Xigmatek’s Midgard II provides many of the internal design elements that made us like the NZXT Phantom 410, but leaves out a handful of its competitor's features, like those awkward internal grommets.

The Midgard II doesn’t have an internal fan controller, though a slot-mounted fan controller is included in its installation kit. Instead, the four-pin power connector is used by its top-panel drive dock, which supports 2.5” and 3.5” internal drives, externally.

Xigmatek’s installation kit uniquely includes a slot-panel triple-fan controller and a front-panel replacement cover, which is used for the thin optical drives found in notebooks. The Midgard II hosts only three 5.25” drives, but using a laptop's optical drive in the other external bay lets you use the trio of 5.25” bays for other devices.

The Midgard II compels you to install 2.5” drives in the center of its 3.5” trays so that you can skip the removal of drive-holder pins required on many competing models. The trays of those competing models are designed for use with non-existent backplanes.
Twisting the center knob of each drive latch 90° allows it to be pulled completely away from the drive cage, releasing its pins from the drive. Xigmatek secures drives from both sides with these latches, making the drive less wobbly, but more time-consuming to replace.

Similarities to the NZXT Phantom 410 continue in the Midgard II’s finished installation, with our slightly-oversized motherboard blocking required access holes. We again removed the center drive cage to create a place to route our ATX and PCIe cables.

The Midgard II adds ventilation and features without departing from the understated look that many experienced builders prefer.
- Cases For Cost-Conscious Builders
- Building With The Corsair 300R
- Building With The In Win Mana 136
- Building With The MSI Stealth
- Building With The NZXT Phantom 410
- Building With The Xigmatek Midgard II
- Test Settings And Benchmarks
- Temperature, Noise, And Acoustic Efficiency
- Which Chassis Delivers On Value? How About Quality?


BTW,i recently saw Antec 1100 and it's a very good case.for 100 bucks,it's best in it's class-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129178&Tpk=antec%201100
CHeck out the Raidmax Blackstorm....you may find it a very pleasant choice, with good reviews and easy on the price.....and there is plenty of space lol
Better cases:
NZXT Tempest 410
Antec 300
CM 690 II advanced
Cooler Master Storm Enforcer
Can't wait to see what other cases Tom's has in store.
Since this is just the first 5 of 15, could the last article do a recap of all 15? That would make for an awesome article, and allow us to easily compare all the cases.
What??? It's overpriced at $70? Really? Did you read the article or do you just hate Corsair?
case B fits two 120mm fans up front & up top and one 120mm rear
case A comes with three fans yet case B comes with two so lets rate case A as good for internal temps and case B as poor.
rating temps for a case is pointless. focus more on build quality and the cases ability to prevent dust-balls. a case with two fans has poor internal temps...oh wait i have two fans lying around the house...now the case has four fans and temps are so much better...
2. Noise is compared to heat
3. The noise-to-heat comparison is given more consideration than either the noise or the heat
4. Adding your own fans alters the price, so this is the only fair way to do a value analysis.
5. It appears you don't care about performance-to-price. That's fine, the last two paragraphs are specifically what you asked for.
So, what's the complaint?
1. i can stick 10 fans at 10db (scythe 800rpm) in a case or 1 one fan at 35db (scythe 3000 rpm), which makes more noise?
2. noise is not compared to heat, see above example. one fan even at high speeds will not show better airflow then ten at slower speed.
3. your test, your considerations.
4. adding air filters to a case to stop dust bunnies also adds to the price.
5. performance to price in a case is more theory then fact. some people prefer a case with sturdy sides, fewer fan ports for noise to escape, and filters. some want to stick a fan in every whole imaginable so they can attempt to create an internal tornado. some despise a metallic interior, LED fans, molex fan connectors, etc.,.
My complaint is, each case has it's pros and cons. what am I giving up going from once case to another?