Need a budget case recommendation

S

Surly73

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
1,782
Our friends at ++++ (I know this will be censored) are having a 4.99 flat rate shipping special for father's day and this is a good opportunity for me to get a case for my second gaming rig since the last time I looked they wanted something like $25-$30 to ship a case. It's currently running in a $5 (literally) case that crumples like tinfoil and is pre-Socket 775 cooling design (all 90mm fans, not in the right place to pick up the heat, wails like a banshee).

I have a decent enough power supply and I'm looking for a decent, but budget-oriented ATX case. I don't have specific size limitations for my second rig but I don't want a monster. I'm thinking something in the class like

- Antec 300
- Zalman Z7
- Lancool PC-K56B
- Coolermaster Haf 912

What I need:

- needs to fit my P5B-E (full ATX), Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro and GTX260OC (and any reasonable, future mid-range card). My 260 is in the 9" class, I believe
- front panel USB, headphone and MIC jacks, preferably at the top end of the case, mildly preferring on the front panel
- must have "modern" cooling - 120mm+ main rear fan
- This might be used in a location with not a lot of side clearance - I don't want side fans to be the primary cooling
- would like to accomodate ATX and mATX
- dust filters and front grills are nice
- quality tool-less arrangements are nice
- The lancool seems to have lots of padding/vibration isolation
- I don't think I care if the PSU is top or bottom

I don't need:
- lights
- LEDs
- lighted fans
- fan controllers
- TRON crap
- liquid cooling
- NO front panel doors
- clear side panel (but I can live with one)

It seems like a lot of other brands do some of the drive bays and tool-less stuff better than the Antec 300, but the 300 seems very "popular" and the choice of many people and includes a couple of fans (not just one). No matter what I read up on, there are people saying to go look at something else instead and it just goes in circles.

They all seem to be in the $50-$65 CDN range - please help me out.

Thanks.
 
I'm a fan of the HAF912 over the Antec 300...

I've built a few computers with either of them and the HAF912 just has more features for the same price. Build quality is about the same.

Never touched the zalman
 
I've seen both the Antec 300 and 912. The Antec is a higher quality build. Well, at least it looked and felt like the metal was thicker. I'm actually not too impressed by the finish quality of my CM692 to be honest. Antec has always had a good finish to them, and I've owned 3 so far. All great!

Super Lanboy (OLD)
P183SE
mini P180
 
personally im a big fan of lian li cases and antec's 183's and p180 mini's
 
I know its not popular by its looks, but i personally dont buy hardware for its looks. I can recommend the inwin maelstrom case. Its a full tower, has sound dampening inside, as well as plenty of room and extremely good cooling options.

oh its 99$
 
Last edited:
dj LiTh said:
I know its not popular by its looks, but i personally dont buy hardware for its looks. I can recommend the inwin maelstrom case. Its a full tower, has sound dampening inside, as well as plenty of room and extremely good cooling options.

oh its 99$
Click to expand...

heave, heave, Hermmphhh... oh sorry, I just threw up a little in my mouth...
 
Here are a few

HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition $39.99 $1.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121096

NZXT GAMMA Classic Series $35.99 $5.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition $39.99 $9.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

COOLER MASTER Elite $39.99 $9.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119203

AZZA Triton 401 $39.99 MIR of $10 $9.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517016

XCLIO Godspeed One Advanced $39.99 $9.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103024
 
Last edited:
Some more

Sentey Optimus Extreme $39.99 $14.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811322015

AeroCool Vs-9 $49.99 $18.07 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811196039

SILVERSTONE Precision Series $49.99 MIR of $10 $14.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163168

Sunbeam VentMax $49.99 $9.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166054

Sentey Black Box Series $49.99 $9.99 shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811322020
 
You unfortunately just missed a sell on newegg for the 300 illusion (2 extra fans, has led's but wires are easily clippable) which was going for $55 with free shipping. :( They usually do that like once a month though.

I have to say I really like the Antec as it seems a better value then some with it's thicker metal and tri-cool fans (not the best but really not half bad and have 3 speed switches). It's not tooless, it uses thubscrews for most things though (optical drives need a phillips screwdriver).

I've used the haf 912 and I wasn't too impressed with the quality, although the airflow was great. The dust filers were a pain in the ass to remove for cleaning. Pretty good cable management. Felt a little flimsy. Plastic. - All in all I think the 300 and especially 300 illusion is a much better value when found for the same price.

No experience with the Zalman, sorry.

As far as the Lancool goes... I've used that also, and I think it's a step above all the other cases you listed. It has very good sound dampening. Very sturdy. Not as many fan set up options, but still seems to keep components very cool (well thought out airflow design?). The only real negative is that I never really see it in the same price range as these other cases. Usually like $70 and only 2 fans.

If you can find a Lancool at your budget I say go for it. Otherwise I'd pick up a Antec 300 for $50 or hunt for a illusion for about the same price with 2 extra fans.
 
Fixall said:
You unfortunately just missed a sell on newegg for the 300 illusion (2 extra fans, has led's but wires are easily clippable) which was going for $55 with free shipping. :( They usually do that like once a month though.

