I am finally getting my game on, so I need a real graphics card. Before I need that, I need a case that will fit one, cos my current case is mini and doesn't fit anything but a half-height card.

I don't really know what I want in a case other than the space to fit stuff in should I upgrade and good looks. I've chosen the Aeolus by Raidmax cos it looks awesome, has pretty good reviews and is fairly cheap.

Aeolus on the Raidmax website



Has anyone used/seen this case before and do they have any opinions on it? If you think it's bad, can you tell me why and what I should get instead?

Never seen it but what is your price range?

Don't reallly wanna go over $150 which is about $120 USD.

Radimax is not really a good company when it comes to case
and number of fans on the case isn't equal to cooling performance of the case
important factor for better cooling is airflow within the case.
why do i think cooling performance is important?
higher the temp of the case = graphics card fan has to spin faster = jet engine noise!!! woahhh~

i strongly recomand brand like

silverstone, corsair, coolermaster, lian-li (lancool), antec and so on...

couple of reasons "Why good case is needed"

- future expansion
- cooling performance and airflow
- build quality (you don't want things to break or fall aprart after couple months)
- cable managemnet (helps airflow alot!)
- dust management



here are som examples



1. LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 $110 newegg.com




These pictures are my little brothers computer that i built for his birthday last year with the case above.


2. Corsair Graphite Series 600T Mid-Tower Case $159 newegg.com ($135 after rebate)






3. SILVERSTONE RV03 $160 newegg.com


great case

I have a coolermaster storm scout and with some easy mods you can make it the way yuou want. get the basics you dont need any bells and whistles

It also depends on personal taste as well, and how much expanding you are gonna do as well though, like sleep said!

Like notor said
personal taste is important as well

if you like rugged and industrial looks

Antec or Coolermaster
woul fit your needs


if you like clean lines and amazing build quality with nice metal finishes

Corsair, Silverstone, or Lian-Li (Lancool)
would fit your needs


what do u like better?

let me know i could give you more examples in ur budgets

ps. notor changedhis case from not so well known brand to well known brand and
he seems to be happy with his new case

I have a TheramlTake V3 Black Edition case, it looks plain and nice. its got a simple black finish with mesh netting on the sides, front, top, and bottom (all for fans) and i love this case, its easily expandable for just about anything without any modding to the case, and its got some great airflow. i use a wide variety a fans to keep it cool

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
heres my case and its only $45.00 US before mail in rebate

i use a 120MM in the front for the HDD bays
1 80MM on the top, back, and side (they arnt actualy the right sizes, its suppose to be 120MM's)
and also on the top i use my gaint ex-server fan. is about a 178MM fan now this fan is actually to big to fit inside the case so it has its own little box for it and it rests on top of my tower. (guess you could consider it modding the case a little)

and even on a hot day room temp about 24 clecius (75 F) my tower stays around 41 C idle and 46 - 50 C will playing Black Ops for hours lol

but if you can Kitteh try to go with a gaming tower that has atleast 1 fan in the front, side, top, bottom (if availible), and of course 1 in the back. just remember name brands dont always mean there the best, but sometimes they are, and sometimes it jsut depends on what you want and like and what you want to pay for it

Yay thanks for replies guys

I honestly have no idea what I want as far as cooling is concerned. At the moment my computer is a Dell Optiplex 755 with a small form factor case and I don't think it's modded at all. I am obviously a serious gamer xD

Current case size:

Small Form Factor

Number of Bays
1 internal 3.5", 1 external 3.5", 1 external 5.25"

Dimensions
H: 12.45" W: 3.65" D: 13.4
H: 31.63cm W: 9.26cm D: 34cm

Slots
1 low-profile PCI
-(H: 2.5" X L: 6.6")
1 low-profile PCIe x16 graphics
-(H: 2.5" X L: 6.6")

Power Supply
275W

I don't even know what sort of cooling I have going on right now. I should probably look.

What I don't want: a boring case xD Looks usually don't really matter to me, but if I'm gonna be paying for a case (for the first time) I might as well get something that looks interesting.

I can't see myself ever bothering to overclock or anything like that, 'cause it takes effort.

Sleep, the last two you posted are too expensive for me. I also have to look for ones available in NZ cos it would cost too much to ship from the US.

I will look more at my computer and your replies when I'm not meant to be at soccer xD

I think you want to change your case for the looks and to install graphics card.

to begin with, you have 275w power supply. With this Power supply, you will probably not be able to support many of gaming graphics cards.
There are still some graphics cards that will run with 275w power supply, but they will not make much of a difference from your current intergrated graphics.

if you are just changing case for the looks, Thumbs Up!
if you are changing case for new Graphics Cards, Thumbs Down!
(in order to get new graphics card, you will probably have to change power supply as well and you small form factor case will not support standard PSUs)



But!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I think i may found the solution for you.




Thermaltake V3 Black ( it comes with 450w power supply) $106.72 excl GST (NZ)
- it doesn't come with the world's greatest PSU, but i think it will be able to handle low end graphics card no problem







More questions? ask me any time i will try to answer asap

and sorry i didn't know u were coming from NZ.