New Parts, New Plans
If anyone remember, I planned to build a PC for a friend, but it stranded a bit due to the difficulty of finding the "right" parts within the ill defined budget. Back at the time, it was just around one of the trade shows, so a lot of new mini-itx cases was coming out. Which was good news, since it marked a real entry of mini-itx into the mainstream.
I realize that mini-itx cases was a thing before, but around that time I began to see more and more of them with fewer and fewer flaws/tradeoffs, all in all making them (as a category) a lot more appealing to build in.
I initially wanted to do the build in a IN WIN 901, and while I still think that it is a good case and probably more striking than most cases, it is however somewhat expensive, and because it comes without fans (which is ok, since a fair protion of the buyers would probably upgrade anyway) you need to throw a bit more money at it, in order to not have a toaster. So perhaps the IN WIN 901 is not the right choice, so I went looking for what is available for purchase around these parts. And I think I found just the right case: the Thermaltake Core V1.
The Termaltake Core V1, seems quite good judging from the review I have read (here is one from [H]ard|OCP), I from what I can tell the 200mm fan in front does an excellent job of pumping cool air into the case and keeping things cold. Futhermore it is a lot cheaper than the IN WIN 901. In addition it is also somewhat easier to build in.
Of course it does have a few weak points when comparing with the IN WIN.
- it has no space for an optical drive, but neither does my PC (and in fact neither does my my laptop), I make due with a external one that I anyway only whip out when I need to rip a CD (yes, I am old fashioned).
- it is a bit wider, due to her limitied desk I think this is a reasonable complaint, but I think I have to visit with a carpenters ruler and see how much space is actually available.
While I am at it, I should also get around to crack open her current PC again, and see if anything can be scavenged, I know I wrote about that last time, but it seems that I have been busy (and perhaps a bit lazy).
Project: A PC for A
Posted Jan 31 2015 by Esben Sonne