I have to say I really like the Antec as it seems a better value then some with it's thicker metal and tri-cool fans (not the best but really not half bad and have 3 speed switches). It's not tooless, it uses thubscrews for most things though (optical drives need a phillips screwdriver).

I've used the haf 912 and I wasn't too impressed with the quality, although the airflow was great. The dust filers were a pain in the ass to remove for cleaning. Pretty good cable management. Felt a little flimsy. Plastic. - All in all I think the 300 and especially 300 illusion is a much better value when found for the same price.

No experience with the Zalman, sorry.

As far as the Lancool goes... I've used that also, and I think it's a step above all the other cases you listed. It has very good sound dampening. Very sturdy. Not as many fan set up options, but still seems to keep components very cool (well thought out airflow design?). The only real negative is that I never really see it in the same price range as these other cases. Usually like $70 and only 2 fans.

If you can find a Lancool at your budget I say go for it. Otherwise I'd pick up a Antec 300 for $50 or hunt for a illusion for about the same price with 2 extra fans.
Click to expand...

But if you are buying a lan cool case you should be buying some yate loons with it.

All of the cases I posted are great deals and fir the budget description. I suggest the Sentey Cases for having good included fans built in fan controllers great cable managment and hard drive caddys.
 
Last edited:
GuyClinch said:
Don't get a budget case - wait for a decent one to go on sale..like the current "shell shocker" on the Lancool K58.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112238&cm_re=K58-_-11-112-238-_-Product

actually kinda tempted to get that myself..haha.
Click to expand...

I would jump allll over that. If the op sees this in time that's a great deal. Bummer about the side window, but still very much worth it in my opinion.

It comes with a 120mm fan and a 140mm fan which aren't too bad. But as Manny said, replacing them with some Yate Loons would be pretty GREAT set up. Shouldn't come up to all that much as you'd get such a great deal on the case. Amazon sometimes has the Loons for a good deal with free supersaving shipping.

The set up would be very cool and very quiet.
 
Keep in mind guys that he is in Canada. Those newegg prices don't carry over to newegg.ca
 
Thanks everyone, keep 'em coming! Some comments below:

dj LiTh said:
I know its not popular by its looks, but i personally dont buy hardware for its looks. I can recommend the inwin maelstrom case. Its a full tower, has sound dampening inside, as well as plenty of room and extremely good cooling options.

oh its 99$
Click to expand...

I just looked at it up here and it's over $110. That's about twice my budget. You're right - it's not easy on the eyes but is full featured.

It's also a full tower - I'm kind of looking for the smallest full ATX case I can find (within reason) and don't need or want a monstrosity.


mannyman said:
Here are a few
Click to expand...

Thanks - I'll check out the list. However...

JapaneseGorilla said:
Keep in mind guys that he is in Canada. Those newegg prices don't carry over to newegg.ca
Click to expand...

...exactly :)

I am in Canada and have more limited options. In particular, shipping is way more expensive even within country.

As to why I'm shopping for a budget case - it's my second rig that lives in the basement which gets used when both my wife and I want to game at the same time. I just need something that doesn't suck so bad and has some front panel connections so it's easy to drop in and connect a headset.

It's a whole separate thread, but my main rig is very space constrained and is difficult to shop for (must be no more than ~16.5" deep front/back) so I can't swap cases around too easily and just get a nicer case for my main rig. Right now I have a 2006-era Antec NSK4400 - I had almost nothing to chose from.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129012

antec-nsk4400-atx-1-india.jpg


Maybe I should start a thread for that discussion and see if I find any good tips on low-depth cases that will still handle a ~9" GPU, then I would have the option to rotate my NSK4400 to the second rig and upgrade the main rig.
 
Considering the Cooler Master Elite 370 or Elite RC-330.

I have some external 3.5" devices I might like to be able to use and I would also prefer a more even split between external bays and internal bays than a lot of "enthusiast" (even budget) cases offer. I'm simply not going to have 6 or 8 SSD/HDDs in either of my rigs, let alone my second rig. I might, however, have a card reader, DVDRW, BD reader, hot swap disk chassis, Audigy front panel audio etc...

Any thoughts on the smaller Cooler Masters?
 
Ended up with a Cooler Master Elite 370. The sheet metal is thin gauge and flexes, although not was much as the previous junk case and the "whole package" design and build is far superior.

I found that it did not have threaded holes to accept standoffs in the "not quite ATX" board depth that the P5B-E seems to be. This leaves the rear of the mobo (where the power connector and memory is) unsupported. It seems that my NSK4400 and my POS case had an optional standoff position at these points.

The tool-less is a cheap design, but functional. There's plenty of room to work within the case, though not a lot of hidden or neat routing for a lot of cables. It's a rats nest in there just because a lot of things don't reach unless they go point to point. It's extremely quiet compared to the previous case which used 80mm fans and it's keep things very much cooler even with Q-Fan enabled.

I also got a Scythe Kama2 EX-FDB bearing fan @1400rpm. I ended up putting this in the rear because the Cooler Master included fan is quite a bit slower (generates a BIOS warning when Q-Fan is on). I put the supplied CM fan in front of the drive bays where only one fairly cool drive resides anyways.

Good case for the budget @$39. Also on my shortlist were the Elite 335, 371 and 310.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top