As I said, at the $80. after rebate price from CompUSA, you can't beat the Antec 160 - it's just I don't care for the looks - if they'd just made the front air ports horizontal and a little less riced, I could have been on it like stink on sh... Most of the Antecs are honed in on the right layout for cooling and noise. Aluminum cases tend to be noisier so you have to pay a bit more attention to isolating noise makers from the metal.
. The Kingwin 424 series is in the same ballpark price wise - more conservative in appearance - heavier Aluminum and is metal all around where the 160 has the plasticy bezel. But you'd have to do some modding to get to the same air flow as the 160.
. I'm into the smaller size systems and in that vein I like the new Chenming 118 cube and the Enermax Venus series (that new aluminum front HTPC case is based on the same chassis). But those are microATX only.
. In the end, you are the one that will have to live with your choice - so don't let others make it for you.
. As for myself, I finally popped for a Silverstone Berserker. You can see my review of it here:
http://www.techimo.com/reviews/
. It has its share of flaws, but I really like the way it's laid out. Right now( with three 10k SCSI drives and five or so fans going full-tilt) it is a real screaming mimi... Have to zip over to silentpcreview to see if they've come up with any new silencing materials lately.
.bh.
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