I believe most of us don’t mind spending more on cases. The only problem here is sometimes the price can’t justify the features and the quality, like Corsair case. So I think the title should be, “stop spending money for shitty cases”.
I remember I have paid good amount for my Cooler Master HAF-XB back in 2013 or something. Good case, really easy to carry, high airflow but god sake if you wish to maintenance your PC, dusting off, changing and installing new HDDs over time, and upgrading CPU+motherboard etc. it quickly becomes a pain and you will hate how small it is to fidget cables around. Even cleaning once a year is a big task and you will hate it. And god forbid if you ever drop a screw inside. Good case is a big case in my book, thus I was looking for something like Lian Li EVO XL but that thing was 350 USD here which is too expensive so I am thinking to make something from wood, plywood laser-cut etc. I hope can be done under 100$. These cases look spacious on picture but most of them doesn't support more than one or two HDD. I have 4x 3.5" and 2x 2.5" HDD already and a good case must hold at least 8x 3.5" HDD because over-avarage motherboards have 8x SATA port, otherwise I wouldn't consider it future proof which I did not considered that when I bought HAF-XB and that caused me to buy 5.25" to 3.5" converter plates in order to fit 2 more HDD.
@@richardbiney5445 I see them go for as low as 80€ on sale and even then they are not worth it. The bequiet 500DX is insignificantly more expensive at 85€ and comes with three 140mm fans. Corsair is antiquated and overpriced.
I think budget cases are better than ever - the $60 - $100 tier for mATX and ATX are great. The bigger issue is that value is all over the place. There are $65 hits from Montech and $150 duds from Corsair. Price alone just doesn’t tell the whole story, especially when it comes to build quality. Fractal cases are not the least expensive but always impress with details that are hard to quantify on a spec sheet.
Agree. I just built a new system and used the "old" Corsair 4000d airflow. It's only ~$70 usd with 2 fans and worked absolutely fine and looks great. I don't want multiple glass panels or the "new" side mount, extra wide PSU cases so this worked great for my build. It was a great case a year ago, it's still more than fine.
I have the same model (solid panel) The only thing I do not like is the placement of the vertical mount for the GPU. They should have accommodated at least 2 inches of clearance to the glass panel, for a regular fan style card. I would have been fine if that made my 4000d Fat. (new model option, the 'Fat 4000D' !
I have the 4000D airflow and i threw away the 2 fans that came with it in the garbage can lol. there is nothing fine or great about those fans. Later on I went and spent $75 dollars on be quiet Silent wings fans
i have circle eliminator X5 case...cost me 45$, 4 pre-installed ARGB fans, full atx support, good IO, good airflow.. basically all i need...and it's official purchase from Amazon btw... cabinet prices are too low around here in india, not other components tho... there are bunch of ant esport cabinets, with 4 fans and all for like 30$ and comes with a good size...i still choose this one because it just looks better and had more features
@leviathan5207 There's many without glass, just so few good ones. I don't want steel cases personally, but aluminum cases are even harder to find at any price.
The LANCOOL 207 is the best at $80. The Air 903 Max at $65 is a traditional layout. The Fractal Pop Air RGB at $60 is a steal, but I don't like B&H return policy.
Regarding that panel gap bit, I got the Fractal Torrent Compact because the glass panels have the tool-less removal but also has a screw on top to secure it for transport or if the plastic pegs break which is amazing. I wish all case makers would give us that option to secure those tool-less panels!
Over the years, I've bought from all three major PC case companies, always opting for mid cases with a focus on aesthetics and cooling, plus a windowed side, at budget-friendly prices. While Lian Li is now widely recognized, Chinese brands offer similar designs with solid quality. I recently chose a Musetex Y6 for $80 USD, which delivers excellent dual-chamber cooling, tempered glass on side/front, and great overall quality-outperforming many competitors at that price point. I feel like if we're going to seriously talk about how people can stop "overspending," then even sticking to name brands at this point is a bit unnecessary, as many lesser-known brands offer comparable quality and features for a fraction of the price, and their inclusion can help round out the discussion.
I just swept from O11D to NV5, and I love it. It’s more compact and looks more beautiful when every component are close to each others. Dual-chamber is really not that necessary as long as you are not keeping building and rebuilding your PC.
I'm using an H6 Flow and it has been fantastic. It's just big enough to hold my XFX 7900XTX and a large CPU cooler all while providing a ton of airflow. Dual 140mm fans push fresh air right into my GPU so temps are in the low 70's while the card pulls almost 400 watts at 100% utilization. Definitely a good choice.
I have a Corsaid 5000D Airflow. And its the best case that I have ever had. INSTANTLY fell in love with it when they first came out, it looks great, easy to build in, airflow is off the charts impressive. Tempratures are always rock solid steady aswell which the airflow is responsible for of course.
Agreed. I was ecstatic when I stumbled on the 5000D airflow, specifically the black one. The airflow is amazing but the heavily tinted side panel was what I really wanted. I'm a big fan of blackout builds and the tinted side panel is effectively a black, one-way mirror! I saved quite a bit of money and time by just using the stock black cables, black memory, a black CPU cooler, and a dark gray and (mostly) black motherboard with zero RGB.
I just paid $350CAD for an OpenBenchTable to mount a $6000+ custom loop. I can wall mount but have it horizontal display style on the desk. I have the 2 thick push-pull rads blowing air towards the GPU and motherboard which does great for keeping dust off, and I can get at the entire rig for maintenance. Not having kids or jumpy pets is helpful, so for the foreseeable future I am going caseless. I like some of the open chassis designs but nothing would fit the parts I chose, so a open bench was the most versatile option, and displays all the components quite well with my metal tubing layout. There is even an expansion board for cable management and extra ports if I want to expand functionality, that would put the entire chassis closer to $500CAD, but you pay for good engineering.
My last case upgrade was a Phanteks P300A. I'm relatively happy with it but cable management/PSU space is on the tight side. Was roughly $60 at the time.
using Corsair Spec 02 as my Chassis for last 10 years. and i love the versatility, looks, build quality and challenges of this compact chassis that can accommodate almost everything except 360 Radiator. my next upgrade in this chassis will be a BIG RTX 4080Super or similar 3+ Slot GPU from, MSI.
I'm still on the same case after 8 years! I've stayed on it for most of the same reasons as you, but also because I still need my optical drive bays, multiple hard drive bays, and decent airflow for modern components (I have a 12600K and dual-slot EVGA 2080 Super) in a chassis compact enough to fit in my desk's computer cubby. A bit of advice: if you're going to install a triple slot GPU that's over 11 inches/28cm long (but under the maximum clearance of 16.5in/41.9cm, you will probably need to unscrew and remove the hard drive cage.
There's a fine line between overspending and ensuring you don't end up with a product of inferior quality. Cases can last for multiple builds and don't degrade, so I feel like spending a little extra is more justifiable.
