Desktop or Tower?

[xRyokenx]

Which style of case would be better for a gaming PC? Which one is better for cooling? I know towers usually have more room for HDDs, optical drives, and such though.

I like my tower but it gets in the way sometimes. Although, I can always put it sideways like it is right now on the floor with the monitor on top, lol (no desk atm).

[Spawn-Inc]

having dealt with mid towers i prefer the space in a full tower but the weight its a bit of a hassle if your trying to move it. i think my case with parts weighs about 50-60 pounds. i'm not sure how it's going to be once i get my watercooling stuff but i think i would like a bit more space.

[xRyokenx]

I'm thinking of getting a full ATX next time. I might just do that for a gaming rig and make another PC for everything else and put it in a desktop case. Make it a media PC too... get some bigass HDD (like 500GB for me for starters because I don't need much more) and a decent sound card to go with some good speakers. Or just make it have the music, some cheap speakers, and make the gaming rig access it for the music... hmm...

I still kind of like desktop cases for the small size. I don't like stuff much smaller though due to inability to upgrade and heating issues.

I'd use Linux on the media/everyday PC but I just really like Windows XP. I've got it running great, lol... I wonder if XP has gone down in price at all... knowing M$ it probably hasn't. Ah well. lol

[Crazy Buddhist]

I say deskpooters FTW (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9349)

Not that I am biased.

:)

[xRyokenx]

Lol. Those work too. ^_^

[TEAMIKKE]

Tower! The bigger the better ;) Just put wheels beneath it.

[DJboutit]

I always liked desktop cases if you go with a desktop try to get a decent priced media center desktop case

[khalie]

i would go with tower case for gaming rig and for media Pc i would take some nice desktop case or you can have 2 in 1 by putting two desktops one on another and mod it :)

[xRyokenx]

I'm not building another PC atm... not enough cash. I'm just speculating for the future and curious about the advantages of both. I think I might throw together a media PC next. I love gaming and all but I'm just getting tired of it. There aren't enough people with the same games as me to play multiplayer and there's no coop campaigns in anything for PC anymore, only on consoles.

[Greco101]

99 outta 100 times the bigger case has more potential for better airflow/lower temps unless it's a ****ty/cheap design and/or you aren't using all of the available spots for fans.

[.Maleficus.]

99 outta 100 times the bigger case has more potential for better airflow/lower temps unless it's a ****ty/cheap design and/or you aren't using all of the available spots for fans.
Bigger cases have a bigger change for stale/trapped air (pockets where there is no movement). Smaller cases (that are built right) will be better for this. And if it's a media PC, that won't be watercooled or OC'd or have SLI, then why go bigger? I say keep it as small and discrete as possible.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

Gaming cases should be huge, loud, and ugly. Media-center cases should be small, quiet, and sleek. That's just the way the world works! :p

[chaksq]

Cube style case anyone?

Yeah it probably gets completely in the way but you can put a flat screen and keyboard on top.

[Raz1r]

I prefer small PCs with a lot of power, though my current specs don't show this. I don't need five HDs in RAID, or a huge LCD screen on my case so I didn't feel the need to buy a case that has space for that.

Basically just look for a case with very good airflow potential. If you need more space for optical drives etc, be sure to consider that. It's all based on your needs.

And (assuming you are air-cooling), buy fans for every slot on the damn case. Stagnant air kills components!