Blazestorm
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2007
- Messages
- 6,940
So the front of that case is not a mirrored like plastic ? What is it made of ?
It's brushed aluminum...
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So the front of that case is not a mirrored like plastic ? What is it made of ?
http://www.aerocooler.com/shop.cart?action=ITEM&prod_id=CATHA1700Huh?? What the in world are you talking about?
You were staring at his legs?Looks great Ockie! Post up some pics when you get that thing loaded up.
Man you've got some hairy legs
Is their room downstairs for a 120.3 rad?
You were staring at his legs?
Redbeard: Please send my congrats to the engineers for designing the 5.25" quick-release tabs so securely; then please slap them with with a fish for making them so difficult to remove. I had to take them out to hammer down the 5.25" bay "shelf" liner things. My hotswap bays must be out of spec, because they wouldn't fit unless I hammered them down. I have the same problem with my HAF932, and resolved it the same way, with a hammer. My observations so far.
1; The quick guide brochure included in the case mentions a url for the full manual; at this time that url does not work.
2; The case is pretty heavy. I don't know if there's aluminum in it, but if there is it's hidden from me pretty well. It's going to be a challenge to figure out how to move this thing around. On the plus side, it has rubber non-slip grips on the feet, so it's not going anywhere. On the downside, it has rubber non-slip grips on the feet, it's heavy, and there are no good handles or anywhere to get a grip on this thing, so it's not going anywhere.
3; The case is awesome. It has 6 motherboard standoffs, in addition to the 10 already mounted in the case. They're all matching black. The screws are black. The cable zip ties are black; it's all matching, beautiful.
4; The bottom 2 hd bay was interesting. Could or should have been done the same as the four bays above, as hotswap, instead of making the user take off the bezel, and then take off the side panels to connect power and data anyway.
5; The 5.25" bay covers are interesting. On the front, they're metal. But on the back, it's plastic. Also I cannot punch them out forwards; I had to take the bezel off and push them backwards.
6; The bottom air filter slides out way too easily. All of the ducts have a plastic clip, but the filter just slides out. I would have preferred a plastic clip on it too, or maybe a screw or something to hold it in place.
That's it so far. I'll post a few pics when I'm finished rebuiliding the machine.
Thats one fuckin beefy-ass case. Should last Ockie a few months. Seriously though that thing could probably be used for a damn lifetime...well save for formfactor changes.
Q: Ockie, how did you win it?
He won it at the Pcper.com hardware presentation at Quake con.
I'm pretty sure the case is mostly steel, except for the aluminum they used for the front, which is why it's so heavy.
Ahh, neat. Well, the origin of the case anyway, is what I posted ;bActually, I did not win the case. The winner of the case had a year old HAF 932 and was too lazy to move it to this absolutely beautiful case. He offered the case up for $400 and I was the first biter. I offered him 250 cash in his hotel room for the case still sealed and he took it He had no idea what the case really was and how prestigious it was IMO... nor did he really give a shit.
Anyways, the case was supposed to be mine, but I let alcuin take it since he lives there in Texas.... as the TSA already had given me plenty of problems with my existing hardware (I have 5 bag search slips to prove it), I was not about to chance it or leave it to fedex or UPS to bash it all the way home (especially since I can't get replacement parts). alcuin and I cut a deal that he will help me find the case when it comes to market and I can claim this first case as my own HAHAHA. Oh, I also got (under our deal) to open the case and peel some plastic off and got to make the posts
If you couldn't tell, we are technophiles.... love new hardware.
Pre-drilled holes on top for a 3x120mm radiator. For the guys who hate the window, we will sell a solid side panel on our website for a reasonable price.
Basically the entire thing is steel where it needs to be and aluminum where it needs to be. I think this is a perfect balance because I could never stand full thin alum structure that always bends and is so malleable.
This to me is the ultimate design for a good solid case.
This sounds exactly the 5.25 covers on my CM 840, except behind the plastic is chunk of foam (if memory serves).5; The 5.25" bay covers are interesting. On the front, they're metal. But on the back, it's plastic. Also I cannot punch them out forwards; I had to take the bezel off and push them backwards.
You think like I do.
There were three options really:
1) Steel structure, painted. Anodized aluminum faceplate.
2) Thin aluminum structure, anodized. Anodized aluminum faceplate.
3) Thick aluminum structure, anodized. Anodized aluminum faceplate.
Option 2 felt kind of cheap with a case this large, and was actually very expensive. Look at costs for similarly sized (and feature-rich) cases from other guys, and then add a few more dollars for accessories like the pre-spaced SATA power cable and SATA data cables with 90 degree heads.
Option 3 felt great, looked great, but the cost of the case would have almost doubled. MSRP would have been well over $400. (look at ABS Canyon or the original price of the TJ07 for example).