Ipicked up the black Montech King 95 Pro for £129.99, came complete with a 10 fan hub/controller and also came with 6 very nice RGB PWM fans, 2 of which are 140mm reverse blade fans it also has came with 2x usb ports and a usb c, very versatile case with good performance, the build quality is VERY high, I have been pleasantly surprised by the case as a whole, in this day of crazy pricing the Montech was a breath of fresh air, first time in a long time that I have bought something for my PC and didnt feel like I was being robbed!!!
the Corsair 4000D Airflow (in black/grey) for $80 is fantastic. Sure, it's all steel rather than aluminum. And it doesn't have that "chef's kiss" aesthetic goodness that all modern Fractal cases seem to have. But it's rigid *enough*, uses captive screws to retain its side panels, and doesn't use plastic clips to retain its front panel and associated front filter. It also comes with 2 fans, though in the two times I've built a PC for someone with the case, I've ended up only keeping 1 of them as rear exhaust - I'm a huge fan of the Arctic P12 PST 5-Pack that is only sold through Amazon. They're Fluid Dynamic Bearing fans in the same vein as Noctua and Scythe, PWM-controlled, and the "PST" suffix means they're daisy-chainable. The resultant PC build only needs 3 fan headers; 3 fans daisy-chain for intake through the front, 2 daisy-chain for exhaust through the top, and a single fan exhausts out the back. A simple BIOS-level fan curve tied to CPU temperature finishes the build.
Did a build in the Phanteks XT Pro last week and its solid for 79€, 2 week earlier i build i pc for a friend in a fractal pop Air and its Poop.... the glass panel has a big 2mm gap at the back and the metal is super thin and bend easy.
i got cooler master N200 that i bought in 2016 and still using it until now. it's an M-ATX with front mesh case but the fact that the HDD cages can be removed since most modern builds doesn't need HDD anymore makes it a good airflow case for high-end GPUs or if i choose to use all the HDD cages i can fit 4 3.5" HDDs and 4 2.5" SSDs all at once. There's not a lot of M-ATX case that has this kind of versatility even in the modern cases. Also i really likes the aesthetics of N200 that looks like an office PC on the outside but still can provide high-end PC stuffs inside. best $40 i've ever spent on.
I remember being really happy with my Lian Li Landcool II in White, which cost me $109. It was attractive and easy to build in. Then I saw the Hyte Y60 and even at the $199 price tag its aesthetics convinced me to jump up in class. While I like it a lot, I'm not sure the extra money was totally worth it. That said, the Hyte Y70 with the LCD panel is tempting...at $379. So, if you can afford it, the choices are plentiful. If you can't, a $60 case like the DIYPC ARGB-Q3.v2-W USB3.0 Tempered Glass Micro ATX Case is a great choice. I've built a number of "Flip PC's" in it and I have had no complaints. The people who have bought them talk about how good they look immediately.
Funny enough I bought the Phanteks p500a recently and returned it after discovering that putting a fan on the sidepanel of my decade old corsair obsidian 550D cooled my GPU and chipset better lol.
I still use an Antec Sonata III. Built like a tank, just super old. I wish it had the power supply on the bottom and separated but I can't get rid of it.
I've been looking at the Phanteks XT Pro Silent - $80 and the be quiet! Pure Base 501 Airflow Black - $110est launch 11/12. Both have noise dampening material on them since they are windowless. You can still get a windowless Fractal Design Meshify C Black for around $90 too.
Usually I go and click a "budget case" review video only to find out they cost more than $100, while most budget cases here cost $50 or less and very hard to find english videos on them, here $100-150 is already considered top tier cases. So I find this video interesting since you actually cover those under $100! There are a lot of under $60 cases which are great (mostly copy of the more expensive over $100 ones)
I was looking into getting a new case, and I was surprised how hard it is to find a good full tower without tempered glass. I want a solid side panel with preferably some sound dampening. All I can find is Antec's performance 1 silent and of course the old school Fractal Design cases, but not even the newer north series... Seems like most manufacturers don't care for it, sadly. Also, why do so many cases still put the I/O ports on top and not to the front or side of the case. Most people put their case on their desk anyway. It sucks to stand up every time I want to use my I/O
I'm few parts away from building my first PC, and the next item on the list is a PC Case, which is why I'm watching this. I'm aiming for either Deepcool CH360 or Jonsbo TK-3, though I might also consider cheaper brands available here in SEA region (Segotep, Tecware, etc.). Thanks for all the videos, I'll definitely consider all your advice in choosing the case.
i am a lot happier with my $35 case now, it easily overpasses all those issues you mentioned in these so called inexpensive-under budget options... which are still double that price. Although with four non-pwm fans pre-installed, adding two extra pwm fans was the only extra addition i made into the case. it looks premium and support every hardware i try to fit in and no issues with airflow; no flex in any of the component or panels. a month ago, i felt like i should upgrade to a newer case, but nah, its perfect already.
As I've gotten older and my budgets have gotten much higher. I find myself looking at Singularity Computers for cases these days for my next build. I've been building PC's since 1994. Had a side business in my late teens of building PC's for small businesses, and friends/family. I was that guy. I also did home AV. Middle aged now with my kids grown... I find my budgets have just gotten easier to work with. I've been sporting a full custom water cooling rig for the last 10 years.
Ive had quite a few cases but i think one of the cases that stands out for build qaulity has to be the phanteks p600s which no one ever talks about, solid build! I'm looking forward to the g400N!
Still on Eclipse P600S Closed back since 2020. I am solid-panel silent case guy. Everything is tempered-glass nowadays. Glass is nice but scary to move around and hard to keep clean. I might get another P600S when they update their USB hub when I do my new build.
my case was back in 2018-9 Lian Li O11D, seriously i cleaned it for the first time in 6 years... the dust filters are so good... hardly any dust inside...
I did "overspend" on getting a meshlicous case in that it was around 150$ but it perfectly fit my use case of not taking a lot of space but it has enough airflow and room for the highest end of components so it was worth it to me, it's all about perspective (also if you buy a meshlicious I highly recommend buying aftermarket higher feet and 90mm fan top mount on etsy if you have the budget)
To me cases with glass are just silly. I want a case to be sturdy in case I need to move it and just overall so it doesn't get out of shape if pushed. One or more glass panels is just fragile elements with no functionality that makes the computer better, in fact normal side panels with sound insulation covering will stop more noise than a glass panel.
I have a Lancool 216, cost around 100 bucks. The PC components cost quite a lot and the case will be used for YEARS (my previous case was a 2004 Coolermaster Stacker). Why the F should I care about 20-40 bucks more or less on a case. This is a video that was made because you needed to make a video.
I am still hovering around the $99/100 area...that's where I got my last case...the NZXT Phantom 410 and I loved that case a lot. Now going to move to the NZXT H6 Flow for my next build soon.
I'm still rocking an Antec 300 case from 2009, it's showing is age in some things but it's still a very fine case with good airflow which is what matters the most.
