For those unfamiliar, this is the NVIDIA edition CM-830 Stacker from Cooler Master.
As long as the GPU and PSU fit, I don’t see why you couldn’t use it!
Yeah, I’m not sure what would make a case obsolete other than not physically fitting your hardware. I’m using a janky mid-2000s Antec case to hold my i7-9700k / RTX 2070 build with no problems (although I fully expect to need a bigger case for any future GPU upgrades).
Bad airflow could become an issue with newer CPUs, for example
My hot take is that this is practically irrelevant for the vast majority of desktop users, even hobbyists. Unless you have an absolute rats’ nest of cables inside the case or you are overclocking the chip close to its thermal limits, your chip should run just fine with a small form factor heatsink/fan, which an older, non-enthusiast case should have no problem fitting. As one data point, I’m cooling my CPU with a Noctua NH-D15 inside my Antec Three Hundred. A somewhat tight fit? Maybe, but certainly no performance issues.
The emphasis was on newer, the latest Intel CPUs can run absurdly hot under load.
Far from being a tech wizz, I once decided I was going to push to the absolute limits an old 775 board I had around and the only concern I had was with CPU cooling, as I intended to fit the machine with a Core2 Quad.
Because the machine was built inside an SFF, putting in a larger cooler was not feaseable, unless I was to cut a hole into the side panel to accomodate it. However, spending a few more monies on the CPU for a 65W model did the trick and I managed to keep the stock cooler I was already using.
Ancient front panel IO, but as long as you have good mobo IO, it isn’t terribly important anyways.
ATX is ATX. The spec is remarkably stable. You’ll miss front-panel USB-C, though, if you put a newer motherboard in it.
Now I wonder if the front ports should have been made to fit in the drive bays. That would have motivated keeping at least one front drive bay slot and allowed old cases to be entirely modernized.
Edit: what I described does exist. Although the pricing is high enough that you’d have to really want to keep using the old case.
I have a circa 2003 ATX case that I decided I was going to modernize and every single USB port on it can be swapped out for USB3/C.
What I still haven’t decided was what to fit on the old floppy disk bays.
There is no pc case that an angle grinder and some basic tools can’t fix. Im doing custom watercooling in a mid tower from 2010 because fuck the rules. My next build will be in a beige AT because why not.
Does it fit todays gpus? You might have to cut up the drive cage
Didn’t think about that. After 2010, I’ve been using laptops more so I am a bit out of the loop.
What card are you looking at?
I don’t know, I think it needs more fans. Can you get another wall of four on the other side? And maybe inside you can retrofit 3-4 on the top and bottom of the case.
I mean, nVidia is cringe, but as long as the case is functional I don’t see why not lol.
I would worry about GPU and cpu cooler fitment, especially with those thick fans on the side.
Those fans are removable, as is the fan door. I’ve got a different version of this case that’s worked for over a decade, and I’ve periodically added/removed both to my rig based on what would fit.
That’s pretty good forward thinking on their part. I’ve worked on too many dells and Lenovos where stuff like that is replaceable but if you don’t have it attached it won’t turn on. Or it’s designed to limit what it put in it physically for some unknown reason.
Yeah, it’s great. The doors are only attached with locking spring hinges, so it’s super easy to go on and off. The worst part of the process is running the fan power (thank the gods for daisy chained molex) in a way that doesn’t get in the way, but I generally run the wire behind the hinge and it doesn’t get in the way or take damage from opening the case.
Well Gigabyte do a Slim 8gb 4060 if those side fans will be a clearance issue, and if thats not an issue but the drive cages are several companies make a “shorty” 4060 and 4070.
Thats before you start playing around with riser cables and so on. You can almost certainly make a build work in this case but maybe not the build you want.
Looks awesome!
As long as you can fit everything in where it needs to go, I’d say just about any case works. Even this one.
Yes absolutely it’s upto personal preference really, you may have to do some modifications to the case to get it to fit with some bigger modern gpus such as cutting out the drive cage with prehaps a dremel
Unfortunately all of those drive bays will go to waste if you’re using modern NVMe drives. You’ll also miss modern USB ports on the front. Otherwise it looks like a fine case.
Driver caddies, although there will be a loss of access speed, or HDDs on RAID, for backup.
You probably could but it won’t have the same cable management, drive layouts modern I/O and airflow that we get on modern cases. Additionally, you would possibly need to cut and remove the drive cages or other parts to allow for modern sized gpus.
If you don’t already have this case, I would recommend just getting a modern case and save yourself the hassle.
