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Cases: Antec Nine Hundred and Cooler Master Cosmos S
Three primary considerations drive our search for computer cases:
1. Airflow. Seriously, this is our number one consideration. Since we focus on overclocking each PC we sell, and we want to avoid using costly water cooling solutions, we need to be able to feed a nice steady stream of cool air to the various component coolers for the CPU, GPU, PSU, and memory.
Both the Cosmos S and the Antec 900 offer three 120mm fans and a gigantic 200mm fan to accomplish this, coupled with intelligent design. The Antec 900 uses a pair of 120mm fans to pull air in the front, over the hard drives and expansion cards, and then uses the 200mm fan and hot air's natural tendency to rise to send it up and out the top.
The Cosmos S uses a similar technique but pushes air into the side of the case with the 200mm fan, which is assisted by a single 120mm in the front, and two towards the top. While the basic airflow design is better in the Antec 900, the Cosmos compensates by feeding air to the power supply through a hole in the bottom of the case, as opposed to having the PSU compete for air with the rest of the PC's components, like with the Antec 900. Consequently, both cases do an outstanding job of cooling the PC with very little noise.
2. Functionality. Our cases need to acommodate the larger video cards and CPU coolers we use, as well as up to three optical drives or other bay devices and up to six hard drives. (Even though we only sell up to four on a standard configuaration; we wanted to leave lots of expansion options for our customers). We like to offer cases with the power switches, audio jacks, and USB ports on the front top for easy access. We also prefer unobstructed access to the optical drives and front ports, as opposed to having to open a decorative door which is constantly in the way.
3. Appearance. Both the Cosmos S and Antec 900 have a classy, exciting appearance (we know they appeal to different tastes) without being overly flashy. They clearly identify the PC as something greater than a Dell, HP, or Gateway commodity.
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