Aluminum Server Case Review

Anonymous Coward writes: "Hi guys, Here is a review of the Lian Li PC626, which is a server case made entirely out of aluminium. Unex from Belgium :)" Or aluminum, which is the only proper spelling, of course. Are these cases actually worth the premium price? I may be having heat problems (for the first time) with our latest PC purchase, so I'm suddenly more interested in cooling...

Comments

gold

[Anonymous Coward]

If I had enough money, I would buy a solid gold case.

Re:gold

[AnotherBrian]

We should have a new moderator catagory: +1 Excellent Comeback

Re:gold

[A_Non_Moose]

We should have a new moderator catagory: +1 Excellent Comeback

{on topic reply, semi-off topic for the catagory}
We do. It is called Overrated. But the score is -1, sadly.
(/gomer pyle voice) You're gonna burn in hell for that one!(/end gpv)

Anywho, back on topic.

Trying to read the review, same as others, I'm getting the MySQL error.

It was pointed out that for a server case 600 dollars is not that bad. And inferring from other post, if I may, it is strong, light and has excellent cooling properties/abilities.

This is an excellent value when you consider the commodity market of today's PC hardware.
16K for a Proliant, true, but it makes you wonder how much went into the case?
Even a wild guess would put it at a 1k to 2k mark, leaving the other 14k for hardware and other components and software.
Kind of makes that 600 bucks pale in comparison, plus the {god, I hate to sound like a marketer} "added value" of having "standars compliant" bays, connectors, MB trays and mounts.

I mean, really now, adding memory to a Dell...gotta go to {almot typed goto, shudder) dell, need a newer/better mobo? ain't gonna happen unless you get the dremel tool out.

These are excellent looking and functioning cases, but, I've always been partial to the Enlight series of cases, myself, for workstation/general configs, but, for servers I just might have to look into these.

Al ?

[Tranvisor]

How much better could a alumininum case be for cooling? I mean think about it, the only thing that ever touchs it are convection currents. I wonder how much a all copper case would cost..... hrmmmm.

Re:Al ?

[Argy]

I was wondering the same thing. If you made it out of steel or something that conducts heat better, then it would conduct some of the heat from inside the case to the outside. Or looked at another way, it would conduct some of the coolness from outside the case to the inside. Any thermo gurus care to elucidate?

Re:Al ?

[1337 $14X0r]

FYI, Steel does *NOT* conduct heat better. It is heavier and cheaper, and it is used in 95% of the computer cases out there. You'll never see a steel heatsink in your life - Aluminum, Copper, and Silver all do the job much better.

If you look around that (or any other) overclocking site, you'll find more cooling info than you could shake a stick at. In fact, I'm installing [overclockersonline.com] such a system as we speak.

Re:Al ?

[Argy]

Thanks...guess I should have inferred that from the aluminum heat sinks! Overclockersonline seems down for the count right now. I found a list of thermal conductivity in W/cm-K, which listed silver at 4.2, copper at 3.9, aluminum at 2.2, and low-carbon steel at 0.7.

Re:Al ?

[White Shade]

coolness is just a lack of heat; there is no "cool" energy; just a lesser amount of heat energy..

soo... it would transfer heat away from the inside, thus cooling the interior..

Re:Al ?

[unitron]

"You'll never see a steel heatsink in your life..."

It's the steel heatsinks that you don't see that get you, like where some TV's horizontal output transistors are mounted on a steel bracket that doesn't dissipate heat quite fast enough for that particular transistor after it's got a few years on it.

Re:Al ?

[1337 $14X0r]

My apologies - I was referring to CPU-specific heatsinks. I'm afraid it'll be many years before we'll see something better on our transistors ;)

Re:Al ?

[jooniqzb1tch]

I'm certainly no thermo guru but there is no such thing as coolness conduction, it's just the heat that moves away, coolness beeing the absence of heat I guess. the benchmarks show you can expect at most a few degrees difference with the usual steel case, thus certainly not worth the price if heat conduction is your main issue (get some extra fans for the same price, or a water cooling system).

Re:Al ?

[HunkirDowne]

The thermal conductivity only tells half the story. I wish I could remember where I saw it but there was a set of diagrams that showed how fast an aluminum block came to thermal equilibrium as opposed to other metals. Not only was it good at conducting heat away from another body it was also very good at distributing the heat within itself.

Re:Al ?

[lazarus1861]

A word from a thermo guru:

An aluminum case shouldn't make much difference. Most of the heat put off by the computer is moved out by the case fan.

Re:Al ?

[Tiroth]

Basically you have the conductivity junction-to-junction, for which aluminum has a high coefficient. Then, as you said, you have the internal transmissive coefficient that determines how rapidly heat flows through the medium.

Aluminum scores very well in both, but copper is more transmissive and less conductive. If you've ever soldered on heavy copper you've probably felt the pain of soldering one land only to desolder one nearby...

This is exactly why the best pots are copper-bottomed: even heat transfer.

Re:Al ?

[per unit analyzer]

If you've ever soldered on heavy copper you've probably felt the pain of soldering one land only to desolder one nearby...

What's even worse is trying to solder a heavy gauge copper conductor. (e.g. AWG No. 6) You can't get the solder to flow because the copper transmits all of the heat right out of the iron and away from what you're trying to solder... You practically need a propane torch to get it right... This is why electricians rely on heavy duty compression lugs instead of trying to solder. For really heavy duty connections (like grounding and bonding with AWG 4/0), exothermic welding (similar to thermite) is used to generate enough heat to make a good connection. (OK, slightly OT, but it illustrates how well copper transmits heat...)

--z

Re:Al ?

[Tiroth]

Once I used some 0.125" stock copper for a ground bus in an amp and it was sizeable enough that I did have to use a propane torch to make the connections. My soldering station is 50 watts, and it just couldn't cut it.

That's nothing

[Anonymous Coward]

My computer casing is made entirely from Trjoan condoms. I practice safe hex.

water cooled cases

[AnotherBrian]

I bet you could figure a way to turn the sides/top/back/front into a nifty radiator for a water cooled system.

aluminum ?

[paulbeasd]

I know what aluminium is, and i guess everyone kmows. But what the hell is "aluminum"?

Re:aluminum ?

[de Selby]

While aluminium is a metal with a silvery colour, aluminum is one with a silvery COLOR.

Re:aluminum ?

[Keju]

The English chemist Sir Humphry Davy who discovered the element derived the name from alumina, which was taken from the French tanning mineral "alum".

Sir Humphrey first called it alumium, then aluminum, and finally aluminium. Somehow the Americans ended up calling it by the intermediate name and it stuck.

Re:aluminum ?

[DrXym]

It's a bastardization of the proper spelling. Or should that be bastardisation?

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Aluminum" is tha All-American fatso spelling. Since the americans have such huge asses, they can't even learn how to spell.

Sad but true.

Re:aluminum ?

[Alan Partridge]

if "aluminum" is correct, then why not "Titanum" and "Barum" too? We give you the gift of English, and this is how you repay us!

Re:aluminum ?

[BeGeek]

i've never understood the american tendency to simply drop letters from the spelling of words. it would be frustrating if it weren't so damn silly. i've often wondered what the origins were, if they just decided that they didn't like the letter u and the letter i. perhaps some childhood trauma during a couple particular episodes of sesame street?

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Stoopid merkans - they can't even speak right. The most annoying thing is when they say Moscow like it's mos-cow instead of moscoe. And they say route as if it rhymes with out. Stoopid - it's so obviously said to rhyme with root.

Re:aluminum ?

[paulbeasd]

> some childhood trauma ... sesame street?

Well, I wouldnt be surprised anymore.
I recently read that one of the lieutenants of Bin Laden, one Evil Bert,
is also one of the stars in Sesame Street.

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Whatever, Osama.

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok Mr. Smarty Pants, how do you pronounce "router"?

Re:aluminum ?

[QuantumFTL]

Well I always thought quite the opposite: having extra letters in words is silly. I mean, it's bad enough that the french don't even pronounce half the letters in their words, but still words like "colour" and "flavour" I would ask exactly how the u contributes to the word.

British spelling can be annoying sometime, however I must say that "aluminium" does have a certain sophistication to it.

However I must concede that British accents are far superior to how almost any american speaks. ('cept Cockney accents, they're almost as bad as ebonics!)

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ever heard of "Queen's English"?

Re:aluminum ?

[Looge Over All!]

It depends on whether it's the "route" or "rout" variety.

"routed" and "routed" have two very different meanings, that's why they are pronounced differently.

Re:aluminum ?

[nomadic]

You know, Asimov wrote a short story where the entire plot revolved around the difference in spelling...

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

We give you the gift of English, and this is how you repay us!

Let's not forget that it's because of we Americans that you haven't been speaking German for the last fifty years.

Re:aluminum ?

[Drakin]

Actually, it was soon after the united States became independant Franklin and Webster got together and started to change the language.

Thankfully Webster kept Franklin from doing what he wished, which was dropping all the silent letters in words. Then things would have been really screwed up.

'Though, we'd have more literate Americans.

(And I'm thinking my karma's going to take a beating from that...)

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

I assume you have never heard the accent of somone from Newcastle. Or Liverpool. Or Brimingham (MAN I hate Brummie accents! DIE!). Or Bristol (My fair city. Init?). Or, anywhere outside of "TV Land".

British accents can be as bad as a Yankee Boston accent (Eurgh) :)

Re:aluminum ?

[MikeBabcock]

Considering a 'route' to a destination is pronounced with a soft 'ou' as in "oooh", a 'router' would be properly pronounced 'rooter' since that's exactly its job.

However, 'rowter' has stuck in N-A, so I guess its here to stay.

Common usage has a lot to do with spelling and pronunciation in English, which is why its different in Canada from the U.K. and Jersey from Tennessee from Texas.

Re:aluminum ?

[L. J. Beauregard]

OK, fine, let's call it "aluminium". Let's also speak of lanthanium, molybdenium, tantalium, and platinium.

Re:aluminum ?

[L. J. Beauregard]

Since in Australia, "root" is another word for "f--k", it may be a good idea to say "rowt" there as well.

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

i've never understood the american tendency to simply drop letters

Actually they do not drop it - it is all the bubble gums fault. Once bubble gums became widely used in the USA letters started to stick to them and so more and mor ltrs ar gng to vnsh fm t lnguae.

In other words, bubble gums are the black holes of linguistics, yep.

Re:aluminum ?

[jasontheking]

Maybe we shouldn't confuse the poor yanks and poms with our version of english.

I mean , if they thought we were really going to put something in the "boot", they might think we walk around with no shoes on.

Re:aluminum ?

