Five More Mainstream Gaming Cases, Rounded-Up

Features
By Thomas Soderstrom
published

We've already given you a pictorial walk-through of cases six through 10 of our 15-chassis round-up. Today, we build PCs inside of them, evaluate their value, and pick one as the most likely to satisfy your needs (though several excel in other ways).

Building With The Antec Eleven Hundred

Antec’s Eleven Hundred stands out among large mid-towers most notably for its support of oversized motherboards up to 13” wide and 13.6” tall, thanks to a deep interior an a total of nine expansion slots. We don’t find an added row of standoffs in either of these directions, but it’s nice to know that EATX- and XL-ATX-based boards will at least fit.

A spacer atop the 3.5” hard drive cage holds 2.5” drives using a single screw and several built-in slides, which is adequate for the low weight and solid-state nature of SSDs.

Hard drive rails comprise the majority of the Eleven Hundred’s installation kit, though a few screws are included to secure the motherboard, additional fans, the power supply, and a couple of SSDs.

Pulling the tabs on 5.25” bay latches releases pins from the bay for quick installation and removal.

Though many users prefer to let their motherboards manage fan speeds, the Eleven Hundred’s fan power hub provides a simpler solution.

Antec cleaned up the cables a little by removing the old AC'97 audio connector from the front-panel headset lead. Double-row connectors power two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 jacks.

Our oversized ATX board fits easily within the Eleven Hundred’s cavernous interior, with enough space remaining to allow clean cable routing through all of its holes.

Our finished builds looks almost classy by game-themed case standards, and users who don’t like the flair of a lighted top fan can even disable that via a rear-panel switch.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
43 Comments Comment from the forums
  • samorf
    That's a great looking case. I know value isn't a huge point for the CM Cosmos 2 but I would love to see your benchmarks on it.
    Reply
  • mjmjpfaff
    I really thought that the Antec Eleven Hundred would get this site's nod, especially with its build quality and its plethora of features to help with cable management, as well as all of its removable dust filters which many cases at the 100$ mark lack as well as some cases well over 100$.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    mjmjpfaffI really thought that the Antec Eleven Hundred would get this site's nod, especially with its build quality and its plethora of features to help with cable management, as well as all of its removable dust filters which many cases at the 100$ mark lack as well as some cases well over 100$.
    Antec, I think, has fallen behind in case design as of late. While the Eleven Hundred is much better than the aging 900/300 design, it still has some small points of meh such as only one 2.5" drive bay when there are other cases close to the price (not current price but original price) trat support 2.5" in every drive bay.

    Also the design is a bit meh. Though I have fallen in love with the Corsair 500R so its a bit hard to make me think of another case. And the CM Storm Enforcer is ok. Had one in the shop the other day. Nothing amazing honestly but its not overly bad.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    jimmysmittyAntec, I think, has fallen behind in case design as of late. While the Eleven Hundred is much better than the aging 900/300 design, it still has some small points of meh such as only one 2.5" drive bay when there are other cases close to the price (not current price but original price) trat support 2.5" in every drive bay.Also the design is a bit meh. Though I have fallen in love with the Corsair 500R so its a bit hard to make me think of another case. And the CM Storm Enforcer is ok. Had one in the shop the other day. Nothing amazing honestly but its not overly bad.I really liked the Eleven Hundred, it's just that the Enforcer's super-low price makes it a better value for the majority of builds.
    Reply
  • damric
    I really felt like I was reading a commercial. Was this review cut and paste from the marketing documents provided?
    Reply
  • randomkid
    Nice article. I feel glad about my choice of the CM Storm Enforcer... :)
    Reply
  • Crashman
    damricI really felt like I was reading a commercial. Was this review cut and paste from the marketing documents provided?I'll have what you're having! Then I can look past all the careful observations, performance data and criticisms and see a world made of cotton candy!

    BTW, you should at least read the ENTIRE conclusion before calling an article a fluff piece. Thanks!
    Reply
  • randomkid
    ^No editing feature while in the Article comment mode. But I found out that once in the forum, it can be edited or deleted just like any post.
    Reply
  • jaquith
    I tend NOT to recommend cases to folks (personal preference) - it's like saying your Girlfriend is ugly or has a flaw.

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

    As long as the case functions and has what you need -- it's all what YOU like and flips that switch.
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    I'm not a fan of obviously gamer looking cases, but the Antec 1100, by virtue of being so similar to my P280, gets my vote.
    Reply