Chassis recommendation for an HD 5970

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chronox12

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
127
My Antec Skeleton chassis only supports video cards up to 11 inches in length (or so I've read online) so I'm totally out of luck because I plan to purchase the HD 5970 for my system. What I'm looking for is a future proof chassis in terms of size so I'll have enough room for even longer video cards and the chassis must be large enough to hold at least two 5970s (Just incase). Also support for different sizes of power supplies is required. The Antec Skeleton is apparently limited when it comes to that.

Specs to consider...

Motherboard: MSI GD80
Power Supply: Corsair HX750
CPU Cooling: Corsair H50 Hydro

I've been doing some research today and so far I'm liking the Corsair Obsidian 800. Other options would be nice to see what I can get for my money. Also there is no limit to how much I want to spend as long as I am satisfied with what I pay for. Thanks in advance for the help everyone :)

(Now I don't know what to do with my Antec Skeleton... I was really looking forward to building a system with it)
 
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The Lian Li PC-A05B or A05N should be a good match for the cooling system, video card and power supply. Place a dual blow hole in the top like many have done and it will be a perfect match (i.e. like this).
 
The Corsair case is beautiful. Here is a pic of the inside of my system for reference:

 
Thanks a million for the reference picture AthlonXP. It definitely puts things into perspective for me even better. While checking out some other cases I came across the Lian Li PC-P80 which has an interesting feature that I think Corsair should implement. There's a support bar for very lengthy video cards in the middle of it which is also removable. Does it feel like the HD 5970 puts a lot of strain on the pci express slot or motherboard on the whole?
11-112-159-S11
 
chronox12 said:
Also there is no limit to how much I want to spend as long as I am satisfied with what I pay for.
Click to expand...
So can as well check that case will be good for foreseeable future needs in that it has enough things like HDD bays.

chronox12 said:
came across the Lian Li PC-P80
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Look for non-blinged A77 instead of that bling bling.
P80 puts PSU to warmest possible place and "intake" fans have tight meshes immediately on both sides of blades which is good only if goal is lowering airflow/making more noise.

You're right about these long cards being heavy, already HD5870's weight is considerable so normal screw or strong metal clamp based mounting is definitely required for at least half secure support if case will be moved around more.
Plastic support arm coming from that vertical support is just based to supporting card from edge of its PCB so it wouldn't work directly with these encased cards but it would be possible for arm in lower position to support card from underside of its casing.
Besides those two models original A70A/B and A71A/B have that support pillar which was one of the targets of cost cuts in new "F"ashion versions for covering tool-less gimmicks.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112144&cm_re=PC-A71-_-11-112-144-_-Product
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=204&products_id=22332
 
So can as well check that case will be good for foreseeable future needs in that it has enough things like HDD bays.
Click to expand...
I'm going to have two hard drives in system for the most. I'm buying an NAS eventually to store all my data.

You're right about these long cards being heavy, already HD5870's weight is considerable so normal screw or strong metal clamp based mounting is definitely required for at least half secure support if case will be moved around more.
Click to expand...

This is another reason I was attracted to the Antec Skeleton Chassis. Based on how the chassis is built, no matter how heavy a video card became it would not put a strain on the system due to the fact that it wouldn't be suspended horizontally in mid air with only the backplate for support.

*sigh* If only I could figure out a way to make the damn HD 5970 video card fit I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. I REALLY love the case.
 
All of the suggestions have been good, I'll add the Cooler Master Storm Sniper to that also though. It fits the 5870 fine, and I can see in mine it would fit the 5970 with no problem either. If space is an issue, the Storm Sniper isn't small, but the dimensions are a bit smaller then the Corsair 800D.
 
E.T said:
So can as well check that case will be good for foreseeable future needs in that it has enough things like HDD bays.

Look for non-blinged A77 instead of that bling bling.
P80 puts PSU to warmest possible place and "intake" fans have tight meshes immediately on both sides of blades which is good only if goal is lowering airflow/making more noise.

You're right about these long cards being heavy, already HD5870's weight is considerable so normal screw or strong metal clamp based mounting is definitely required for at least half secure support if case will be moved around more.
Plastic support arm coming from that vertical support is just based to supporting card from edge of its PCB so it wouldn't work directly with these encased cards but it would be possible for arm in lower position to support card from underside of its casing.
Besides those two models original A70A/B and A71A/B have that support pillar which was one of the targets of cost cuts in new "F"ashion versions for covering tool-less gimmicks.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112144&cm_re=PC-A71-_-11-112-144-_-Product
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=204&products_id=22332
Click to expand...
Perhaps for aircooling, but for WC it is a darn good case worth every euro.
PSU is actually in the best place there is, tucked away where it do no harm and not in the way for etc a tripple/quadrad in the bottom and you want to use all slots on the MB without converting the GFX to a singleslot card. And PSU also acts as an extra fan to suck out any extra ("hot")air it can and easy to make nice cablemanagement unlike the Cosmos S that are smaller than it seems due to the PSU placement and top is reserved for (to)small radiator, not even a very common TC120.3 fits there without mod.
I know as i still until the modding of P80 are done have Cosmos S where the PSU is in the bottom and more in the way than doing any good and dont help the airflow one bit, but fan on TT 1500 is not loud at all under 75%+ load unlike its 750 sibbling i had years ago. Will be a nice refresh when i am done with the P80 to move to a big case that is big and not just looks big and 3 loops will be a piece of cake to fit and still have room for 4x uber long cards like 5970 unlike the Cosmos S have if you use the space on the bottom as is shall be used.

Only thing i dont like about the P80 are the ugly blue fans, but that is fixable.
You dont need to run the frontfan at maxrpm or use the stockfan at all. They do a hell of better job than small 120mm fans that needs to be more and on 100% to match the airflow with more noise as result.
A case cant be bigger or better than this without become cubic Lian-Li 343B or MM styleish cases that dont fit everywhere because of the cubic form or the odd style MM has that dont fit everyones taste.
 
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