[rabidcow]

We just get sick of Marketing changing the product name every 6 months.

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Except of course in Canada,
where aluminum is one with a silvery colour :-)

Where everything costs more, except your employee's wages :-\

Re:aluminum ?

[xanadu-xtroot.com]

Dialect.
You're forgeting one minor thing (or just unknowing)...

I'm origanily from the Mid-West (Chicago, USA). In the Mid-West "root" rhymes with "book"...

Just as "roof" rhymes with "book". Get over it. We all talk different. Welcome to Planet Earth...

Re:aluminum ?

[Bert64]

Seeing as the language is called "English" it should be upto the english government to decide what is correct or not.

Re:aluminum ?

[xanadu-xtroot.com]

-1; Troll

Dude, get with the times. OK, fine. I've had this arguent with a Brit ICQ friend I've known for about 3 years now. He wonders why we dont spell "harbor" with the "U" (and similar), "I don't know" is my best answer.
My point was different people say different things and say those things, different ways. I do. Do you?

Yes, technically, I speak English. In reality, I speak American. It just so happens that American is mostly based on English (British). Hmmm... I wonder why.... (please don't go into the whole latin foundry of this language...)

Isn't it because it was the British colonized this country?
Nah, can't have anything to do with that...

Re:aluminum ?

[njdj]

The English grammarian Fowler defended some of these American spellings. I don't have a copy of his "Modern English Usage" (first published in about 1920 I think) in front of me, but quoting from memory, he points out that retaining the ending -our for words like "honour" derived from French words ending in -eur is inconsistent, because spellings like "motor" are standard.

Not that this has anything to do with "aluminum", which I believe originated in a spelling mistake. The American Chemical Society's approved spelling of the word was "aluminium" until well into the 20th century.

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

aroit moi babbers!

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

At least the buses would run on time, and your country would still be devoid of culture.

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

aluminium is the Britsh spelling.
aluminum is the US spelling.
It's that simple.

Re:aluminum ?

[Anonymous Coward]

its for americans who are incapable of speaking english or learning to spell correctly

Re:aluminum ?

[nosferatu1001]

back when i used to get chemistry review, there was an article in which there was an agreeement to change the spelling to aluminium for all, while we in the uk got to use the spelling "sulfur"

don't think it made the blind bit of difference in the end....

$600?

[Knunov]

$600 for a case is insane. For $200, you can get a fantastic case and top-notch power supply from PC Power & Cooling which leaves $400 for a faster CPU, better hard drive, and extra cooling fans.

This is a luxury item. Total overkill.

Re:$600?

[von Moltke]

I agree. I don't see how making the case out of aluminum makes its cooling effect any better. As a previous poster said, only the convection currents ever touch it. Even if it does, is it worth $600?

Does anyone know of any tests that have been done to rate the cooling efficeny of cases based on their metal composition?

Yeah right

[ferret007]

It's aluminium, check out any periodic table. Aluminum is just another example of American bastardisation of the english language, much like the use of center/centre (meter/metre), *ise/*ize.

Re:Yeah right

[ferret007]

either that or it comes from alumina Al2O3, but no aluminum.

Re:Yeah right

[gregh76]

Perhaps, but it's more apparent that the poster, "Michael", is just ignorant of these differences.

Way to go, Michael. You couldn't have just stuck to posting the note, could you? Idiot.

Re:Yeah right

[richiejb]

I'm English so I get annoyed as lots of us do about Americans changing spelling. However in this case it pains me to say they're right. Aluminum was the original spelling, and us Brits changed it to make it more like existing elements.

Re:Yeah right

[Stardo]

I'm American so I get annoyed as lots of us do about crazy British spelling. :) If you guys had gotten spelling right the first time, we wouldn't have had to change everything. Geez. :P

Re:Yeah right

[Anonymous Coward]

aluminum
Symbol: Al
Atomic number: 13
Atomic weight: 26.9815
Silvery-white lustrous metallic element of group 3 of the periodic table.
Highly reactive but protected by a thin transparent layer of the oxide
which quickly forms in air. There are many alloys of aluminum, as well as
a good number of industrial uses. Makes up 8.1% of the Earth's crust, by
weight. Isolated in 1825 by H.C. Oersted.

Re:Yeah right

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it stems from the mispronounciation
of aluminium by the uneducated population
segment in America. AL YOU MIN IUM being
correct and ALOM IN UM being incorrect. If
you heard ALOM IN UM all of the time it is
likely that you would start spelling it
aluminum. But in defense of my homeland you
have your own uneducated population segment
in the UK (skinheads, violent religious
fanatics(both varieties) and just plain
stupid folk). For every stupid
americanization like color or television I
can give you twenty examples of brilliance
(e.g.airplane,transister,microcircuits or
television, lend lease)

So stop crying about America, we all have
something for which to be proud and ashamed.

Re:Yeah right

[Anonymous Coward]

Couldn't help notice that it should be 'transistor' :-)

Re:Yeah right

[hattig]

Aksherly, the problem is becoz the Inglish langwidge is not spelt fownetically. This makes it a much harda landwidge to lern if you are from a forrin cuntry where they iver have thoze funny vowels with hats and apostrofees on them that alta the sownd produced when spoken, and make the ritten langwidge more in line with the spoken.

However, I would not like to read Scottish or Geordie English language books (I have seen one) written as it is spoke.

Americans say "alu-min-um", we say "Alu-min-ium", so strangely enough, this word is spelt pretty much as it is said in both countries.

Olde Englishe is written much more as it is spoken. Some motherf*cker obviously decided to f*ck up the language and spell things differently at some point in history (must have been an arts student, they have not better use for their time), and it stayed that way. C*nt.

Monster Magnet Rule.

Re:Yeah right

[Anders H�ckersten]

It's aluminium, check out any periodic table. Aluminum is just another example of American bastardisation of the english language, much like the use of center/centre (meter/metre), *ise/*ize.

Shouldn't that be bastardization, not bastardisation? :p

And yeah of course I'm only doing this to be annoying. :)

Re:Yeah right

[Anonymous Coward]

We don't use the "metre/centre" spelling because it looks a little too French for our taste. And we American/USian/whateverians don't like looking French.

Re:Yeah right

[unitron]

"transister" was right in the first place. You see his sister is really his brother.

Re:Yeah right

[spauldo]

Actually, if I remember right, the contenintal congress debated on what the official language in the US would be (they were rather pissed (the american version) at england at the time). Latin and a few other languages were considered (latin would have been cool), but they settled on removing the excess nonsense out of english spelling. I'm not sure on exactly how they went about it (I think they commissioned webster to do it, but I'm not sure - been too long).

Personally, I don't think they went far enough. We still got way too many useless letters in there. I mean, what the hell is 'c' for? Or 'x' or 'q' for that matter? Assign them to other sounds that need two letters and drop the stupid crap. And we did drop the 'u' out of 'neighbour' but why an 'e' and 'i' instead of an 'a'?

I think the english language is horrible. Unfortunately, the only language I've studied other than english is french, which is worse. But, everybody speaks it, so we ain't got much of a choice I guess.

Re:Yeah right

[Anonymous Coward]

Jesus fucking christ, who gives a shit?

America != Britain, what a revolutionary (no pun intended) concept.

Re:Yeah right

[mmontour]

Personally, I don't think they went far enough. We still got way too many useless letters in there. I mean, what the hell is 'c' for? Or 'x' or 'q' for that matter?

%% (fortunes)
A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling
by Mark Twain

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s", and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all.
Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli.
Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

Re:Yeah right

[Anonymous Coward]

But do they pronounce it "mee-tree?" How about "cen-tree?" And do they write it "heatre"? Heh.

--joshua

P.S. I know I'm posting AC, but I'm too lazy to make an acct.

Dig down people....

[tezmc]

Let the spelling flamewar begin!

Re:Dig down people....

[gregh76]

Only if your definition of flamewar is ragging on someone for being an ignorant asshole.

Re:Dig down people....

[Anonymous Coward]

That's arsehole.

Re:Dig down people....

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, it appears if the shat did hit fan after all with regards to this spelling fiasco.

Overheating indicator

[Bollie]

Can you imagine that baby burning? The scenario is something like this:

John: Hey Sid? Wanna check out my new Athlon? It's overclocked something awful.

Sid: Yeah, cool. What's that white fire in your room?

John yells some incomprehensible syllables (mostly vowels), grabs the fishtank and runs to the fire

Sid: Hey John! That might be a bad id...

Boom

Ah well... At least they don't make fire extinguishers out of aluminium...

Re:Overheating indicator

[paulbeasd]

> Can you imagine that baby burning? .....
> Sid: What's that white fire in your room? .....
> Boom

Isnt that with Kalium (Potassium, K)?
now that would be interesting .....

Re:Overheating indicator

[aidoneus]

I think you're confusing Al with Mg (Magnesium). Take a look at the earlier story with the videos of chemical reactions for Mg burning while embedded in a block of dry ice...

Re:Overheating indicator

[not-quite-rite]

Actually a lot of the bodies of fire extinguishers are made out of aluminium....

Re:Overheating indicator

[Plutor]

Sure, pure Aluminum might burn, but it's most likely an alloy of some sort.

Re:Overheating indicator

[RFC959]

Oh no, Al will burn. It's not so easy to ignite as Mg or K, but once you get it going, it burns pretty fiercely too. IIRC, Allied pilots in WWII could tell a burning German plane even at a great distance, because the aluminum content made them burn bright white.

Re:Overheating indicator

[Anonymous Coward]

Unlikely. Somebody tried burning a NeXT box case and it was quite difficult.

Misspelling?

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess the International Aluminium Institute has a rather embarassing spelling error in their very name. I mean, after all, what do they know?

International Aluminium Institute

Re:Misspelling?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, but they say both spellings are valid.

1st time I've MySQL /.'ed

[Bocaj]

I've seen plenty of servers not respond, but never just the database engine. Config probs? Maybe a MySQL guru out there could give them a hand.

Re:1st time I've MySQL /.'ed

[joib]

From the error message it appears as if they have some limit on the number of db handles in their connection pooling stuff. The point is, making a db backed website is easy. Making it scale is a lot more difficult. And you tend to learn through your mistakes.

Re:1st time I've MySQL /.'ed

[AtticusTheGreat]

You are right about that. I'm the guy that wrote the site, and this is the most traffic we've ever had to handle. There seems to be some preset number of simultaneous connections the server people set, so that seems to be the immediate problem. I've modified and modified everything on the page to try to get it to scale better, but I think the time has come to just get rid of the db queries altogether and go totally textfile based, with db backups of everything. Either that, or get a dedicated server for just our webiste, which is undoable at this point in time.