Now I know I'm an old foggy with less "feel" for style than a caffeinated lemming but I lack the all steel cases. No tempered glass just steel panels and a lot of airflow. Sure there are a lot of really cheap crap cases available, but I want something decently modern in design just not tempered glass. And now people will say that Fractal will sell me their cases with steel panels, and yes they will, or at least they will sell the steel panels to replace the TG with, but that's beside the point. No dealer where I live have those in stock so it would be a special order which raise the price so the case would probably be more expensive than with that TG panel. No I just might go with a case with TG side panel just because they are easy to get. Though I might just spray paint the TG panel black so I don't have to see it. The funny thing is that back before TG made it's way into cases I kind of liked the acrylic windows used then. But I really don't want real glas panel on my case if I can avoid it.
The 2 cases I've used and liked for my builds are the NZXT H500i and the Cooler Master NR200p. Both cases are fun to build in, and they both were at an attractive price point, even if one has absolutely crap airflow in it, especially with higher tdp components...
Thanks for the review as I have just picked up this case Lian Li LANCOOL II Mesh C Performance for £72 Black Friday deal for a new build no brainer at that price, will be going for an AMD build with an AMD 9600x on air cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE Black paired with this case temps should be very cool at low RPM, Going for a pure Black build with no RGB.
I built in a Corsair 2500X back in March, with the iCue Link AIO and fans and the MSI Project Zero back connecting motherboard. It was expensive, but it looks so clean!
I'm currently rocking the OG O11 Dynamic with a custom watercooling loop that includes 2 360 rads. When I bough that i paid about 120€ (about 130$) but I'm planning on upgrading soon to a NV7 (about 200€ - ~220$) after I did 2 builds in the NV5 for my sister and my gf, so my price-point for cases has increased, but so have my paychecks xD. The NV5 is also about 120€ but features way higher quality and looks more modern, an absolute recommendation from my side. Looks awsome, really cost-effective and amazing built quality for the price. Packaging was also way better than I expected in this price point. Stay away from the OG O11 if youre planning on using components with high power consumption, even if you can get a deal. The old school O11 Dynamic hasn an awful pattern for ventalation cutouts in all of it's panels. They're so god damn restrictive that my components drop 5-10° when i remove only the top panel. Sure, an 9900k and a 3080ti kicks out a ton of heat, but a vented panel shouldn't make such a difference in cooling performance.
If I ever went back into tech tubing to give it another try, I'd want to just build in as many cases as I can. Especially the off brand cases that don't have anything covering them. Less about the spec sheet, focused a lot more on the actual experience.
Still rocking my Define R5. With the front door open it still does everything OK. No modern case seems to match its noise dampening and solid flat top panel both of which are important to me. I have no use for windowed side panel either.
Great video! I'm using a NZXT H7 Flow White/Black interior. Love this case and definitely a solid case. Probably too big for what I have in it, but looks amazing.
I still stand by if you don't care about a case, get a desk with a mesh cabinet on the side and get a cheap testbench and place it inside the cabinet. I have done this for a good while, looking amazing, easy to clean and care for. But i also don't care about the look of my hardware so all black no RGB. plus the lack of care for looking at my pc.
from Deep Cool MATREXX 50 rusting then switching to Lian Li O11 Air Mini to now to a Phanteks Evolv Shift XT, the price point is increasing but also the size is shrinking as I need more space on the table and yes the accessibility of getting a case you want is very hard in my country as a lot of them are being taxed heavily when shipped here ending up more expensive
The first (and to this day, still current) case I got was a Corsair Carbide SPEC-02 in 2016. I think it was $60 by the time I got it, but when it released in 2014, it was a $70 case. At the time I got it because it looked cool with the red LED's and light up fan at an attractive pricepoint... I was 14 at the time and was only just getting into PC building. but it's also built pretty well, has pretty good airflow even today, and still has features many modern cases at higher pricepoints lack like dual Type-A 3.0 ports up front (no Type C though, this is a couple years too early for that), dual 5.25" expansion bays, and three internal 3.5" hard drive bays. Cable management sucks though, even reviews from the time noted that. Maybe I'm the dying breed boomer here for still finding use in these older technologies (BD-ROM drive for ripping discs and burning discs for old computers, built-in multi card reader, and at least one mechanical hard drive for data storage) but finding a modern case that has all these features at a good price has gotten very difficult. I do get that optical drives are a thing of the past, but 5.25" expansion bays have always been good for more than just optical drives. Any case I find that do fill those needs are either too big, have the IO laid out in a stupid way (along the right edge of the top), are no better with cable management, or all of the above. Until there's a case out there at the same size, with a similar or better featureset, and much better cable management at a good price, I don't see myself moving off this decade old case any time soon - it's the last part being reused from my original 2016 build. If not that, then the stupidly big triple slot, triple fan GPU's of today and the coming years probably will - although for the forseeable future, my dual-slot 2080 Super is more than enough for my needs.
I think the question begs to ask.... do we even need ATX sizing anymore? No longer multi gpu, multi 3.5 and 5.25 drives ... hell not even 2.5 drives .. maybe 2 on the back of the MB or in the psu shroud. If you're filling up a atx case, you can afford to spend money on a decent atx case. If you don't fill them up, they look empty and cheap (or you've blown your budget on a 360AIO and 7 matching rbg reverse mirror fans or something dumb)
you mentioned fractal north being loud, is it just the xl variant or the normal one too? a friend wanted to buy one by the end of year and asked early for me to switch case so i'd like to give him advice for that
I'm still rocking my Corsair Vengeance C70. Nothing has come close to beating the look of the case. Plus the handles and distinctive reset and power button.
On my phanteks everything is well built, there are no panel gaps, but if anything the back panel has so much friction that if that case was made from worse materials than it would have broke from the force you need to slide the panel off.
I bought be quiet! Shadow Base 800 DX in January 2024 believing DX and FX are the same except FX comes with light loop fans because KitGuruTech said so, they are not the same, DX is not only missing the RGB fans, but it's also missing the RGB/fan controller hub, and the built in RGB controller only controls the light strip in the front and can't control any fans which is kind of disappointing, both were on sale and if I'd known this all, I would have paid the extra 30€ at the time and gotten the FX model instead, but in the end, Goodguys be quiet sent me the hub free of charge and I still like the case and I'm not planning to change it for a long time. Extra cool feature worth mentioning, you can fit a 420mm radiator on top and front, don't think you need better cooling for your components any time soon.
Together with DLX21 and Chieftec Apex air ( its the same base case, different front or some doors or not). This tooling is a china favorite. And its a cheap and good case indeed.
At the end of the day get whatever u like and can also afford. The Lancool II Mesh i have right now was pretty much "Love at first sight" but its time to move on. Funny enough, i just had put in a order for a Antec C8 when i saw a ad of my new case, lucky enough the C8 turned out to be out of stock so....... To be fair it costs twice as much as the C8 but the C8 doesn`t have any fans so the price somewhat balanced itself out since the new case is coming with pre-installed 4x140s.
