What case: CM690 or Antec900 or P182?

[it_is_me]

Hi guys,
I know the Antec 900's reputiation as one of the most efficient air-cooling cases, however what is holding me back - the LEDs, which i don't actually like (too flashy for me), the price (compared to CM690 - which costs here ~35$ less). The window on the side is in my opinion also redundant. Cause all i need is good aircooling and decent looks (e.g. HAF 932 looks ugly to me - I would never buy such a case, despite its excellent air-cooling capabilities).
Hence I decided to buy Antec 300 case - seemed to be just that. Then I figured out, that with a small additional fee i can have CM690 - which is slightly bigger, has tool-less drive cages, thus slightly more 'moddable' and comfortable to work with (note -I do not plan to WC).
The bad thing again is that I like Antec P182 too, hear a lot of positive references. I like its looks, silence, quality. However its price is holding me back, plus P182 is not as good in air-cooling as 900 or CM690.

So what would you advice:
1. Is it worth to switch from CM690 to Antec 900 (ok, for a couple of temperature degrees I'm willing to sacrifice additional $35 + my dislike for bright LED fans and side-window ;) ) ?
2. Should i forget about my planned budget and those degrees I'll loose in my PC's temperatures and go straight for Antec P182?
All opinions are welcome.

[jdmR]

id say the 690 has better cooling than the 900. there was a thread showing different ways of putting the fans on the 690 and showed very good temps with a good intake/exhaust set up. as for the 900, u can change the fans to make em non led?

[it_is_me]

id say the 690 has better cooling than the 900. there was a thread showing different ways of putting the fans on the 690 and showed very good temps with a good intake/exhaust set up.
ok, will search for that. although the reviews i've read showed that 900 was better....but considering CM 690 fan expandability (up to nine?)

as for the 900, u can change the fans to make em non led?
yeah, but this would result in more additional costs (+ the fact that 900 is $35 over CM690 price) + the window i do not need.


How about P182? is it worth ($150) twice the CM690 price ($86)?

[upsidedown]

i remember reading somewhere that the 900 has better 'out of box' cooling than the cm690, but if you add some fans in the correct location like jdmR said then cm690 might have better cooling. So you can use the 35 saved to buy some extra fans for the 690, plus personally I prefer cm cases :D

[jdmR]

out of the box, the 900 is much better. but you can get a 690 + yateloon fans from petras for around 20$ for a good number. still cheaper than the 900. when i was choosing my case, i actually went with the cm 590 rather than the 690 for a bit better cooling purposes (better cooling without the plastic blocking air flow) the p182 is a really nice case. its down right beautiful, but loses against both the 690/590 and 900 in terms of airflow. if i was wc, id go for the p182. the great capabilties of the 690/590 is that u can choose your own fans for the top exhaust placement which would yield better airflow

[it_is_me]

OK, thanx to all, and we have the winner - CM690. ;)
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