Case selection = SAD!

They cost more these days, Lian Li O11 Dynamic is entirely metal and glass, I've had one for 3-4 years now and it's excellent. Just clean the dust filters and blow it out with a compressor every once in a while. Even has space for two spinning disk drives. I'm not crazy about the management in the back but it's acceptable. I think there's some really good suggestions in here, I particularly love that one guy's Corsair 5000D setup, little jealous honestly.
 
I have too many cases... most have 2-4 3.5in bays, and room for several 2.5in drives, plus you can fit 2x comfortably in a 3.5in slot.

Right now I have a corsair 680x, 4000, 5000, and three cooler master cases lol. And an o11 that I've been wanting to build but probably won't anytime soon.

The corsair are all great, just wish the 680x was easier to clean the front fans, like removable glass/panel but I haven't tried modding it to see how feasible it would be, might just be a few screws. The 4000 is great balance between size and capabilities, and the 5000 is humongous, but nowhere near the HAF700 I have obviously.

I do miss the 5.25 bays, even 1 or 2 would be nice. I liked physical fan controls, hot swap drive bays, bluray, extra usb/card readers, etc that you could customize your system with. Now it's all external USB adapters, buggy software for everything unless you do some harder modding.
 
I've not yet found a compelling reason to upgrade from my tried and true old Corsair 800D case, even though it's approaching ~15 years old now. It's starting to show it's age in that some of the rubber grommets where the cables go through the inner-chassis are becoming brittle and breaking apart, and the plastic latch on the front-door of the 3.5" hot-swap bays got brittle and snapped, so the door swings open freely now. It would also be nice to have a case that had airflow through the front. But none of those things are show-stoppers. The 800D still supports my 360mm radiator up top and gives me plenty of airflow for the hardware that I run. I'd want to replace it with something equally large, but don't have a ton of incentive to pay $300-500 to "fix something that isn't broken".
 
Really liking the NZXT H9 Flow case that I got recently. I've owned the PC011 Dynamic case a while back, and I am liking this case more. Just has better airflow IMO.
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Even though this looks better in real life, here's a pic of the Cooler Master Elite 500 with an Antec white LED fan.
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I couldn't find anything I loved but I needed a new case, so I found a new NZXT H7 Flow at Microcenter for $60 on closeout. It's not perfect, and it's really plain, but it's practical and has good airflow and was inexpensive.
 
I couldn't find anything I loved but I needed a new case, so I found a new NZXT H7 Flow at Microcenter for $60 on closeout. It's not perfect, and it's really plain, but it's practical and has good airflow and was inexpensive.
I used an H7 Flow here for a while and loved it. I'm one of those people that swap in and out of cases all the time so I'll probably go back to it eventually. As you mentioned it has great air flow and it's just a great functional case overall.
 
How do you like the Thermalright AIO?

I have considered one a few times, but just couldn't pull the trigger.
 
Shame to see that there haven't been too many clean case designs in recent years... some of the old Lian Li's must have taken their inspiration from the Power Mac G5 and were quite nice looking.
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Even those didn't quite measure up to the G5 case though... always hoped someone would manage that.
 
Shame to see that there haven't been too many clean case designs in recent years... some of the old Lian Li's must have taken their inspiration from the Power Mac G5 and were quite nice looking. snip

Even those didn't quite measure up to the G5 case though... always hoped someone would manage that.
I loved my v1000b and really wish they still had something like it
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Happy with my Lancool II though. Want to get a O11 mini but price is to high atm with needing a new PSU for it as well
 
I always liked that case!

Love the wheels.. I have a Stacker that has wheels, but it is too old school for me right now. I need to restore it.
 
I always liked that case!

Love the wheels.. I have a Stacker that has wheels, but it is too old school for me right now. I need to restore it.
I held on to it for years. Offered it up here in genmay for cost of shipping before deciding I was going to stick with gaming laptops.... Year or so later I traded laptop for a desktop and miss that case
 
I always liked that case!

Love the wheels.. I have a Stacker that has wheels, but it is too old school for me right now. I need to restore it.

The old school manufacturers that are still in business need to offer up some front panel upgrade kits. I'd love to be able to have front panel USB-C on my TJ09 or V2120. I've got a Lian Li/Rocketfish on a shelf somewhere as well that could use a new system build as well.
 
My 24 year old desk enclosing my 15 year old open air case..

No cable management, Definitely not sexy.. but cool and quiet, ultimately out of sight / out of mind.. The case is extremely stable. For USB 3+, I have a hub on my desk for that.

My 100% oak large (and very heavy) Corner desk from 1999 is definitely dated, but has been absolutely perfect for my needs over the past 20 years of telecommuting with dual monitors, slide out KB, mouse, and accessory trays all from the middle. I am going to refinish it this fall, maybe a darker stain. I think I paid about $1k for it back in the day, and another $500 for a matching credenza. It has definitely weathered alot of daily use, and housed so many rigs / part swaps going back to a Pentium 3.

It isn't always cool, but I will take function / daily use resilience / sturdiness over form any day of the week. Sure I can update everything, money is no concern... but why?


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The only reason the 3.5" floppy is still in there is I have not felt like rummaging to find the case cover (even though I know I still have it), plus it adds to the retro vibe, a ton of memories, and a hint of inconspicuousness. DVD drive is hardly used anymore, but there just in case. I still run some older software, so I have multiple VMs (XP, Windows 7, etc.) in addition to Windows 10, 11, Windows Server, and Linux for some enterprise apps. I am not much of a gamer anymore, but occasionally do.. so I have a 6600 XT.

Towel underneath the front half of the case is for sound dampening, and eliminates any rotational vibration / resonance (also gives a little more clearance for the rear of the case for better PSU fan air pull).. the front door to the desk stays closed.. so out of sight, and out of mind. There is a side cutout in the desk where the side fan pulls in air., and I removed the back off the desk / CPU enclosure for ventilation.


Prior to dust removal shot:


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Open air for me has been great and it is out of sight.. Also, I don't get triggered over picture perfect. If that is your thing, great.. I've got other things to obsess over. This rig stays on 24x7 (on a 1,500 watt hour battery backup) and only goes down for windows updates, maintenance, and parts swapping.

The Low RPM side fan is for cooling my SSDs that build up a pocket of heat combined with the video card (that often stays at 0 RPM).. That Zalman fan holder is from like 2003 LOL. I'm no pack rat, but I still have drawers of stuff with "someday I might find a use for that"... The side fan knocks my SSD (all have heat sinks) temps down about 10-15 degrees C, and has a noticeable impact on Video card temps. I am down to 2 conventional hard drives for basically archived data.


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My CPU cooler, 5+ years old ( Evo 212) does reasonably ok with my 9900k with this setup. When I upgrade my CPU (14 or 15th gen Intel), I'll probably go with a Peerless Assassin or similar.. I rarely ever hit 100% CPU as it is.

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My desk includes 2 computers (this one, and a work laptop 11th gen intel with docking station).. this is used in combination with 2 1200p 16x10 24" monitors (perfect dot pitch for my old eyes), and 3 KVMs --one for KB and mouse, one for each monitor so I can have any combination of monitors and KB / mouse between the 2 computers at any time.


As I said, it is not sexy.. but I am old and do not care... it works. Being practical pays.. and I adapt to needs accordingly.
 
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