Recs for ATX Mid-Tower or Cube Case.

3WAYsplit

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 26, 2001
Messages
1,258
I'm interested in finding a nice ATX Mid-Tower or Cube Case.

no PSU included..
I like a clean design, no fancy case moldings. Simple box shape, window(s), lights..
Removable motherboard tray would be good to have.
Case fans (at least 4) front/back
2-3 External 5.25" Drive Bays
4 Internal 3.5" Drive Bays
Front Ports: USB 3.0, Audio, etc
Steel, Plastic, Metal: No preference
Color: Black, grey, white, nothing to wild.
Price >$200

What do you recommend?
 

Those look promising. I kinda like the Fractal Design Define R5 White Window Silent ATX Midtower Computer Case $119.99. But I need to check for more specs.



This case is priced right, and I like that it has tool-free 3.5” and 5.25” drive installation. It would be great if the front port connections were towards the middle of the front bezel.


CaseLabs SM8

The CaseLabs are far too pricey, and not what I'm looking for..


Thx guys, any more ideas?
 
Who cares about removable motherboard trays these days? Since Intel's at less than 10% IPC improvement each cycle and AMD's a complete joke, whatever board you put in is going to be there for the long haul, 4-6 years, easy. Assuming you're buying a high-end board and a K series CPU (and if you aren't why the hell are you on [H]?) you should be able to get a 50%+ OC out of the box without too much trouble. By the time you need a new board to support a new CPU the case will be a horrifically scratched and dented mess, barely recognizable. We'll probably all be speaking Chinese by then.

I'm amazed anyone wants a single fixed 5.25" bay anymore, never mind 2-3. What are you doing with them? Fan controllers? Optical drives you'll use 2-3 times, ever? Poorly placed water-cooling reservoirs? Get an external USB DVD/Blu-ray burner that'll spend 3/4 its life in a drawer and buy a case without 5.25" bays; they're a ridiculous waste of space.
 
Who cares about removable motherboard trays these days? Since Intel's at less than 10% IPC improvement each cycle and AMD's a complete joke, whatever board you put in is going to be there for the long haul, 4-6 years, easy. Assuming you're buying a high-end board and a K series CPU (and if you aren't why the hell are you on [H]?) you should be able to get a 50%+ OC out of the box without too much trouble. By the time you need a new board to support a new CPU the case will be a horrifically scratched and dented mess, barely recognizable. We'll probably all be speaking Chinese by then.

I'm amazed anyone wants a single fixed 5.25" bay anymore, never mind 2-3. What are you doing with them? Fan controllers? Optical drives you'll use 2-3 times, ever? Poorly placed water-cooling reservoirs? Get an external USB DVD/Blu-ray burner that'll spend 3/4 its life in a drawer and buy a case without 5.25" bays; they're a ridiculous waste of space.



My current system is in a Full Tower case still running XP that is over 10yrs old. I'm really rusty on the needed specs. So I was just going by what I didn't want.

I'm sick of looking at the tower, so I wanted to go with the mid-tower. I plan on getting a modular PSU, so I don't want a factory installed one.

I didn't feel like cutting my hands while putting the components inside the case, that's why I was thinking of the removable motherboard tray. The last time I built a PC you needed at least 2 External 5.25" Drive Bays one for DVD-ROM, one for the DVD-RW.
The DVD-RW at the time didn't play the DVD-ROM discs. If that has changed great.

I want space for case fans to keep the PC cooled, and plenty of HDD space.


Hopefully I can find something that I can stick with for another 10+ years.
 
Sorry for my tone above, late night drunken [H] browsing, probably not the best idea. Most of what I said stands, though.

What do you need the DVD drive for (or at this point it's probably a Blu-ray writer, if anything)? You can get Windows on a USB stick, and most software distribution is via the net these days. If it's just an occasional use thing, there are cheap external USB writers these days that work fine, just keep it in a drawer till you need it.

Not cutting yourself up is a fair point, but with modern cases that's not so much an issue. They're generally better built and more open layouts, easier to build in. Lots of large cutouts in the tray for attaching HSF and passing wires.

Truth is you could probably make this very small if you wanted - there are ITX cases out there that'll take a lot of hard drives, for example.

Yeah, generally an included PSU is a bad sign (though there are exceptions) so I agree with you there.
 
Well I did some searching this morning. I've looked on many sites and came up with a list of ATX cases that interest me.

Are any of these problematic? Do any have issues with current hardware?

Antec:
http://store.antec.com/enclosure/

Sonata III 500
SOLO II
Sonata Proto

Fractal Design:
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases

Arc Midi R2
Core 2300
Core 3300
Core 1500
Core 2500
Define C - Window
Define S - Window
Define R5 Blackout Edition Window
Define R5 Black Window
Define R5 Titanium Window
Define R5 White Window
Define R4 Arctic White - Window
Define R4 Black Pearl - Window
Define R4 Titanium Grey - Window
Define XL R2 Titanium Grey
Define XL R2 Black Pearl
Node 605

Corsair:
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/pc-computer-cases

Carbide Series® Air 540 Arctic White High Airflow ATX Cube Case
Carbide Series® 500R Mid-Tower Case
Obsidian Series® 450D Mid-Tower PC Case
Carbide Series® 100R Mid-Tower Case
Carbide Series® 100R Silent Edition Mid-Tower Case

NZXT:
https://www.nzxt.com/categories/cases

Source 210
Source 220

Thermaltake:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/chassis.aspx

Thermaltake View 27 Gull-Wing Window ATX Mid-Tower Chassis
Thermaltake Core X5 ATX Cube Chassis



I have plenty of media (games/movies/music) on DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, CD, that I still use. So at least one 5.25" drive is necessary. A Blu-Drive might be needed.

The case needs plenty of room for HDDs 120GB+ alone is just for audio. :)
 
cases are subjective(right word? personal preference). I suggest you look and find a few you like and hit up google for reviews. giving a list of 29 cases is a little much...
 
cases are subjective(right word? personal preference). I suggest you look and find a few you like and hit up google for reviews. giving a list of 29 cases is a little much...

That's the problem, I'm overwhelmed with the information. I was hoping to find out if anyone could help weed out some. IE: Cases X, Y, Z don't accept larger graphics cards. While Cases A, B, C have no trouble fitting larger cards, etc.
 
That's the problem, I'm overwhelmed with the information. I was hoping to find out if anyone could help weed out some. IE: Cases X, Y, Z don't accept larger graphics cards. While Cases A, B, C have no trouble fitting larger cards, etc.

Almost every full ATX case will be fine for what you're talking about doing. Unless you have a really odd requirement (like 7-8 5.25" drives, or >10 HDDs), every case you mentioned should work fine. They've become a lot more standardized in the past 4-5 years. You generally won't have a problem with graphic card length unless you're looking at mATX or ITX builds and SFF or mini-tower cases.

So really it's a matter of pick a case in your price range that you really like the looks of, and then double check your components just to be sure. The majority of this decision is going to be personal preference on what you think looks the best next to your desk.
 
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