1329 replies to this topic

[Homeles]

Vulpesveritas, on 18 June 2012 - 10:21 AM, said:

The 2500k still overclocks higher, and is faster at said high overclocks, given Ivy is only 5-10% faster.

And why not use passmark? It shows the overall multithread capabilities of a processor.

Which in turns shows closer to the real life performance of a processor than some random single threaded processor.

And it has a convenient chart which I can show all the processors on at once.

It's a terrible, terrible benchmark.

Unless you have a golden i5, they're on par, with IVB having lower power consumption.

[Biggles]

I'm pretty happy with my i5-2500K overclocked, but that could just be me.

[Vulpesveritas]

Homeles, on 18 June 2012 - 10:26 AM, said:

It's a terrible, terrible benchmark.

Unless you have a golden i5, they're on par, with IVB having lower power consumption.

Except horrible heat, and a good number of i5-2500ks reach 4.8ghz+ on air, and 5ghz+ on water, whereas the i5-3570k generally only reaches 4.4on air, and 4.8 on water. And the 2500k is still somewhat cheaper. (albeit those values are more benching values, safe OC speeds are closer to 500mhz lower than that with many cooling solutions.)

Though I can see why an ivy would be more wanted on someone not doing any extreme overclocking, I did list ivy for those not overclocking at all.

And how is passmark terrible exactly?

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 18 June 2012 - 10:35 AM.

[AC]

I built my rig using the Phenom IIx4 945 because it was a 95w CPU rather than the 125 of the black editions. I can say that I am very pleased with the performance. I combined it with two ATI 5770's in crossfire (very inexpensive graphics solution) and can run Crysis 2 on max settings. I don't forsee any issues with MWO, and I would not disuade anyone from using AMD in a gaming rig. They are very cost effective for the performance.

[Odins Fist]

Vulpesveritas, on 17 June 2012 - 05:56 PM, said:

Pretty much. Though real life tests show the FX processors to be nowhere nearly that bad. A number of quite viable benchmarks disagree for multithreaded applications. IPC fell no where near as far as Ars Technica was implying in that. On average, bulldozer is 5-15% slower clock-for-clock core-for-core versus Phenom II based on all the reviews and benchmarks I have read.
Such as Passmark:
Anandtech also disagrees, although it seems that their site is down at the time of this reply...

Anyhow. Piledriver (in Trinigy) has already been proven to be faster then Llano IPC by 5%, while being more power efficient. And with Llano more power efficient and having higher IPC than Phenom II, that is a decently good thing. Not to mention desktop Vishera likely getting architecture tweaks and getting L3 cache. And coming at 4ghz+ at stock, it's looking at least... competitive if chips come out at the current bulldozer prices.

.
I'm sorry, are you saying that Bulldozer was not considered a disappointment by a majority of the TECH communtiy in terms of it being an "UPGRADE".for (gaming)??? Like I said, I passed on the original Phenom, and i'm passing on Bulldozer, and I think we will have to wait and see about Piledriver, and I also said "I HOPE" Piledriver turns out to be great, but if it is another mediocre chip disguised as a boss, then it's time to move to something else for my personal rig. I hope they can release revisions of either chip that make them an "obvious" choice for an upgrade, until then I will still be waiting to see.
.
On a side note I would like it if AMD would create a new socket and APU design that would be the equivalent, and performance of an awesome CPU, and dual GPU top end video card, eliminating a Video card would be great, and I would put the thing under water in a heartbeat.. Only downside to APU graphics would be if you lose Video you're in trouble, you couldn't just get a new video card if it took the CPU with it..LOL , at that point you would be out the money for a Video Card if you didn't have one laying around to test to see if the CPU was still functional, but that isn't as big of a tragedy if the CPU would still function... I'm going to have a little fun when I get my hands dirty with those.
I haven't built an APU yet, but the next Grandma that wants an internet surfer, and club pogo game player, is going to get one, just so I can run the snot out of it so I can see how it performs for the money.

