Help me find a new case

I've been looking at cases for what seems like weeks now and i think my eyes have actually gone cross-eyed now.

Here what i want.
1. Mid Tower
2. Must have tray behind Mobo for cable management (or simialr good cable management setup, not just a set of ties.)
3. Must have eSata and USB 3.0 ports on the front/front-top of the case. (1 eSata is fine and so is 1 USB3.0 but prefer at least 2 total USB ports.)
4. Need at least 2 5.25" external drive bay
5. Need at least 4 3.5" internal drive bay.
6 Would prefer something with a native 2.5" internal drive bay or a GOOD solution for converting a 3.5" to 2.5" (like a solid bridge)
7. BOTTOM mount PSU.
8. Windowed side is fine.
9. Must have great cooling
10. Must be able to fit a full ATX board
11. Must be able to fit an ATI 6950 card in slot 1. (would be nice if it would fit two in x-fire but not actually demanded)
12. must be able to fit Zalman 9900 cooler.
13. Led fans are ok.
14. prefer something that has good drive sound insulation and dont care if it's tool-less or not.
15. Filters on air inlets are needed and ones that can be cleaned without a lot of disassembly would be a bonus as he has pets.
16. finally, if it comes prepainted black inside thats a bonus but i really dont care.


I'm helping a friend build up a sandy bridge setup for his home and cases are about the only thing i never care about as i just shove mine in a hole and forget about them.

Budget?

As far as the conversion for the 2.5 to 3.5 drive, I have been using this converter:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6817994064

YOu drop the drive inside it and mount the whole unit internally in a 3.5 drive bay. I am using an alternate install method by using a mobile rack like this:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?...NT-125-BLK

and putting the converter listed above inside it. This allows me to install and remove the 2.5 sata or ssd drive (or a 3.5 sata drive) without having to open the case. I test a lot of drives -- so this works well for me. The mobile rack I use is out of stock right now at the link posted above. The only place I've actually found that particular one is at Geeks and Directron. Geeks put them on clearance about 2 weeks ago for 6.99 + shipping and I bought several to have on hand for projects coming up. Not sure if Directron has any in stock or not -- but any SATA mobile rack would work. I just like this particular one because it has a switch to turn to lock and unlock it and doesn't require a key. You can also power it off if you are not using it -- so the fan inside it doesn't have to run all the time.

Since you seem to want an internal solution, the mobile rack would not be necessary for your application. The adapter by itself, however, does not have a fan.

Back in November, I bought this case for a specific project:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6811147144

I bought it because of the number of fans already included in the price for great cooling -- and because it has 4 external 5.25 bays (for cd/dvd and 3 mobile racks). This is a test machine for work -- I have a burner, an IDE mobile rack to test and image drives, a SATA mobile rack to test and image 3.5 and 2.5(using the drive adapter inside it from above) drives, and an additional mobile rack for my SATA boot drive. I can remove my boot drive in a minute if I need to run dban on any drives in the machine.

The case is pretty nice -- not a tank, but not flimsy. I comes with 3 fans and cools very well. Has some filters, which is nice.

Drawback are that the fans in it are loud. It also does not have good cable management and you will have to be creative there. The reviews, for once, on Newegg describe the pros and cons of this case pretty well -- the loudness of the fans and the lack of cable management. It might not be the one for you -- but for about $55, might be something to look at.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6811133184 Thermaltake case. Probably a better bet for your needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6811112304 Lian Li case. Has 2 usb 3.0 ports on the front. The thermaltake has one 3.0 and one 2.0 BUT you may be required to sit in front of it and blow into it to keep it cool.

Not sure these will fit your graphic card or cooler.

Quote from callpocket : Budget?

its a $2500 system without a case, i dont think any case is actually out of the budget at this point.

Quote from R1Budha : its a $2500 system without a case, i dont think any case is actually out of the budget at this point.

Did you look at the cases I posted? There isn't much out there with usb 3.0 front panel ports yet. It's still too new.

Quote from PerfectPoo : Did you look at the cases I posted? There isn't much out there with usb 3.0 front panel ports yet. It's still too new.

yeah, that seems to be the sticking point.

i suppose i can just mod the ports if i have to but i prefer to have them be native.


and the Lian Li is ok, but i'm not sure he'll like a case with AMD all over it for his intel setup.