Best "value" (~$40) case for cooling

[Spider77]

Hi! I'm running an Athlon II X4 640 on a 785G-E53, with a GT240 in a 15-year-old case. Right now I have fans on the PSU, GPU and CPU and no provision for any others. Oddly enough, everything's going nuts when I play something like Crysis. I don't really care about looks; what I want is efficient cooling on a tight budget. I also don't want to save extra money on a case, only to have to spend it on adding fans.

So far I've been looking at a couple of Thermaltakes:
Armor A60 ($45.99 AR)
V4 Black Edition ($29.99 AR)

Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[JordoR]

A cheap case that I have had great success over the years is the Antec Three Hundred. It's usual price is 55 but I can usually find it on sale for 40 or less.

While it doesn't have the greatest cable management, it is a decently built case with pretty good airflow. As well you have the option of adding two fans in the front for added airflow. Right now I am using this case with an i5 750, xfx 5770, 4 x 2TB hd's, 8GB ram. I have my CPU slightly OC'ed from the 2.66 to 2.9 and my idle temps are 20d C... and my prime 95 temps are about 50 on average.

So I know your not wanting to spend extra money on fans, but this case has the option to do it but it's quite adequate without. With your setup it should be fine. BTW I am not using the additional 2 front HDD fans and am still getting the temps I mentioned.

 

[Computerrock1]

I would suggest a Rosewill case if you aiming for the 40 dollar ish range, they have good quality cases with lots of room and good airflow designs:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147120

 

[Spider77]

I didn't realise Rosewill made good cases. Thanks. I shall hunt around for a sale on that Antec, too.

As for the fans thing, I don't see much point in spending $30 on a case and $30 on fans at the outset. If I do that, I might as well buy a $60 case with the cooling I need and have the potential to add even more later on. Does that make sense?

 

[lowriderflow]

SERIOUSLY check out the Raidmax Quantum at Newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156241&Tpk=raidmax%20quantum

I have used 3 of these to build rigs in the past year... a $2k gaming rig, a $1k gaming rig, and a $500 basic computing rig (2 mine, 1 friends)

For $45 to $55 dollars, you will not find a better deal. It comes with 5 fans in all the right places... has all the common features, looks pretty good, and is solidly built.
The dust filters actually work too, every few weeks I have to wipe down my fangrills... no more inches of dust inside the case.

It is one of the largest mid towers out there... which was a PLUS for me... I had to fit in a CoolerMaster V8 rifleman heatsink and a supercooled GTX480. Both of them BARELY fit, but wouldn't have fit at all in most cases.

*The only small negative is the quick release drive mounts aren't the best... but I mount them once and leave them there forever typically, so no big deal

 

[Spider77]

Best answer selected by Spider77.