Best air cooled case

What is the very best air cooled case that I can buy for around $200?

I'm looking for a full size case with lots of room for expansion. Is the Thermaltake Armor+ a good case?

Beat me to the reply... lol

Yes that is also a good case, but it has a top-mounted PSU which most people don't like. It's also quite a bit more expensive than the Antec and CM full-towers, and those still perform better.

Here's a link to an old thread about a similar request:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/251721-28-best-case-overclocking-flow

Antec 1200 for a Full-Tower solution. This is the case I use. 7 * 120mm Fans and 1 * 200mm Fan on top. All the fan speeds are adjustable. Great cable management. Nothing bad about this case... except maybe it weighs a lot... but its just really heavy duty.

Just from looking at the pictures of the stacker it looks like if you add about 6 fans it might get good air flow. The problem is with all those fan clips taking up room you may not be able to fit the CPU cooler you want. Also its top mounted PSU means cables dangling all over unless you got a modular.

what about the thermaltake spedo? That case has good features.

what company makes that?

i just seen a video review of it and it looks cool overall but I dont like its design and the way it has the mobo turned sideways and its window is on the right side of the case.

I dont know of anyone who does a list like frostytech does for cpu coolers.

Once you have ample airflow its more about aesthetics, which is very subjective. Almost any case can be made to have good enough airflow if you add enough fans and turn them up high.

I think that was already answered. Antec 1200, 900 and Coolermaster HAF 932, HAF 922, CM 690, are the most common picks.



@Why_me 22.5 inches tall?

I've got another question. Which do you recommend for gaming, Intel or AMD? I'm currently running a AMD quad core 9950 and its alright but I know I could get better. Do you recommend the i7 core 965 or the Phenom II X4 965?

go with the i7 if you need to have absolute best frame rate, and don't mind paying premium. Phenom X4 has more performance per dollar you spend though.

Neither... I would go with a Core i5 750 build. If you need "highend", I would go with the Core i7 920 and upgrade to the Core i9 (hex core) next year.

Also keep in mind that if you go with Tecmo's highend route, I hope you have very deep pockets. the hex core i9s won't come cheap

Thanks!! I'm pretty happy with my setup!! My next upgrade will be the GTX300 series cards when released and maybe a SSD, if can get the additional funds for one.

On 3DMark Vantage, my average frame rate was 54.74 roughly... http://service.futuremark.com/resu [...] ultType=19

The only downside to the 900 (and probably all good airflow cases) is that they get dusty inside. It's kinda the price you pay so keep a can of air and a vacuum handy. (I'm a 900 owner).

i7 9xx and i9 will most likely use the X58 motherboards. MSI, Asus, EVGA, and Gigabyte are the motherboard makers I see people using most often.

If noise and heat are a concern, i7 860 is a 95W part compared to i7 920 which is 130 or 135. performance is a near wash and cost is about the same.

The difference between i7 860 and i5 750 is still pretty substantial, though the 750 is a good chip. It's just that around here, I can get a i7 920 or 860 for about the same price that newegg sells the i5 750.