Is there a case where the front and side is magnetic that can be removed easily for cleaning? Had some case that had a front panel that is locked by some plastic pins, actually broke one of the pins after opening the front to remove the dust, and it was a huge hassle
I bought a Darkrock A8-x midtower for $65. I like it as much as my Fractal Meshify C. The Darkrock doesn't has as good cooling but it's for a stock 4th gen i5. My biggest disappointment is my Silverstone CS380. It is an oven. One 120mm exhaust fan with two side intake. No ability to add more. It was a waste of $165.
Got an Amazon Warehouse feal on a Corsair 7000x for £200 instead of £300. Bought it to replace my BeQuiet Darkbase 900 Pro. My work requires a lot of HDD storage, but I also like aesthetics. The 7000x ticked all the right boxes.
Migrated from Fractal Refine R6 to Pop Air XL, cheaper yes but came with 3 RGB fans which pushed 0 air..shouldn't complain at this price but I prefer they don't include it and adjust prices lower, rather than including it but charging higher prices, and now the fans are now sitting on the desk..
The Fractal Pop Air was the last case I bought and I felt it was a steal at $89 (with a $10 rebate, on top of that, but I never send those in lol). Great build, quality and 3 RGB fans even!
Still loving my 8-year-old Nanoxia Deep Silence 6. It's a big black brick, completely quiet with no bling. I wish I could find a new case comparable to this monster.
I wish glass wasn't so oversold, I can't be the only one that wants a solid metal case with dust filters behind meshes. My next and hopefully last pc case will be NCase
I ve been moving to chinese 50 bucks case. I think, its sturdy enough for that price. Well, its einarex yosemite. I think, its copy of lianli. Its dual chamber. I think, thats the only good solution for the very bulky corsair PSU cables.
Lian Li 215 - I repeatedly wanted to get a more premium case and did for some time but with 120mm fans replacing the 200mm ones it simply outperforms all fish tank etc cases for high end builds. 🤷 So I 'moved back in'. PS: stock fans are generally and sadly e-waste with very few exceptions.
See my view is spend more on a good case. They don’t go bad and if built well can last forever and with 3D printing and some creativity and knowing how to search for components you can redo the aesthetic and the front IO to match whatever modern cases have for the most part.
Expensive case fans like Lian Li or Phanteks fans make cases expensive. I pre-ordered the Antec Flux Pro because it comes populated with all the fans I need and the cooling it provide is up there with the best.
True, My AX760 i bought like 10 years ago still going strong in my kids PC. Before that i tried different cheaper options including some cheaper Corsair ones and they just did not last at all. I hope that the Hx1000 in my new system will perform as good as the AX did.
My NZXT H710 case thats 5 years old had a bad power switch... I've seen others online mention this issue. I am in the middle of adding a custom switch now but having issues so thinking about giving up and getting a non-NZXT case unless someone can vouch that they fixed the switch issue.
I would've expected to see the new Lian-Li Lancool 207 here to be honest. Especially since it has several of the premium features you later list in this video.
And another part that I really don't like, they always make io and power button at top for on-desk cases. This design is pretty good for full rower cases as under desk, but for small or middle cases on the desk, it is really bad design
Packaging is important, but bonus points for Phanteks for not needing giant polystyrene protection. We really should be encouraging companies to do away with unnecessary plastic.
I have the montech air 903 max and I never felt anything wrong even compared with other higher end cases, yeah the fans could be better but for 90$ I got a very good deal
I use Zalman Z3 I bought in 2018 for 37 EUR (which would be 50 EUR today, counting for inflation). It doesn't have a glass window, but who cares, since it sits below the table, as would any new build. Desk space is at too much premium. The case has some gromits for cable routing and that is about that. Oh, I can also put 5 full sized HDDs in, which at one point I have used. Can't phantom spending 100 EUR for an average case.
@@2cars10 dats a good deal...here in india cabinet prices are too cheap, other components aren't tho...there are bunch of ant Esport cabinet we can get for 30$ but with 4 fans installed (rgb in most cases), good airflow and decently good IO.. pretty good for its price, i currently have Circle eliminator X5 cabinet, cost me 45$...comes with 4 ARGB fans (3 fans 140mm), airflow is extremely good, IO panel is just too good, full atx support, and it's big enough to fit any size of card...it was a good deal
i am a lot happier with my $35 case now, it easily overpasses all those issues you mentioned in these so called inexpensive-under budget options... which are still double that price. Although with four non-pwm fans pre-installed, adding two extra pwm fans was the only extra addition i made into the case. it looks premium and support every hardware i try to fit in and no issues with airflow; no flex in any of the component or panels. a month ago, i felt like i should upgrade to a newer case, but nah, its perfect already.
@@Achiever88 bruh, i didnt mention your name, that means its not you... i responded to the main comment above you, so obviously nothing to do with you.
I believe most of us don’t mind spending more on cases. The only problem here is sometimes the price can’t justify the features and the quality, like Corsair case. So I think the title should be, “stop spending money for shitty cases”.
Overspending usually means spending money on something that is priced high for it’s real value
the 400d for like 80 ish pounds is great value
I remember I have paid good amount for my Cooler Master HAF-XB back in 2013 or something. Good case, really easy to carry, high airflow but god sake if you wish to maintenance your PC, dusting off, changing and installing new HDDs over time, and upgrading CPU+motherboard etc. it quickly becomes a pain and you will hate how small it is to fidget cables around. Even cleaning once a year is a big task and you will hate it. And god forbid if you ever drop a screw inside.
Good case is a big case in my book, thus I was looking for something like Lian Li EVO XL but that thing was 350 USD here which is too expensive so I am thinking to make something from wood, plywood laser-cut etc. I hope can be done under 100$. These cases look spacious on picture but most of them doesn't support more than one or two HDD. I have 4x 3.5" and 2x 2.5" HDD already and a good case must hold at least 8x 3.5" HDD because over-avarage motherboards have 8x SATA port, otherwise I wouldn't consider it future proof which I did not considered that when I bought HAF-XB and that caused me to buy 5.25" to 3.5" converter plates in order to fit 2 more HDD.
@@richardbiney5445 I see them go for as low as 80€ on sale and even then they are not worth it. The bequiet 500DX is insignificantly more expensive at 85€ and comes with three 140mm fans. Corsair is antiquated and overpriced.
@@richardbiney5445I just bought 4000d Airflow for just under 70 euros. Great build quality and cable managment
I think budget cases are better than ever - the $60 - $100 tier for mATX and ATX are great.
The bigger issue is that value is all over the place. There are $65 hits from Montech and $150 duds from Corsair.
Price alone just doesn’t tell the whole story, especially when it comes to build quality. Fractal cases are not the least expensive but always impress with details that are hard to quantify on a spec sheet.
Agree. I just built a new system and used the "old" Corsair 4000d airflow. It's only ~$70 usd with 2 fans and worked absolutely fine and looks great. I don't want multiple glass panels or the "new" side mount, extra wide PSU cases so this worked great for my build. It was a great case a year ago, it's still more than fine.
