Top ranking case manufacturers!

[Tbird87]

Antec's customer service is very nice and effective. I sent an email to them a while back asking them if they had any replacement Sonata doors. A rep replied back asking for my address and shipped one out to me free of charge without asking any other questions, UPS dropped it off 3 days later.

 

[zappb]

Not just the lack of holes....no cutout for HSF....and what looks like HORRIBLE airflow...and their full towers seem to have rather small interior space...the whole layout of the case is just dated



Where did that guy you quoted say that? He just simply said most people on [h] don't sleeve their PSUs....which is true. Why do people always insinuate strawman things from something someone says?

I'd like to stuff that hole


(that's what she said)

 

[coconutboy]

Your keyword "shopping" you haven't bought or owned one as of yet, just hot air.

Hey Einstein It doesn't take rocket science to figure out what the OP means.



This is complete rubbish mixed with an angry boy who contradicts himself.

1. Since you're so concerned, when my lady and I finally decide on which two cases we're buying, I'll be sure to send you pics and a PM.

2. Myself and others have shown that the OP isn't very specific wrt "top ranking" and the variety of responses given by other people confirms the ambiguity.

3. Not only are you imagining a contradiction but what's plainly obvious is you are the one who is upset as shown by...

Mainstream = decent computer
Fake enthusiast = wannabe's like you!
True enthusiast = cares about overall performance and presentation
Extreme Enthusiast = Ln2, heavy benchers, world record holders.

It took you an extra 11 minutes to come up w/ this continuation of your previous post?

No wonder you capitalized "Extreme Enthusiasts", what they do must be beyond your comprehension. Quick, look at the autographed poster on your wall and tell me who is the current world record holder for Nehalem LN2 (FTFY).

 

[FalconSS]

ok guys, lets get back on topic. I admit that the op could have been more clear but I'm pretty sure he is meaning overall Quality. in which many posters have already put down the tiers that

silverstone <>= Lianli > Coolermaster >= Antec > NXZT > Thermaltake > most other cases

personally I started my computer building by having a Thermaltake Xaser3 which I thought was awesome for the time and still holds up well. then I went to an Antec SuperLanboy due to wantin something smaller and lighter. The lanboy has NOT held up at all and is literally falling apart/bent/ and frankly the outside looks like crap now. I now have a silversone Ft-02 and he quality differance between the other 2 is outstanding. you cannot express with words or pictures the differance a quality case makes.

*note: this does not include experiences with OEM cases, such as alienware, voodoo, apple, dell, or HP

**double note: Corsair is an honorable mention because their current product line is in short, incredible. They have ditched the large cumbersome watercooling setups and made an excellent, small, easily added or removed watercooling device. It may not post the best temps but it has good performance and is quiet, as well as not putting strain on the motherbard and looking nice.

Their case in an excellent entry to the market and I recently got a chance to play with one and it is a very well engineered enclosure with emphasis on cable management. the only reason I didn't get it ( at 225 from microcenter no less) is because its just a tad on the tall side for me.

 

[Tahoe916]

NXZT though? Really? I think maybe they go out on a ledge in design sometimes, but every case I've seen of theres is built like poo.

 

[Direfox]

Disclaimer, this just my opinion and quite a few other will disagree.


Lian Li's build quality is in all their cases. They have less expensive steel cases but they are well designed and have many of the features of their aluminum ones. Right now with their K-62 (competes against the Antec 900, Storm Scout type cases), A05 (competes against all those little midtowers that everyone makes) , and ARMORSUIT PC-P50R (which is one of the best if not THE best custom factory modded case available) they have cases that are as good or better than any other case manufacturer no matter what type of case you desire (even funky ones).

Antec is the one of the best values for cases because they have cases with power supplies that are good enough for the average user. Not hardcore overclocking/dual GPU/complete water cooling setup good, but good enough. And while they have had a few bad ones, every other case+psu manufacturer is including power supplies that are best questionable and a worst a menace. Their cases all seem pretty decent but most are not great overclocking cases because of airflow (900, 1200, etc are the exceptions.)

