Antec 300. Doesn't have modern features (like USB 3.0, modern cable management or a CPU heatsink mounting cutout) but its solid, looks good and has plenty of cooling and space. I did recently consider buying a new one but just couldn't justify £50 for something with little to offer me (I don't own any USB 3.0 products, I have cable tied the cables in nicely and the Hiper 212 heatsink is already fitted and I won't be change it any time soon)…
Antec 300 since 2009, looks like its popular solution. To be honest I run most stuff from a USB 3 hub, or RS232 so its fine for me.
Corsair 200R.Plenty of room & was cheap when i bought it.
Corsair Obsidian 750D. I believe I bought this in 2013, so three years old I guess. Love how easily it is to clean and assemble because it's so spacious. Hate the fact that it's picking up dust so often.
Silverstone TJ07 since 2008. Never come across a case that suits my needs any better since.
Its fits water cooling loops easily, its all Aluminium so modding it is easy and it does not look too dated.
I keep my eye on new large cases but they never seem to tick all the boxes like this one.
Sold the Antec300 and went with a Fractal R4. very nice and very very quiet to quote Elmer Fudd
Corsair 600 T Special White Edition
Love it!
An older Dell XPS case. Air flow sucks, and it's seriously cramped. Will be trying to fit a new case into my budget soon.
Aerocool Dead Silence Gaming Cube bought earlier this year, makes everything more stable and easier to work with.
Antec P182, pretty scruffy these days, SSDs are mounted with tape, does the job though.
I use the Thermaltake Core X9 in white, it is just over a year old and is holding up well and I am on my third build in this same case, all have been fully custom watercooled.
The wife uses the Corsair 760T in white, she has had it for about 2 years and has also gone through about 3 builds in the same case, again all fully custom watercooled and she loves the case.
Silverstone SG07, which is currently running case off as the R9 380 is to high for the custom case fan, will be replacing with a Corsair Carbide Air 240 that will sit with the window facing up, I hate windowed cases…
The Cooler Master MasterCase 5
Corsair Carbide 500R - Been modded, reconfigged, prodded, poked and all sorts, but still rock solid and lovely!!
Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition
excellent sound dampening, only one flashy LED on the front(which was easily covered up) and easy to clean dust filters.
Best case i've had so far in my 25 years of building my own machines.
An old (but large) budget EZ-COOL case bought in 2007, it now has DIY intake fan spaces… rugged.
Thermaltake Urban S71. It's a nice sized case, well built, and has plenty of space for all my hdd's. And has an external hot swap bay. The only complaint I have is the cable tidy area could do with being 5mm or so deeper.
The good old Corsair 600T SE (the white one with the window) It's about 5 or 6 years old, great for cooling, very easy to build with and apart from a scratch (which was my fault) it's as good a s new. I'd buy another.
NZXT Phantom 410 SE in Orange and Black. Had it for just over a year now and absolutely love it. It fits everything I need to (Only just fits my Evo 212 CPU Cooler however).
Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced with 2 x USB3. Had it for a bout three years, Great case but one of the fans became very noisy after about a year.
Still rocking Fractal Design Define Minis for both my mATX machines. I sure wish they'd release a modernised replacement.
I currently have a coolermaster HAF XM.
it is a nice case with easy access for cleaning. I have a closed water loop so being able to take off the top with one screw to clean the fans is great.
I also like the two drive caddies on the front.
Chieftec Dragon, full ATX case from 2004. Built like a tank, tons of room and with only 3x 80mm Sharkoon fans keeps my non-bleeding edge Intel Core i5-3350P (stock fan) purring along nicely.
Phanteks Enthoo Pro M - Titanium Green :-)
Using the Coolermaster Haf X nvidia edition for the last 3-4 years and even if i upgrade my system i will be keeping the case. has all the room i need and tons of expansion space for future
Corsair 900D! Love it. It's all stock at the moment. I may mod it in someway, but I'm considering upgrading to a CaseLabs Magnum…
My latest folly is an EVGA Hadron Air
Got a 6700k, a 240mm AIO and a GTX 980 in it.
I bought it 2nd hand with no drive cage, so I modded one that holds my 2TB SSHD storage drive - the OS drive is an m.2 on the mobo - and I even managed to hook up an NZXT Hue+ in there. All in a package approx. 1ft square and 7inches wide. :D
I love it!