I have the same model (solid panel)
The only thing I do not like is the placement of the vertical mount for the GPU. They should have accommodated at least 2 inches of clearance to the glass panel, for a regular fan style card. I would have been fine if that made my 4000d Fat. (new model option, the 'Fat 4000D' !
Yeap, my gf has her build in the x version of it. Great little case. it still holds its own against a lot of new cases.
I have the 4000D airflow and i threw away the 2 fans that came with it in the garbage can lol. there is nothing fine or great about those fans. Later on I went and spent $75 dollars on be quiet Silent wings fans
i have circle eliminator X5 case...cost me 45$, 4 pre-installed ARGB fans, full atx support, good IO, good airflow.. basically all i need...and it's official purchase from Amazon btw... cabinet prices are too low around here in india, not other components tho... there are bunch of ant esport cabinets, with 4 fans and all for like 30$ and comes with a good size...i still choose this one because it just looks better and had more features
I have a 4000d airflow as well but i filled that thing up with noctua fans and a noctua cooler xD
Phanteks XT Pro Ultra, Montech Air 903 Max, Lian Li LANCOOL, and Antec Flux line keep my budget customers happy most of the time.
Except those who do not want a glass side panel, I presume.
@leviathan5207 There's many without glass, just so few good ones. I don't want steel cases personally, but aluminum cases are even harder to find at any price.
Which would you say is best? I hear the. Montech and Lian mentioned a lot.
How are the fans included too?
The LANCOOL 207 is the best at $80. The Air 903 Max at $65 is a traditional layout. The Fractal Pop Air RGB at $60 is a steal, but I don't like B&H return policy.
Regarding that panel gap bit, I got the Fractal Torrent Compact because the glass panels have the tool-less removal but also has a screw on top to secure it for transport or if the plastic pegs break which is amazing. I wish all case makers would give us that option to secure those tool-less panels!
Over the years, I've bought from all three major PC case companies, always opting for mid cases with a focus on aesthetics and cooling, plus a windowed side, at budget-friendly prices. While Lian Li is now widely recognized, Chinese brands offer similar designs with solid quality. I recently chose a Musetex Y6 for $80 USD, which delivers excellent dual-chamber cooling, tempered glass on side/front, and great overall quality-outperforming many competitors at that price point.
I feel like if we're going to seriously talk about how people can stop "overspending," then even sticking to name brands at this point is a bit unnecessary, as many lesser-known brands offer comparable quality and features for a fraction of the price, and their inclusion can help round out the discussion.
I just swept from O11D to NV5, and I love it. It’s more compact and looks more beautiful when every component are close to each others. Dual-chamber is really not that necessary as long as you are not keeping building and rebuilding your PC.
I have just bought a Montech XR for about 60 USD with 3 ARGB fans and yes, with spare clips. I strongly recommend it for review.
I'm using an H6 Flow and it has been fantastic. It's just big enough to hold my XFX 7900XTX and a large CPU cooler all while providing a ton of airflow. Dual 140mm fans push fresh air right into my GPU so temps are in the low 70's while the card pulls almost 400 watts at 100% utilization. Definitely a good choice.
I have a Corsaid 5000D Airflow. And its the best case that I have ever had. INSTANTLY fell in love with it when they first came out, it looks great, easy to build in, airflow is off the charts impressive. Tempratures are always rock solid steady aswell which the airflow is responsible for of course.
Agreed. I was ecstatic when I stumbled on the 5000D airflow, specifically the black one. The airflow is amazing but the heavily tinted side panel was what I really wanted. I'm a big fan of blackout builds and the tinted side panel is effectively a black, one-way mirror!
I saved quite a bit of money and time by just using the stock black cables, black memory, a black CPU cooler, and a dark gray and (mostly) black motherboard with zero RGB.
I just paid $350CAD for an OpenBenchTable to mount a $6000+ custom loop. I can wall mount but have it horizontal display style on the desk. I have the 2 thick push-pull rads blowing air towards the GPU and motherboard which does great for keeping dust off, and I can get at the entire rig for maintenance. Not having kids or jumpy pets is helpful, so for the foreseeable future I am going caseless. I like some of the open chassis designs but nothing would fit the parts I chose, so a open bench was the most versatile option, and displays all the components quite well with my metal tubing layout. There is even an expansion board for cable management and extra ports if I want to expand functionality, that would put the entire chassis closer to $500CAD, but you pay for good engineering.
if there is a chance to see your full build?
My last case upgrade was a Phanteks P300A. I'm relatively happy with it but cable management/PSU space is on the tight side. Was roughly $60 at the time.
using Corsair Spec 02 as my Chassis for last 10 years. and i love the versatility, looks, build quality and challenges of this compact chassis that can accommodate almost everything except 360 Radiator. my next upgrade in this chassis will be a BIG RTX 4080Super or similar 3+ Slot GPU from, MSI.
I'm still on the same case after 8 years! I've stayed on it for most of the same reasons as you, but also because I still need my optical drive bays, multiple hard drive bays, and decent airflow for modern components (I have a 12600K and dual-slot EVGA 2080 Super) in a chassis compact enough to fit in my desk's computer cubby.
A bit of advice: if you're going to install a triple slot GPU that's over 11 inches/28cm long (but under the maximum clearance of 16.5in/41.9cm, you will probably need to unscrew and remove the hard drive cage.
There's a fine line between overspending and ensuring you don't end up with a product of inferior quality. Cases can last for multiple builds and don't degrade, so I feel like spending a little extra is more justifiable.
Ipicked up the black Montech King 95 Pro for £129.99, came complete with a 10 fan hub/controller and also came with 6 very nice RGB PWM fans, 2 of which are 140mm reverse blade fans it also has came with 2x usb ports and a usb c, very versatile case with good performance, the build quality is VERY high, I have been pleasantly surprised by the case as a whole, in this day of crazy pricing the Montech was a breath of fresh air, first time in a long time that I have bought something for my PC and didnt feel like I was being robbed!!!
Loving my Liani Li 216, its a little bit but very quite and effecient
I have a 216 too, prefer bigger cases than smaller ones like Lancool II . It was around the same price but 216 is roomier which is always welcome
the Corsair 4000D Airflow (in black/grey) for $80 is fantastic. Sure, it's all steel rather than aluminum. And it doesn't have that "chef's kiss" aesthetic goodness that all modern Fractal cases seem to have. But it's rigid *enough*, uses captive screws to retain its side panels, and doesn't use plastic clips to retain its front panel and associated front filter. It also comes with 2 fans, though in the two times I've built a PC for someone with the case, I've ended up only keeping 1 of them as rear exhaust - I'm a huge fan of the Arctic P12 PST 5-Pack that is only sold through Amazon. They're Fluid Dynamic Bearing fans in the same vein as Noctua and Scythe, PWM-controlled, and the "PST" suffix means they're daisy-chainable. The resultant PC build only needs 3 fan headers; 3 fans daisy-chain for intake through the front, 2 daisy-chain for exhaust through the top, and a single fan exhausts out the back. A simple BIOS-level fan curve tied to CPU temperature finishes the build.