Cooler Master has an incredible range of cases types from wild to classic and they are all pretty decent, about on par with Antec

Silverstone seems like its ALMOST Lian Li quality, with ALMOST as good a price but not quite. If your down to Lian Li vs. Silverstone and you really like the look of the Silverstone better, you won't be disappointed.

Having said all that I only build computer systems for family and friends as a hobby, not professionally. Almost always I have xxx dollars to work with and I am looking to squeeze as much value as I can into the system so I usually go with Antec. By watching the sales I can almost always get a decent case and PSU for less than buying the two separately and the savings go straight to the video card.

 

[Tahoe916]

I don't know why anyone would disagree with that, that's sound logic right there.

 

[NZXT_Dood]

Was browsing through the forums and i saw this thread, i just wanted to say we're definitely trying to get up into the top 5. Considering the 5 1/2 years time we've had in the market, I feel we've done pretty good job, but we can always improve more. A lot of the time creating an amazing product also takes big investment so for us we needed to reach a certain scale in order to compete. We're taking big risks this year to hopefully bring NZXT up there with the big guys. Hopefully one day, we're in the top brands when people think of cases, enthusiasts products. My favorite brands are:

Antec, Silverstone, Coolermaster, Corsair, Lian li

Johnny Hou.
Co-founder / Product Manager @ NZXT

 

[dennisjai]

Was browsing through the forums and i saw this thread, i just wanted to say we're definitely trying to get up into the top 5. Considering the 5 1/2 years time we've had in the market, I feel we've done pretty good job, but we can always improve more. A lot of the time creating an amazing product also takes big investment so for us we needed to reach a certain scale in order to compete. We're taking big risks this year to hopefully bring NZXT up there with the big guys. Hopefully one day, we're in the top brands when people think of cases, enthusiasts products. My favorite brands are:

Antec, Silverstone, Coolermaster, Corsair, Lian li

Johnny Hou.
Co-founder / Product Manager @ NZXT

You guys definitely bring on the bang for buck. The NZXT Beta Evo & Classic was the least expensive case that had water cooling/cable management holes and an all black interior.

Although one thing that I would like to suggest an improvement on is the rebate tracking process. There's no way to track it, and I've e-mailed reps to get a very vague answer.

 

[Soap*141]

1. Since you're so concerned, when my lady and I finally decide on which two cases we're buying, I'll be sure to send you pics and a PM.

2. Myself and others have shown that the OP isn't very specific wrt "top ranking" and the variety of responses given by other people confirms the ambiguity.

3. Not only are you imagining a contradiction but what's plainly obvious is you are the one who is upset as shown by...



It took you an extra 11 minutes to come up w/ this continuation of your previous post?

No wonder you capitalized "Extreme Enthusiasts", what they do must be beyond your comprehension. Quick, look at the autographed poster on your wall and tell me who is the current world record holder for Nehalem LN2 (FTFY).

Oh wow all this time spent on little old me, upset? your emotions and anger scream through your sentences, even to go as far as over analyzing the time spent on a reply, lolz there are many things that could be done in 11 min, for instance taking a dump! lolz

Now please go sit your emotional ass in a corner and chill out.

 

[Redbeard]

Was browsing through the forums and i saw this thread, i just wanted to say we're definitely trying to get up into the top 5. Considering the 5 1/2 years time we've had in the market, I feel we've done pretty good job, but we can always improve more. A lot of the time creating an amazing product also takes big investment so for us we needed to reach a certain scale in order to compete. We're taking big risks this year to hopefully bring NZXT up there with the big guys. Hopefully one day, we're in the top brands when people think of cases, enthusiasts products. My favorite brands are:

Antec, Silverstone, Coolermaster, Corsair, Lian li

Johnny Hou.
Co-founder / Product Manager @ NZXT

I agree with you on the favorite brands for the most part,

I've been a fan of a lot of the things NZXT does - the Adamas and the Panzerbox are two of my favorite case designs from you guys.

