I realize that this is, well, extravagant, to say the least, but I just got a full ride to college and honestly I'm looking to to buy something nice for myself. I'm curious, will this (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_1081&products_id=12952) hold up for a long time/preform at a high level? I know that I'm paying a pretty good chunk for the design and lights, ala Alienware, but like I said, I don't mind spending the money I this is a case that I can reuse and will hold up for some high performance stuff. Is it?

 

I dunno about holding up for a long time or performing.. But it does look fuckin awesome.

More on topic, unless there is a drastic change in shapes and shit, I wouldnt see why you couldnt use it for a while... Or if you have a fuckall massive heatsink like me... >_>

 

It's an awesome case, but a couple of things to point out: It's fucking massive. Like absolutely huge. As such, it's super heavy.

Because of it's enormous size, you need to check the measurements of the case against your psu cable length. I had a friend who had to buy a new PSU for this case because his $200~ PSU couldn't span the distances required.

Though I suppose if you're going to drop $700 on a case, buying a new PSU is hardly a stretch.

As Vash said, if you've got after-market cooling solutions, especially water cooling, you're going to want to research how that's going to fit into a modular case.

I'd research it thoroughly before you commit to buying. I know Tom's Hardware does a reasonably thorough review of this case (in the same article they review the Silverstone Fortress 2, which I think is a more attractive case, if not quite as revolutionary as this).

For what it's worth, unless you're dealing with thousands of dollars of hardware, constantly swapping it in and out and utilizing serious overclocking, I don't honestly see the point in it. There are some far more attractive cases on the market for a serious amount less money.

On the otherhand, if you've got $700 to blow on a case, you won't find anything better.

 

That case looks fucking awesome.

 

As already said, watercooling could become difficult with this case. From what I've seen, an internal watercooling system will probably not fit, and since I didn't see any holes for an external one, you would have to make the holes yourself. The same goes for big air coolers for the cpu, the space there is also limited. And don't forget that it weights 20kg without anything else installed.

You could take a look at the Cosmos II. It doesn't look as exotic as the Thermaltake one, but it's still one of the most awesome cases on the market.

 

Thanks for the prompt replies guys, and especially enembee for your rather in depth one (and the Tom's hardware mention, checking that article out now). I'm glad you guys think it looks as insanely cool as I do, although I'd like to thank whoever pointed out how stupidly big it is. Weight isn't really an issue, I have a pretty study desk for it, but until I checked specs on my last one I had no idea how much bigger it was.

As for synergy with what I have, I'm looking to completely rework my setup, so I honestly don't anything but options for parts... I don't know, the nerd in me says this is the case for the ultimate super computer, and I'm doing alright on cash, it would be something that I would be able to continuously upgrade. I want to do it for the badass factor, but it's probably a bad idea, isn't it?

Ahh hell, decisions, decisions...

Edit: I completely forgot; enembee, you said your mate had one? What did he think about it?

 

It's a cool case, but as others have said it's fucking huge for a college dorm. It's just a hair taller then my Obsidian 800D, so if you have a room with some space it won't be a problem imho.

That said, it's beyond overpriced as hell. 300+/- is the max I'd pay for a case, and once you get in that range you have everything you'd ever want or need. You're not watercooling that case without a pain in the ass of a time. Air cooling with such small spaces of intake and exhaust is going to be loud and cause a lot of turbulence, and you'd really restricted to just what you can expand on in a case like that. They put low rpm fans, low db fans in there stock. Which means sure it'll be quiet, but you're going to have shit for airflow and your stuff is going to get more wear and tear on it. For something like that case where they're going for art, I still wouldn't pay over 400$, 800$ is a gigantic ripoff.

 

He loves it, but he has two (this and the Level 10 GT LCS - it has watercooling built in). Then again, he is a serious hobbyist, as such he's constantly swapping out hardrives, motherboards, processors, graphics cards and overclocking as much as he can possibly can and thus gets full use out of a modular case. They're both awesome cases (the GT version is smaller, but considerably uglier) but I certainly wouldn't have bought one, despite his constant urging.

 

Also keep in mind that exotic stuff like this in a dorm room makes you a bigger target for theft. If your roomie forgets to lock the door or has shady friends, you could end up losing your computer. That's why I think more understated cases (i.e. the Fortress that enembee mentioned) work better in a dorm environment. Sure, they don't look quite as flashy, but they can still be cool while not attracting attention.

 

It's hard to estimate the size of the motherboard compartment but it doesn't look that roomy to me.

It can pose a problem if you want to fit in a large CPU cooler like already mentioned. I have a Prolimatech Super Mega (http://www.prolimatech.com/en/products/detail.asp?id=158&page=1) in a Cosmos S and it's quite the tight fit. I had to remove the 200mm side fan to fit it in.

I also have concerns about the graphic card. It looks to me like a crossfire / SLI setup is pretty much out of the question. Current graphic cards are quite large, they require 2 PCI slots and are lengthy (multiple fans).

Another issue is the cooling, there is no room for extra fans and everything is packed together. Those 60mm HDD fans will also make quite a lot of noise.

It's a beautifully designed case but I have some doubts about the functionality. Given the steep price, I certainly wouldn't buy it.

 

They'd have reviews of this case and others at Maximum PC's website.