Did a build in the Phanteks XT Pro last week and its solid for 79€, 2 week earlier i build i pc for a friend in a fractal pop Air and its Poop.... the glass panel has a big 2mm gap at the back and the metal is super thin and bend easy.
i got cooler master N200 that i bought in 2016 and still using it until now. it's an M-ATX with front mesh case but the fact that the HDD cages can be removed since most modern builds doesn't need HDD anymore makes it a good airflow case for high-end GPUs or if i choose to use all the HDD cages i can fit 4 3.5" HDDs and 4 2.5" SSDs all at once. There's not a lot of M-ATX case that has this kind of versatility even in the modern cases. Also i really likes the aesthetics of N200 that looks like an office PC on the outside but still can provide high-end PC stuffs inside.
best $40 i've ever spent on.
I remember being really happy with my Lian Li Landcool II in White, which cost me $109. It was attractive and easy to build in. Then I saw the Hyte Y60 and even at the $199 price tag its aesthetics convinced me to jump up in class. While I like it a lot, I'm not sure the extra money was totally worth it. That said, the Hyte Y70 with the LCD panel is tempting...at $379. So, if you can afford it, the choices are plentiful. If you can't, a $60 case like the DIYPC ARGB-Q3.v2-W USB3.0 Tempered Glass Micro ATX Case is a great choice. I've built a number of "Flip PC's" in it and I have had no complaints. The people who have bought them talk about how good they look immediately.
I will never stop overspending on any PC gear
I love the option of stock piling parts, as you can afford them. (I wish broken warranties weren't an issue)
Same here XD
The ideal customer for any brand that only cares about profit
What consumerism does to a mofo
Funny enough I bought the Phanteks p500a recently and returned it after discovering that putting a fan on the sidepanel of my decade old corsair obsidian 550D cooled my GPU and chipset better lol.
Darkflash dlx 21. The same base chassis as montech 903. Others are also using this tooling. Cheap, good case in all of the brands.
I still use an Antec Sonata III. Built like a tank, just super old. I wish it had the power supply on the bottom and separated but I can't get rid of it.
I've been looking at the Phanteks XT Pro Silent - $80 and the be quiet! Pure Base 501 Airflow Black - $110est launch 11/12. Both have noise dampening material on them since they are windowless. You can still get a windowless Fractal Design Meshify C Black for around $90 too.
Usually I go and click a "budget case" review video only to find out they cost more than $100, while most budget cases here cost $50 or less and very hard to find english videos on them, here $100-150 is already considered top tier cases. So I find this video interesting since you actually cover those under $100! There are a lot of under $60 cases which are great (mostly copy of the more expensive over $100 ones)
I was looking into getting a new case, and I was surprised how hard it is to find a good full tower without tempered glass. I want a solid side panel with preferably some sound dampening. All I can find is Antec's performance 1 silent and of course the old school Fractal Design cases, but not even the newer north series... Seems like most manufacturers don't care for it, sadly. Also, why do so many cases still put the I/O ports on top and not to the front or side of the case. Most people put their case on their desk anyway. It sucks to stand up every time I want to use my I/O
I just did a build in the Corsair 3500x paired with their ICUE Link products and loved the end result!
I'm few parts away from building my first PC, and the next item on the list is a PC Case, which is why I'm watching this. I'm aiming for either Deepcool CH360 or Jonsbo TK-3, though I might also consider cheaper brands available here in SEA region (Segotep, Tecware, etc.). Thanks for all the videos, I'll definitely consider all your advice in choosing the case.
i am a lot happier with my $35 case now, it easily overpasses all those issues you mentioned in these so called inexpensive-under budget options... which are still double that price. Although with four non-pwm fans pre-installed, adding two extra pwm fans was the only extra addition i made into the case. it looks premium and support every hardware i try to fit in and no issues with airflow; no flex in any of the component or panels. a month ago, i felt like i should upgrade to a newer case, but nah, its perfect already.
I just got the NZXT H6 Flow and I have to say, at $109 it was an absolute steal.
As I've gotten older and my budgets have gotten much higher. I find myself looking at Singularity Computers for cases these days for my next build. I've been building PC's since 1994. Had a side business in my late teens of building PC's for small businesses, and friends/family. I was that guy. I also did home AV. Middle aged now with my kids grown... I find my budgets have just gotten easier to work with. I've been sporting a full custom water cooling rig for the last 10 years.
I picked up the Fractal Torrent on sale for $180. Fantastic case, and I know I have excellent customer support if I should need it.
Ive had quite a few cases but i think one of the cases that stands out for build qaulity has to be the phanteks p600s which no one ever talks about, solid build! I'm looking forward to the g400N!
Still on Eclipse P600S Closed back since 2020. I am solid-panel silent case guy. Everything is tempered-glass nowadays. Glass is nice but scary to move around and hard to keep clean. I might get another P600S when they update their USB hub when I do my new build.
my case was back in 2018-9 Lian Li O11D, seriously i cleaned it for the first time in 6 years... the dust filters are so good... hardly any dust inside...
I did "overspend" on getting a meshlicous case in that it was around 150$ but it perfectly fit my use case of not taking a lot of space but it has enough airflow and room for the highest end of components so it was worth it to me, it's all about perspective (also if you buy a meshlicious I highly recommend buying aftermarket higher feet and 90mm fan top mount on etsy if you have the budget)
To me cases with glass are just silly.
I want a case to be sturdy in case I need to move it and just overall so it doesn't get out of shape if pushed. One or more glass panels is just fragile elements with no functionality that makes the computer better, in fact normal side panels with sound insulation covering will stop more noise than a glass panel.
I bought my Fractal Design Arc Mini ten years ago. Durable, well-ventilated, it still pleases me even with new hardware.
I have a Lancool 216, cost around 100 bucks. The PC components cost quite a lot and the case will be used for YEARS (my previous case was a 2004 Coolermaster Stacker). Why the F should I care about 20-40 bucks more or less on a case. This is a video that was made because you needed to make a video.
I am still hovering around the $99/100 area...that's where I got my last case...the NZXT Phantom 410 and I loved that case a lot. Now going to move to the NZXT H6 Flow for my next build soon.
I'm still rocking an Antec 300 case from 2009, it's showing is age in some things but it's still a very fine case with good airflow which is what matters the most.
Now I know I'm an old foggy with less "feel" for style than a caffeinated lemming but I lack the all steel cases. No tempered glass just steel panels and a lot of airflow. Sure there are a lot of really cheap crap cases available, but I want something decently modern in design just not tempered glass. And now people will say that Fractal will sell me their cases with steel panels, and yes they will, or at least they will sell the steel panels to replace the TG with, but that's beside the point. No dealer where I live have those in stock so it would be a special order which raise the price so the case would probably be more expensive than with that TG panel.