Edited by Odins Fist, 18 June 2012 - 12:13 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

Odins Fist, on 18 June 2012 - 12:07 PM, said:

.
I'm sorry, are you saying that Bulldozer was not considered a disappointment by a majority of the TECH communtiy in terms of it being an "UPGRADE".for (gaming)??? Like I said, I passed on the original Phenom, and i'm passing on Bulldozer, and I think we will have to wait and see about Piledriver, and I also said "I HOPE" Piledriver turns out to be great, but if it is another mediocre chip disguised as a boss, then it's time to move to something else for my personal rig. If they can release revisions of either chip that make them an "obvious" choice for an upgrade, I will still be waiting to see.
.
On a side note I would like it if AMD would create a new socket and APU design that would be the equivalent, and performance of an awesome CPU, and dual GPU top end video card, eliminating a Video card would be great, and I would put the thing under water in a heartbeat.. Only downside to APU graphics would be if you lose Video you're in trouble, you couldn't just get a new video card if it took the CPU with it..LOL , at that point you would be out the money for a Video Card if you didn't have one laying around to test to see if the CPU was still functional, but that isn't as big of a tragedy if the CPU would still function... I'm going to have a little fun when I get my hands dirty with those.
I haven't built an APU yet, but the next Grandma that wants an internet surfer, and club pogo game player, is going to get one, just so I can run the snot out of it so I can see how it performs for the money.

I'm saying that while Bulldozer was horribly overhyped, and while it should have and could have been much better, the chip itself is not horrible and is somewhat better than Phenom II, given that it has higher overclocking potential, and is better in multthreaded tasks given the fX-8xxx line.

[Meldarth Sunphot]

http://www.legitrevi...article/1838/1/

Again posting this - because its time for Reality Check - lots of people game on 8150s and Rest of the FX line - there is nothing wrong with them.......

Put them side by side with = cpu from Intel - you won't tell a difference in games.........lightly threaded items; yes....and unless you are doing major videoing editing all the time.........the difference is in minutes not hours like it used to be......

Its the same for 3d modeling; but if you're serious about that; you're wanting server for rendering.......

In that; AMD did not set up those systems - they simply asked 3 questions........the answer speak for themselves.

[Odins Fist]

PC power & Cooling used to be the "IT"... Kingwin had a bad intial showing... Corsair has been good to me.. Antec was a good standard for years, Silverstone was underated depending on who you asked, XFX I never bought for price, Rosewill has died on customer builds, but not the worst in the world, Raidmax for some reason hasn't died in the customer builds I have used, as with all electrical devices there is a risk involved, not just the components used, but you never know if the delivery man had a bad day, and used your boxes for a tackling dummy.
.
The best advice is to never cheap out on a power supply, and a single rail is just fine, if you have a multi rail PSU, and you are trying to pull more AMPS through a single rail than is rated, you run the risk of tripping the over-current protection, or worse...
.
I understand that if a single rail PSU goes it can take a host of components with it, but I haven't had that happen yet.
The bottom line is this, check the AMPS per rail on a multi rail PSU, and total AMPS for a single rail PSU, the more the better for enthusiasts, there is also a simple formula for figuring out what you need...

Edited by Odins Fist, 18 June 2012 - 12:32 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

Odins Fist, on 18 June 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

PC power & Cooling used to be the "IT"... Kingwin had a bad intial showing... Corsair has been good to me.. Antec was a good standard for years, Silverstone was underated depending on who you asked, XFX I never bought for price, Rosewill has died on customer builds, but not the worst in the world, Raidmax for some reason hasn't died in the customer builds I have used, as with all electrical devices there is a risk involved, not just the components used, but you never know if the delivery man had a bad day, and used your boxes for a tackling dummy.
.
The best advice is to never cheap out on a power supply, and a single rail is just fine, if you have a multi rail PSU, and you are trying to pull more AMPS through a single rail than is rated, you run the risk of tripping the over-current protection, or worse...
.
I understand that if a single rail PSU goes it can take a host of components with it, but I haven't had that happen yet.
The bottom line is this, check the AMPS per rail on a multi rail PSU, and total AMPS for a single rail PSU, the more the better for enthusiasts, there is also a simple formula for figuring out what you need...

Since PC P&C was bought by OCZ, their quality has gone down somewhat, however their Seasonic based models are still top-end.
Seasonic, being likely the best PSU OEM, is of course top-notch, although generally expensive.
XFX are all Seasonic internals inside.

