Vintage & Retro PC Case Finds Thread
- Thread starter mnpctech
- Start date
I used to have one of those giant Zalman fanless cases. Alas, it was just the case, no heatpipes or anything. Plan was to mod it, but me being me I just stored it for a few years and flogged it on eBay again. I don't think much money changed hands either time. Mine was silver.
I would (were I rich) definitely buy the one on eBay though. I think it looks fine in black. The owner can keep the insides though...
The vintage case I'm after is a Coolermaster HAF 932 AMD Red Edition. I came very close to buying one new but didn't... and I've always regretted it. I'd pay good money for a minter in box now. There was a red HAF 922 as well, one of the first cases with black interiors, which is also on my wishlist.
I would (were I rich) definitely buy the one on eBay though. I think it looks fine in black. The owner can keep the insides though...
The vintage case I'm after is a Coolermaster HAF 932 AMD Red Edition. I came very close to buying one new but didn't... and I've always regretted it. I'd pay good money for a minter in box now. There was a red HAF 922 as well, one of the first cases with black interiors, which is also on my wishlist.
Ah, if we're counting "floors" then the Lian Li PC-V1000 should also count, which had a "floor" and came out in 2004, a year before the P180. I also think there were some full-tower server cases with floors as well.
Looks like NZXT does get the nod for a "shroud" as we know it, though.
Looks like NZXT does get the nod for a "shroud" as we know it, though.
I LOVED my Q500's. LOVED them.the beige boxes do produce warm and fuzzy nostalgia vibes
my next personal build, inwin q500 from 2001. It fits 480mm radiator with room to spare, but lots of CUTTING first to snuggle one in. My goal is to NOT modifiy the bezel, so it's a SLEEPER, but that requires a pre-game plan.
View attachment 49119
Fantastic find and lookback review! I wanted an aluminum case so badly back then but couldn’t afford one, was like 3-4x my case budget! What a score for you….
Lian Li PC-6077 case with KOOLANCE cooler listed in Ebay, but seller isn't including the hardware pictured with it 
Whilst we're trawling eBay for old cases, this caught my eye! That's the exact same case my original 'bluefire' project came in, just with a slightly different front bezel. That side window... Bought that in/about 2003 iirc.
I mangled that case so much over the years, I'm surprised it didn't fall over by itself lol. Went in the skip in the end. Never did find out what OEM company made it, I've seen a bunch of different random names for similar cases.
I mangled that case so much over the years, I'm surprised it didn't fall over by itself lol. Went in the skip in the end. Never did find out what OEM company made it, I've seen a bunch of different random names for similar cases.
@Doomlord_uk Often refered as the "Sunflower" case. The factory window started the term "Pre-Mod" on the review sites. It was the first time the Case Modding community noted that China was watching us for ideas. Crazy to see how Nostalgia is driving up the value of these old generic cases.
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imho, the grail of early 2000's cases, inwin q500 listed on fleabay with hardware included (except psu). The price is shocking, but having witnessed what people are spending on Nostalgia, it will sell. I'm doing a sleeper build atm with same case and recently shared how I update the 80mm exhaist fan to 120mm.
Other grail server "towers" from this era, but rarely seen for sale. Maybe still in service?
Addtronics 7896A and 7890A.
Chenbro SR-1040X GENIE
Other grail server "towers" from this era, but rarely seen for sale. Maybe still in service?
Addtronics 7896A and 7890A.
Chenbro SR-1040X GENIE
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Good question, as they never appear on Ebay, but I'd bet cause they're still being used by people or businesses.
Unfortunately Jim passed away two years ago, Jim Frederick Hanson Obitutary @continuum
For those who didn't know of Jim, he created CoolCases.com, the first official modified PC / Server case retailer
I found out about his passing after doing a web search when he didnt reply to my email. I wanted to reach out to him for the same reason you brought up his name. He had stacks of towers in his garage. I'd describe Jim as the Uncle all of us would have bragged about. He was very intelligent. Great sense of humor. He could make anything by hand. He designed and built his first house. He loved motorcycles and custom cars. Always open to learning about new things. What his obituary doesn't state for obvious reasons,
Jim loved hand guns.
I went to his home every friday and sunday for several years. He sat at his kitchen table smoking and sipping Expressos with public radio while surfing news or reading articles. It was normal to see a gun case or two on his table. He was obsessed with being a perfect marksman. He did his own reloading and went to gun range almost daily. He was always tweaking an article about ammo reloading that he wanted to submit to a gun magazine. I dont know if it ever got published. I'd often walk in and he would be cleaning guns. You couldn't sit in his living room without moving gun cases. He especially liked 1911's. I told him that one of my co-workers was a "Boomer Gun Fanatic" and Jim invited both of us to a private outdoor gun range. "Bring your toys, and I'll bring mine." I only know about guns from games, but got schooled from two gun nerds that would have gone viral as video. My co-worker was a Vet, so we got an earful of war stories. I'd describe these two as Centrists who just liked guns. It's a day thats hardwired into my brain.
