Is it really worth it to invest heavily into a good case???????

[Kracer]

I'm building a new system as you may have seen from gtx 260 vs gts 250 but as cases go i could buy a cheap 50$ case that will suit me well but as you spend less you get less cooling and feautures etc. I'm only going to do some low res gaming i ain't going to upgrade it every month and it's going to stay anchored at home for 10 months straight. But i don't want it resembeling a warm pile of ***! So how much do you think i should spend?
Thanks
KC

 

[MadAdmiral]

Considering the best case avialable is $90 (HAF 922), anything above that is a waste, unless you want to pay extra for looks. Keep in mind if you buy a quality case, you can reuse it in future builds. A great case can easily last through many, many build, especially if you buy a large one to start with.

Some other great low budget cases are the Antec 200, 300, 300 Illusion, Coolermaster Elite and 690. I generally recommend to stay with those, as you get a very high quality case for a decent price.

 

[efgproductions]

Just my humble opinion, but I happen to think investing in a good case is a good idea. Besides your monitor and your mouse, it's the one thing you'll have to look at every day.

That aside, investing in a good case isn't all that much money compared to the rest of the investment you've made. I've had very good luck with Coolermaster cases and have rebuilt my pooter twice using the same case. That's the other thing...once you've bought a nice case...odds are you're going to want to use it in the future.

Last, but not least, cooler running computers is always better. I find my Coolermaster experience to have been a good one and my pc's have run a good long time without hardware failures due to overheating. I end up doing a new build because I want faster, newer gear.

Hope that helps!

efg

 

[Kracer]

But i forgort to mention that my coputer will sit beside a desk leg which will cover all of the left side of the case.(looking from the front) So many cases have ventilation on that side so should i go with cooler master 840??

 

[dan4patriots]

go with the haf 922, i have it and its a great case besides it has great airflow, cable management and you can replace heatsinks without taking motherboard out of case

 

[SSmith84]

This is the case I'm looking at: Cooler Master HAF 932 AMD Special Edition ATX Full Tower Case - ATX, 7x Expansion Slots, 2x 120mm Fan Ports, Acrylic AMD Dragon Side Panel ($169.99)

(Here is the link where I found this case)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5021968&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs

 

[Kracer]

well the haf 922 has a massive fan on the left side which is completely useless because of the place I'm going to put it

 

[hundredislandsboy]

If you're not going to overclock or install extra fans to cool down a monster GPU, probably no need for a fancy case.

 

[mrmotion]

Go with an antec 900, Large fans front and back and has the option for a side fan but not needed. Also has a 200+mm fan on top.It keeps my rig room temp. with no problems at all. It was def. worth the 100$ i threw down on it. Done great by me and my next rig will be going into the same case.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Cases are as important as a good PSU if you are going to OC. Air Flow and quietness are key design considerations in a system. To my mind, putting twin GPU's and a heavily OC'd CPU in anything less than a full tower case gimps your system from the getgo. A well designed mid tower can do the same w/ 1 GPU.

The consensus favorites are the HAF 922 / Antec 900/902 in the mid tower size and the HAF 932 / Antec 1200. Most peeps choose on aesthetics

The full towers are compared with a THG article which shows them to be comparable. I like the HAF's 3 pin fan connections and easy install features but two things pushed me to the 1200. 1) prefer to use air filters which the 1200 has and 2) and this is the big thing, the 1200 fits CPX form factor PSU's which allows the installation of the outstanding CP-850 PSU.

Comparable matchups w/ newegg prices are:

Antec 1200 / Antec CP-850 ($244)
HAF 932 / Corsair HX850 ($340 - $360 depending on LED color)

Antec 902 / Antec Earthwatts 650 ($195)
HAF 922 / Corsair 650TX ($210 - $30 in MIR's = $180)

Depending on your specific goals, other cases have some unique features....the Antec P193 is specifically designed for quiet computing w/ various steps taken to reduce acoustical noise and interior temperatures. The Thermaltake Level 10 VL30001N1Z is an incredibly designed case but a bit pricey for my blood. The new Antec Lanboy Air is designed for portability and flexibility. most important thing is to pick a case that fits your needs rather than someone else's. Just remember, cheaping out on a case can result in additional expense and lots of rebuild time later.

 

[Kracer]

Now the amount of cooling and noise are being discussed i am at first probably putting a gtx 260 but the motherboard I have chosen will support Tri-SLI so i think down the lane it will be a probable upgrade and a standard clocked core i5 should not produce absurd ammounts of heat. And forget OC I'm not going to do it I'd rather buy a new mobo supporting i7 and GPUs and upgrade perfomance that way!

 

[4745454b]

A nice case is nice, but if you don't have the $$$ for it its not. I think my case cost ~$35 shipped to my door. Its actually pretty good, more so once I cut the blow hole in it and strapped a 120mm fan to it. (also put a 120mm fan on the back, but it already had holes for that.) Its not a fancy case, or tool free or anything else really. but it does the job and allowed me to get the $240 video card. If I got a better case, I wouldn't have been able to get the x1800xt, and I probably would have had to get 512MBs of ram. If you have the money thats great. If you don't, please don't lose any sleep over it.