Kingwin and Rosewill Capstone models are all running Superflower internals, which are at this time among the top end power supplies, especially for value. For example here; http://www.hardwares...-Review/1527/11 the Kingwin Laser Platinum managed to keep an 85% power efficiency while operating at 120% of it's rated wattage, and remaining stable for a good period of time. That says something.

Silverstone use Enhance internals, which are good... but not the best.

But yes, the best advice is to never cheap out on a power supply.

[Odins Fist]

Vulpesveritas, on 18 June 2012 - 12:40 PM, said:

But yes, the best advice is to never cheap out on a power supply.

.
You almost always get what you pay for... Kingwin looks like it has come a ways up, a couple years ago I wouldn't have touched one, bad ripple etc, etc,...

[Vulpesveritas]

Odins Fist, on 18 June 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

.
You almost always get what you pay for... Kingwin looks like it has come a ways up, a couple years ago I wouldn't have touched one, bad ripple etc, etc,...

yep. They were first to market in the USA with an 80+ platinum rating with their LZP-550.
The Kingwin Lazer Gold/platinum lines are both quite good. As are the Superflower Golden Green/King power supplies they are repackages of. lol

[Odins Fist]

Meldarth Sunphot, on 18 June 2012 - 12:21 PM, said:

Again posting this - because its time for Reality Check -

.
Not for me it isn't... It simply was "NOT" worth it to upgrade from a Phenom II x6 1100 Thuban to any of the Bulldozer line.
Sorry, the improvements as far as an upgrade were just not there...

Edited by Odins Fist, 18 June 2012 - 12:55 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

Meldarth Sunphot, on 18 June 2012 - 12:21 PM, said:

Again posting this - because its time for Reality Check - lots of people game on 8150s and Rest of the FX line - there is nothing wrong with them.......

I thought this has been covered here a number of times already....
You know, you could have actually covered more in depth, or replied to actual posts in particular, found other evidence to add to it... but this just seems like a copy+paste here...

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 18 June 2012 - 01:10 PM.

[Meldarth Sunphot]

Odins Fist, on 18 June 2012 - 12:53 PM, said:

.
Not for me it isn't... It simply was "NOT" worth it to upgrade from a Phenom II x6 1100 Thuban to any of the Bulldozer line.
Sorry, the improvements as far as an upgrade were just not there...

Where oh where did anyone say upgrading from Thuban?? - if you got Thuban - no its a great processor and not worth upgrade until we see Piledriver......

BUT if you're upgrading several year old system - FX line is a viable line to go with - as you're not going to see any difference between AMD or Intel.....that was my point.....

[Beaker]

I swapped out my old machine recently from a 9650 to an FX-6100. Was considering an i5, or an 8120 at the time, but decided to save a little cash on the CPU to get a better GPU.

No problem here! all working perfectly. What put me off the i5 was the knowledge the socket would be gone in 18-24 months at the outside, and i've been shafted that way in the past when I needed a new CPU.

Let me re-state. Nothing I've thrown at this machine struggles. People say I should have gone for an i5, but the price difference was obscene at the time (Fx-6100 ended up costing me GBP£95 rather than £160), The board price was about £25 cheaper for better spec, and that left me with enough spare cash to upgrade to a 6850OC rather than sticking with my existing nVidia card.

I'll slap a Piledriver in, and chuck a couple of SSDs in for the MLU. But other than that the system will survive well for a while yet. Before anyone calls me a Fanboy, I really don't care what brands I use, and freely use Intel, AMD and nVidia without caring (I'd use VIA if they did a chip that did the job I wanted).

[Catamount]

cipher, on 18 June 2012 - 07:12 AM, said:

I did some updated research on Rosewill and it's only the Capstone line of their power supplies that's almost guaranteed to be made by Super Flower as per http://www.anandtech...w-80plus-gold/6

The other series of their power supplies still vary. An example is the Hive series from Rosewill which is made by Sirtec (High Power) as per http://www.anandtech...ill-hive-550w/4

So I'm not wrong. It's a good thing we can find out the *real* manufacturers behind each Rosewill model from in-depth review sites. So this hasn't changed since the Rosewill brand was launched. They seem to stick with the same manufacturers for each series, so the Capstone line Vulpe linked is fine, but other lines shouldn't be high on the recommendation list.