Antec 1200 since 2009.
Just about to build a new rig in a Corsair Carbide 400c. I'd absolutely love a Thermaltake Core P3 but the wife won't let me bolt it to the dining room wall and having 2 cats and a 2 year old means putting it on the floor/desk isn't an option.
Silverstone TJ07. Its a beast of case but there is sooo much room in it. Aluminum so helps keep everything nice and cool. 2 separate water cooling loops and still room to breathe.
Short answer: Too many. :)
Long answer: Phantek Enthoo Primo, Fractal Design R5, Antec ISK600, Fractal Design Node 804 and an old modded original CoolerMaster Stacker.
Phantek is over rated, sloppy build quality and if I hadn't got it cheap I'd have been upset.
Both Fractal designs are decent quality for the money although the Node 804 is a very quirky design it makes an excellent case for FreeNas build.
The Antec is great case for the the £25 I paid for it.
Coolermaster is just solid quality but lacks the bells and whistles of todays more expensive designs but it is well old now.
Silverstone SG13, awesome little case for basically no money and good enough airflow to cope with an aircooled 6700 and a heavily overclocked GTX 1070. If you don't need extra PCIe or memory slots I'd highly recommend it for ANY build seeing as itx boards cost about the same as atx/matx boards nowadays.
Machine 1: Antec P182. Excellent case, looks smart, straightforward cooling design (dust filters on the front), easy to work with. Best of all - great sound proofing so it's whisper quiet even under constant full load - overclocked CPU & GPU, 8 3.5“ drives (has 4x 5.25” external bays, drive cage is perfect size to fit a 4in3 or 5in3 drive rack) and 9 fans, though that's in part due to using two AIO water coolers. The two available drive activity LEDs are too bright so I just leave these disconnected. My only real complaint is there's not enough space between the motherboard top edge and ‘blowhole’ vent to fit a standard thickness radiator & fan (unless you use certain motherboards like the Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H that don't cram components right up to the top edge).
Machine 2: Antec Sonata III. It's OK for the price I bought it for; it's quite compact with a solid, sturdy construction, and drives are easy to fit and swap, but its design is quite limiting. I prefer a layout more like the P182 as it's easier to get effective and quiet cooling, whereas with this case there's nowhere to place intake fans, so despite the front intake filter it gets dustier quicker. On previous builds with stock air cooling on the CPU (and only using integrated graphics) it would get quite warm inside and the top mounted PSU ramps up its fan noisily. It's much better now with a Corsair H45 on the CPU, but I'm limited on GPU cooling upgrade options with this case.
Nzxt phantom full tower and for my server a bitfenix shinobi xl (shame to let a good case go to waste)
Second-hand Antec 900 (£25 from Fleabay). My previous case, an unbranded one from Ebuyer served me well for years, but lack of airflow and room for an EVGA 96O SSC 4GB made me check my options- and this happened to be advertised nearby.
It fits everything well (even if the wiring is none too tidy), but although the standard Antec case fans have 3 speed controls on short dangly cables off the fans themselves, actually accessing them without getting my fingers into places where they shouldn't go (the 200mm top fan even at its lowest speed setting isn't finger friendly- as I can testify), so I fitted an Aerocool CoolTouch R fan controller into a spare 5.25 bay which does the job admirably, and gives me a USB 3 port- lacking from the chassis, as it pre-dates that format.
Most of the time the top 200mm fan is set to high (as it isn't really much louder than on lower settings), the paired fronts are on low, as is the rear, and the side fan is switched off entirely except for when gaming.
The seller said the case isn't suitable for water cooling, hence why he was selling it, but I'd fit a rad externally over the top fan if I was going that route.
Enermax FulmoGT, very roomy case.
Thermaltake Level 10 GT - Black - I like the way the bays is set up for HDD/SSD drives.
Another Antec 300 here, just over 8 years old.
Keep considering going ITX, but this big floorstanding clunker is so much quieter than anything SFF I have used.
I am using this cooler master HAF XB excellent case for my needs very good airflow loads of space well built, I wonder why cooler master stopped making them bit of a silly move on there part :)no messing with tools to mod it it already made to suit the modder Removable M/B tray, Sides and top and very good bay solutions for either HDD or SSD.
Lian Li PC-A70B since 2007, with lots of mods and soundproofing.
