ThermalTake Xaser III V2000A

Wolfie

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to buy a new case for my rig, which is an Athlon XP 2400+ (Jet 7 cooler), with two case fans. My processor is running at what looks like a steady 40C, under a full load, with Jet 7 fan cranked right up. I'm looking to get a new case and try overclocking the CPU some more, and after much checking around, was going to settle for a ThermalTake Xaser III V2000A (the silver supertower version). It looks like a great premodded case, and has something like 6 ultra silent fans in there.. just wondering if any of you have any good or bad words on the XASER? Its 200 quid which is a lot for me at the moment, but when I look at the case, the ultrasilent fans, hardcano etc.. I think its probably worth splashing out on, and will probably do me for years... What do you guys think?

Also, another question you may be able to help me with is this... Im using Motherboard Monitor to monitor CPU temp, Board temp etc, but have had touble finding the correct sensor settings... I'm running an ABIT KD7-Raid board, and found some info on the MBM site - but this doesnt match the temps recorded in Winbond Hardware Doctor... I went to the ABIT site and was advised to uninstall Winbond and install a new util from ABIT, I did this but the util doesnt work. Has anyone got any info on what sensors this board is using and what each sensor is monitoring (CPU, Board, Case etc)?

Thanks in advance,
Wolfie

Venom

The Xaser III is a great case. Pricey but you get what you pay for as its very well built. While I wouldnt call the fans silient they are very quite.

Col_Loki

The "ultra silent" fans arent silent, there very quiet when there on low RPM but the combination means there not silent. If you have them to full RPM the case is very loud. For €200 + the price of a PSU i dont think its worth.......... im speaking from experience as i bought the XaserII a while back for around the same price.

If you want silence and a good overclock id recomend getting a Sonata (lovely quiet case & good PSU) , and think about changing other parts of your hardware mabye?? Theres roughly a €140 difference in price (when you take into account the PSU) which is majour. The sonata is a great case (have 1 aswell) cant recomend it enough. €140 on mabye a NForce2 motherboard and Pc3200 ram ?? Im not sure (the board you have isint bad)......

Dont get me wrong the XaserIII is a lovely case, well built and nice features....... just dont know wheather its worth it (i would rather my sonata over the XaserII).

[edit] Sorry if i crossed your post venom, went offline and when i re-connected it posted....:rolleyes:

WizZard

I've just bought this case and I think its worth the price. It looks class and the fans do their job well, ice cool to touch when gaming.

Admittedly they aren't exaclty 'ultra silent' but they are quiet as fans go.
The hardcano unit is nice but beware if you are going to upgrade to a P4 or an Athlon64 as the temp sensor of the HardCano unit will not fit these chips, (I have my sensor currently stuck to the side of my heatsink, so its temp readings are off by between 1-8 degrees) not much of a problem but a bit disappointing.

The thing to remember is that this case doesn't come with a PSU so it'll cost you another few quid to get a good one, which brings up the total cost.

Wolfie

Thanks for the info guys. Loki, had a look at the sonata case and it looks mighty fine... supposed to be as quiet as a churchmouse too, so i'm going to bear that in mind when buying my new case. The Xaser can fit one more internal 3.5'' drive in there, and could be nicer for overclocking... but I also want quietness. Nobody said the Xaser was bad either.. so thats a good sign.

What about the Winbond monitor chip, I checked Sisoft Sandra, and it says there is a Winbond W83697HF monitoring chip installed on my motherboard. Just wondering again if anyone can tell me what the different sensors monitor - or point me to a good website. Thanks for the help anyway guys!

Wolfie

Wolfie

BTW moderator, should I be posting this in technology or here? Not realy sure, sorry if I picked the wrong forum.

Col_Loki

Overclocking and quietness are hard to get working at the same time ......... i mean a big overclock is hard to acchieve while still keeping the noise level down. The faster the fans run the more air they move, the more noise they make, the better it is for overclocking. The Xaser has a fan controller, if you run the fans on full its quite noisey (like a hoover) but the extra airflow is great for overclocking....... on low the fans dont move much air, its quiet but not ultra quiet of anything (still very noticable)..... as you can guess medium is in between !! I have water cooling and it allows for a great overclock with a small ammount of noise.

I think the Xaser cases are lovely and are built really well but i dont think they warrent double the price of a case like the sonata (when you consider PSU aswell).
If you have the Jet cooler cranked right up then i dont think noise is a big issue with you..... 40 degrees load leaves you with a good bit of headroom for overclocking. Crank up the Vcore, watch your temps, and see how the overclock goes........ either case is a good choice depends on your finances.

€130 (ammount you would roughly save getting a sonata) would go a long way toward upgrading your system in another way.......... graphics card, sound card, hard drive, dvd burner, new motherboard........... etc. Worth taking this into account when your choosing. (wont be much of a difference overclocking wise between the two cases.... 100mhz mabye).

Anyway best of luck with it, think you'll be happy either way.

Loki

Venom

The Sonta case is just boring as hell tho

Like everything else its a matter of taste I guess