Also, Vulpes, you might want to add info about the 80 Plus certification for those who don't know: http://www.plugloads...erSupplies.aspx

And yet, even with the Hive unit from your own review, they note good performance from the unit. Not spectacular performance, but it certainly puts in a very competent showing

Quote

The +12V voltage regulation is acceptable, while the weaker ouputs start too high. Nevertheless, all of the voltages are well within the ATX specification. Moreover there is hardly any ripple or noise on the smaller outputs +5V and +3.3V. They're always under 20mV and there are no remarkable spikes or transients. There's definitely some nice work here. The power factor is satisfying as well, staying above 0.862. Especially during low load efficiency could be much higher but that's OK for an 80Plus Bronze PSU.

If you're in the market for a modular 500-600W PSU, you're not really going to do any better than that at the $70 pricepoint. The Seasonic M12II 520W is the same price (once you factor in shipping), and performs no better (while giving a bit less power), and I can't think of anything else within striking distance of these units.



The Green series gives a considerably better performance for the price still, if at the cost of modularity

http://www.hardwares...y-Review/881/10


As I said, at worst, these are competent units are extremely good prices (the green 630 is only ~60 bucks now with shipping, FYI; even better!)

I have no problem recommending them, though in the case of the Hive, I might consider suggesting the M12II instead; it would depend on the exact pricing at the moment

Edited by Catamount, 18 June 2012 - 01:36 PM.

[Odins Fist]

Meldarth Sunphot, on 18 June 2012 - 01:09 PM, said:

Where oh where did anyone say upgrading from Thuban?? - if you got Thuban - no its a great processor and not worth upgrade until we see Piledriver......

BUT if you're upgrading several year old system - FX line is a viable line to go with - as you're not going to see any difference between AMD or Intel.....that was my point.....

.
And I said .."Not for me it isn't".. About the upgrade to FX-series
Also, you don't have much of a choice but to upgrade to the FX series at this point since the Thubans are all but gone, so that doesn't mean a whole lot. I mean you can still get hands on Denebs, but the 965 C3 is only $5.00 cheaper than the FX-series 4 core, and it doesn't have the memory controller of the FX-series... You really aren't going to have a choice until Piledriver... What if someone doesn't want a FX-chip, and they "JUST" want a new CPU, you know for an AM3 or low end AM3+ mobo, and they don't want a FX-series..?? "BUT" I get it, change with the times or get left behind with your AM3 Mobo.. I just don't like the hype Bulldozer got, then the TECH communit'y having been disappointed by it's expectations of something that would blow Thuban out of the water, which it didn't do at all. On a side note, all I have built for personal gaming rigs since 2008 have been AMD, and I wasn't arguing anything to have to do with your point about Intel versus AMD as far as gaming. I'm just hoping Piledriver isn't going to be an overhyped letdown.

Edited by Odins Fist, 18 June 2012 - 01:43 PM.

[Akitsu]

Phenom x4 965 Deneb AM3
Radeon HD 5850
8 Gigs DDR1333
built this system couple years ago and I can't wait for MWO
maybe I'll drop a HD 7850 in it someday once I've milked every penny out of what I have (or 8850 or whatever they have at that point)
At the time i5's and i7's rocked, right around Sandy Bridge debut, but were just out of my budget so I opted for a high end AMD.
When the Clans invade the Inner Sphere I will be Inner Sphere to the bone (always was) and on an AMD!

[Vulpesveritas]

This is a basic guide, where I will be recommending cases based on three aspects in two different catagories; The first based on cooling / gaming will be chosen based on Cooling potential, airflow of the stock fans, and ease of assembly, and a Silent category based on Silent extras, noise made by the stock fans, and cable management.

In all truth, cases will often times come down to personal aesthetic tastes in the end. But that is almost always up to the end user.

Keep in mind all choices are made by what is available on Newegg, pricing and availability in countries outside the USA may not reflect what my recommendations are here. All prices are based on list prices, not on sale prices.

These of course, are mainly opinions, based on specifications, what reviews I've read, and my personal preferences. Feel free to introduce your opinions, and discuss.

Things covered:
Case Type:
Dimensions: Width x Height x Length
Number of stock fans:
Number of fan mounts:
240mm radiator capable:
360mm radiator capable:
USB type:
Cable management options:
Color Options:
Extras:

On with the guide.