CoolerMaster

[Apreche]

The best computer cases in the worlds IMO are available at www.coolermaster.com. They're so pretty. They have extra fans, alluminum body, and USB in the front, which is great for my gravis gamepad pro USBs. They're also extremely roomy and easy to work with. The trouble is finding a place that sells them, because the company doesn't sell them direct, and they have distributors in Japan and Europe, but not the US. They aren't all too expensive either. I personally reccomend the ATC-201 for anyone who needs a full tower and worries about heat. The fan in the top of the cast helps SO much.

Re:CoolerMaster

[Snowfox]

The best computer cases in the worlds IMO are available at www.coolermaster.com. They're so pretty. They have extra fans, alluminum body, and USB in the front, which is great for my gravis gamepad pro USBs. They're also extremely roomy and easy to work with. The trouble is finding a place that sells them, because the company doesn't sell them direct, and they have distributors in Japan and Europe, but not the US. They aren't all too expensive either. I personally reccomend the ATC-201 for anyone who needs a full tower and worries about heat. The fan in the top of the cast helps SO much.

You can find it at Directron. I love these guys - they're usually the first or only to sell some of the more esoteric stuff.

They had removable aluminum U66/U100 IDE drive trays, USB 2.0 external drive cases, etc well before anyone. The prices have consistently been near the best on pricewatch, and delivery's been quick - can't say enough good about 'em.

And no, I don't work there or even know the guys running it.

Re:CoolerMaster

[rikkards]

I believe Deals Direct (www.dealsdirect.com or www.dealsdirect.ca in Canada) sell them.

Re:CoolerMaster

[denzo]

newegg.com carries them here.

Re:CoolerMaster

[spudnic]

I've been looking seriously at the Black mini cube ATX server case that directron has. The layout seems nice, and it looks pretty cool.

procooling.com has a good review about it.

Anybody have any experience with it?

It's AluminIum

[shd99004]

Or else my chemistry text books have been all wrong. Everyone else, too.

Re:It's AluminIum

[NightRain]

It's Aluminum. Of course it is. I mean it's not like there are any other metals out there that end in -ium is it? ;)

Down Town

[Anonymous Coward]

The site is down. Any mirrors, please?

Re:Down Town

[Anonymous Coward]

Geez Louise!
Now I got that song in my head... Thanks a lot...

But what if...

[TheMidget]

... your pentium iv overheats, and sets the whole case on fire?

Re:But what if...

[arseonick]

Pentium 4s have built-in heat sensors that will prevent a CPU from sustaining damage due to heat.

Re:But what if...

[vidarlo]

then u should look at GOLD pc cases...A bit expecive, but they leads away energy wery fast.
And will weigh aprox. 50 kg.

SGI made some cases from magnesium, I saw a page were there was a HOWTO to put them on fire:-)

Pronounciation

[Moderator]

It's spelled Aluminium.
Just like it's pronounced :)

Re:Pronounciation

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed, and it's also spelled 'pronunciation'.

I refuse to speak to people who won't correct their spelling at my demand. I'm just anal like that.

It's the British spelling

[selan]

aluminium

n. Chiefly British
Variant of aluminum.

Sheesh, /. really is US centric. This is the common spelling and pronunciation in many countries. I know it's off topic, but someone had to say it. Incorrect spelling, huh :)!

Re:It's the British spelling

[Anonymous Coward]

And gosh, The Register is so UK-centric.

Re:It's the British spelling

[Plutor]

It's almost funny that you're so adamant about pointing out Slashdot's mistakes, that you didn't even realize it was a stinking joke! He was mocking the differences in spelling and pronunciation between the two countries.

Re:It's the British spelling

[mihalis]

Aluminium was the officially accepted spelling here in the US too, until 1925, see the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Periodic Table entry for Element 13

Re:It's the British spelling

[Anonymous Coward]

According to the obvious aluminum/aluminium authority, BOTH are equally valid:

http://www.world-aluminium.org/history/language. ht ml

Re:It's the British spelling

[LordNimon]

Are you sure? I find it much more likely that he didn't know aluminium is the British spelling. I certainly didn't know.

Re:It's the British spelling

[sstammer]

I read once (wish I could remember the source) that the American spelling was due to a typo introduced into some document, and the meme spread from there.

Re:It's the British spelling

[Ithil]

Well, he did say "the ONLY proper spelling" (emphasis added).

I think he would have said "the proper spelling" if, instead of kidding around, he actually didn't know.

Re:It's the British spelling

[selan]

Hee hee, I said it was off topic, so it got modded down to off topic! Maybe next time I'll say it's insightful :).

Cool!

[Graspee_Leemoor]

I finally get to truthfully say:

I submitted this months ago and it was rejected!

graspee

Re:Cool!

[Anonymous Coward]

Welcome to the club!

Fighting Obsolescence

[PhotonSphere]

I own a Lian Li PC-60 and a CoolerMaster ATC201. I could never go back to the full tower cases I had used for the last decade... Not only do these cases stay 3 times cooler than regular cases, I find that even with the reduced interior space I have much more usable room. Other perks like sliding mobo trays, power supply brackets, thumbscrews on everything, and nice smooth interior edges make them truly a pleasure to work with.

My biggest justification for the extra $$ spent to get the cases was this: I go through hardware like mad, but the one thing that will remain constant in my systems for the next few years is my case. It is an investment that will undoubtedly be in my top performance machine for years to come. If you can reccommend another purchase to fight hardware obsolescence as effectively, I'm all ears.

Re:Fighting Obsolescence

[Anonymous Coward]

I said that too in 1996, and now my shiny platinum AT case that I paid $8000 for sits in a corner housing a Pentium Pro. Why? Everything is ATX now.

Who's to say next year all mainboards won't be PTX or ZTX?

Yes, things in this industry change like crazy, and that's exactly why you shouldn't dump a bucketload of money in any one spot.
You just don't know what's going to happen.

Well, unless, of course, you have bucketloads of money to drop. I don't though, and I'd rather make wise and moderate purchasing decisions with my limited funds.

Re:Fighting Obsolescence

[UberLame]

In 1996 it was pretty clear to me that ATX was where everything was going, although I went with AT anyway since on the particular machine I bought it saved me over $150, which was a lot to me at the time.

Now, 5 years later, I'm trying to purge out AT gear, but it will be another few years before I'm completely rid of it. It is rather nice in it's simplicity though. I'm kinda sad at the change.

ATX doesn't seem to have a major replacement yet, but people keep making different extensions to it which can cause confusion.

Weight

[notext]

The best part is the lightness of these cases.

If you go to a lot of lans or move your box from place to place a lot aluminum is the only way to go.

In Belgium

[Slef]

Or aluminum, which is the only proper spelling, of course.

Actually, aluminium is the only proper spelling in Belgium: in French, in Flemish, and even in German. For once we all agree on something!

Re:In Belgium

[Anonymous Coward]

You damn ex-normans and saxons...always fucking around with stuff.

Lian Li Cases

[NormAtHome]

You can easily pay over $16,000 for a high end dual cpu Compaq Proliant server, $600 for a fabulous server case is not that bad. I've built three systems using the Lian Li PC-60 USB case and I've never been happier with any case. The newer model has an internal bracket that mounts five hard drives right behind two front mounted fans with dust filter and four front mounted USB ports for motherboards like the Asus A7A266 which has headers on the board for the four ports. It's an expensive case (now $159 from Directron.Com) but it's a joy to work with and it does keep the components cool.

Re:Lian Li Cases

[Anonymous Coward]

You can spend $4,000,000 on a Sun. A Proliant is not high-end.

Re:Lian Li Cases

[NormAtHome]

Sorry but last time I looked we were talking about building a server / cases and Lian Li specifically. Compaq Proliant servers are in that class and I can buy parts to build an equivelent machine, have you built a Sun Server lately?

I don't believe it ...

[Strepsil]

A Slashdot editor correcting someone's spelling? This has got to be a sign of the apocalypse.

It'd be even weirder if there actually was a mistake though, and not just a regional difference. I guess the world's not going to end just yet.

Re:I don't believe it ...

[easter1916]

Next we'll be seeing Dennis Hopper play golf. End times.

Re:I don't believe it ...

[hearingaid]

Perhaps it's just a /. editor making a joke.

Certainly not a sign of the apocalypse, or if it is, we're all doomed :)

Re:I don't believe it ...

[Kman_xth]

Actually, the Slashdot editor mis-corrects it. No apocalypse yet :)

Re:More spelling

[Anonymous Coward]

... your pentium iv overheats

Considering the major argument on this topic, shouldn't that be Pentum?

Slashdotted!

[Helmholtz]

Damn it, I was about to go onto page three in the review, and then this happened:
Warning: MySQL Connection Failed: Too many connections in /home/sites/site1/web/index.php on line 4 Could not connect to database!
So does Slashdot ever warn sites that they're going to be posting a link to them?

Re:Slashdotted!

[Anonymous Coward]

I think they should, that way they can prepare their site for a massive DDOS attack.

Re:Slashdotted!

[jfunk]

So does Slashdot ever warn sites that they're going to be posting a link to them?

What are they going to do? Cover their servers with plywood? Throw a tarp over the switches?

Re:Slashdotted!

[realkiwi]

another site that should be running Postgresql...

We can thank Merriam-Webster...

[Anonymous Coward]

he either disliked the Brits during his time, or wanted to be different. Or he didn't know how to spell.

Don't worry, UK folks, if you ever venture to New England, they still spell shop as "shoppe".

My Lian-LI Case

[Anonymous Coward]

I bought a Lian-Li PC-67 USB case about two months ago. You get alot more than just an aluminium case with great cooling. There are thumb screws eveywhere and everything can be easily removed, the airflow through the case is incredible, I clean the front fan filters every couple of weeks and and invariably find amazing amounts of dust on the front. I spray-painted my drives silver to match the aluminium so the case just plain looks cool. It seems to be well built and though it is hard to justify the $200+ price tag remember it is an investment that will be used for years to come.
I would definitely recomend this case to anyone who opens ub thier box often, it is wonderful to work on.

Slashdot the manufacturer

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.lian-li.com/new-pc/PC626ENG.htm

Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks off

[krystal_blade]

As a proud member of the strongest english speaking nation around (America)... I must say that these little spelling wars are pretty damn good entertainment.

America, and Americans, by their birthright, and history have a DUTY (not just a right) to fudge "proper" english spelling.

For one thing, it clearly identifies our differences from you Brits/Scots/Welsh/Whatever the hell you're calling yourself these days.

For another, it's fun, watching you all get your "knickers" twisted in knots over something as stupid as the lack of a letter "I" in something.