Very quiet, lots of space and top ventilation.
Lian li PC-V359WRX
swapped to it, from a lian li 359, like the looks + easy access when i need to get rid of dust from the cpu radiator, and all the filters it has compared to the v359 and also has room for a beefy gfx
still on my Bitfenix Survivor Pro - glad i paid the extra to get USB3.0 which was a novelty at the time. Apart from the slight hassle in getting the side panel off due to the screw brackets it is an excellent case, spacious, well laid-out and decent cooling. Plus fan filters as standard. Again a relative novelty for the time.
Cooler Master HAF-X since 2011. Good for air cooling and has more capacity for hard drives than I have SATA sockets. It's on wheels so that reduces the amount I have to lift it.
It didn't come with any good fan filters so it is prone to getting dusty inside and you'd struggle to get a custom water loop installed without doing some modifications to the case and losing the drive bays. The front I/O connections are becoming dated so any upgrade to a modern motherboard would probably require a 3rd party 5.25" I/O panel.
Thermaltake Versa H25 since upgrading my mobo/CPU last year. Had a Lian-Li PC-65 case for years before that but wanted something a little more up to date eg. tool-free, better drive mounts etc. Also quite plain looking (my preference) which was trickier to find than you'd think; too many cases look like something that fell off a Transformer nowadays!
Jaffo
too many cases look like something that fell off a Transformer nowadays!
yup. With you on that one. I still think the silverstone FT02 was the best-looking case I've ever come across. Since then…. :(
Thermaltake Chaser A71. Love the case, has great airflow throughout for a decent overclocked rig and offers loads of space with sensible extras like good cable management. Got it from Amazon Warehouse Deals, apparently open box but it was absolutely immaculate and I saved loads on it. Replaced my trusty Antec 900 which served me well for years
Define R5 for the main rig, and a Node 804 for the secondary storage/media box.
Love them both, except for the stupid broken “modu-vent” plastic clips on the top of the R5.
Next time, I'm thinking ITX in a Node 202 would be nice.
I think I like the Fractal design cases because they're fairly plain and unobtrusive.
Main rig is in a BeQuiet Dark Pro 900 but also have an antec 1200 with my old machine still sat in it. really need to get the stripped down and sold at some point.
DanceswithUnix
Another Antec 300 here, just over 8 years old.
Keep considering going ITX, but this big floorstanding clunker is so much quieter than anything SFF I have used.
Try the SG13, I had an Antec 300 for my previous build and this thing makes the antec sound like a jet engine. Temps are pretty much the same too.
I'm using a Cooler Master K380 Mid Tower.
A Corsair 550D, around 3 years old and is in like new condition minus the dust. The dust covers are the only sign that (from the outside) it's not new
Ttaskmaster
Corsair Carbide 500R - Been modded, reconfigged, prodded, poked and all sorts, but still rock solid and lovely!!
Do you have any pics?
Corsair 550D - Fitted a 360mm radiator to the front for water cooling. Not able to install an optical drive and my system disk lies on the bottom of my case. It is exceptionally quiet and cools everything ridiculously well :)
Corsair Carbide 200R for the desktop (which isn't used these days) and Enermax Laguna for the HTPC.
CHIEFTEC AEGIS CX-05B-B-M-OP Steel ATX Mid Tower. One of the last cases out there that was built with 1mm steel. Mine is the black version with top fan. Very good cooling and with Noctua fans pretty much silent.
pa1nkiller
Cooler Master HAF-X since 2011. Good for air cooling and has more capacity for hard drives than I have SATA sockets. It's on wheels so that reduces the amount I have to lift it.
It didn't come with any good fan filters so it is prone to getting dusty inside and you'd struggle to get a custom water loop installed without doing some modifications to the case and losing the drive bays. The front I/O connections are becoming dated so any upgrade to a modern motherboard would probably require a 3rd party 5.25" I/O panel.
CoolerMaster HAF-932 for me. Yes it's a big beast (and like you I fitted the wheels to make it easier to clean under) but all that space means that I never have to think too closely about squeezing stuff in. Really wish though that CoolMaster would do a replacement IO panel - the IEEE 1394 connection is about as much use these days as the proverbial chocolate fireguard, and I'd love to upgrade from USB2 to USB3 ports.
