Looking for a case

[Mr. Pedantic]

I just moved into a new place and bought a new desk. Because of the rather unique design constraints of the room, my existing case (an Antec 900-2 from about 6 years ago) no longer fits.

What I'm looking for is a case that can be placed on a desk rather than at my feet. I'm looking at the Corsair Carbide Air 240, and I was wondering if there were any viable alternatives for around the same price range or cheaper.

My requirements:

- At least 3 internal 3.5" bays and at least 1 internal 2.5" bay
- Width <400mm. Preferably <300mm.
- Has to fit u-ATX
- Has to be available somewhere in New Zealand - not shipping something as big as a case from the US.

I'd prefer a 5.25" external bay for an optical drive but this is probably optional, I can buy a USB drive if I need it.

I was also looking at the FT03, it looks nice and it fits all the requirements but not sure how cabling would work if it sits on top of my desk.

 

[lehtv]

With those requirements, almost any microATX to ATX tower case will work. Tower cases are almost never wider than 300mm... even Fractal Design R5 which is wider than most mid towers, is just 231mm.

Prices look pretty tough in NZ... Looking at pbtech.co.nz, Air 240 is $160, so I assume that's the price level you're comfortable with. Here's a pricespy.co.nz list: http://pricespy.co.nz/category.php?o=produkt_pris_inkmoms&m=s214861429

The first case I'd actually buy is probably Corsair 200R. But Cooler Master Silencio 452 is pretty good too. Since you're going to have it on the table, quiet fans are important.

At the higher end of the spectrum, I'd consider Define R4 and Enthoo Pro. Define R4 is probably a bit quieter. Enthoo Pro has better stock airflow (200mm front fan) and it's a bit bigger and roomier, making it more suitable for dual graphics card configurations.