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Coolest looking (affordable) cases?

Topweasel said:
Ease of working with for one. I am personally tired of working on mid towers and other similar cases. If its a seal it and forget it case then fine. But if you often are trading out HDD's, adding more memory, swapping CPU's, adding expansion cards, or just have to fiddle around with crap on a semi usual basis, I and I am sure other Full tower users would rather do that work in comfort. Also its about the future, what if I am not a fan of my cooling setup and want a bigger HSF? or its long enough for my Vid card now, but what about my next one? I only have 2 HDD's now but prices going down and capacity going up will that change?
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There is no lack of comfort working in this mid tower. I ahve had some that were cramped. But this is not one of them.
 
my midtower HAF 922 has quite a bit of working space. What I find annoying about it is the lack of wire grommets. Even the HSF cutout in the mobo tray is of adequate size for my current motherboard that i can get to the back plate with no issues.

however the mobo tray stops about 2" after the board so there's a large open gap between the tray and drive cages. So aside from having to snake cables around all weirdly to hide them, that's my only complaint.
 
bastage said:
There is no lack of comfort working in this mid tower. I ahve had some that were cramped. But this is not one of them.
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Depends on definition of cramped. If it doesn't allow full hand thickness between Mobo and Optical drives, then its cramped to me. If I am working with a 6850 or longer video card and its annoying to get the power plugged in then its cramped to me. If I have to "pre-plan" cable management, then its cramped to me. If I put a good power supply in the case and have to remove a feature of the case then its cramped to me. If removing that piece is annoying and limited after the case is filled because I had to swap out the Power supply then the case is cramped.

Now it looks like it fits the hand test, but looks like there is still potential for knuckle scrapping. But the cabling is tight, the video card supported length is limited (without removing the normal drive bays) the power supply bay is tight (without removing the SSD bays), and god forbid you get a decent vid card and a decent power supply to power it. I brought up the the SSD bay and the fact that the case pretty annoying to work on if I swapped out parts in reference to that case in particular. Because lets face it for the most part Mid tower means lost space or lost flexibility.

The 912 is a perfect example of how you make a cost effective mid tower for enthusiasts. Keep it cheap and a add a level of flexibility that just frankly isn't needed in a full tower. They are best suited for secondary computer uses, PC's moved a lot, people with real space restrictions, or and probably a growing number of people who don't like huge monolithic behemoths. Doesn't make it a bad computer case. Actually its fantastic for its price. I would probably use that or a 922 for someone with similar styles as me but doesn't touch the inside of their computer. Keeps the cost down, limits the foot print for other people, and is flexible enough to stand up to several different configurations.

But that's not everyone. If you have worked in a Haf X. Corsair 800D. Lian Li V model. Or any other full tower case, then yes the 912 is cramped.
 
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Ended up getting an Antec 900 for a very reasonable price on here. Still tempted to buy the Corsair 600T White though...
 
Does anyone have any input on how a Fractal XL compares to a HAF 932 and ATCS 840 for airflow and cooling? I have the 932 right now but it's a bit showy for me. I don't really want a case window, for one thing. The Fractal and the ATCS 840 are my other two choices. Maybe also the Enermax Spinerex but I think that has a window as well.
 
Topweasel said:
But that's not everyone. If you have worked in a Haf X. Corsair 800D. Lian Li V model. Or any other full tower case, then yes the 912 is cramped.
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I had a Rocketfish Full Tower (lian li) for about 2 years.. Demension wise its much much larger then the haf 912. Ease of working its no different. Every case is going to have a tight spot somewhere that kinda sucks. Also you talk about not having room without removing the bays for long PSU or Video card. Well with both removed you still have room for 3x 3.5" drives without going into the 5.25" bays. For a modern gaming rig there should be no reason for more then 3 drives. I think 2 is the most common now & 1 of the 2 being an ssd.
 
rennyf77 said:
haf...overtly 'butch' for my tastes. like reiger body kits. for the price i'd opt for a lian li or lancool. specifically the dragon lord case if you can excuse the queer name.
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ill excuse the name, thats a nice case
 
bastage said:
I had a Rocketfish Full Tower (lian li) for about 2 years.. Demension wise its much much larger then the haf 912. Ease of working its no different. Every case is going to have a tight spot somewhere that kinda sucks. Also you talk about not having room without removing the bays for long PSU or Video card. Well with both removed you still have room for 3x 3.5" drives without going into the 5.25" bays. For a modern gaming rig there should be no reason for more then 3 drives. I think 2 is the most common now & 1 of the 2 being an ssd.
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But you then start making assumptions on usage. My current system (several minor upgrades and 1 big overhaul) started out with only 2 HDD's. 1 Raptor and 1 Storage drive, but now is up to filling all 4 HDD drives and I have 2 opticals. In the sense that a 912 is a mostly disposable case at that price does make that issue not as big, but who wants to have to subplant their entire system because they got one drive to many. Or have to worry about the size of their video card because they might have to offload a hard drive.

To me when you are buying a case like that, you know your configuration, and have little plan of changing it. When I think of full towers I am looking for a case where I am comfortable in my purchase for not just my current equipment, but for the next 5 years or more. Something my last 2 cases have done and so will my next one.