At the end, the best combination of price, quality of construction, and appearance was Option 1. A lot of people have complained it's not a full aluminum enclosure - to them I say, give this thing a shot in person first. If you don't like it then, that's cool. I know not everybody is going to like my products. But I do want people to realize that we put a lot of thought into it (I, personally, put countless hours into this over the past few years) and that no decision was made by just a wave of the hand.
I agonized over seemingly simple things like how the drive door mechanism should work (should the door open to the right or the left or flip down? In the end - that door opens both ways, you can reverse it from left to right if you want. This doubles the cost of the door mechanism but makes it much more useful).
There are lots of hidden costs in a case like this with features like this, and since this is a first-off for us we don't have a warehouse full of spare parts we can put together and make into a new case. Ever notice how some manufacturers have the same tool-free mechanism for optical drives across 4-5 different cases? Or how they use the same fans on 20 different cases? Yeah, we can't do that stuff yet. So everything is new and we had to custom tool just about every piece of it. That ain't cheap!
I like Ockie's feedback a lot. It'll help me with the next case we design and the one after that, and the one after that....
Although it did quickly become apparent there's no easy way to hold this thing once I tried to pull it out of the box a couple months ago. It's really designed like a piece of furniture more than a computer case. I didn't want to ruin the clean lines with handles. Not on this case at least. This isn't going to be a LAN Party case, really. Anyway - feedback is appreciated and I'm glad you guys seem to like it for the most part. Those of you guys who want something else, always feel free to PM me and let me know what it is.
I have this weird theory that if you guys tell me what you want to buy, I can build it and you guys will end up buying it.... everyone's happy that way!
I am quite jealous, do we have an MSRP on these things yet? I just bought an HAF 932, but I really like this case alot more since it's far bigger. I also like the rubber grommets for the wiring slots. Hey ockie can you post up some pics of the cable management space in the back? I kinda wanna see how that looks before I go spend hundreds of dollars on one.
Do you have any pictures of the cable management space in the back? Or can you just tell me how it compares to the HAF? I have 6 HDs and 2 Optical Drives in my case currently and the cables barely fit in my HAF with those and the 2 PCI-E connectors plus all the normal cables.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all. I totally think the case is a winner. When the newness wears off and it's not priced above msrp I'll probably update the rest of my servers with this case.You think like I do.
There were three options really:
I absolutely understand what you mean; ther are going to be people out there who don't like it. But that's like 5 of them; everyone else will love it.If you don't like it then, that's cool. I know not everybody is going to like my products.
I totally noticed. (and reversed the door so it matches both the internal tray pulls and my hotswap pulls). IDK about doubling the cost though; you just drill a couple extra hinge holes, add one extra tiny plastic push-eject, and done.I agonized over seemingly simple things like how the drive door mechanism should work (should the door open to the right or the left or flip down? In the end - that door opens both ways, you can reverse it from left to right if you want. This doubles the cost of the door mechanism but makes it much more useful).
I've never used a Corsair fan before, but these are nice. The cables are thin and merged, and long enough to get anywhere I need to around the case.So everything is new and we had to custom tool just about every piece of it. That ain't cheap!
The one thing I would like would be small little cable tie points, ie see P182. I know I could tie them around one of the large cable hole vents, but those are much larger and personally not as clean as the tie points.I like Ockie's feedback a lot. It'll help me with the next case we design and the one after that, and the one after that....
I'm glad you guys noticed the weight. It's not really going to stop people like me or Ockie from bringing it to lans though, it's too beautiful.Although it did quickly become apparent there's no easy way to hold this thing once I tried to pull it out of the box a couple months ago. It's really designed like a piece of furniture more than a computer case. I didn't want to ruin the clean lines with handles. Not on this case at least. This isn't going to be a LAN Party case, really.
In that case, pm Ockie; we've come up with an idea for a sff storage server we would like to see built.I have this weird theory that if you guys tell me what you want to buy, I can build it and you guys will end up buying it.... everyone's happy that way!
Wait, there is room for 10 drives? I am in love with this case already....
Absolute truth; all the cases with a backplane but no drive cooling are worthless (cough cosmos); they should have just left the bays open so we could put our own hotswap bays in.you also took the time to come up with a covering mechanism and a cooling device for it. Look how many cases out there do not even THINK about tray cooling.
I may do this too, but for now I'm using the megahalems.I think I will most likley pickup the corsair h20 cooler to go with this
I will post pics when I get home tonight.Do you have any pictures of the cable management space in the back? Or can you just tell me how it compares to the HAF? I have 6 HDs and 2 Optical Drives in my case currently and the cables barely fit in my HAF with those and the 2 PCI-E connectors plus all the normal cables.
My Antec Super Lanboy has 10 hdds and an optical in it, though the drives dont have the space that this Corsair would provide.Wait, there is room for 10 drives? I am in love with this case already....