And for the last, we have smart bombs. Lots of em. You use your white out, we'll use our white PHOSPHOROUS out. So there. Take that.

And for a reference to our national differences, let's take a look at just WHY we spell things differently/call things differently than you Brits.

1. Bobbies. Calling cops bobbies over here in the US implies little pink dresses and such. Hell, we call GIRLS over here Bobbie. Nothing wrong with it on YOUR side of the pond, just don't expect us to follow suit.

2. Picadilly Square. What the HELL does that mean? Times Square, Madison Square Garden, etc... But what the F$SK is a Picadilly?

3. You say Clotted Cream. I say put it back till it's finished clotting. That's some pretty damn sick shit.

So go on, and stick your nose in the air about how superior your country is. Just don't try to sell us any spell checkers.

krystal_blade, burnin karma...

Alumium

[Torulf]

About the name of the metal:

Aluminium is what most of the world uses as a name for the metal. Only americans use their own speling (surprise, right?). You can check out the
history of the metal here

Re:Alumium

[Anonymous Coward]

Canadians too, you whore

Slashdotted

[ziplux]

The site's now down.

Supermicro cases

[acidblood]

For most server needs, take a look at the Supermicro cases. I own the now-classic SC-750 and have no complaints about it.

Yeah, I know they're just OEMs, the SC-750 is actually made by some other company (which I can't recall now), but anyway if it was picked by Supermicro then it must be very high quality.

Also, Supermicro always bundles high-quality power supplies, an increasingly important point with the powerhogs that are Dual Athlons and Xeons. In my case, the Sparkle FSP300-60GT -- hasn't failed yet (and the load's high on it, believe me, plus it's 24/7), and should be enough power for most needs. Unless you're building the ultimate peltier/watercooling rig.

Re:Supermicro cases

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I know they're just OEMs, the SC-750 is actually made by some other company (which I can't recall now), but anyway if it was picked by Supermicro then it must be very high quality.

Supermicro's boxen are made by Addtronics. I have the 7896a and it'a dream.

Re:Supermicro cases

[arseonick]

I have/had a Supermicro SC-750. Definitely an amazing case... Until I started going to LAN parties. That thing weighs more than I do.

I have one of these

[Azog]

Mine is one of the medium-high tower models. It's a really nice case, but yes, it was awfully overpriced. And mine didn't even come with a power supply - by the time you add the price of a premium power supply, it gets really spendy. However, I don't reget the purchase.

I got sick of all those garbage $50 cases made out of stamped metal with the razorblade sharp inside edges, cheaply riveted together.

The Lian Li case looks good (especially with Tux, Gnu, and Linux stickers on it!). More importantly, it fit my motherboard perfectly (a dual Slot 1 Tyan) and the drive cage at the bottom is PERFECT for a small RAID setup. I've got four 60 GB Maxtors stacked in there, and with the twin drive cooling fans right in front of them they don't even get warm to the touch. (I have a lot of MP3 and OGG files...) The cooling works well for the twin 800 Mhz CPUS as well.

The whole case comes apart with thumbscrews. You can pull out the power supply, the motherboard, all the drive cages... very quick and easy.

Best of all, even with all those fans it isn't too loud. The twin cooling fans on the front have a three-way switch that lets you adjust the speed (and noise) as appropriate for your cooling needs. I have mine at max speed, and I still have no trouble sleeping next to it.

PC60 not bad

[germann]

I've got both the PC60 and PC70. The former is a midi for home users, whilst the latter is a big tower sold as server case. Both are carefully designed, but I definitely prefer the PC60. It has a removable mobo tray, thumb screws (which both the PC70 has not) and on the whole is really a lovely piece of pc case: lots of bays, no sharp edges etc. etc.
Concerning the cooling - well with all those fans it should be allright, and until now I've experienced no problems with my Athlon 1.33, GeforceGTS2 etcetera.
Apart from that, I myself can't really measure the difference to other cases. Of course both cases emit some noise (because of the fans), which is tolerable at least for the PC60. As you know, both good cooling and little noise are hard to get, so if your priority lies on the latter you might want to try another case.
On the whole, I'd recommend - for the average user - the PC60, whereas the PC70 is not designed for regular hardware fiddling and a bit too loud.
Wether the PC60 is worth the extra money ? Well, I don't know. But it sure is a nice case.

Spelling...

[jonnyfish]

Things like this make me glad I'm Canadian. Although we're supposed to spell things the way the Brits do, we're close enough to the US that nobody cares. Go Canada!

International standard spelling

[ElectricToothbrush]

Some information from webelements.com:

In 1761 de Morveau proposed the name "alumine" for the base in alum. In 1807, Humphrey Davy proposed the name alumium for the metal, undiscovered at that time, and later agreed to change it to aluminum. Shortly thereafter, the name aluminium was adopted by IUPAC to conform with the "ium" ending of most elements.

Aluminium was first isolated by Hans Christian Oersted in 1825.

Aluminium is the IUPAC spelling and therefore the international standard. Aluminium was also the accepted spelling in the U.S.A. until 1925, at which time the American Chemical Society decided to revert back to aluminum, and to this day Americans still refer to aluminium as "aluminum".

So, although it wasn't discovered, named or isolated in America, a group of American Chemists randomly decided to use the SECOND name Humphrey Davy gave to an element he hadn't yet isolated, even though he changed his mind later.

Hmmm.

Re:International standard spelling

[Anonymous Coward]

Not only that, they also have incorrect names for the great elements Kalium and Wolfram!!

review of 4 Al-cases

[paulbeasd]

There is a review of 4 cases
- Coolermaster ATC-200, Coolermaster ATC-201-SX, Lian Li PC-60, Lian Li PC-61 -
in dutch and in english at:
http://www.mcdos.nl/consumenten/paginas/nieuws/c oo lerkasten.htm
(from: GamePC, 21 April, 2001).

one quote:
"The ATC-200 still stands as one of the best aluminium cases on the market,
despite being more than a year old."
So, by now, it is at least one and a half year old allready!

Perhaps I'm getting old,

[(H)elix1]

But have you looked at the price of the aluminum chassis? I did not see a listing on pricewatch for the one reviewed, but the older version is starting for about $200 w/o a power supply. I like a nice chassis like the next guy and the last year or so have used the Antec SX830/840 (about $50 w/o ps sx800) for smaller boxes, the SX1030/1040 (about $60 w/o ps sx1000), or a SuperMicro 760A (about $140, but includes nice ps). For $200, you start moving into solid rack mounting chassis (with a ps).

If your boxen is running too hot, start with the basics. Clean the clutter - round your cables, bundle wire, and have airflow (not to be confused with tons of fans just making noise). If you are carving blow holes or doing other mods, the steel in these cases are a lot easier to work with than aluminum. Ducting can help with hot spots as well.

Course, nothing says I have money to blow out of my ass like a shiny aluminum chassis.... there is that. A good 3U setup will bring the proper googling, however...

Re:Perhaps I'm getting old,

[linzeal]

Antec are by far the best non AL cases out there. The only thing these antecs need is a blowhole 120mm out of the top and two 92mm blowholes over the pci slots. Running a 1.0ghz Athlon @ 1400 in the soho case and it keeps under 40c always.

Re:Perhaps I'm getting old,

[Anonymous Coward]

If your boxen is running too hot..

It's boxes, NOT boxen dumbass.

Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

The whole case is aluminum. The drives dissipate a lot of thermal energy thru the case as they heat up the brackets and other nearby parts of the case. The motherboard doesn't have much of a thermal connection to the case however, unless you use some sort of material under the motherboard, filling the space between it and the case.

Re:Actually

[Anonymous Coward]

The heat transfer issue might be a non-issue, but it will be LIGHTER than a steel case.

How come some smartass blacksmith hasn't made iron cases, or at least cast & machined frames?

And you thought you had a boat anchor before you got one of these...

french spelling

[Anonymous Coward]

In french, 'aliminum' is said 'aluminium'...
and half people in belgium speak french as a first langage.. so the mistake come from there

More Lian Li reviews

[Daniel Rutter]

My reviews of other Lian Li cases, in reverse chronological order:

PC-76 server case

PC-70 full tower

PC-31 mini-tower

PC-60 midi-tower

Re:More Lian Li reviews

[rabidcow]

PC-60 midi-tower

Is it a mid-tower or a mini-tower? Or is it designed for musicians?

Un-Slashdotted

[1337 $14X0r]

back up now, just some occasional DB problems...

Re:Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks of

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe when you start teaching people SI instead of that archaic imperial system of measurements, we'll take you seriously.

Lian Li PC-60 case Re:Lian Li Cases

[drsoran]

They definitely are high quality cases. I just recently picked one up to build a new system and everything fits together like clockwork. The hard drives are kept nicely cool by the front two case fans blowing air over them, and the power supply and back fan more than adequately cool the AMD 1.4Ghz Thunderbird. I'm not overclocking it yet though until I find out what the acceptable heat ranges are for the processor. Currently it runs at about 47C and the system temperature is 36C. Anyone know if this is the normal range for this type of processor?

Re:Lian Li PC-60 case Re:Lian Li Cases

[jooniqzb1tch]

i'd say if cpu stays under 60 degrees celsius at all time, your really fine.

I love my aluminum rackmount

[tinrobot]

I found a great 4U rackmount case that's all aluminum. Looks great, lots of drive bays all for under $200. As for heat, it seems as though my CPUs run at about the same temp as in my old steel tower. Of course, the aluminum case only has one fan, the tower had 4, so it's not quite apples to apples.

Here's a link to it:

http://www.servercase.com/ImageFiles/SC439.html

Re:I love my aluminum rackmount

[treat]

One fan? That's not very redundant.

Re:I love my aluminum rackmount

[tinrobot]

The only case fan is on the hard drives. Of course, the 2 PIIIs have heatsinks/fans, but I found the system runs perfectly cool (38C) without the 2 extra fans on the back of the case. Not needing a fan at all is the best redundancy. Plus its ultra quiet.

Obligatory Karma Whoring...

[shayne321]

Ars has a full review of the ATC-201 located here.

Shayne

Re:Obligatory Karma Whoring...

[Anonymous Coward]

Killing to avenge the deaths of 9/11 is not justice - it's murder

Just for the record, not one person has died, or will die, in the current action for vengeance. It all being done for the self-defense of all the countries involved against future actions.

UM vs IUM

[eander315]

Or aluminum, which is the only proper spelling, of course.

Actually, it appears Aluminium is the more correct spelling, considering the British guy who found it settled on the -ium ending himself. There's a whole article devoted to the subject at World Wide Words.