He was my mentor. Jim and I had a business agreement that allowed me to buy his cases at wholesale, use his workshop to modify cases for my customers. Many from Ars at the time. Jim encourgaged me to join Ars. I recall Jim had lung cancer and prostate removed within the same year (2004?). The cancer must of came back. He kept smoking Camels after both surgeries.
The most recent email I got from Jim was January, 14, 2011. His birthday was 6 days ago.
Date: Friday, January 14, 2011, 6:05 AM
FYI--the first cataract surgery went off without a hitch a week ago Thursday. I was even able to drive myself to the day-after checkup....
I have another one today, and I may try driving there without my glasses on--the only trouble I'm having is sorting out which eye is dominant now.
The left eye is next week. And, today I turned 66.
Jim
For those who didn't know of Jim, he created CoolCases.com, the first official modified PC / Server case retailer
I found out about his passing after doing a web search when he didnt reply to my email. I wanted to reach out to him for the same reason you brought up his name. He had stacks of towers in his garage. I'd describe Jim as the Uncle all of us would have bragged about. He was very intelligent. Great sense of humor. He could make anything by hand. He designed and built his first house. He loved motorcycles and custom cars. Always open to learning about new things. What his obituary doesn't state for obvious reasons,
Jim loved hand guns.
I went to his home every friday and sunday for several years. He sat at his kitchen table smoking and sipping Expressos with public radio while surfing news or reading articles. It was normal to see a gun case or two on his table. He was obsessed with being a perfect marksman. He did his own reloading and went to gun range almost daily. He was always tweaking an article about ammo reloading that he wanted to submit to a gun magazine. I dont know if it ever got published. I'd often walk in and he would be cleaning guns. You couldn't sit in his living room without moving gun cases. He especially liked 1911's. I told him that one of my co-workers was a "Boomer Gun Fanatic" and Jim invited both of us to a private outdoor gun range. "Bring your toys, and I'll bring mine." I only know about guns from games, but got schooled from two gun nerds that would have gone viral as video. My co-worker was a Vet, so we got an earful of war stories. I'd describe these two as Centrists who just liked guns. It's a day thats hardwired into my brain.
He was my mentor. Jim and I had a business agreement that allowed me to buy his cases at wholesale, use his workshop to modify cases for my customers. Many from Ars at the time. Jim encourgaged me to join Ars. I recall Jim had lung cancer and prostate removed within the same year (2004?). The cancer must of came back. He kept smoking Camels after both surgeries.
The most recent email I got from Jim was January, 14, 2011. His birthday was 6 days ago.
Date: Friday, January 14, 2011, 6:05 AM
FYI--the first cataract surgery went off without a hitch a week ago Thursday. I was even able to drive myself to the day-after checkup....
I have another one today, and I may try driving there without my glasses on--the only trouble I'm having is sorting out which eye is dominant now.
The left eye is next week. And, today I turned 66.
Jim
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Shelf of $5 beige cases for sale at FREE GEEK in Minneapolis. They don't ship, but you may have a FREE GEEK Recycler in your City. They accept and resell electronics donations for non-profit.
scored another inwin q500 tower for $30 after reaching out to recycler and asking if they had any old towers. It's got mis-matched bay covers, a crack in bezel and somebody tried prying out FD drive and broke the plastic. (wtf?). I'll either leave it "as is" or repair the damages, which will require repainting everything.
Liquidating his collection of old Alienware PC cases, https://www.ebay.com/usr/enjoytheride80
Had and loved an ATCS 840 (did a mini Ars review here, though it looks like the picture references aren't working right with the new forum.) Didn't realize it might actually be worth something due to being 'vintage' - I think I gave it away back in 2017 or 2018 after I switched to a Core X5. Probably did 4 or 5 complete new guts in that case over the years.
Would have bought a Caselabs instead of the X5 but they were busy folding at the time. Looks like another group has bought the Caselabs name and designs and is trying to ramp it up again. Will never go back to a vertical MB design, but I'd like a higher quality case build.
Would have bought a Caselabs instead of the X5 but they were busy folding at the time. Looks like another group has bought the Caselabs name and designs and is trying to ramp it up again. Will never go back to a vertical MB design, but I'd like a higher quality case build.
Got a HAF 922 Red Limited Edition case - for £20! Mint original condition with manual, alas no box. Have to ship the guy a box before he'll agree to ship it. Pretty happy to find such a rare old case at all, let alone for so little. No idea yet what's going in it though. /goes back to hunting for the 932 AMD Edition...
I'd bet he posted that price to bring attention to his account, so people look at his other listings. It's an old school tactic that works.