I think "top ranking case manufacturers" is a hard sell because there's such a wide range. You can buy a $20 case or a $600 case, and the customer for each one is different.

I think Antec and Cooler Master make fantastic sub $100 cases right now, and Thermaltake's new "Element" series is very cool, in my book.

But my personal systems for the past few years were in Silverstone cases, until the 800D was finished and now I've got one of those.

There's room enough in the case market for a bunch of different guys doing a bunch of different things because cases are largely subjective. It's not like PSUs where you can plug them into a tester and determine which one is better. It's all about personal taste. The same reason why there are 20 brands of toothpaste and 100 brands of shampoo at the store.

 

[Direfox]

Was browsing through the forums and i saw this thread, i just wanted to say we're definitely trying to get up into the top 5. Considering the 5 1/2 years time we've had in the market, I feel we've done pretty good job, but we can always improve more. A lot of the time creating an amazing product also takes big investment so for us we needed to reach a certain scale in order to compete. We're taking big risks this year to hopefully bring NZXT up there with the big guys. Hopefully one day, we're in the top brands when people think of cases, enthusiasts products. My favorite brands are:

Antec, Silverstone, Coolermaster, Corsair, Lian li

Johnny Hou.
Co-founder / Product Manager @ NZXT

So I was reading your post and Redbeards, I have never really spent any time looking at your cases before. I would have to agree that both the Adamas and the Panzer are great designs. However, even though the Adamas has a lot of nice features it looks kind of generic on the outside. The side vents are just cutouts which is perfectly functional, but you have a case with some seriously good looking aluminum INSIDE and some blah cutouts on the outside. Even if all you did was press them out a bit for relief or put an accent around them some way they would look less like an after-thought. One other thing I would do with that case is give some OPTIONAL bling to the front panel. The Antec Sonata Designer (new name for an old case) has optional front panels in different accent colors. I have always wondered why more companies didn't do things along these lines. A dark red or blue optional accent to your front panel could do wonders for your cases appearance.

As for the Panzer, wow. I can't believe I haven't noticed this case before. Removable mobo tray so you dont' have to take out the PSU when changing components. Lots of airflow and enough drive bays for most people. Optional watercooling is nice but this is an aircooling case all the way. I'm really impressed with the design. Two questions for you about this, any plans on adding a filteration system and how easy is it to find replacement fans?

 

[Zenshi]

I am not sure what is the purpose of this thread except to get a bunch of people to start arguing over their preferred case manufacturer. Still it's cool to hear from an owner of NZXT.

 

[m0rn]

I am not sure what is the purpose of this thread except to get a bunch of people to start arguing over their preferred case manufacturer. Still it's cool to hear from an owner of NZXT.

I like this thread, it's entertaining, and it looks like most people are in agreement over who the top manufacturers are, for the most part anyways

 

[Blazestorm]

Well this thread got angry quickly...

 

[slowfreight]

Silverstone TJ-09 here. Love the thing.

 

[coconutboy]

I think "top ranking case manufacturers" is a hard sell because there's such a wide range. You can buy a $20 case or a $600 case, and the customer for each one is different.

Well put Redbeard and I definitely agree. I also think it's a strong positive for companies that have a presence in the various web fora. Corsair has done a fantastic job with their first case ever, and there's definitely an anticipation from the community to see what new design ya'll produce (mid-tower? SFF? Air cooling specific?).

Likewise I think Silverstone and NZXT (you're spot on dennisjai) have done some great things and hopefully that's a side benefit from their keeping close to the community's pulse. In particular I think NZXT is really doing a great job of competing w/ Antec/Cooler Master in the ~$100 space. Considering the price, the Tempest was already a great case for the money vs the 900/902 and the subtle changes they've made with the Tempest Evo made it even better (nitpick: the wiring connecting the front panel on the Tempest should be detachable or some such). If not for the stiff competition offered by the Lian Li pc-k62, I think the Tempest would be garnering a lot more sales and attention. The Tempest Evo was as low as $89 just a week or two ago! I also think the NZXT Rogue was fantastic. Sure it had flaws, but for the price, it was very tempting.

