HotHardware Holiday Gift Guide 2010
Big Boxes With Bows: Cases & PSUs
All this hardware needs a home, and it's on you to provide it. Scared? Don't be. Here are our favorite choices of the year for enclosures and power supplies.NZXT Phantom Enthusiast - $140
This is the company’s most elegant and intelligent chassis design to date. Phantom exudes sophistication with pristine contours and a robust menu of high performance features that will satisfy the demands of even the most discerning PC enthusiast. Phantom’s extensive cooling capabilities include 7 fan cooling options with dual 200mm, single 230/200mm, triple 120mm, and front 140mm fans. For enhanced control and expandability, NZXT includes dual radiator support, quad watercooling cutouts, and an integrated fan controller with up to five 20W channels.
Antec LanBoy Air Open-Air Gaming Chassis - $184
This Antec case uses top-to-bottom mesh construction, which provides for tons of airflow. There are also five 120mm fans and space for ten more, and since it's huge, you can fit up to 11 total hard drives in here. It also holds your drives in suspension in order to reduce vibration, and chassis’ motherboard tray comes complete with a CPU cut-out with the power supply unit (PSU) mount situated on the bottom of the chassis. In addition, both the motherboard tray and PSU mount slide out for easy installation and can be repositioned for increased customization.
Lian Li TYR PC-X2000F gaming chassis - $374
Leave it to Lian Li to create a PC enclosure that you want so badly, but your wallet simply can't stand the sight of. The company's latest beast is the new TYR PC-X2000F, which is described as being an HTPC/Gaming chassis. We're not quite sure what kind of HTPC is this huge, but maybe if your entire downstairs is a cinema, this would fly. The new, all-black case is stunning, with room for Extended ATX, ATX, and Micro-ATX motherboards. There are four tool-less ODD bays, seven tool-less HDD mounting arcs, a fan control switch, four USB 3.0 ports, one eSATA port, three 140mm fans on the front and two 140mm fans at the rear.
Corsair Graphite 600T case - $160
Santa looking for a solid deal on a solid mid-tower case? Hello! This case features dual 200mm fans, eight PCI-E expansion slots, and plenty of additional space. With the Graphite Series 600T, you'll get many of the builder-friendly features that are also found on Corsair's Obsidian Series 700D and 800D cases, such as great cable management features and a large backplate cutout. The case has a USB 3.0 front panel connector as well.
Corsair CX600 PSU - $75
Not everyone needs a Lexus to get from Point A to Point B, nor do you need a decked out power supply with all the bells and whistles (and matching price tag) to power a modest setup. That's the general mindset behind Corsair's new "Build Series" power supplies, which Corsair promises will provide "worry-free compatibility" with your system, without putting a major dent in your Paypal account.
OCZ StealthXStream 2 700W - $84
OCZ announced the StealthXStream 2 Power Supply Series. This series has been redesigned to offer higher efficiencies and a quieter operation. The StealthXStream 2 is designed for use in high end systems and offers enough power for dual-GPU and CPU platforms. The PSUs offer up to 85% efficiency at typical loads. The StealthXStream 2 is available in up to 700W configurations, and all models come with a three year warranty.
NZXT HALE90 - $140
NZXT announced the new HALE90 Power Supply line. Built for gamers and enthusiasts, this line promises power and efficiency and is available in 550W, 650W, 750W, 850W, and 1000W models. The line has received 80+ Gold certification for efficiency and offers whisper quiet operation with a 140mm two ball-bearing fan. In addition, the lineup features a modular design, letting you select which cables you need and helping to minimize cable clutter for better airflow.