 

[cscott_it]

It depends on how long you intend on keeping it.
I got my Xaiser for $140 shipped, and I love it.
It's too much for the average user (it's huge), but the removable motherboard tray is a luxury that I think is worth it alone (not to mention the hard drive bays, etc.).

A computer case is one component that for the most part is future proof, because if you buy a good case, you can easily use it for 5+ years (my brother is still using the Antec 900 I got him for Christmas back in 06)

 

[amoghthegamer]

A NZXT Guardian 921 which is a full case with a LOT of room. Its $80 on newegg. If you want smalled, a Thermaltake Soprano RS which is $60 and both have Blue LEDS with windows on the LEFT Side, both have 4 HDD slots, the 921 has a media reader/floppy drive slot, the RS has 2 of them.

 

[Kracer]

Well the wall will admire the mobo inside the cases!

 

[Alvin Smith]

Let's go DISCO !!! This is cooler than the boom boxes at the flea market !

Actually, some love the Antec Skeleton, Most hate it. Works, but not nearly as practical as other designs ... Still fun, though.

If I had any guts (to be different) I might have gotten one of these ...


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129056&cm_re=antec_skeleton-_-11-129-056-_-Product

 

[Alvin Smith]

I would have either of these, if money were no object ...

Coolest looking:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133089

Practical and radical ... Love it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112217

But here ... this is what I am really getting (truth) ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811182566

The most popular (best/most ratings) full tower, at NewEgg ???
The following link was the result of searching ALL ATX FULL TOWERS at NewEgg ...
Then I sorted by "BEST RATINGS" Of all those 185 results ... you could also add "mid tower", to the "POWER SEARCH"

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=7&Description=&Type=&N=2010090007&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&PropertyCodeValue=548%3A8289&PropertyCodeValue=548%3A8294

 

[cowsled]

I'd have to say, not really. I use a Mini P180 and my temps are actually worse inside the case than they were while I was testing out of case. Filters keep the dust out though which is a big bonus for me .

 

[in-somniac]

I like the Thermaltake M9 if you can still get it anywhere.
A great case for cooling with a mesh front and 2 x 120mm front and rear blue LED case fans. It has a clear side panel with ventilation - not that it's going to be relevant if you can't see that side where you going to put it, but it's a pretty good looking mid tower case.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

well the haf 922 has a massive fan on the left side which is completely useless because of the place I'm going to put it

If ya can wait 2-3 weeks the Antec LanBoy Air will simply be the "coolest" (pun intended) case around....very attractive too. It eliminates your side fan concerns as there are 15 fan mounts and any fan can be amounted on either side of the case which should make it capable of hovering above the floor or desk.

See the picture and video

http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=8230
http://www.futurelooks.com/ces-2010-antec-unveils-the-lanboy-air-and-the-most-important-product-of-ces/

Release date is March something

 

[Alvin Smith]

If ya can wait 2-3 weeks the Antec LanBoy Air will simply be the "coolest" (pun intended) case around....very attractive too. It eliminates your side fan concerns as there are 15 fan mounts and any fan can be amounted on either side of the case which should make it capable of hovering above the floor or desk.

See the picture and video

http://www.pcper.com/comments.php?nid=8230
http://www.futurelooks.com/ces-2010-antec-unveils-the-lanboy-air-and-the-most-important-product-of-ces/

Release date is March something

Man, oh, Man !!! I just pooped in my space suit !!! That case is . . . S O . . . C O O L !

 

[blackjellognomes]

Short answer, yes, it's worth investing in a good case, up to a certain point. I wouldn't pay more than $150 for a case, because I know the benefits beyond that point are hardly worth the extra cost

And since it seems that recommending cases is the trend... on behalf of JohnnyLucky from the PC Case forum, I recommend the Lian Li Lancool DragonLord Series. Those cases really are nice cases though, and not overrated like the Antec and HAF cases. The popular Antec cases all lack mobo tray cutouts, which are a must, IMO. HAFs lack fan filters, another must that ~$100+ cases like the Antecs and HAFs should have.
Personally, I would only consider the Lian Li DragonLord series, the CM 690 II Advanced, and possibly the NZXT Tempest Evo, all at ~$100. Or, if you need a bigger case, the CM Sniper rivals the HAFs in size and surpasses them in features (it costs $150, a bit less than the HAF 932). All these cases have mobo tray cutouts, fan filters, good airflow and cable management, beautiful black interiors (even if you don't care for a window), room for large HSFs and graphics cards, etc.

 

[Alvin Smith]

That DragonLord also looks good, for the avg price of ~$100.

When I entered "Lancool DragonLord" into Google websearch, the results were like a "prefereed links" page of some of the greatest enthusiast websites, on the net.

It MUST be a decent box.

= Al =

 

[jaideep1337]

I have used the Dragon Lord and one thing I like about it is the abundance of airflow.

Also it may be worth looking at the NZXT Phatom 410 too since they are pretty cheap and have good look and airflow.