Non-Cooling Benefits of Alumin(i)um Case -- Weight

[digitalEric]

I bought a Lian-Li case because I was building a computer as a gift, and I thought it looked really slick. When it arrived, though I was shocked by how light it was -- just under 6 Kg without mobo/powersupply/etc. I've since bought 3 more for computers that I frequently move, and it really makes a difference. I am not uncomfortable carrying 2 or even all 3 of them at once (comfort including fear of dropping, that is).

Yes, they cost significantly more. They are also significantly more convienient if you have to open them up frequently. Are they better a cooling? I suspect that, for the difference in price between a "standard" case and a Lian-Li AL case, you could buy fans, etc. that would make more of a difference. Even their large server cases are refreshingly light. These cases are definitely not for everyone, but if you need a large, light, accessible, and sturdy case, I don't know of anything better.

(and if you know of anything better, I'd like to hear about it... these are awfully expensive ;)

PC Power & Cooling are just badge engineers

[DABANSHEE]

They don't make anything, they just stick their name on things then charge inflated prices

Take for example their full tower case. The PC Power & Cooling full tower case is just a California PC full tower case with a different bezel on the front & an inflated price tag.

Its the same with every product they sell, for example their mid tower case is the same as one of the big OEMs (I forget which brand) with a different bezel & again an inflated price tag.
Their heatsinks & powersupplies are no different.

I remember when they used to sell a 275 watt 'Silencer' powersupply. It turns out it was just a generic 300 watt powersupply that was just de-rated to cope with the retro-actively fitted low speed so-called 'Silencer' fan (I think just a slow speed Adda fan).

Re:PC Power & Cooling are just badge engineers

[Knunov]

Not that I am doubting you, and I don't care enough to check the facts anyway, but the computer I'm using right now is housed in a PCP&C case with a Silencer power supply.

I live in South Florida where blackouts and power surges are very common due to lightning storms, and the Silencer hasn't faulted me in 3 years. And it really is VERY quiet.

I don't care who makes it, I love it. However, I wouldn't mind knowing the OEM so I could buy it at a lower cost.

Re:PC Power & Cooling are just badge engineers

[Brian Stretch]

Does that include the high-end power supplies like the 400W Silencer? Because mine, driving a 1.4GHz Athlon Thunderbird, keeps the 5V and 3.3V rails within 1% of perfect, which is rather unusual AFAIK. I can believe that the cheaper supplies are rebadged Sparkle models (as others have reported), but not the high end and speciality ones. I'm not quite willing to crack open mine to find out, though.

I'd also be surprised if they didn't outsource their case production. I have bought midtower cases from them and they're solid, well-designed, no-nonsense cases. Had I known more about these nice aluminum cases I'd have gone with one of those instead, though.

Recycled Aluminum?

[idonotexist]

I am probably less of an environmentalist or whatever than the next guy, but I'd like to see the energy I've expended throughout the years in throwing beers cans into the recycling bin put to use.

I don't see any of these cases claiming to use recycled aluminum and I can't image there would be a less quality using it compared to virgin aluminum. So, is there a recycled aluminum case?

Re:Recycled Aluminum?

[Len]

I've never heard of anything that was specifically made out of recycled aluminum. I assumed it worked like steel, where everything has some scrap content but it's not labeled as such. Am I wrong about that?

Re:Recycled Aluminum?

[Anonymous Coward]

Quality is no problem. Aluminium has to be reprocessed anyway. Elements don't degrade. Just like perfectly good steel is always partly made from scrap metal. And an aluminum case is never environmentally friendly since steel is just as good for the purpose. Recycled or not, aluminum needs way more energy in the manufacturing process than steel.

its aeroplane

[DABANSHEE]

Well I think it is somewhere

Re:Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks of

[The Mgt]

Bobbies. Calling cops bobbies over here in the US implies little pink dresses and such. Hell, we call GIRLS over here Bobbie.

I remember when I was at school (near a US navy base in Scotland) feeling rather sorry for american kids named Randy and Jessie as they found out that this translated locally as 'horny' and 'sissy'.

Heat

[Wyatt Earp]

If your really concerned about heat, why not switch to a PowerPC?

G4 towers, currently only have a fan in the Power supply and on the video card. The next generation of G4 chips and G5s *might* need a single fan on the chip's heat sink, but that's it.

They draw less power, don't require all the fans and run Linux and BSD.

Price-wise, yea...they are more, but if your spending the money on an Al case, make the switch to a Quicksilver G4.

Re:Heat

[Anonymous Coward]

Hahaha

Re:Heat

[Datafage]

Some of us require x86... thanks for being a zealot, though.

Spelling

[xmda]

About the spelling of alumin(i)um:

http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/aluminium. ht m

overclocking

[sewagemaster]

the site's down - and i dont think it's because use overclocked machines as their servers which overheated but rather because of the slashdot effect.......

this is how you repay us

[Anonymous Coward]

What, you mean after sending millions of tons of supplies and millions of our troops over there during WW2, you want MORE?!

Spelling???

[pgpckt]

The slashdot editor said...

"Or aluminum, which is the only proper spelling, of course"

Please, tell me, when did slashdot even give the slightest consideration to spelling? Does this means the editors will *gasp* spell check their witty comments, polls, and other writings? Oh please, tell me it ain't so!

Re:Spelling???

[Len]

Um, I think that was a joke. "Aluminium" is the proper spelling in some (non-American) dictionaries.

Re:Spelling???

[notsboyd]

If /. is going to be spellchecked, I _demand_ there be a mandatory, new dictionary made exclusively for /.'s ispell!

Words like then, than, there, their and the likes shall be used interchangably and aluminum shall be known as aluminum only.

Grammatica corruptus in extremis!

Re:Spelling???

[gad_zuki!]

I bet this article was chosen just so michael can point out the typo and make the editors look like, well, editors.

Slashdot: where the coders can't implement a built in spell check.

Re:Spelling???

[jooniqzb1tch]

yeah, especially considering the fact that it was NOT a typo .. aluminium would be the correct term.

Re:Spelling???

[morie]

aluminium is not only proper english, it is the proper belgian word as well. The post was global-minded, in cobntrast to the editors!

Re:Spelling???

[joekool]

Just a note, to those commenting on american's changing the spelling: I belive that aluminum is the way that the discoveror/inventor/whatever spelled the word. This would make it the correct spelling in most people's judgement.

Re:Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks of

[Anonymous Coward]

Er... You spelt Piccadilly wrong.

Love -
The Brits

SI is for the stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone can do factors of 10. Big deal. 12in in a foot, 5280 feet in a mile, etc takes real brains.

Re:SI is for the stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

"Real brains" to remember a silly ratio? Okay there buddy, if that's what you think "real brains" are.. Now go back to your math 104 class, I think I hear your teacher calling.

Imperial is an inconvenience that no one has to live with because SI exists, just adopt the standard and be done with it!

Re:Al ? -- why use it to cool?

[Anonymous Coward]

Alumin(i)um is a much better conductor of heat than steel (5X) but the point is not to cool the CPU, but to cool the hard disks through the mounting bolts (be sure to use at least four for each drive.) No I am not kidding. Check with Maxtor's recommendations for their 7200-rpm drives. Does any alumin(i)um case come with alumin(i)um mounting bolts for the disks?

Periodic table: Na=Natrium

[Teun]

Talking about periodic tables: When did Natrium (Na in the table) transform in some languages into Sodium?? Or K= Kalium / Potassium?

Re:Periodic table: Na=Natrium

[snicker]

How about Wolfram i.e. tungsten?

on topic: tweakbox is a good canuckian supplier for things like the Lian Li cases.

Re:Periodic table: Na=Natrium

[O'Bunny]

Don'd forget sbarrium (Sb), AKA antimony

An interesting /. flaw

[rosewood]

Compraed to the other groups of news, it seems that CPU cooling hasn't been that prevelent on the /. frontpage. It seems that most of the editors aren't that much of CPU DIYers. If they were, cooling would have become important a long time ago when the celeron went big. CPU cooling has been my job now for two years. Now that it interests Michael, we get to see some semi well done case review of a case that has been reviewed to death? Btw, just because its aluminum doesn't meen it automagically cools better.

Re:Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks of

[Anonymous Coward]

SI (ie., mks) is dumb... use Gaussian units (cgs), it's much nicer.

Please tell us how to fix...

[Anonymous Coward]

I also run a PHP/MySQL-driven site on a Cobalt RaQ. (You can always tell it's a RaQ by the /home/sites/{sitename}/web naming.) How do we fix this kind of connection issue? Is it as simple as calling mysql_close() in the MySQL connection function?

Re:Please tell us how to fix...

[Anonymous Coward]

Buy some decent equipment and a decent database, such as SQL Server. MySQL is a nice toy to get started with (it should be called "My First SQL" and come with a box on the front where you can write your name in Crayola) but for proper work you need SQL Server, and for real hard core work (probably you are not doing this - are you a major financial institution?) you might look at Oracle.

Re:Please tell us how to fix...

[Anonymous Coward]

And if you don't know how to manage your database connections, your Oracle-backed site will get stuffed just as easily. Maybe they should call PHP "My First Page Skripting"...

Re:Please tell us how to fix...

[Anonymous Coward]

make sure the number of allowed mysql connections is always a few more than the number of httpd processes.

Re:Please tell us how to fix...

[Anonymous Coward]

HAHAHA, its funny when MCSEs pretend to know about databases.

Major financials organizations mostly use Sybase. Everyone else uses Oracle (My guess is that financial organizations are scared off by Oracle's optimistic concurrency control). A few very large corporations use Informix Parallel Server when they outgrow Oracle. Only little piddling workgroup intranet apps, and the least intelligent .coms use SQL Sever.

The only part of your post that was correct is that MySQL is a toy.

Re:Please tell us how to fix...

[zmooc]

Maybe give SapDB a try? It's Open Source, stable and definately not a toy. I don't know how it compares to Oracle or Sybase, though (since I haven't used it yet:P).

Aluminum Case

[brad3378]

I've been wanting to build my own aluminum case for a long time, and I think I've discovered the ultimate material: Aluminum Diamond Plate

Not only is it cheap, its made to be durable, and it looks great. If guys can make tool boxes for trucks with it cheaply, surely we could do the same thing for computer cases.

From a heat transfer point of view, I don't see any significant advantage to making the entire case out of aluminum. My hypothesis is that the best place to use aluminum in a case is the left side of the case since it is relatively large, and exposed to the most hot swirling airflow. I will likely start my aluminum case project by just retrofitting my existing stamped steel case with an aluminum diamond plate lid. Eventually I may create all outer surfaces from diamond plate, but I will not make any of the inner guts of the case since the benefits would be minimal.