$50

Gaming:
Zalman Z9

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811235026

Case Type: Mid Tower
Dimensions: 8.15" X 18.27" X 19.84"
Number of stock fans: 2 (front and rear)
Number of fan mounts: 5
240mm radiator capable: Possible
360mm radiator capable: no
USB type: 2.0
Cable management options: Yes
Color Options: None
Extras: Supports 290mm GPU. dust filters


Silence:

NZXT Source 210 Elite

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811146078
Case Type: Mid Tower
Dimensions: 7.68" X 17.32" X 19.51"
Number of stock fans: 2 (top and rear, both exhaust)
Number of fan mounts: 7
240mm radiator capable: Possible
360mm radiator capable: No
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: Yes
Color Options: Yes
Extras: 330mm GPU capacity without hard drives in upper bays, 230mm with.


$75

Gaming:
NZXT Crafted Series Tempest 410

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811146081

Case Type: Mid Tower
Dimensions: 8.46" X 18.94" X 19.53"
Number of stock fans: 2 (front and rear)
Number of fan mounts: 7
240mm radiator capable: yes
360mm radiator capable: no
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: Yes
Color Options: no
Extras: Fan filters, full GPU size capacity.


Silence:

Corsair Carbide Series 200r

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811352010
Case Type: Mid Tower
Dimensions: 8.3" X 16.9" X 19.6"
Number of stock fans: 2 (Front and rear)
Number of fan mounts: 7
240mm radiator capable: Yes
360mm radiator capable: No
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: yes
Color Options: no
Extras: Dust filters, GPU length 430mm without HDD, 300mm with, quiet fans, 5 year warranty

$100


Gaming:

Corsair Carbide Series 400R

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811139008

Case Type: Mid Tower
Dimensions: 8.1" X 19.8" X 20.5"
Number of stock fans: 3 (two front, one rear)
Number of fan mounts: 8
240mm radiator capable: Yes
360mm radiator capable: No
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: Yes, with grommets
Color Options: Yes
Extras: 316mm GPU length maximum, dust filters



Silence:

NZXT H2

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811146071
Case Type: Mid Tower
Dimensions: 8.46" X 18.35" X 20.47"
Number of stock fans: 3 (2 front, 1 rear)
Number of fan mounts: 5
240mm radiator capable: no
360mm radiator capable: no
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: yes, with grommets
Color Options: yes
Extras: Noise dampening foam, 310/270mm GPU, dust filters, magnetic fan covering, Fan controller


$125


Gaming:

Thermaltake Level 10 Series Level 10 GTS

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811133197

Case Type: Mid Tower
Dimensions: 9.2" X 18.2" X 20.1"
Number of stock fans: 2
Number of fan mounts: 6
240mm radiator capable: Yes
360mm radiator capable: No
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: Yes, with grommets
Color Options: Yes
Extras:



Silence:


Fractal Design Define R4

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811352020
Case Type: Mid Tower
Dimensions:
Number of stock fans: 2 (front and rear)
Number of fan mounts: 7
240mm radiator capable: Yes
360mm radiator capable: No
USB type: 2.0
Cable management options: Yes, with grommets
Color Options: Yes
Extras: Sound dampening foam, quiet fans, dust filters, 290mm GPU, fan controller (For 3 fans max), side air duct, fan controller


$150


Gaming:

Rosewill Thor V2

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811147053

Case Type: Full Tower
Dimensions: 9.14" X 22.84" X 21.89"
Number of stock fans: 4
Number of fan mounts: 9
240mm radiator capable: Yes
360mm radiator capable: No
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: Yes
Color Options: Yes
Extras: Adjustable ventilation fins, Fan controller, dust filters,

Silence:

NZXT Whisper

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811146051
Case Type: Full Tower
Dimensions: 8.33" X 22.13" X 20.53"
Number of stock fans: 4
Number of fan mounts: 4
240mm radiator capable: no
360mm radiator capable: no
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: yes, with grommets
Color Options: no
Extras: Full Body Sound dampening foam, quiet fans, dust filters,


$200

Gaming:

