a link to the full sized version that way people dont have to scroll the page to read the posts.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Sat Jun 19, 2004 2:24 pm

The case cost me $167 at Newegg with free shipping, not bad at all. As to the pics, I'll try to redo them. Can't figure out the wife's stupid camera. I linked to the gallery so you can see all the pics