case material

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endeavor

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What's the difference, pros and cons, between computer case materials, especially aluminum and steel?

What is Japanese SECC? is it any good? anything bad about?
 
Japanese SECC is meant to be lighter than any other steel at the same thickness. My PSU is made out of japanese steel, but still it is very heavy. It is very well machined for steel though.

Aluminium is lighter than steel, but is weaker.
 
Aluminum is the way to go for a case its lighter, better at heat transfer, and though not as stong it not really a factor unless you are going to drop your case for some odd reason.
 
The heat transfer of aluminium is a mith. Loads of places have done the tests and all they get is inconclusive results.
 
To contradict all of you'r posts here saying that Aluminum is weak, my case front door is almost bulletproof and this case is very durable (It kinda slipped from my hand first time I took it out of the bag it came in....I was sure its broken to pieces but its actually scratchless ^^;)


Also, SECC Steel is very heavy compared to aluminum, and usualy cases made from that material didnt go through a folding process in which they fold the sharp corners etc, not healthy for you'r fingers! ^^; almost every aluminum case out there (sides the low-end ones) goes through this process to make it more safer to use (no more cuts after opening you'r case for modifications! XD)

and thermally, Aluminum gets heated up faster, but it also gets cold much better, thus its heat transferring is much better than SECC steel.

Cons is that it is maybe 2-3% less durable than SECC steel, but if you drop a SECC-made case from big hights it will break just like an aluminum made case, same about if you hit it or put alot of pressure on it.
 
No, the more expensive steel cases have folded edges just as the aluminium. If you cut your self than its your fault for buying a cheap case. If you are building for someone else than it is always good fun, as they really make nasty cuts. :(

Aluminum cases act as giant heatsinks.



"These are my personal preference for a number of reasons, including light weight, durability, and, most important, the fact that an aluminum case acts as a huge heatsink drawing off the heat built up within the case. The difference in internal case temperature between aluminum and comparable steel cases is as much as 4 to 8° Fahrenheit or 2.2 to 4.5° Celsius."

-SystemCooling.com
http://www.systemcooling.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=66



The entire concept as an aluminum case as a significant source of system cooling originated not in a laboratory or an engineer's plans, but with marketers. Any superiority of an aluminum case in cooling lies with improvements in airflow and increases in the number of fans; not with the function of aluminum cases as some giant heatsink. If you think about it logically, then this is clear. The case is not in physical contact with the hot parts of your system, so for the case to serve as a heatsink then heat would need to be transferred from warm air to the aluminum case and then dissipated. This is NOT efficient, and for it to happen to any appreciable extent then there would need to be very little airflow in the case. In reality, virtually all of the cooling of PC cases occurs due to air movement. Coolermasters and Lian Lis ship with a better stock fan configuration than most other mid towers, so they appear to cool better. The fact that they are aluminum cases is incidental.
 
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