In automobiles, corrosion can be caused by placing dissimilar metals like steel and aluminum together (I think it's an Anode/Cathode thing), but I don't think it would be a problem with a computer case since we don't normally expose our computers to the same harsh environments as our cars. I don't know for sure, but I would appreciate comments from somebody who knows.

Re:Aluminum Case

[Anonymous Coward]

Your steel screws might get threadlocked in the Al. Use some anti-sieze compound. Don't over-tighten them, either...

Re:Aluminum Case

[deflatormaus]

Better yet, put the 'puter in a real truck toolbox, mount it in the truck and you've got a great mobile mp3 server.

Lan parties, however, would have to be held in the garage.

Aluminum for Server/Workstations

[jackstaley]

I have a linux/mysql server at home running in an aluminum case. Originally, I bought mine for travel purposes (ie LAN parties) it has been worth the couple extra dollars just for that alone. However I have noticed that it does transfer the heat a little more efficiently than your standard case. Nevertheless, this is obviously not a replacement for serious cooling methods such as liquid cooling.

FYI - I bought my case from colorcase which has a variety of interesting case designs with aluminum flavors running from $99 to $209.

aluminium is correct too.

[Psychopax]

This is what the Webster says about the word aluminium:

[Brit., etc. (exc. Cdn.)] var. of aluminum

Before trying to correct something please make sure you're right. If you don't speak English very well (as I do) use a dictionary.
J.

Re:aluminium is correct too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Before trying to correct something please make sure you're right.

Practice what you preach, jackass: The editor was making a weak joke.

Re:aluminium is correct too.

[gordguide]

As far as the English language goes, it's the OED that is the defacto standard English Language dictionary. Webster's (an American Dictionary) refers to US spelling conventions only.
As far as US spelling goes, Aluminum is correct. For the rest of the world (you know, the ones who used to measure gallons as 10 pounds of water), Aluminium is correct.
SlashDot, as a nominally international forum, should accept both as correct without comment or revision.

As for citing Websters as some kind of authority on International English, this
reminds me of a recent AP story which stated that the US troops currently in Kurgestan marked the first time American Soldiers have been on soil of the former Soviet Union. This is the US "Party Line", without regard to historical fact, and explains the mystery of US media when a certain Soviet leader said in NY that (to paraphrase) "we have never invaded YOUR soil".
One US Encyclopedia (I don' t remember which) stated flatly (when I was a lowly college student researching such things) that "no US troops have ever set foot inside the USSR".

Of course, in both cases, we are relying on US news/media outlets for information; and in both cases they are flatly wrong.

US, British and Canadian troops fought in the former Tzarist Russia against the Bolseviks after the Russian Revolution from the end of the 1st WW to about 1921.

Re:aluminium is correct too.

[Karl_Hungus]

As for citing Websters as some kind of authority on International English, this reminds me of a recent AP story which stated that the US troops currently in Kurgestan marked the first time American Soldiers have been on soil of the former Soviet Union.

If you want to get pedantic, that assertion is correct for the following reason: K-stan and the other SSRs that made up the USSR only became parts of the former Soviet Union after that union was dissolved. Prior to that, there was no such thing as "the former Soviet Union". The U.S. is an extremely litigious place, so these little things matter (confusing a landmass with a political entity.) It may be misleading, but you have to allow yourself to be misled. What the value in being misleading over an eighty year-old military campaign is, I couldn't tell you. You'd be better off putting it down to ignorance--recall that when Iran's president addressed the American people a couple of years back, he alluded to the long history of U.S. meddling there prior to the '79 revolution. This had to be explained to many of the few people who bothered to listen or read about his address. They don't know this stuff. When people who don't know this stuff grow up and become reporters, they propagate that ignorance.

The other example is factually accurate, though, and your point is valid.

As for sources, you could do worse than AP; they dug up the story of the U.S. massacre at No Gun Ri (sp?) some fifty years after the fact. Not exactly the type of journalism Stars and Stripes is noted for.

Lian-Li PC+61 USB

[jgrumbles]

Since the articled called the effectiveness of aluminum cases into question. Before I put my new Athlon system in my $200 Lian-Li case I ran a Q3 Demo loop and some math program that attempts to kill the cpu ;) In the traditional beige case made out of whatever with 8 fans strategically placed it maintained a system temp of about 44 F and the cpu about 48 F. I then switched it over to the Lian-Li PC+61 USB case (black aluminum, very sexy) and the system temp is now 37 F and cpu is 46 F on full load. So they do have their uses, but I mainly got mine because it was black.

you're such an idiot

[Anonymous Coward]

Color = American spelling
Colour = UK spelling

Ignorance = de Selby

Re:you're such an idiot

[BeanThere]

Color = American spelling Colour = UK spelling

That was the point you moron. Aluminum = American spelling, Aluminium = UK spelling.

Been thinking about this

[3ryon]

Is there some reason that you couldn't build an aluminum case with an adapter that sits on the CPU, thus making the entire case into a giant heatsink? I would *love* to get rid of the CPU fan (noisy, and beware if it dies while your Athlon is chugging along).

Re:Been thinking about this

[spudnic]

Yeah, and you could sit your coffee mug on your case to keep it warm. Everybody wins!

Spelling as tool of military conquest

[alienmole]

Spelling matters to the /. editors when there are alternative spellings and one of them is American. In these cases, such as with "aluminium" and "aluminum", /. editors feel obliged to take a strong patriotic stand, denying the existence of any other spellings. This offends many non-Americans, and over time, countless little incidents like this build up, eventually spawning an irrational hatred of Americans, which ultimately turns into terrorism. Some hapless terrorist then attacks America, which gives America an excuse to bomb all the countries it has been itching to bomb for the last few decades. Thus, spelling is an important tool of military conquest, and /. plays a leading role in America's foreign policy.

The use of spelling in this way goes back to the very founding of America. In early secret sessions of the Congress, it was decided to deliberately change certain spellings, at that time as an irritation to the British. The King's court in England would be plunged into a grammatical outrage when receiving a communication from the American colony, containing strategic abuses of the King's English. This prompted the King to send troops to whip the colonies into shape, which in turn inspired ordinary American colonists to rise up and throw off their oppressor's yoke.

This is why the "spelling bee" is such an important feature of America's education system. As any boy can tell you, "bee" is for "bomb". Indoctrinating young Americans to misspell is the secret weapon which America has used to devastating effect against its enemies, who are so flummoxed by the apparent illiteracy of their opponent that they forget to watch for incoming Tomahawks. Misspellings are behind some of the key events which have shaped our history. Next time you see a /. editor use "then" instead of "than", turn on your TV - the consequences are sure to follow swiftly.

Re:Spelling as tool of military conquest

[Anonymous Coward]

The parent poster has hit the nail on the head.

Here's an example:

"We're launching an attack over the dessert."

While our grammatically precise foes waste their resources deploying surface to air missiles around their Baskin-Robbins and chocolate shops, our tanks march without resistance across the big sandy area where it doesn't rain much. This strategy (or strategery) was used during the Gulf War, decimating the Iraqi forces.

Here's another:

"Our sourthern forces are being overwhelmed! Send another compliment immediately!"

Now the enemy will think the general is going to tell their soldiers what a good job they're doing, in order to boost their morale. Confused by this choice in tactics, they fail to notice reinforcements are on the way. This tactic was used extensively during the Spanish American war.

Europeans should be thankful that Americans play fast and lose with the English language, because it has guaranteed the freedoms they enjoy today. The Europeans and the rest of the world may dismiss Bush, but his speech actually reveals he is the greatest military mind of the 21st century.

Re:Spelling as tool of military conquest

[Anonymous Coward]

Shhh! You're giving away all our secrets!!

But you have a good basis for an SNL skit there...

Re:Spelling as tool of military conquest

[Anonymous Coward]

ummm... spelling "bees" came about WAY before the invention of the aerial bomb. There are also Quilting Bees, Thrashing Bees (a wheat Thrasher is the precursor to the modern-day Combine harvester. It looks like a galvanized metal version of most road grinders, and is usually powered by a long belt from one of those old steam tractors, and fed by hand. Nowadays they are antique farming oddities, like the old steam tractors.

Nice try, you looser troll.

Re:Spelling as tool of military conquest

[Anonymous Coward]

HAHAHA!

YHBT...etc.

Re:Spelling as tool of military conquest

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, this is a tactic Microsoft stole from the US history books. Appropriate a well-documented standard, (mal)adjust it for your own purposes, and then export it to the rest of the world while simultaneously shouting that this way is the *right* way to do it.

Re:Jon Katz is late

[Anonymous Coward]

I see you marked it as offtopic rather than flamebait, so it must be true.

Cultural spelling reference

[dstone]

I see lots of OT threads being created on Brit versus American spelling here. Maybe this reference will shed some light.

Canada is (as usual) comfortably wedged between the Brit and American columns of the table -- sometimes Canucks use the Brit spelling exclusively, sometimes they use the American one exclusively, and sometimes they use both. How diplomatic!

Re:Cultural spelling reference

[zulux]

While programming, the one that bites me in the butt is US 'gray' vs. UK 'grey'.

Can't we all just agree that the constants with gray/gray should just be one thing? I don't care what we all decide on, but if my compiler balks on a "Undefined Constant" just for a color/colour again, I'm gonna invent a symbol and get it shoved in the Unicode standard just to represent the midway between black-and-white. We can call it the "Color Previsouly Known as the Often Misspelled Color Between Black and White." or we can just call it "the Color" for short.

Re:Cultural spelling reference

[hayden]

Australia's much the same. Some countries defend their language to the death. Whereas we are quite happy to borrow bits from others. We tend to spell things the British way but pronounciation goes both ways. We say aluminium like the British but lieutenant like the Americans (unless you are in the army and then you say it like the British or get very fit).

And no we don't talk like that complete idiot The Crocodile Hunter. There was a piss take of him on tele here before the actual show was.

Electro-magnetic insulation

[pierlu]

What's about electro-magnetic shielding?
Aluminium is not known to be a perfect insulator for high frequency emissions of RF...

Re:Electro-magnetic insulation

[GigsVT]

It's just as effective. Many antennas are made from aluminum.

Re:Electro-magnetic insulation

[pierlu]

Yes, the antennas are made from aluminium but this doesn't mean that the antennas insulate something. The emissions of an antenna are obtained through an alternate current. This is different from the property of being a good medium for the propagations of an EM field.

Re:Electro-magnetic insulation

[GigsVT]

Radio waves ARE an EM field.

Who really gives a fuck about the case?

[SensitiveMale]

I mean Jesus Christ.