Look at. http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1406/6/ and then http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1311/7/

Sorry but it isn't a contest. Cable management is a comparative chore and needs to be accounted for during initial installation. Restrictive in size specially in regards to the top screws/standoffs. Restrictive in regards to components available now not even counting ones possibly available in the future.

Not saying that people can't use it or that I would be uncomfortable working within its environment. Just saying people looking at Full Towers are looking at something completely different then what someone looking at one of the smaller full atx mid towers is.
 
Topweasel said:
But you then start making assumptions on usage. My current system (several minor upgrades and 1 big overhaul) started out with only 2 HDD's. 1 Raptor and 1 Storage drive, but now is up to filling all 4 HDD drives and I have 2 opticals. In the sense that a 912 is a mostly disposable case at that price does make that issue not as big, but who wants to have to subplant their entire system because they got one drive to many. Or have to worry about the size of their video card because they might have to offload a hard drive.

To me when you are buying a case like that, you know your configuration, and have little plan of changing it. When I think of full towers I am looking for a case where I am comfortable in my purchase for not just my current equipment, but for the next 5 years or more. Something my last 2 cases have done and so will my next one.

Look at. http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1406/6/ and then http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1311/7/

Sorry but it isn't a contest. Cable management is a comparative chore and needs to be accounted for during initial installation. Restrictive in size specially in regards to the top screws/standoffs. Restrictive in regards to components available now not even counting ones possibly available in the future.

Not saying that people can't use it or that I would be uncomfortable working within its environment. Just saying people looking at Full Towers are looking at something completely different then what someone looking at one of the smaller full atx mid towers is.
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LMAO.. So you really just compared a 60 dollar case to a 190 dollar case..

And I am sorry if My builds are planned out & I know exactly whats going to be in them & you dont. I havent had more then 2 drives in my main rig now for several years. If I need more space then I add another HDD to my server which is now up to 10tb raw storage spread across 6 drives. And 2 opticals is a complete waste anymore for 90% of anyone.. Hell 1 is a waste for most for that matter. I have a 3 or 4 year old lite on burner that has had maybe 50 or 75 disks placed into its tray since new. I Couldnt see having 2. Infact my burner in my server is still IDE for that matter..

As far as looking for a case to hold your rquipment in 5 years.. well how many cases have you gone through in 5 years. I myself have had no less then 8 or 9 in that time frame. But then again I am an enthusiast that like my hardware & the kind of person that cant leave well enough alone.

Edit: Oh & my server w/ all the drives.. Thats still in a MicroATX case (Lian Li a04)
 
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bastage said:
LMAO.. So you really just compared a 60 dollar case to a 190 dollar case..

And I am sorry if My builds are planned out & I know exactly whats going to be in them & you dont. I havent had more then 2 drives in my main rig now for several years. If I need more space then I add another HDD to my server which is now up to 10tb raw storage spread across 6 drives. And 2 opticals is a complete waste anymore for 90% of anyone.. Hell 1 is a waste for most for that matter. I have a 3 or 4 year old lite on burner that has had maybe 50 or 75 disks placed into its tray since new. I Couldnt see having 2. Infact my burner in my server is still IDE for that matter..

As far as looking for a case to hold your rquipment in 5 years.. well how many cases have you gone through in 5 years. I myself have had no less then 8 or 9 in that time frame. But then again I am an enthusiast that like my hardware & the kind of person that cant leave well enough alone.

Edit: Oh & my server w/ all the drives.. Thats still in a MicroATX case (Lian Li a04)
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I am not even sure why we are debating this. I said "me personally". I said "when some on is looking at a full tower" vs "looking at a mid tower" they are looking for different things, I was just notating that to me a Mid Tower is too restrictive for me. Maybe I don't want 5 really small machines but one machine that serves my purpose really well.

I brought up lasting through different solutions for up to 5 years, yeah that's what I have done. Bought a case in 2001 that lasted till late 2005 and using that case till some time later this year.

You say that I don't think out my options, I do that's why I get a bigger case, I want to plan a little for the unknown. I have been able to go through 2 major rebuilds per case and only entering my 5th rebuild in 10 years, because I think out my parts, upgrade the small stuff when I get the itch and I don't toss aside a case that I "fell in love with" each time I want to make a change to my system. I'll have spent $460 (this year if I sub-come to wanting another rebuild) on 3 really flexible big cases while you spent nearly $500 on different smaller cases.

If you do it right, merely sufficient isn't cheaper in the long run.

None of this has any real aspect to my questioning/recommendation, that he evaluated what he was looking for in his "cool but not to expensive case". Which is accurate. I wouldn't recommend a 800D as all you need forever for someone that would rather have a system they can hide away, and I wouldn't recommend a 912 to someone who a interesting case that can fit all his cool parts for as long as he wants to keep the case, well unless he wasn't planning on keeping the case for a long time.
 
I've got a black NZXT Phantom. Coming from a guy who's owned a lot of Li Li's in the past, I will say this. I was pleasantly surprised. What it lacks in fine detail and craftsmanship it makes up for in features.
-Integrated fan controller, looks tasteful.
-Extra space behind motherboard tray. There must be a good half inch width over most cases. Good for stuffing your cabling.
-tons of cable routing options.
-good interior paint
-totally tooless

I actually like the design. And for roughly $100, you cant go wrong really. It would get my pick for budget cases. If your going to spend $200.00 get yourself something thats actually really nice. Like a li li/silverstone ect.
 
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