Had my CM case since December 2010 (
thanks Scan!) and I can't see myself changing any time soon - as it's doing what I want/need and if I fancy getting clever with watercooling etc, then it can do that. Best of all, that big size = big fans = very quiet! :D
Thermaltake Level 10 GT snow edition.
Cooling is great, fits my 140mm radiator has enough room for all my hard drives (currently 5) and looks great on my white desk.
Second PC is an aerocool dead silence in orange with green lights inside, look great in my kitchen.
nCase M1. Amazing case to build in. Much better quality than most Lian-Li cases (it's manufactured by them for nCase), excellent cable management, every space on the case is so well though out that it is designed with 2-3 different uses, and it's among the smallest ITX cases that support full-length graphics cards.
That said, if you are on a budget, and want to stay small, I would recommend Cougar's QBX Kaze. It requires a lot more planning and preparation, but might be the smallest cheapest case that will support a full-length GPU.
DavyJ
That said, if you are on a budget, and want to stay small, I would recommend Cougar's QBX Kaze. It requires a lot more planning and preparation, but might be the smallest cheapest case that will support a full-length GPU.
SilverStone ML08B is smaller, cheaper and supports GPU's up to 33 cm in length. Which granted is 2cm shorter than the QBX Kaze, but it's still ‘full-length’ in my book.
I am using a new sharkoon BW9000-W even though it is a cheaper case its becoming one of my favorites
Especially because it has a lot of working space, and even a lot of space to add water cooling rads.
This was a gamble but when it arrived i was stunned how easy i could insert the motherboard and more important plug the cables in even at the top where the cpu connectors are. Ofcourse there are some points which could be improved. But this is really a very nice and well designed casing for those who do not have girly hands like me, and struggle to get cables connected at the nasty places.
The case has a removable disk rack which makes enormous space available to house the biggest videocards on the planet. Even if bigger cards would appear you do not have to worry ever.
In active use:
Lian Li B25 - houses my ESXi server these days but I've had it for ages and it used to house my main rig, good build quality, a bit out dated and mildly modified (3.5“ drive cages removed, 2.5” drive cage added, sound deadening added.
Cooltek W2 - main rig, good build quality, sound deadening added.
Rajintec Styx - HTPC / gaming rig, crap quality but was the smallest cheap desktop / HTPC case that could fit a 290X in and give it decent cooling - should have bought the Streacom F12C I was lusting after instead
In storage (really should get around to selling them):
Fractal Design R4
SilverStone SG09
Fractal Design Define XL R2, Black Pearl.
Got it just over three years ago, ex-display so it was sub £90 then. Magnificent case, still looks as fresh as the day it arrived, and no functionality issues to boot. The thing's a veritable wind tunnel too, temperatures are always silly low.
HAF XB which has the motherboard mounted horizontally. Cooled with 2 Noctua AF140's controlled by a BitFenix Recon fan controller with the temperature sensor jammed into the graphic card's heatsink fins. Slightly modded the front by cutting out the plastic honeycomb that covered the fans and used some magnetic tape with the dust filter to make an easy to clean removable filter that attaches to the front. Has been replaced now with the HAF XB EVO.
Using a Silverstone TJ07 for nigh on 4 years. Initially loved it but damn it's big and heavy esp with dual loop w/c.
Other than that, the case is nice, cools well. It is, however, missing the bells and whistles of newer high end cases.
I am glad I picked up the usb3 add in for the case tho.
Definitely going smaller next time.
Currently have a Lian-Li PC-B25F. I've used it for the past 6 years. Before then I have a Lian Li PC-60 & a PC-70. Best case I've worked with and never once cut my self (which happens alot when I worked for a PC building company 10 years ago).
Cooler Master Silencio 550. I've had it for four or five years, although it was mothballed in favour of a Corsair Carbide Air 240 for one of those. I like the look and feel of it and the built in noise dampening. I'm not so keen on the limited CPU cooler height (155mm max) and the fact it only has a single 2.0 USB port on the front panel now after the single USB 3.0 port broke. I think I'll be using it for another year at least and if I can work out a neat way to mod some extra USB ports into it then maybe a few more years after that.
Akasa Mirage lovely case had for 6 years.
Chieftec they made some of the best cases back in the days, I had one for ages, even dropped it down the stairs and not a scratch on it lol ok just a small 1mm dent but still did its job.
el_raberto
Chieftec Dragon, full ATX case from 2004.