NZXT Switch 810

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811146089

Case Type: Full Tower
Dimensions:
Number of stock fans: 4
Number of fan mounts: 10
240mm radiator capable: yes
360mm radiator capable: yes
420mm radiator capable: yes
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: yes, with grommets
Color Options: yes
Extras: High end watercooling support, dust filters, pivoting internal fan


Silence:


Antec Perfromance One Series P193 V3

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129176
Case Type: Full Tower
Dimensions: 9.5" X 23.3" X 20.3"
Number of stock fans: 4
Number of fan mounts: 6
240mm radiator capable: Yes
360mm radiator capable: No
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: Yes, with grommets
Color Options: no
Extras: Sound dampening construction, double hinged doors, dust filters,


$250

Cooling:
Rosewill Blackhawk ULTRA


http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811147157

Case Type: Super Tower
Dimensions: 9.45" x 25" x 25.99"
Number of stock fans: 8
Number of fan mounts: 17
240mm radiator capable: yes
360mm radiator capable: yes
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: Yes, with grommets
Color Options: no
Extras: 400+mm video card length max, dual PSU mounting possible, PSU dust filter, full motherboard compatibility, capable of having 9 120mm fans on the side panel, 120mm fan mount for back of motherboard.


Silence:
LIAN LI PC-A71F

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811112343

Case Type: Full Tower
Dimensions: 8.66" x 23.23" x 24.21"
Number of stock fans: 4
Number of fan mounts: 4
240mm radiator capable: no
360mm radiator capable: no
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: yes
Color Options: no
Extras: aluminium body for improved heat dissipation, quiet fans, dust filters, sound insulating foam on front panel.


$300


Cooling:


Corsair Obsidian Series 800D


http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811139001

Case Type: Full Tower
Dimensions: 9" x 24" x 24"
Number of stock fans: 3
Number of fan mounts: 6
240mm radiator capable: yes
360mm radiator capable: yes
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: yes, with grommets
Color Options: no
Extras: separated upper and lower chambers, improving airflow for main part of computer and reducing PSU cable clutter, sound dampening materials, dust filters, quiet fans, hot-swap drive bays.





Silence:


SilverStone RAVEN RV01-BW

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811163135

Case Type: Full Tower
Dimensions: 11.02" x 25.98" x 24.25"
Number of stock fans: 3
Number of fan mounts: 3
240mm radiator capable: no
360mm radiator capable: no
USB type: 3.0
Cable management options: yes, with grommets
Color Options: no
Extras: 90 degree rotated motherboard design to improve heat dissipation and airflow, dedicated cable management, large quiet fans



And just a bit for my advice, for a gaming rig, approximate percentages of component cost which I recommend;
GPU: 35-50%
CPU: 10-20%
Power Supply: 10-15%
Case: 2-10%
Motherboard: 8-20%
Storage: 5-20%
RAM: 2-10%
Other parts: remaining 0-33%

CPU Guide Here; http://mwomercs.com/...asic-cpu-guide/
GPU Guide Here; http://mwomercs.com/...eral-gpu-guide/
PSU Guide Here; http://mwomercs.com/...r-supply-guide/
Motherboard Guide here: http://mwomercs.com/...herboard-guide/

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 01 November 2012 - 08:57 PM.

[Reported for Inappropriate Name]

the two most important things on any case's functionality are psu location and air flow

putting the psu at the bottom of the case results in it being able to draw in cooler air.

and with the psu at the bottom leaves room for an exhaust fan on the top, which is especially nice for custom amd heatsinks, since they like to blow upwards when mounted,

when looking at any case, to determine air flow you want to look at the inside of the case, and try to visualize the air flow, to try and find any potential deadspots.

as far as fans go, I'm a fan of using the high pressure method since I often buy cheap cases, having more air being pumped in than removed means air is squeezing out the cracks of the case, keeping dust out of those areas and potentially insects as well. however with this method you want some fine dust filters unless you frequently clean your computer

anything after this is aesthetics and personal preference. things like buttons, front audio jacks, usb port number and type, are all up to you, and of course don't forget the obvious rice touches like led's and windows if you're into that kind of thing

with all of this said and done, investing in a small air compressor with reserve tank will save you lots of money on "canned air"

Edited by Battlecruiser, 18 June 2012 - 04:18 PM.