No I just might go with a case with TG side panel just because they are easy to get. Though I might just spray paint the TG panel black so I don't have to see it.
The funny thing is that back before TG made it's way into cases I kind of liked the acrylic windows used then. But I really don't want real glas panel on my case if I can avoid it.
The 2 cases I've used and liked for my builds are the NZXT H500i and the Cooler Master NR200p. Both cases are fun to build in, and they both were at an attractive price point, even if one has absolutely crap airflow in it, especially with higher tdp components...
Thanks for the review as I have just picked up this case Lian Li LANCOOL II Mesh C Performance for £72 Black Friday deal for a new build no brainer at that price, will be going for an AMD build with an AMD 9600x on air cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE Black paired with this case temps should be very cool at low RPM, Going for a pure Black build with no RGB.
I love my corsair 4000d airflow white case, using for 4 years and gonna use as long as it goes
Love the destiny logo appearance shortly before a new season/story/episode launch
I built in a Corsair 2500X back in March, with the iCue Link AIO and fans and the MSI Project Zero back connecting motherboard. It was expensive, but it looks so clean!
I'm currently rocking the OG O11 Dynamic with a custom watercooling loop that includes 2 360 rads. When I bough that i paid about 120€ (about 130$) but I'm planning on upgrading soon to a NV7 (about 200€ - ~220$) after I did 2 builds in the NV5 for my sister and my gf, so my price-point for cases has increased, but so have my paychecks xD.
The NV5 is also about 120€ but features way higher quality and looks more modern, an absolute recommendation from my side. Looks awsome, really cost-effective and amazing built quality for the price. Packaging was also way better than I expected in this price point.
Stay away from the OG O11 if youre planning on using components with high power consumption, even if you can get a deal.
The old school O11 Dynamic hasn an awful pattern for ventalation cutouts in all of it's panels. They're so god damn restrictive that my components drop 5-10° when i remove only the top panel. Sure, an 9900k and a 3080ti kicks out a ton of heat, but a vented panel shouldn't make such a difference in cooling performance.
SilverStone TJ08-E, best case I've ever owned. Still using it. I stopped overspending by re-using old cases/fans as much as possible.
If I ever went back into tech tubing to give it another try, I'd want to just build in as many cases as I can. Especially the off brand cases that don't have anything covering them. Less about the spec sheet, focused a lot more on the actual experience.
Still rocking my Define R5. With the front door open it still does everything OK. No modern case seems to match its noise dampening and solid flat top panel both of which are important to me. I have no use for windowed side panel either.
Great video! I'm using a NZXT H7 Flow White/Black interior. Love this case and definitely a solid case. Probably too big for what I have in it, but looks amazing.
I still stand by if you don't care about a case, get a desk with a mesh cabinet on the side and get a cheap testbench and place it inside the cabinet.
I have done this for a good while, looking amazing, easy to clean and care for. But i also don't care about the look of my hardware so all black no RGB. plus the lack of care for looking at my pc.
I love my Phanteks NV5, payed 85 for it new. The panels can be a little annoying, but it was very easy to build in.
from Deep Cool MATREXX 50 rusting then switching to Lian Li O11 Air Mini to now to a Phanteks Evolv Shift XT, the price point is increasing but also the size is shrinking as I need more space on the table and yes the accessibility of getting a case you want is very hard in my country as a lot of them are being taxed heavily when shipped here ending up more expensive
The first (and to this day, still current) case I got was a Corsair Carbide SPEC-02 in 2016. I think it was $60 by the time I got it, but when it released in 2014, it was a $70 case. At the time I got it because it looked cool with the red LED's and light up fan at an attractive pricepoint... I was 14 at the time and was only just getting into PC building. but it's also built pretty well, has pretty good airflow even today, and still has features many modern cases at higher pricepoints lack like dual Type-A 3.0 ports up front (no Type C though, this is a couple years too early for that), dual 5.25" expansion bays, and three internal 3.5" hard drive bays. Cable management sucks though, even reviews from the time noted that.
Maybe I'm the dying breed boomer here for still finding use in these older technologies (BD-ROM drive for ripping discs and burning discs for old computers, built-in multi card reader, and at least one mechanical hard drive for data storage) but finding a modern case that has all these features at a good price has gotten very difficult. I do get that optical drives are a thing of the past, but 5.25" expansion bays have always been good for more than just optical drives. Any case I find that do fill those needs are either too big, have the IO laid out in a stupid way (along the right edge of the top), are no better with cable management, or all of the above.
Until there's a case out there at the same size, with a similar or better featureset, and much better cable management at a good price, I don't see myself moving off this decade old case any time soon - it's the last part being reused from my original 2016 build. If not that, then the stupidly big triple slot, triple fan GPU's of today and the coming years probably will - although for the forseeable future, my dual-slot 2080 Super is more than enough for my needs.
Check out the antecedent c5. It comes with 7x360mm fans and has a fish tank look for only 120!!
I think the question begs to ask.... do we even need ATX sizing anymore?
No longer multi gpu, multi 3.5 and 5.25 drives ... hell not even 2.5 drives .. maybe 2 on the back of the MB or in the psu shroud.
If you're filling up a atx case, you can afford to spend money on a decent atx case.
If you don't fill them up, they look empty and cheap (or you've blown your budget on a 360AIO and 7 matching rbg reverse mirror fans or something dumb)
you mentioned fractal north being loud, is it just the xl variant or the normal one too? a friend wanted to buy one by the end of year and asked early for me to switch case so i'd like to give him advice for that
I'm still rocking my Corsair Vengeance C70. Nothing has come close to beating the look of the case. Plus the handles and distinctive reset and power button.
2:20 After all, glass is glass. It gets light scratches at a level 6 with deeper grooves at level 7
On my phanteks everything is well built, there are no panel gaps, but if anything the back panel has so much friction that if that case was made from worse materials than it would have broke from the force you need to slide the panel off.
Didn’t know a good case can be that cheap nowadays. Good job Phantek.
Bought the Fractal North XL as an end-all for me from the Phanteks P500A. Couldn't be more happy.
I bought be quiet! Shadow Base 800 DX in January 2024 believing DX and FX are the same except FX comes with light loop fans because KitGuruTech said so, they are not the same, DX is not only missing the RGB fans, but it's also missing the RGB/fan controller hub, and the built in RGB controller only controls the light strip in the front and can't control any fans which is kind of disappointing, both were on sale and if I'd known this all, I would have paid the extra 30€ at the time and gotten the FX model instead, but in the end, Goodguys be quiet sent me the hub free of charge and I still like the case and I'm not planning to change it for a long time. Extra cool feature worth mentioning, you can fit a 420mm radiator on top and front, don't think you need better cooling for your components any time soon.
Montech Air 903 Max is still the best case on the market.
Together with DLX21 and Chieftec Apex air ( its the same base case, different front or some doors or not). This tooling is a china favorite. And its a cheap and good case indeed.
nope. lian li 011 dynamic is.
