OOS Apex micro-ATX tower case w/300W PSU $19.99 + ship @ Directron.com

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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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http://www.directron.com/tm366bk.html

One of their deals of the day.

Shipping was ~$35 for three of them to the East Coast for the cheapest option.

Even with shipping, this is a better deal than Newegg.

Edit: 2015-10-17 - nearly two months later, they are finally sold out. I don't expect them to re-stock this item either. (Though I would love to be pleasantly surprised.)

I purchased five of these, and they are IMHO great cases, easy to work in, lots of tool-less features, and all-around decent quality. The half-price discount just sweetened things.
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,579
10,215
126
These are still available.

I just built an FM2/FM2+ rig in one of my three last night.

IMHO, these are actually really really nice cases.

Some hallmarks of the quality:
The PSU has two +12V rails, and two HDD cables, each with some SATA ports. (But again, it's still a "case PSU", but IMHO one of the better ones, possibly not as good as an Antec or CoolerMaster included-with-case PSU, but close.) The uber-cheap case PSUs only have a single SATA connector. (Looking at you, iMicro case+PSU combos from ewiz.com.)

Actual expansion cover brackets. This is pretty highly unusual on a budget case. Instead of the metal breakout panels, that you have to move back and forth until they snap off, and they might include a single panel cover in the screw bag, this case includes four pre-installed panel covers, each individually screwed down.

Thumb screws. The removable "front" side panel came attached with metal thumbscrews. A little thing to be sure, but extreme budget cases don't come with thumbscrews.

Toolless drive bays, at least partially. Haven't fully figured them out, there's a plastic piece that pushes upwards to release. Seems that the included fine-thread screws have rounded heads that lock into the plastic piece when you slide them in from the front? Kind of like older HP cases do, I guess. I only had an SSD in mine, no opticals or HDDs.

SSD mount. On the bottom, towards the front. Raised screw positions, to screw into from the bottom. Many of the smaller Rosewill micro-ATX cases have these too. A nice touch.

A fairly attractive, but understated fascia. Could be used in a business setting or as a gaming rig, or just a personal PC.

All in all, I think, a good buy. $32 shipped, for a decent (although micro-ATX) case, plus PSU that actually works out of the box.

Edit: I just noticed tonight, when I built my second rig in this case, that the "back" side panel is actually riveted on. Hmm. :( I guess that helps with strength and stability. (I've seen OEM HP cases where that is the case, as well.)
 
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