Doomlord_uk, out of curiosity, what makes a 932 AMD Edition, or how would you tell one from another? I have a HAF932, and all I know is it's BIG!
The AMD Edition was, I believe, a limited edition of the regular HAF 932. It had a red front bezel, an AMD Phenom II x4 logo badge on the front and a large dragon engraved/printed on the side window.
Definitely a big case! At the time I discovered it, the only remaining retailer was in France and they wanted about £300 for it as I recall. I was running an Intel system at the time and didn't like the AMD logo, but loved everything else. I love the looks, even today.
Definitely a big case! At the time I discovered it, the only remaining retailer was in France and they wanted about £300 for it as I recall. I was running an Intel system at the time and didn't like the AMD logo, but loved everything else. I love the looks, even today.
While my HAF932 lacks the RED front panel, it is still a handsome case. After the three years I've had it, I may have found a use for it.
Thanks for the information.
Thanks for the information.
I have a lingering fondness for the Palo Alto PA-600, reviewed by one Anand All Shimpi here.
In my third year of university my Dad got me a prebuilt PC in one of those with a K6-III 450, which was a huge upgrade from the PC Chips system with a P75 in it that I had been using. I can still remember the excitement of going to Leeds to pick it up from Panrix's premises. I used to run NT4 on it because I could not be doing with the instability of Win98 when I had Actual Work that I needed to get done.
Once my final year project was done I discovered that the K6-III CPUs were in huge demand and so I sold mine to a guy in Australia for a healthy markup! I replaced it with a Cyrix 233+ something or other, which was deeply adequate but most importantly, cheap.
In my third year of university my Dad got me a prebuilt PC in one of those with a K6-III 450, which was a huge upgrade from the PC Chips system with a P75 in it that I had been using. I can still remember the excitement of going to Leeds to pick it up from Panrix's premises. I used to run NT4 on it because I could not be doing with the instability of Win98 when I had Actual Work that I needed to get done.
Once my final year project was done I discovered that the K6-III CPUs were in huge demand and so I sold mine to a guy in Australia for a healthy markup! I replaced it with a Cyrix 233+ something or other, which was deeply adequate but most importantly, cheap.
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Got one sitting in a closet in the basement...housed all the various iterations of PCs I ran in college....pretty sure it's still got the guts of a socket 939 system in place. Minus power supply...I know I scavenged that....maybe HDs as well....
Not exactly mint, unfortunately. 10 years of hard use will do that. But still quite a solid case. I've moved on to prefer the solid (and silent) black monolith style.
Ah I used to have that top-right case with the green plate and buttons. 1999-2017.
Beige Grail sighting, Inwin Q500 Tower listed on Ebay. The best tower for it's era. I just had same case shipped UPS from florida for little less, but thats the current market rate on these old server towers.
Looks a lot like the AOpen HX08 I had back in the day (Duron 750 O/C'd to 1000 in that, it was a beast for the time).
I think it went to the scrap merchant when my Mum was having a clearout of the loft
I think it went to the scrap merchant when my Mum was having a clearout of the loft
ShotgunMage
Smack-Fu Master, in training
The idea is cool but some of them are overpriced for something you'd have to extensively modify.
This one is cool though. It's an incredibly timeless design.
The AMD Edition was, I believe, a limited edition of the regular HAF 932. It had a red front bezel, an AMD Phenom II x4 logo badge on the front and a large dragon engraved/printed on the side window.
Definitely a big case! At the time I discovered it, the only remaining retailer was in France and they wanted about £300 for it as I recall. I was running an Intel system at the time and didn't like the AMD logo, but loved everything else. I love the looks, even today.
This one is cool though. It's an incredibly timeless design.
I owned a P180. It was very quiet. Its major problem was being slightly too small. If they'd made it about an inch bigger front to back and top to bottom, it would have been easy to work on, and just about an ideal case. But, instead, there wasn't any room to get your fingers in around the edges, so doing any work on the machine was a gigantic pain in the butt.
You don't have to touch modern machines nearly as much as you did back then, so that design might be less annoying today, but even the initial build was far harder than it needed to be.
edit: oops, this was a super-belated reply, I didn't spot how old that comment was. Sorry!
Unfortunately I lost my Q500 in a house fire. Thing is, the case wasn't really damaged (more than it already was), but I was only retrieving really critical things so I pulled the hard drives and salvaged my data. At the time I thought I'd be able to buy a replacement when it came tome to build a new tower case (I had just been using my work laptop for the next few years), and then after I left there I had an old IBM X3200 and various scavenged machines. By the time I would have been building a new(ish) system, the Q500s were long gone (along with pretty much anything like it).
I still have my P180 (might be a 182?). And an SLK3000B.
You are right that a modern build in the 180 might be a lot less annoying. I've thought about doing that.