In Pictures: Five More Mainstream Gaming Cases, Previewed

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By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Offering extensive features and unique design options, the five mainstream gaming enclosures in today's story deserve an in-depth look before we launch into our review, comparing them all. And remember, this is just one part of our 15-chassis round-up!

KL04 Cable Management

SilverStone provides exceptional space behind the KL04’s motherboard tray for cable management, going so far as to roll the edges of each access hole. That treatment makes internal grommets a mere aesthetic feature, so SilverStone omits them on this non-windowed case.

KL04 Dust Control

The ultimate contrast of cost-cutting and advanced features is found in the pair of slide-out filters appearing in the same photo as the flimsy card holder. Extra care is taken to roll the edges of internal cable access holes, even as the previously-viewed liquid cooling line holes lack grommets.

KL04 Intake Fans

The KL04’s right side supports up to two 120 mm intake fans, but includes only one. The face panel is not designed for removal, but a little ingenuity helped us take this photo without destroying the case.

KL04 Top Panel

Popping the mesh grill off the KL04’s top panel, we found two 120 mm and two 140 mm fan mounts. SilverStone claims that this allows the case to support a pair of fans in either size, though the second pair of 140 mm holes simply relocates a single fan by around one inch. Dual 120 mm fans really are supported, and extra offset towards the left side for these mounting holes eases the installation of dual 120 mm-fan radiators.

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.
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49 Comments Comment from the forums
  • EzioAs
    Cooling wise, I'm guessing the eleven hundred will come out on top
    Reply
  • amuffin
    That is correct^^ The Eleven Hundred is one of the cases I have seen that has superb cooling over the competition. I recommend it to anyone who needs a well rounded and cooled system :)
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    EzioAsCooling wise, I'm guessing the eleven hundred will come out on top
    Depends. More holes are not always better. Their Dark Fleets are pretty horrible when it comes to cooling.

    I still prefer my Corsair 500R as these cases are either bland or ugly.
    Reply
  • monkeymonk
    I lilke the side panel on the eleven hundred and the fan behind the cpu is cool too.
    Reply
  • refillable
    Antec 1100. Who is with me? :)
    Reply
  • Onus
    I like the 1100 also, but would probably prefer a version without the big window.

    The Raidmax looked like gimmicky junk.
    CM has too many "oops"es.
    The Fractal Designs and Silverstone cases also didn't quite "get it right," at least not for me; but I could probably make them work. The aesthetics were good on them.
    Reply
  • old mann
    Didn't care fore any of these. All seemed boxy and without personality. Whatever the price point is for these, it is probably too high. Hopefully, the next segment will show the HAF XM or the NZXT Phantom 410. These are supposed to be gaming cases yet, they lack most of the features of an enthusiast case. Heck, I'd pick the Rosewill CHALLENGER over any of these and it's only fifty bucks.
    Reply
  • ivyanev
    I would never buy/recommend a case with top mounted fan: just begs to spill something on.
    Reply
  • element1981
    I've had numerous cases including the Antec 900 and 300. I just upgraded to the Antec 1100 for my main PC and have been extremely pleased with it. I mounted 2 more 120mm fans behind the front panel and the cooling is nothing short of amazing. It's a relatively simple looking case, but it's elegance is in it's simplicity. It does everything exceedingly well. Installation was a breeze and future modifications will be easy with the extra interior space. You'd have to pay double the cost of this case to get something that exceeds it significantly in features. An all around great case, and I'd definitely recommend it over any other case in the $80-120 range.
    Reply
  • spookyman
    Cases are more a personal preference then design.
    Reply