Sure, everyone wants a nice case but really $200 for a case is going a bit overboard.

And are these same idiots who brag how linux systems are SO cheap, and how they same SO much money by running linux, who go out and spend $200 on case?

And another thing, why do these idiots spend $200 bucks on a cooling system when they RARELY get a faster speed than spending that $200 on a faster CPU?

And these same linux idiots who compain that Apple spends SO much money on the case and how the looks do nto matter. That only the OS and performance matters. And then they drop $200 for a case?

Idiots.

Re:Who really gives a fuck about the case?

[prock307]

Sure, everyone has their own priorites. If say you ran MacOS or WIN and you bought a few applications you could be spending upwards of $1000 dollars, but when your apps are free as most are on most *NIX clones spending $200 dollars on a case doen't seem so bad :)

Thermodynamics

[overshoot]

Face it, the amount of heat transfer through the case itself is trivial. Stick a thermal probe on the the inside of the case, on the outside, and ambient. There's only a small fraction of a degree difference between the inside and outside of the steel, but quite a difference between the inside of the steel and the air leaving the case.

Al may be light and slick-looking, but it's not really a thermal improvement over steel. If you really want to improve heat transfer through the case, try these:

• Paint the inside flat black. A remarkable amount of internal heat is transferred by radiation.
• Put a thermally-conductive pad under the mobo so that more heat makes it to the steel directly.
• Add another pad (or at least vent some air) between the mobo tray and the bottom panel (right side on towers.)

Re:Thermodynamics

[Tiroth]

Hmmm...I doubt painting the inside black is going to be an improvement. For one thing, black is the most radiant color, which to me indicates it will help keep the metal case cooler at a slight expense of keeping the air inside warmer. (exactly backwards of what one would prefer) Right?

The real reason, though, is that pretty much any paint is going to have a negative effect on your thermal characteristics. You really need to anodize metal for radiant effect, and even then the performance difference is tiny.

Re:Thermodynamics

[Shokwave]

Errr, black is least radiant, it absorbs the largest EM spectrum (of the visible colors). Now given that it absorbs this energy the other side of the metal may have a better chance of dispersing the heat as it will have a higher temp gradient with respect to the outside air.

But the paint (most paints, there are exceptions) will degrade the thermal transfer performance.

Re:Thermodynamics

[Tiroth]

Well, I'll admit I'm not an expert at applied thermodynamics. Ok, any flavor of thermodynamics. What I do know is that for the purpose of emitting stored heat, black is the most emissive (radiant) color. That is the purpose of the black anodizing on heatsinks...it makes them a small amount more effective. (I consider this one of the great ironies of the universe.)

The question becomes more complex when you talk about the case operating as a potential secondary heatsink to the temperature of the air (and parts) in the case...you have to consider that if almost all the heat in the body of the case is from air-to-metal contact, then possibly black will emit more photons than it would absorb compared to unpainted.

Or maybe not. It's interesting to consider at any rate.

Clearing Up The Spelling Confusion

[prock307]

"Aluminium" is the original and true spelling. The spelling "Aluminum" came about because of ALCOA, one of the largest producers of the metal. Many years ago ALCOA had many thousands (or more) of pamphlets printed advertising their new products. All of these pamphlets contained the typo "Aluminum". Instead of spending millions of dollars to fix the typo, it was left alone and "Aluminum" became an accepted spelling (with some dispute of course).

So, in fact, if you are buying "Aluminum" you are buying an ALCOA product, and everyone else produces "Aluminium".

Re:Clearing Up The Spelling Confusion

[sleepyaero]

prock307 is right. goes to show the influence of laziness. maybe if i'm lazy, i too can influence the world.

Re:Clearing Up The Spelling Confusion

[alannon]

Do you have any documentation supporting this? This has all of the markings of an urban legend.

Re:Clearing Up The Spelling Confusion

[prock307]

I need to do some more research for myself, but that is the reason I was given for the spelling diffence by an ALCOA representative when they came to speak at some point while I was an undergrad in Aerospace Engineering at Purdue University.

Put two and two together. In their early patent information they used the spelling "Aluminium" but all of a sudden it changed to "Aluminum" when the company began using it in it's name. Please read their explination http://www.alcoa.com/site/company/num_nium.asp

Re:Clearing Up The Spelling Confusion

[Saeger]

Before I metamoderated this comment as fairly informative, I verified that this story is in fact true...

From Alcoa's own site is this bit of history:

In 1907, however, when the company first used the metal in its name, it was "The Aluminum Company of America," with the new American spelling. This coincided with the emergence of the Americanized name in public usage.

...ya learn something useless every day.

Re:Clearing Up The Spelling Confusion

[Saeger]

I suppose I should have read this comment before posting. :-)

Aluminium cases

[Cesium570]

I recently got 2 Lian Li PC60 cases for my 2 systems. I am extreamly happy with both of them. Not only are they great cases and easy to use, but they certainly do solve the heat problems. I had my 2 systems in 2 old steel cases before and had to have extra cooling to keep them at a good temp. With the aluminum ones I don't have any problems whatsoever. Not only that but aluminum cases make your PC very light to boot. So if you go to LAN parties once in a while it certainly helps with the hefting.

how about magnesium?

[Anonymous Coward]

To heck with Aluminium, try magnesium. Didn't they make some plane parts out of magnesium a few years back.

Oops, that shorted out power supply sparked the case and it's really burnin now. This could give new meaning to a burned out server.

Re:how about magnesium?

[OldCrasher]

Dah! Wimp.

Go with Beryllium... Much lighter, slightly more poisonous and a whole bunch more exotic.

Re:how about magnesium?

[Bert64]

The NEXT cubes were made from magnesium, there was a nice story about burning one a few weeks ago. I wouldn`t want an overheating athlon in a magnesium case *g*

If I buy this aluminum case...

[Anonymous Coward]

... will I need a Pentum processor?

Site's Doing Better.

[AtticusTheGreat]

I taken a few things out of the code and the site is now reading all of it's articles out of text files as opposed to the db. We'll have to see if that helps anything. I'm going to do a few more things in the days to come. BTW, I'm the guy that write/coded Overclockers Online.

Spelling Aluminium/Aluminum

[Krilomir]

You can spell it either way, according to dictionary.com

I would always spell it aluminium; not because I'm british or anything, but because that's how it's spelled in my language (and probably other languages as well).

Re:Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks of

[Detritus]

And how many stone do you weigh?

Thumb screw problems...

[Black Art]

One note I saw in another review of these cases (In the November Linux Journal) was that they are about as hard as very hard cheese. The thumb screws should not replaced because the force of a normal screw driver will strip the screws.

There are times when I just want to build my own case. I wonder where I can find sheet titanium... (Actually, you used to be able to get scraps from Boeing. Probably not big enough to build a case and too damn hard to work. Have to talk to my father-in-law. He has a metal shop.)

Re:Thumb screw problems...

[tinrobot]

Titanium? Any decent sized metal supply should sell it.

Try these guys:
http://www.principalmetals.com/

alumnimiumamummama

[kalevi]

Obviously it's hard to spell kind of element. The key word here is distorsion. Electro magnetic distorsion. As the name says, it has two components. The electric and magnetic component. Aluminum is a good conductor of electricity, but it is very poor conductor of magnetic current.

Have you ever tried to listen to a shortwave transmission close by computers? Obviously not! All my computers are in iron casing. When listening on certain frequencies with the computer monitor shut off, my receiver (top notch sw rx) still receives quite strong noice from the computer.

Imagine. How many computers do we have? A lot! Add all noice from tv-computers, automobile computers, airconditioning, blaa, blaa...

I'm talking about electromagnetic noice. Not audible noice.

The magnetic component of the distorsion goes right through the Aluminium casing. Is that a technical advancement? NO! That is to let the devill loose from all computers in the world! Those technicians who invented Aluminum casing have never been outside the office!

Regards:
/K
---

Re:Non-Cooling Benefits of Alumin(i)um Case -- Wei

[spudnic]

With you moving them around all the time, maybe you can answer a question that I had about them.

How do they hold up against scratches and brushes? I'll be the first to admit that I am kinda rough with the cases that I throw into my trunk all the time. I'd really be afraid that the case would look horrible after just a few of my moves.

Is this an issue?

pronunciation

[Anonymous Coward]

I've noticed while watching BBC America, that the Brits pronounce it as:

AL-LA-MIN-E-UM

Whereas here in the US it's:

A-LOOM-A-NUM

Re:pronunciation

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, congratulations. You're a sharp one, aren't you?

America ignoring international standards? Never!

[ElectricToothbrush]

Aluminium is the international standard spelling according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In Italian it's Alluminio. In French it's Aluminium. In Dutch it's Aluminium. In Spanish and Portuguese it's Aluminio. In Swedish it's Aluminium. It was discovered in Denmark by Hans Oersted, who called it... (wait for it) Aluminium! This spelling is an internationally agreed standard, like stopping global warming and the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty...

Check these links out

[DABANSHEE]

Lian Li Website

Lian Li PC-70 aluminium full tower computer case

Lian Li PC-76 server case

Lian Li PC-60 computer case

Coolermaster ATC-201SX alloy case

Lian Li HDD Caddie Page

RH-620 Alloy HDD Caddie

RH-600 Alloy HDD Caddie

RH-29 Alloy HDD Caddie

Aluminium

[Anonymous Coward]

[quote]Or aluminum, which is the only proper spelling, of course.[/quote]

Go and buy an Oxford please. Just because some arerican changes some word, doesn't make him right.

aluminIum.

hehehe.. suckers :D

[Anonymous Coward]

A slashdot editor posts something designed to start a flame war and it works perfectly. :D Ahh.. but since I'm a sucker for that..

It's aluminium.
Like, magnesium, chromium, plutonium, and all the other metals ending the same way.

Oh well - Americans are used to changing the spelling of words they find hard to pronounce. I guess its better that way - if you can't say a word, just change the spelling so its the same as how you can say it.

Like, Americans can't actually pronounce the difference between colour and color - so they just go with the easier one. :)

+Kinnear

cheaper aluminuminiumum case

[angrysponge]

The online version comes with 3 fans and no power supply for $205, not great but better than $600.

Oddly, their paper catalog has the same case with 2 fans and a 300W power supply for $159. The catalog claims "Systems run up to 30 degrees cooler".

Here's the case.

..and another worry that hasn't surfaced here yet, didn't the British lose a destroyer during the Falkand war because it was made of aluminum, which burns really well? What happens if our servers become targets of terrorist aggression, and begin to draw fire because they push too much pr0n?

Toughness ?

