How about some recommendations for $100-150 case?

[fffblackmage]

I'm considering buying a new case as an upgrade over my current Antec 900. I'm not planning to buy anything right away, but I just want to see what my options might be.

I like my 900 quite a bit, but well, I'm just a glutton for nice cases - like buying myself an Antec P183 for a NAS box when I could have used an existing cheapy case. A bit of a waste of money, but at least I'm enjoying my P183?

Ideally, I want something mid-sized, but don't let that stop you from suggesting an awesome full-sized case.

edit: Oh darn, I was thinking some of those Silverstone cases might be nice, but apparently they're too nice. I was looking at the RV03B-WA, and that sits just beyond my budget (after shipping anyways).

Hm, after some more research and browsing, the P280 seems to have an excellent balance of airflow, quiet, and price. Maybe I should have just jumped on that NCIX deal rather than think about it....

 

[lsv]

550D, P280, R3 are my current go to cases. I have a box in a Sonata 3 as well but it's very bad for cable management and I just used it to shove a bunch of hard drives in to.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

550D, P280, R3 are my current go to cases. I have a box in a Sonata 3 as well but it's very bad for cable management and I just used it to shove a bunch of hard drives in to.

+1

 

[jpk]

I'm looking at getting the new Cooler Master HAF XM. Every review I've read seems to love it. I have the HAF 922 and it's a very quiet case. The XM solves some small issues I have with the 922 plus the HAF XM is only $129.00 msrp.

 

[Topweasel]

I'm looking at getting the new Cooler Master HAF XM. Every review I've read seems to love it. I have the HAF 922 and it's a very quiet case. The XM solves some small issues I have with the 922 plus the HAF XM is only $129.00 msrp.

I love my HAF X. But its down side is that by nature its not a quiet machine. What it does is cool everything so well that that most things don't spin up high enough to get annoying. Mine rarely sounds higher then a soft hum, quieter then even the vents in my house. But I went to a decent amount of trouble to engineer it that way. When or if I manually pump up the fan speed, the machine can get very loud.

To do this with my LGA2011 build was, get a PSU that is engineered for higher heat allowances so the fan doesn't even start spinning till it gets to a 200w draw (meaning silent at idle or desktop usage). That PSU came with a fan controller, that at auto changes the fan speed based on power draw for the front, top, and side fans. Those fans don't go off, but spin so slowly I can barely hear them. Then an H80, I didn't change out the fans, but I have the fan control set to low, and again pretty quiet. Downside on this is that the pump may have to work harder at load, but I haven't gone over 58 degrees. Finally I got a Sapphire OC 7950. This vid card has two lard fans reducing noise and the side fan is blowing onto it. On top of everything else, that by getting an H80, the only heat being dispensed into the case is the Vid card and half of that air is going out the back vent. This keeps the inside of my cases ambient temp very close to room temperature.

Why I bring this up is that A.) Experience with the platform. B.) I by selecting things with manual settings I can experience both ends of the spectrum.

Between cold boots (sounds like a jet engine powering up), and manual fan control (normal loud computer when cranked up), I can tell you that while it can be one of the quietest setups for a computer. It takes more effort then with a standard quiet case (P280 for example) and if done wrong or without foresight it can become quite loud. The plus side is if done correctly you get the best of both worlds a quiet setup that has great cooling capabilities at that level, but if need be can cranked up when needed.

 

[blastingcap]

I'm looking at getting the new Cooler Master HAF XM. Every review I've read seems to love it. I have the HAF 922 and it's a very quiet case. The XM solves some small issues I have with the 922 plus the HAF XM is only $129.00 msrp.

Out of curiosity what issues are you referring to re the HAF 922? I was looking at that case for my next build since I already have a USB 3.0 internal adapter so I was looking for a quiet, well-cooled affordable USB 2.0 case.

 

[jpk]

I really loved my 922 but since upgrading my system it is a bit lacking when compared to the newer cases. I will say this, it is a very quiet case with the 200mm fans. But I would like USB 3.0 connectors on the front. The interior isn't painted black but the newer 922 has that, I know, it's a minor preference thing and has nothing to do with the performance of the case. The cable routing ports are not rubber grommeted and there aren't very many of them. The HAF XM seems to have those things covered as well as a few more refinements. I also considered the Corsair 650D. Looks like a very nice case and I like that it's very clean looking vs the XM but in the end the XM has more features and it's $50.00 cheaper as well.

 

[blastingcap]

I really loved my 922 but since upgrading my system it is a bit lacking when compared to the newer cases. I will say this, it is a very quiet case with the 200mm fans. But I would like USB 3.0 connectors on the front. The interior isn't painted black but the newer 922 has that, I know, it's a minor preference thing and has nothing to do with the performance of the case. The cable routing ports are not rubber grommeted and there aren't very many of them. The HAF XM seems to have those things covered as well as a few more refinements. I also considered the Corsair 650D. Looks like a very nice case and I like that it's very clean looking vs the XM but in the end the XM has more features and it's $50.00 cheaper as well.

Thanks, I got a Corsair 500R but in hindsight I probably should have gotten something cheaper, like a good, proven USB 2.0 case and added a USB 3.0 front panel myself. (see below)

I don't know about the Corsair case you are looking at, but I don't feel like the 500R is worth its asking price compared to other cases out there... HDD mounts are flimsier than on my Storm Sniper, I didn't appreciate the two cutouts for a radiator since I don't watercool and hate having only a grill with no mesh up on top (gonna have to buy some mesh myself to cover it up), the rubber grommets look nice but should have been bigger, etc. It didn't even come with air filters, though I guess that's common in the ~$100 price bracket. Still, I can't believe how few cases come with air filters these days! Even my Storm Sniper Black came with mesh all over the place, and it was down to $120 by the time I bought it a while back. I'm going to buy a sheet of polyurethane air filter material and and cut it into pieces to make my own filters. Ugh.