An Antec SLK3700 BQE, bought in May 2004. I'd like something with slightly better noiseproofing and top USB (3) sockets, but most of the modern stuff e.g. R3/R4 is too deep for my desk.
Cooler Master HAF X - original model. Built like a tank….weighs as much as a tank but brilliant for a heavily overclocked rig with many many fans. Internally suffers the same problem as most cases which is that is does not have enough room internally between the top of the motherboard and the top of the case to allow for thick radiators AND fansz to be installed internally.
Phantek Enthoo Pro. It's a well featured case that is less expensive than some of the other high end cases.
Currently using the Enermax Ostrog. Upgrading to a Phanteks Enthoo Pro.
Corsair 450D for my Sklylake Wintendo system and a Cooler Master ATCS 201 (from roughly when Christ was carpenter) for a Sandy Bridge Hackintosh. The latter is still, aesthetically at least, one of my favourite cases of all time.
BitFenix Comrade
Does what i need for a decent enough price when I bought It.
Corsair Carbide 300 for one and an older Antec for the 2nd one. Once Cannonlake is released the Antec will be replaced with something more up to date.
The Corsair case is a keeper - plenty of space and easy to work with.
Antec Sonata Plus, which basically a dark and copper coloured original Solo. It's amazing, both for silencing of hard drives, its looks and versatility. It's small enough to fit under a desk with drawers, but fits a decent-sized GPU (7850) and a large CPU cooler (Scythe Mugen 2). Having replaced the fans with Nexus Basic fans (120 mm and two 92 mm), it's completely silent, no annoying grinding of hard drives (there are two currently).
No wonder Antec went and updated it with USB 3, a cut-out to mount the CPU cooler and basically left it as it is calling it Solo II. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Ancient Fractal Define R2 (not XL or R4 etc) kind of boring.
Main case is a be quiet! Dark Base 900 Pro - It's huge and configurable. Not had it too long but I'm fairly happy with it and would recommend it to anyone wanting to build a beast, or just show off the guts of their machine in shiny glassy glory.
Also running a Fractal Arc Mini R2 - it was my main case up until the DBP upgrade - threw some Aerocool fans in there and it's been brilliant. Currently having a secondary gaming rig built in to it for the Mrs (co-op Portal!)
I'm about to buy a Silverstone DS380B for an upgraded NAS build as well - which is exciting. To me.
We are using three cases at present in the living room Zalman TNN 300. My son has a Silverstone SG03 aluminium version and in the bedroom I have another Zalman TNN 300. In the garage I have a stack of cases that I have used over the years From Lian Li, Coolermaster, Silverstone, Antec, Aopen, Thermaltake, and two of my All Time favourites Powermac 9700 case and Apple G5 case. I believe the Zalman I have in my bedroom was the one reviewed by Hexus all those years ago.
Asus Zen, I think. It's probably about 7 years old. Only added a memory card reader block thingy to get USB 3. Other than that, the chassis has been fine. Been through 3 different builds and everything has held up.
Silverstone RV03. I bought 2 years ago and It is amazing, my computer is fresh and the montage is easier thanks to 90º rotation and the power suply possition. The only one problem is the cables falling behind the tower but it depend about where you put your tower.. i think. The hot air get up easier, and thx to 90º rotation the hot air just dissapear.The GPU position is perfect coz the air just get out for back where you can install another fan.
Totaly recommended.
Lian-Li A70B - Have had it about 10 years, has had 4 or 5 different systems in it. Ripped out the lower drive bay rack and replaced with a 240mm*60mm radiator. I modded the top with fan holes for a 360mmx60mm rad. Lower 3 5/14 bays have the 4 drive hot swap. Looking closely at the Phanteks Enthoo Primo as a possible replacement but haven't pulled the trigger just yet.
Cooler Master Haf XB Evo II. Plenty of space for fans or water cooling. I got it on a good sale.
Lian-li V2100 since 2004 for my server rig and NXZT Phantom original from around 2012.
The build quality on the Lian-li is something to see, it's seen multiple systems and been moved about loads.
Still as quiet and as tight as the day i got it.
I'm currently rocking a Corsair 500R, but I'm not happy with it, nor any other cases out there.
Any case manufacturers here want to do me a prototype?