At the end of the day get whatever u like and can also afford. The Lancool II Mesh i have right now was pretty much "Love at first sight" but its time to move on. Funny enough, i just had put in a order for a Antec C8 when i saw a ad of my new case, lucky enough the C8 turned out to be out of stock so....... To be fair it costs twice as much as the C8 but the C8 doesn`t have any fans so the price somewhat balanced itself out since the new case is coming with pre-installed 4x140s.
I'm surprised the Lancool 207 wasn't included. It also has spare clips for the side panels!
Is there a case where the front and side is magnetic that can be removed easily for cleaning? Had some case that had a front panel that is locked by some plastic pins, actually broke one of the pins after opening the front to remove the dust, and it was a huge hassle
I bought a Darkrock A8-x midtower for $65. I like it as much as my Fractal Meshify C. The Darkrock doesn't has as good cooling but it's for a stock 4th gen i5. My biggest disappointment is my Silverstone CS380. It is an oven. One 120mm exhaust fan with two side intake. No ability to add more. It was a waste of $165.
I would love to see this topic expanded upon. Maybe keyboards and mice if such content exists.
Got an Amazon Warehouse feal on a Corsair 7000x for £200 instead of £300. Bought it to replace my BeQuiet Darkbase 900 Pro. My work requires a lot of HDD storage, but I also like aesthetics. The 7000x ticked all the right boxes.
Migrated from Fractal Refine R6 to Pop Air XL, cheaper yes but came with 3 RGB fans which pushed 0 air..shouldn't complain at this price but I prefer they don't include it and adjust prices lower, rather than including it but charging higher prices, and now the fans are now sitting on the desk..
The Fractal Pop Air was the last case I bought and I felt it was a steal at $89 (with a $10 rebate, on top of that, but I never send those in lol). Great build, quality and 3 RGB fans even!
Still loving my 8-year-old Nanoxia Deep Silence 6. It's a big black brick, completely quiet with no bling. I wish I could find a new case comparable to this monster.
My Pc
Cpu: Ryzen 5600 ($140)
Gpu: 6600 ($270)
Case ($400)
Worth it (Pink mod with a Taylor Swif autograph)
I wish glass wasn't so oversold, I can't be the only one that wants a solid metal case with dust filters behind meshes.
My next and hopefully last pc case will be NCase
The Lian Li 207, Montech Air 903 Max or the Enforfy Arx 500 Air rule the price/value segment.
I ve been moving to chinese 50 bucks case. I think, its sturdy enough for that price.
Well, its einarex yosemite. I think, its copy of lianli.
Its dual chamber. I think, thats the only good solution for the very bulky corsair PSU cables.
Lian Li 215 - I repeatedly wanted to get a more premium case and did for some time but with 120mm fans replacing the 200mm ones it simply outperforms all fish tank etc cases for high end builds. 🤷 So I 'moved back in'.
PS: stock fans are generally and sadly e-waste with very few exceptions.
See my view is spend more on a good case. They don’t go bad and if built well can last forever and with 3D printing and some creativity and knowing how to search for components you can redo the aesthetic and the front IO to match whatever modern cases have for the most part.
I hate glass in cases. I don't do RGB either. All I want is function, good air flow and easy running cables at the back.
i wish you'd included an antec case in the video. theyre very solid in terms of build quality for the price.
I spent $300 on my A500TG from Thermaltake. Its built and designed to be a forever case.Itll age better than a Corsair 5000T.
Expensive case fans like Lian Li or Phanteks fans make cases expensive. I pre-ordered the Antec Flux Pro because it comes populated with all the fans I need and the cooling it provide is up there with the best.
I'm thinking about cte c750 since it has really good dust protection. 190dolars tho . What do yall think?
After years of PC building, I have learned a really important thing:
Don't spend money on Corsair stuff (except PSUs).
True, My AX760 i bought like 10 years ago still going strong in my kids PC. Before that i tried different cheaper options including some cheaper Corsair ones and they just did not last at all. I hope that the Hx1000 in my new system will perform as good as the AX did.
My NZXT H710 case thats 5 years old had a bad power switch... I've seen others online mention this issue. I am in the middle of adding a custom switch now but having issues so thinking about giving up and getting a non-NZXT case unless someone can vouch that they fixed the switch issue.
Still rocking a 400C. And thinking of switch cases for a pop air and just because now I need that 5.25 bay, otherwise no need for change.
I would've expected to see the new Lian-Li Lancool 207 here to be honest. Especially since it has several of the premium features you later list in this video.
And another part that I really don't like, they always make io and power button at top for on-desk cases. This design is pretty good for full rower cases as under desk, but for small or middle cases on the desk, it is really bad design
Packaging is important, but bonus points for Phanteks for not needing giant polystyrene protection. We really should be encouraging companies to do away with unnecessary plastic.
I'm fairly limited in my options. I don't want RGBarf or tempered glass cases. That means I also can't be picky about the price.
I have the montech air 903 max and I never felt anything wrong even compared with other higher end cases, yeah the fans could be better but for 90$ I got a very good deal
In my current build I got the Corsair 7000D because not many cases support a 420mm radiator and the CPU tends to get hot.
Phanteks G400A will be my next case. Waiting for it. Not sure if it will support BTF motherboards or not.
I use Zalman Z3 I bought in 2018 for 37 EUR (which would be 50 EUR today, counting for inflation). It doesn't have a glass window, but who cares, since it sits below the table, as would any new build. Desk space is at too much premium. The case has some gromits for cable routing and that is about that. Oh, I can also put 5 full sized HDDs in, which at one point I have used. Can't phantom spending 100 EUR for an average case.
is the corsair 5000d competitive ?
Bought my current PC case for $30 brand new back in 2015. It came with 2 fans that still work and I don't see myself swapping anytime soon.
@@2cars10 dats a good deal...here in india cabinet prices are too cheap, other components aren't tho...there are bunch of ant Esport cabinet we can get for 30$ but with 4 fans installed (rgb in most cases), good airflow and decently good IO.. pretty good for its price, i currently have Circle eliminator X5 cabinet, cost me 45$...comes with 4 ARGB fans (3 fans 140mm), airflow is extremely good, IO panel is just too good, full atx support, and it's big enough to fit any size of card...it was a good deal
i am a lot happier with my $35 case now, it easily overpasses all those issues you mentioned in these so called inexpensive-under budget options... which are still double that price. Although with four non-pwm fans pre-installed, adding two extra pwm fans was the only extra addition i made into the case. it looks premium and support every hardware i try to fit in and no issues with airflow; no flex in any of the component or panels. a month ago, i felt like i should upgrade to a newer case, but nah, its perfect already.
@@realracing3specter295 ahh...whom are you talking to exactly? i didn't mention any issue nor that guy who commented
@@Achiever88 bruh, i didnt mention your name, that means its not you... i responded to the main comment above you, so obviously nothing to do with you.
@@realracing3specter295 okay...i was just asking, btw i don't see where he complaint about any issues...
Try the Lian Li LANCOOL 207