Lastly, if I had a pair of requests, they would be to use high quality dust filters on ALL intakes (too often the side panel or some other fan is ignored) and make those filters easy to access/clean. Look at the Lian Li pc-x2000. THAT is dust filtering done right. The Corsair 800d requires users to go behind the case which can be a hassle for many users, but is otherwise fine. Meanwhile many cases claim to have dust filters, but require users to tediously clean several 5.25 bays covers that use these mesh backed bay covers as their only form of filtration. Ugh... Not a big deal if you only clean your filters once a month, but if you have to do it several times a week, that's not acceptable.

I like this thread, it's entertaining, and it looks like most people are in agreement over who the top manufacturers are, for the most part anyways

Aye, everyone will have their own preference, but even w/ the OP's poorly defined criteria the companies doing it (mostly) right are common knowledge to the enthusiasts who would read a chassis-specific forum.

 

[coconutboy]

Oh wow all this time spent on little old me, upset? your emotions and anger scream through your sentences, even to go as far as over analyzing the time spent on a reply, lolz there are many things that could be done in 11 min, for instance taking a dump! lolz

Now please go sit your emotional ass in a corner and chill out.

It takes me 1 minute, perhaps two tops, to read your post and type a response. By comparison I notice that you posted a reply, then 20 minutes later it was on your mind enough that you had to edit your post. (Seriously, an edit for 3 sentences? ) Then I check my inbox since I haven't looked at these forums in a few days and see that 7 hours later you sent me a PM...

Whether it's 11 minutes or 20, the periods of time between your multiple posts and the repeated editing make it pretty obvious you're inept, slow, and spending a lot more time focusing on me than vice versa.

Well this thread got angry quickly...

You should see the bizarre PM he sent me wherein he calls my g/f a "whore" and babbles about how much money his keyboard costs. It's the fury of an adolescent boy living in his parent's home. My lady and her friend got a good laugh outta that one. If I'm somehow wrong and he's actually an adult, such behavior is even more pathetic.

 

[m0rn]

Whether it's 11 minutes or 20, the periods of time between your multiple posts and the repeated editing make it pretty obvious you're inept, slow, and spending a lot more time focusing on me than vice versa.

You should see the bizarre PM he sent me wherein he calls my g/f a "whore" and babbles about how much money his keyboard costs. It's the fury of an adolescent boy living in his parent's home. My lady and her friend got a good laugh outta that one. If I'm somehow wrong and he's actually an adult, such behavior is even more pathetic.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1501238

I think that link is relevant. Especially the first sentence quoted. Its easy to act like a hard ass when you're hiding behind a keyboard and monitor.

 

[Soap*141]

It takes me 1 minute, perhaps two tops, to read your post and type a response. By comparison I notice that you posted a reply, then 20 minutes later it was on your mind enough that you had to edit your post. (Seriously, an edit for 3 sentences? ) Then I check my inbox since I haven't looked at these forums in a few days and see that 7 hours later you sent me a PM...

Whether it's 11 minutes or 20, the periods of time between your multiple posts and the repeated editing make it pretty obvious you're inept, slow, and spending a lot more time focusing on me than vice versa.



You should see the bizarre PM he sent me wherein he calls my g/f a "whore" and babbles about how much money his keyboard costs. It's the fury of an adolescent boy living in his parent's home. My lady and her friend got a good laugh outta that one. If I'm somehow wrong and he's actually an adult, such behavior is even more pathetic.

You're pathetic, no one but a troll comes to a computer forum and talks about lady friend and window shopping skills, you had nothing to offer to this thread but your uber trolling, all you had to offer was OP isn't here so everyone must lock shop and go home

Double posting, replying to dead thread only to quench your ego, talking like your gf is some trophy only shows your level of immaturity and insecurity.

Get a life dumb troll!