importance of branded (expensive!) cases?

[Wigwam]

Hi,

just a quick question regarding cases for a novice [would be] overclocker.
my understanding was that looks and the quality of the psu apart, the rest of the case was for all intents and purposes looks and induvidual tastes.
Given that Lian Li et al are very expensive whereas it is possible to pick up an unbranded case which looks nice but which has a good quality quiet p3/p4/amd/pfc powersupply what other reasons should i take into account to take in some cases nearly 5 times for for the branded cases [w/o psu]?

do these cases contribute significantly to heat reduction or to put it another way are the cheaper cases consisdered as a poor housing unit for athlon chips for overclocking?

i look forward to your advice and opinions.

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

Some cases use thicker steel than others, such as Antecs, Chieftecs, etc.. usin 1mm steel as opposed to .8mm steel. High quality cases tend to have a more sturdy construction to them, and have perks such as removable motherboard trays and rounded corners to keep you from cutting yourself on metal, as well as drive rails. High quality cases tend to have better airflow - the $15 case you buy at CompUSA won't have the capacity for fans and such as say, an Antec Lanboy.

You can get good Chieftec/PS combos at newegg for around $70, and I wouldn't go for anything less.

 

[Fallen Kell]

*nods with MistaTastyCakes*

Basically the cheap cases are really that. They "cut corners" to save costs and they really do "cut" . Now I wouldn't say you "must buy" a Lian Li or a CoolerMaster, but they will give you a very high quality case. I would look at Antec or Chieftec (Chieftec makes most of Antec's cases, just not the new "life styles series"). The benefits of buying Antec is that they include their SmartPower power supply with most of their cases. The SmartPower was origionally the "best power supply" out there for a few years standing, and the series is still very good (and quiet). Might be well worth it to spend $70 for an Antec case which gets you a good $35-40 PSU included, and not some cheap POS.

 

[jagr10]

Yup, as mentioned above, you'll get what you pay for. Actually, Chieftec is going to change their cases to make them unique so that people know they're chieftec. Right now too many companies make that "chenming" case and they all look the same. I think chenming is making chieftec exclusive maker of its cases.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: jagr10
Yup, as mentioned above, you'll get what you pay for.

I agree but at the minute, I think they are overpriced still. This might just be me and the problems we have with finding cheap gear here in the UK.

 

[deerslayer]

I have bought both good name brand cases and cheap no name cases, and I would stay away from the no name cases. I bought the cheap ones because they were just for distributed computing crunchers, and it didn't matter much.

The metal is not nearly as thick, as someone already mentioned, they aren't very sturdy, and they generally have generic power supplies. If you're buying a case for an important system, I wouldn't cut corners when buying the case.

 

[amcdonald]

I've worked with and inside of many cheap cases and nice cases. If you are running a business or never go inside your computer, cheap is ok. If you take aesthetics into consideration, or if you are regularly inside your computer, spend an extra $40-50 on a better case.
Cheap cases cut you, are hard to manuever in, and typically have all kinds of design flaws which you won't know until you get screwed.
Go with a standard antec case for a safe bet. Like previously mentioned the best part about buying antec is the bundled psu... you really do save a lot buying antec.
PSU quality should never be compromised with something important. If you are running a 366 celeron, throw an old 200w psu in, but since you are going to be overclocking get an antec. I'm impressed with the 3700 right now, the 120mm fans should give awesome cooling for a mid tower with no modifications.