My gf wound up with the Corsair 500R, not me, solely because the 500R would fit with her desk and the Storm Sniper would not. So I am still on my CM Storm Sniper Black. It does not have USB 3.0 natively, but I got this and it works great: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058NN1A0 (Also see: http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-FP36B-Aluminum-3-5-Inch-Converter/dp/B0049MPQCW If I'm reading that right, in the future if you don't need the USB 3.0 front panel anymore, you can use it to mount SSDs instead)

More detail about the rubber grommets: you might want to make sure the case has a big enough hole. The 500R's rubber grommets are only just enough to do the job, especially the main hole next to the PSU. It was definitely less comfortable to work with than my Storm Sniper which had no rubber grommets but did have a massive hole near the PSU and a decent gap between the 5.25" racks and the end of the motherboard support area. Not sure if the Corsair case you're looking at has the same size or not.

 

[jpk]

Blastingcap, The Corsair Obsidian 650D is their latest "mid" tower case. It has a lot of refinements over the the 500 series. The MSRP right now is $179.00 but you may be able to find it a little cheaper. Generally Corsair makes a nice case. I was pretty jazzed about getting the Obsidian 800D when it first came out but I just couldn't pull the trigger on the price tag back then. Was really looking at the HAF X as recent as late last year but again just couldn't pull the trigger at the time. The price is much better for it now but I don't like a few aspects of the X. Along comes the XM and that cures all the issues I had with the X. It has good cooling, Space for a long radiator up top, lots of vid card space, many grommet options, USB 3.0 on the case front, SSD mount on the back of the mobo tray, many easily removed filters, black paint inside, latch side panel release. All for $129.00. I'm not crazy about the look. If CM made a XM with the look of the Corsair case I would have no complaints at all.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Carbide 400R, if you want the best sub-$100 case. The other suggestions are good for cases at the $150 range.

 

[blastingcap]

Blastingcap, The Corsair Obsidian 650D is their latest "mid" tower case. It has a lot of refinements over the the 500 series. The MSRP right now is $179.00 but you may be able to find it a little cheaper. Generally Corsair makes a nice case. I was pretty jazzed about getting the Obsidian 800D when it first came out but I just couldn't pull the trigger on the price tag back then. Was really looking at the HAF X as recent as late last year but again just couldn't pull the trigger at the time. The price is much better for it now but I don't like a few aspects of the X. Along comes the XM and that cures all the issues I had with the X. It has good cooling, Space for a long radiator up top, lots of vid card space, many grommet options, USB 3.0 on the case front, SSD mount on the back of the mobo tray, many easily removed filters, black paint inside, latch side panel release. All for $129.00. I'm not crazy about the look. If CM made a XM with the look of the Corsair case I would have no complaints at all.

Yeah don't get me wrong the 500R is a nice case, but I think it's overpriced for what it is. If I paid $99 for it I would be significantly happier. At $115 though, that's almost as much as what I paid for my Storm Sniper Black.

Yeah the XM was on my short list, but I value quiet, so I was looking for cases that had a 200mm side fan preinstalled so I would not have to spend extra money buying one. The side fan is particularly important to me for GPU cooling purposes, as that is almost always the single biggest heat source in rigs I build. I would settle for 2x120mm side fans as well.

Have you seen the NZXT Phantom full tower at $129? That's got some good price/perf and I could have easily gotten that case instead. http://www.amazon.com/Crafted-Series.../dp/B003WE9WQY Specs here: http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/crafted_series/phantom

 

[OVerLoRDI]

650D is a great case. 550D is a solid choice as well.

My go to, for something less than 100, is the HAF 922.

 

[jpk]

I bought my 922 when they first came out so the price was in the $120-$130 range at the time. Now they are below $100 so they are a solid choice in that price range. Before I got the 922 I had a Lian Li case and it was noisy. The 922 with the 200mm fans, I added a third 200mm, was very quiet in comparison.

Another reason I want to get a XM is the dust filter access, much easier and more of them. The 922 has only one and it is behind the lower front panel. In order to get to it you have to remove both side panels then remove six screws that are hard to get to. Then, unsnap the top input panel. Then you can remove the front to get to the really flimsy dust filter. Not very convienient.

 

[babbish]

I second the Corsair 650D or a Graphite Series 600T, you can find them for around $150 on google shopping.

 

[blastingcap]

I bought my 922 when they first came out so the price was in the $120-$130 range at the time. Now they are below $100 so they are a solid choice in that price range. Before I got the 922 I had a Lian Li case and it was noisy. The 922 with the 200mm fans, I added a third 200mm, was very quiet in comparison.

Another reason I want to get a XM is the dust filter access, much easier and more of them. The 922 has only one and it is behind the lower front panel. In order to get to it you have to remove both side panels then remove six screws that are hard to get to. Then, unsnap the top input panel. Then you can remove the front to get to the really flimsy dust filter. Not very convienient.

Yeah I won't touch Lian Li's.

This comparison shows the HAF XM compares favorably to the 650D, though to be fair, neither of them have optional fans installed. But even so, look at the CPU load and GPU load comparisons. I mean it's nice that the 650D cools your mobo and all, but come on, CPU and GPU at load are the stress points of systems!

If I had to do it all over again, I'd either get a cheaper but good USB 2.0 case (HAF 922?) and install the USB 3.0 front panel myself, or I'd get the HAF XM instead of the 500R. http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/cm_haf_xm/5.htm

 

[Emo]

The P280 is nice case but if you want a bit more airflow consider the Antec 1100, it has the same internal design as the P280 and you can get it for $100. It has 2 USB 2.0 and 2 USB 3.0 connectors on the front bezel.