ATX 250w mid tower case for 19.95 (26.95 shipped)

[Braxus]

Thought this was a fairly kickass deal. Compgeeks seem to have just re-added it recently. Cheapest case I've found online. Only 7 bucks for shipping (Western United States UPS)! Very good for a case! Since it's a special item, the Mastercard discount doesn't apply. Also, the PS seems to be mounted in a way in where it could be block one from installing a Slot type CPU so that might be a problem for some users. I'm guessing Socketed CPUs shouldn't have any problems. They also have a ATX full tower case for 39.50 in where you can use the MC discount.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=205-4260

Update: They have lowered the price from 22.95 to 19.95! Also have the Acer Micro ATX Aspire case w/floppy re-listed ($26.00)!

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=205-4247

 

[cmv]

You can mount a Slot 1 CPU in there just fine. Unless your slocket is extremely tall you shouldn't have any problems. You might need to remove the power supply (very easy, 4 screws), install everything, and then put it back but I've had to do that on my InWin 500a.

Someone mentioned this was a problem because their slocket was too tall. I have 4 slockets or so and all are short enough (currently using one of the MSI ones from onvia in one of these cases).

In short, it should fit without a problem.

 

[burnedout]

Decent cases. Ordered one earlier this year and put a Tyan motherboard in it. Had to remove the power supply to access the CPU (a Celeron on a slotket). A little annoying, but no big deal with that particular setup. Might be a little more difficult, or even impossible with other motherboards.

Wish they still had the Acer Aspire case which was in stock a couple of weeks ago. Even though they were micro-ATX, with limited bays and small power supply; they were extremely well built. Very compact also. Great for a Tekram S381-ML series board. Managed to get one. Went back for more and they were out.

 

[cmv]

Oh yeah, and if there is a coupon for egghead.com for free shipping these things are usually on there (compgeeks puts them on there).

 

[Rab]

I bought one of these from compgeeks through egghead, for a system I was building. It's a little tight, so if you use a certain ATX MBs you may not be able to fit all your 5.25 drives in without losing a ram slot, depending on the configuration of your board.

It's too bad they're not still offering the Monorail boxes. I bought one of those for my BP6 and it had room to spare. (It even came with a floppy disk, for around $30.)

BTW - Watch your fingers on this one. I remember the edges being very sharp.

 

[Tonec]

They sell these at Fry's, ps is a bit tight but will fit anything short of a vos32. No problems setting up 5.25 drives either. Problem mobos are the dual, and kt7 raid

 

[Jmman]

I would love to buy some of these, but are you sure that a celly with slocket will fit in this baby?? Any advice would be appreciated......

 

[mccall]

I'm looking for a new case for a Duron setup I'm building and would really appreciate it if someone with experience with this case could answer some questions.

I'll be using a non-raid Abit KT7. Tonec posted that the raid version is a tight fit. Does that also apply to the non-raid version?

Since I will be overclocking the Duron, cooling is an issue. The description says room for one 3" case fan. Do you know is that fan at the bottom on the front of the case, or is it high on the backplate of the case? Would it be easy (relatively speaking) to mod the case to put a fan in either of these locations, if it isn't set up for one already?

 

[SuperSix]

There is no difference in the physical size of the Abit Kt7, RAID or not.
The only difference in the boards is the addition of the Highpoint UDMA100/RAID controller chip and the addition of 2 more IDE headers on the RAID version.
It looks like it should fit fine in that case, notice that the 5.25" mounting flange on the motherboard side is "cut" back so to speak, to allow space for DIMM modules. Looks like a well designed case.

 

[RoadRuner]

it's an okay case. they sell locally for $25 at the clone shops. $23 if you pay cash

i had to remove the power supply to insert the slotket/cpu into the 810e mobo i put in it. pain. in the arse.

 

[mccall]

I figured the two Abits were the same size, I just didn't know if they were "arranged" differently. Thanks for the insight.

Anyone have any idea of fan placemeet with this case?

 

[MJB]

IMHO, these things are pieces of CRAP. They are basically constructed of tin-foil. Be careful when handling, as you may bend something. The power supply is very low-quality and noisy, and the case has have VERY poor EMI characteristics.

All that being said, it IS about the cheapest case to be found. I would only recommend for the VERY cheapest of systems. Do consider spending the extra $20 and get a quality unit like the Enlight 723x series (Onvia has some).

 

[Snelski]

I've built 4 systems with these cases and for being so cheap these are some of the best around. The metal edges are mostly folded and that's rare in these types of cases. It's one of the only bargain-based cases that I don't cut myself on. Very descent case for the money. Use an MSI Slotket if you need to convert from FCPGA because it's not too tall - some Slotkets will not fit because of the Power Supply over the motherboard.

In other words, good deal for what you're paying. Their shipping is a bit on the slow side, count on a week for UPS ground.

And btw: the power supplies on all 4 of the Comp Geeks cases I got were VERY quiet. Like I said; descent cases for the money. If this is your dream machine, go look at something else like Antec.

 

[cmv]

I'll second Snelski in that the power supplies were very quiet. I did cut myself on one of the cases but that only happened one time and it was minor in a total of building 3 computers with these cases.

I also like that the sides pop off individually (well, screw off, get some of those nice by hand case screws) and that one of the sides even has a ton of holes which is nice for heat.

None of mine came with case fans. Only fans in the power supply. Only problem so far was that it turns out my power button for the power switch was broken inside. So it poped out the other day. I just put it back in but it is kinda annoying. Not a big deal though.

In summary, if you have the cash and are only buying one case, perhaps you should look at something a bit nicer. If you don't have the cash or are building a ton of systems (and don't have extra) then go for these cases. They could be a lot worse.

 

[Rosebud]

Or you could get the whole deal for 39.00 + shpg

This kit features an ATX Case, a 1.44MB 3.5'' Floppy Drive, 60 watt (PMPO) Amplified
Speakers, and a PS/2 Keyboard and a PS/2 Mouse.

Geeky Starter Kit

 

[DieselMan]

I also got this compgeek thru egghead, and it is a decent case for the price. Unfortunately, the PS that came with it has a label that says "145W", so I don't think I got a 250W PS with this case (although I may have read the label wrong ). Haven't noticed any instability problems with it, but I can't say since I am not running my main system on this (I have a beautiful black Antec workstation case for this); as a matter of fact, I bought the compgeek case as a "backup" case to test hardware that I don't want to put on my main machine. I am pretty satisfied with it for my own need (I like the fact that it is LIGHT; I usually like the heavier cases, but since I open this one everyday, and I need to carry it around, it's a good thing that it's light ). As long as you don't mind taking off 4 screws to reach the cpu, this is a very good budget case (you get what you pay for; spend $100 and go for an Antec case if you want much better).

 

[Braxus]

Wow! Even hotter now! Price has been dropped to 19.95!

 

[audscott]

I like having a cheap a$$ case of two around for building neighbors or quick systems - beats having to to go shopping & getting $crewed on a spur of the moment purchase.

Thanks.

 

[burnedout]

Thanks for the update Braxus. Been so busy with this SPARC stuff, I haven't had a chance to look at compgeeks lately.