[Bugmaster]

It's lighter and cooler-looking, but how tough is an AL case ? For example, what about the threads for the thumbscrews - can they get stripped ? And what if I accidentally sit on the case or something - will it buckle ? Not that sitting on cases is a good idea, but still...

The right color

[sunhou]

I think I'll wait until Transparent Aluminum is an option before I buy one of these cases... I probably won't put any whales in there, but maybe a couple of goldfish.

Re:America ignoring international standards? Never

[Anonymous Coward]

This spelling is an internationally agreed standard, like stopping global warming and the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty...

Right. Say, has anyone ratified the Kyoto accords yet?

And the ABM treaty is a bilateral treaty, not international, with a provision allowing for withdrawl after 6 months notice. If you want to get mad at the US, get angry at them for not ratifying the CTBT.

Re:Non-Cooling Benefits of Alumin(i)um Case -- Wei

[jooniqzb1tch]

actually, you'd better not be too rough with them .. A coworker of mine sells them (has a small online shop) and while the lian li cases are SO FUCKN NICE to look at, they do scratch much easier than a conventional case. while aluminium with a few brushes/scratches still looks better than the usual cheap case, I wouldnt want to scratch such an expensive case ..

Why the difference between Aluminium/Aluminum -

[Catbeller]

Americans are stubborn.

It is properly called aluminIum, because the -Ium suffix denotes a metallic element.

Yhe entire English-Speaking world calls it aluminium, but since we are dodos, we insist on alumminum. Probably easier to say.

Isn't it just phonetic spelling

[cyril3]

like how merkins say nukular but usually spell it nuclear like the rest of the world.

Lian-li pc69USB

[Bigbiff]

I have a lian-li pc68 USB. This case is just perfect for modding. I put a window in with ease with my dremel, and cut some holes on top with my holesaws with ease. One hole is where I lead to an airtrap I built for my watercooling system, and the other is for the fan wires on my radiator and pump power cord to go in and out of the case. This case is great for mounting your pump too. I took out the drive bay for 3.5" hds, and mounted my pump where it was. This case rules!

Annoyed about the spelling?

[hayden]

You'll be really pissed when you heard how we say it. I'm Australian but it's pretty much the same in most commonwealth countries, except New Zealand but they all talk funny there :)

American pronounciation: A-loom-in-um
Commonwealth pronounciation: al-U-min-ium

May well explain why you lot spell it wrong :)

Now lets talk about how you say lieutenant ...

Re:America ignoring international standards? Never

[Anonymous Coward]

Aluminium is the international standard spelling according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In Italian it's Alluminio. In French it's Aluminium. In Dutch it's Aluminium. In Spanish and Portuguese it's Aluminio. In Swedish it's Aluminium. It was discovered in Denmark by Hans Oersted, who called it... (wait for it) Aluminium! This spelling is an internationally agreed standard, like stopping global warming and the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty...


Hmmm... If "aluminium" is the "international standard", as you assert--twice--why is it "aluminio" in Italian and Spanish and Portuguese? And if the Italians and Spanish and Portuguese have the right to distort the spelling, why won't you accord the same right to the Americans? This viewpoint wouldn't expose just a wee bit of American-bashing, would it?

Interference and noise?

[freaker_TuC]

These cases look good, though what about interference and noise levels?

I am searching for a good looking, very reliable and easy to use case. In the best case I want to be able to just twitch 2 clips and the harddrive is removed, the same for the floppy drives and all other devices inside the case as well.

Are these cases also distributed in Europe?

i give it a grade of 'b'

[boog3r]

i bought the full tower version of this case, at a whopping 220 bucks. it works great as far as cases go.

good:
well filtered intake fans
plenty of drive bays (9 3.5, 6 5.25)
looks pretty. very pretty.
the 6x bay on the bottom is easy to work with and sits directly in the path of the lower fan intake.
no included power supply (yes its good. i like my sparkle 350w)
might keep things cooler as advertised (untested)
front bezel pops off and provides good access

bad:
no extra filter sets for other intakes
case is too long, making drive bays hard to get to with standard ide/scsi cables from pci cards
cost prohibitive
cross-threading screws in aluminum is easy
i doubt that it really keeps things cooler
the front bezel pops off while carrying it to the
biggest lan party of the year. really crappy if you are holding it partly by the front bezel at the time.

over all i like it. there are just things you need to get used to, kinda like with anything new.

Re:Al ? (technical explaination)

[lazarus1861]

Now for the more detailed explaination if you are interested.

We can consider most of the heat from a computer comes from the power supply and the CPU. The powersupply generally has its own fan which moves most of the heat out. The cpu moves most of its heat into air inside the computer via the heatsink and fan. This heat transfer is aided by having colder air inside your case.

For the case itself to actually transmit any heat, it would have to be warmer than the surroundings by several degrees. Since the motherboard is mostly insulated from the case, this requires the air to be several degrees higher than the case temperature to heat up the case, and if this is true, then your CPU's cooling is getting worse because the air it is using to cool is much hotter than air outside the case.

But assuming it does heat up to a few degrees above room temperature without melting your processor, then it would be cooling in a free convection environment, which doesn't work well at all (that is why you put a fan on your heatsink, to make it a forced convection environment).

You can easily see that making a case of aluminum will not make your computer any cooler. If you want it to run cooler, you need cooler air inside the computer. This makes your CPU's cooler work better, and carries heat from the rest of the computer away. To do this you need either a big, high flow case fan, or a window in the side of the case. And if you are going to waste money on either of these, just take off the side of your case.

This is something you can easily test. Start up your computer and let it run a few minutes, so that it heats up to its operating conditions. Then take off the side of the case. Unless you have it buried under in a tight spot where the airflow is likely to be no different than with the side of the case on, you will notice that your cpu will be a few degrees cooler. If you really want to see forced convection in action, go to Big Lots and get a cheap 8 dollar desk fan and point at your open case. It will run colder than you've ever seen.

But dont spend 200 dollars on a case thinking it will make your computer run cooler, because it won't. Aluminum does conduct heat better than steel and plastic of other cases, but it is limited by a convection environment on both sides, and it just wont transmit enough heat to be worth the money.

Wear and tear

[madowl]

When I was looking to build my AMD 1Ghz machine I considered purchasing one of these cases. My only reason for not purchasing one was I did not know how well they held to up to the daily wear and tear. I didn't want to purchase this expensive case only to have it ruined by having it dented easily or scratched. Do these cases hold up as well as traditional cases to dents and dings?

Love my Coolermaster ATC201

[EvlG]

I bought an aluminum case this summer, the Coolermaster ATC 201. Best case I've ever worked with, without a doubt. I've tried Antec, Inwin, and Enlight, but the Coolermaster is just the perfect mix for well-constructed and stylish for me.

I've gotten many comments like "Wow that is a badass case" since I built this machine. Hell, my girlfriend even thought it looked cool, and she is not anything close to a geek :)

Beyond that, it runs 15 degrees cooler than some of my friends computers, and that is without any crazy fans.

I did put in an Enermaz power supply. I have been very happy with the setup.

Aluminum derived from alumina?

[AcidDan]

I grew up in a city called Gladstone, QLD Australia - home of the world's largest Bauxite processing facility (QAL)...

There they take Bauxite (a reddish) ore and convert it to alumina (a white) powder. It then gets shipped off to places like the Boyne Is. smelter to be converted into Aluminium. (the website specifies the entire process and has a lot of fun chemical equations ;)

I wonder, is the US bastardised spelling of Aluminium based on the middle product in the smelting process: Alumina -> Aluminum?

-- Dan =)
P.S. I wonder when we'll see *Titanum* powerbooks ;)

Re:Aluminum derived from alumina?

[Tim C]

Apparently, it's as a result of some dock-worker misspelling the word "aluminium" as "aluminum" on the side of a crate full of the stuff when it was shipped to the US for the first time.

At least, that's what I was told.

Cheers,

Tim

Aluminium Vs. Steel

[saqmaster]

So what is the average case made of?

I've got a nice ACME case, very sturdy, currently sitting with two huge 120mm fans in the side sucking in with an 80mm blowhole on the top.. several other bits in there...

But it manages to keep my 1.0 AXIA running sweetly at 1.51 Ghz @ 38c on idle..

Pic here

Re:Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks of

[Anonymous Coward]

And I bet they kicked your doily covered, blood pudding and sausage sucking ass, you horny sissy.

Re:Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks of

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, and it's Piccadilly Circus, not Piccadilly Square.

We just love telling the Yank tourists to hang around until the clowns, lions and elephants show up...

Re:Hell, we call it that just to piss you folks of

[Anonymous Coward]

Whatever, Jessie.

shut up already

[mortuusangelus]

Welcome to America.. we don't speak English. We speak American. It's based mostly in the 'Queen's English', yes. But we've also absorbed how many other cultures? They all affect the way we spell and say things. If you don't like it, then don't read American posts, and move the hell out of the country if you live here. :) Getting tired of the whining. :D

Aluminium vs. Aluminum: The Real Story

[BigusDickus]

Sorry guys, I love my country but the Brits have us on this one. Here's the story:

Before the 20th century, aluminium, while very common in the earth's crust, was extremely rare in it's metallic form. The reason was that no one could figure out a cheap way to convert it from ore form (bauxite) to a metal. Once a process was discovered to do this cheaply, new companies started up refine and manufacture aluminium products.

One of these companies, the Aluminium Corporation Corporation of America, forerunner of Alcoa, sent an order out to a printer for stationary, forms, etc. Somewhere along the line, someone dropped the 'i' and everything wound up getting printed up as "aluminum". The company decided, since not that many people had ever heard of the stuff, to go with the new spelling instead of going through the expense of having everthing reprinted. There it is: a spelling mistake that got institutionalized (institutionalised for the Brits).

This is not unique: The national park up in Maine, Acadia, is called that because when the first maps were made of the park, the mapmaker dropped the r in Arcadia. The Park Service decided to just go with it instead of reprinting the maps.

Also, here's the reason we are not the United States of Columbia: A few years after Columbus landed in the New World, another Italian, Amerigo Vespucci, was running around Europe claiming he disovered the New World. German mapmakers (the best in the world at the time)had nothing else to go on and started making maps based on his descriptions. They then misspelled his name as America and that's what got put on all the maps.

Al is not the answer.

[Gainax]

Aluminium is not the answer.

No matter what spiffy metal or compound of the week your case is cut from, if you don't have a proven mechanism for heat transference, then you just might still end up with a nice hunk of dead CPU.

Granted, I AM one of those psychos with 10 fans in their case, but that's because my disk drives would melt through without them. :)

Most of my case gets by on exactly 3 fans though. No fancy mechanics needed? Why spend $200 when $60 will still do the job?