I'm still wishlisting for the new build i'm going to be doing soon and I realized that my current case is kind of subpar in the airflow department. I looked at a couple of cases, but I'm still at a loss at what is good and what is crap. I want a case that looks like a regular case(no neon or side windows need apply). If anyone has any suggestions they will be very appreciated.

Antec P180 and P180b.


best lookin case. My opinion.

This one.

What's your budget? Do you need a PSU? Do you have a preference on form factor? What are your system specs and how much expansion room do you want?

Do you know how to do some alterations and mod your current case? You should try doing that first and with a use of a dremel and drill you can install bigger fans like 120mm in the side panel and on on the top side as well and wherever you need fans to produce good airflow. Cheaper that way and it fun doing some modding to cases. But if all fails then you can buy a new case. Well that's my first suggestion.

As cases with good airflow then check out Thermaltake cases like Armor, Armor Jr, Kandalf, Shark and etc. Top quality cases and are a bit expensive than the average cases.

he doesnt want flashy.

P180 still the winner. man sweet lookin case <--- im gonna get flamed for that.

It is a good case and any flames you for it, they need to get a life.
I'm thinking about get the P180 or one of the variants for my conroe build.

same, i want a P180...really badly.

Flame: Don't listen to Pengwin, he's a n00b

P180 looks very nice indeed, and has a lot of fans, I whish it was smaller and
without the front door.

This looks nice but I don't know how bad the air flow is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811233007

I'm thinking about buying one myself and adding fans to the side and maybe the front.

the airflow on the antec P180's are just awesome, worth every penny

Get a Coolermast Centurion. Its cheap and has good airflow. You may want to replace the stock 120mm fan though as it moves a little slowly.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119077

Yo can also get it without the side window.

Flame: Don't listen to Pengwin, he's a n00b

P180 looks very nice indeed, and has a lot of fans, I whish it was smaller and
without the front door.

This looks nice but I don't know how bad the air flow is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811233007

I'm thinking about buying one myself and adding fans to the side and maybe the front.

go witht he 100 dollar version. Gigabyte posiedon. it has Mesh on the side which helps air flow alot.

Looks like flimsy plastic case to me.
Is it any good in terms of quality?

Flame: Don't listen to Pengwin, he's a n00b

P180 looks very nice indeed, and has a lot of fans, I whish it was smaller and
without the front door.

This looks nice but I don't know how bad the air flow is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811233007

I'm thinking about buying one myself and adding fans to the side and maybe the front.

go witht he 100 dollar version. Gigabyte posiedon. it has Mesh on the side which helps air flow alot.

Yeah that side mesh should help, but notice the front panel design, looks like it blocks most of the air.

with mesh sidepanel u'll have more than enough air flow.

No it is almost all metal. Has a metal mesh front and metal wall. The only pastic is on the very top of the front bezel were it says cooler master. In other words it is of excellent quality.

Hey Rap,
I;m with Peng on this one. I have an Antec P180 with my new build I finished about 4 months ago. Its a great case and the ventilation is awsome. I don't have A/C in my comp room and my SLI setup or my cpu (dual core never overheats. 8)
The nice thing about this case is that it has 2 - 3 speed 120 cm fans inside and you can add (and I would for sure) another one in the front to draw air in through the front to blow over your vids and out the back.

The front panel on the case opens all the way around so it folds FLAT against the case side panel. This is great if your gaming and you want to give the front fan more "draw". The rig can run with the door closed as well because there is vents around the outer edges of the door so it can draw even when closed.

Hey Peng, and Rap... Get this case, you won't regret it. I paid $ 188.45 CDN which would be about $ 150.00 USD

I WILL recommend one thing though. If you get this case, make sure you have power supply with a long wire harness. This is because due to design, noise and heat issues, the PSU is located in the bottom of the case, NOT the top like the other ATX ones. I know that ENERMAX has a LONG wire harness and they are good PSU's.... just a thought. I bought a SeaSonic S12 600 W PSU so I had to mod my wiring to keep my case clear. If you want, I can email you a low rez pic so you can see how it's set up and give yo uan idea of what your lookin at. Lemme know

Here's what I put in my case

RIG specs
Antec P180 PerformanceSeries Mid-Tower Case
SeaSonic S12 600 watt power supply
Asus A8N32 SLI mobo AMD N-Force 4 SLIX16 (bios 1103 V02.58)
RealTek 97 onboard digital 5.1 Surround
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo Core, 2 X 1mb L2 cache (AMD drivers w/MS hotfix)
2 gigs of Corsair TwinX3500LL Pro @ 437Mhz 2-3-2-6-1T
2- BFG Tech 7900 GT OC 256mb in SLI (nvidia driver 91.31)
Western Digital RAPTOR 74.3 gig 10-K rpm HDD for XP & Apps
Maxtor SATA II 250 G HDD for gaming, movies, MP3's
Maxtor SATA II 250 G HDD for document backup (unplugged)
Sony CD rom 52X
Plextor 708-A DVD/CD rom
Logitech Z-5500 digital 5.1 THX Surround 500watts

No it is almost all metal. Has a metal mesh front and metal wall. The only pastic is on the very top of the front bezel were it says cooler master. In other words it is of excellent quality.

agreed its not a bad quality case its just doesnt have many features thats why its cheap

Hey Peng, I think the reason why its sold "barebones" is for the sole purpose to give the modder or builder a chance to put in the horsepower THEY want. ...I like that, and that's why I bought it. Did you know that you can put at least 6 hdd's in there with no problem?? Not many people have 6 but it;s nice to have the room and the airflow is great. I have 3 hdd's in mine.

not thats not the primary reason.

Not adding things like top blow holes and side panel fans included are to cut costs and make the case afforable.

Its a great case to mod because of its price.

Also your example of 6 HDD's. most cases have that much room.