Best $100 case where cooling is most important

[Hanzou]

I am looking for a case around $100 where cooling is most important. If it is quiet that is great but with my house getting upwards of 82f/28c in the summer, my internaltemps sky rocket versus fall-spring. Don't need anything fancy but USB 3.0, room for a 7870 and a larger corsair A70 and 3 hard drives, don't care if it has a window or not.

I have been looking at the Corsair 500R, Antec Eleven Hundred, Antec 280 and the Fractal R4. Is one of these the best bets or is there something else out there? Also, is a side panel fan really important, seems nice to have a big fan blowing straight onto your GPU and CPU.

Thanks!

 

[VirtualLarry]

if your ambient temp is high, then your case temps are going to be high too. Granted, with the best cooling possible, the case internal temp would be the same as the ambient temps.

 

[kleinkinstein]

No, a side fan is illogical. Airflow should always be 2D, never 3D. It's simply stupid how such a design is marketed as better.

Okay now with that out of the way, why $100? Spend half that and land yourself a steal with an Arc Midi. The case is a clone of the R4, sans the cheapazz plastic door and silly foam. Use the savings for a(nother) ssd.

 

[Hanzou]

No, a side fan is illogical. Airflow should always be 2D, never 3D. It's simply stupid how such a design is marketed as better.

Okay now with that out of the way, why $100? Spend half that and land yourself a steal with an Arc Midi. The case is a clone of the R4, sans the cheapazz plastic door and silly foam. Use the savings for a(nother) ssd.

Very nice but it's sold out. Eveywhere else in Canada is asking ~$100

 

[tracerbullet]

You mention the 280 and R4, are you looking for some quietness then? You mention primarily for cooling, but I don't think of those right off as being designed around cooling.

What about the Antec 900? It's all friggin fans and mesh, I haven't built with one but I've had my hands on them and they seem like they'd do well in that regard. NE shows $109 right now, close to your $100, and the fans are included (4 I believe with the ability to add more).

Thing is, there's 1000 cases out there. Other than airflow, what else are you looking for? Silence, size, # drive bays internal or external, etc.?

 

[lehtv]

Antec 900 is a very old design, the Antec 1100 supersedes the 900 in all respects, as do many other sub $100 cases.

 

[AustinInDallas]

antec 300v2 +2 fans

 

[tracerbullet]

Antec 900 is a very old design, the Antec 1100 supersedes the 900 in all respects, as do many other sub $100 cases.

Sure, I was trying to keep the size down. I guess what I care about isn't necessarily what he cares about though. I was also thinking of the 1200 at the time I wrote that.