Reasonable budget case solutions

[XMan]

I'm putting together a new PC for my father-in-law for Christmas, and am looking for something sturdy that doesn't break the bank.

I'm eyeing the Corsair 100R, here, but I'm wondering if there aren't other options out there. Thoughts/experiences with this particular case? A lot of time the less expensive cases are kind of chincy . .

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RORBQNW/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=ION6GSWA7M6BG&colid=32H2CZRSOZQGK

 

[aigomorla]

dont see anything wrong with that case.

for that price its not a bad budget case.

 

[XMan]

Cool. Been about eight years since I bought standard case, was in a long-term HTPC phase.

 

[bfun_x1]

Do you need the 5.25 bays? If not, the Masterbox Box 5 or Box Lite 5 are worth looking at.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811119314

 

[XMan]

No more than one, really.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Do you need the 5.25 bays? If not, the Masterbox Box 5 or Box Lite 5 are worth looking at.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811119314

Here's something that might be of value, assuming at least one or preferably two 5.25 bays.

ICY DOCK ODD + x2 2.5" hot-swap bays

There is also a compatible 4x 2.5" unit.

If you're limited to one bay, the choice depends on your need for an optical drive and hotswap disks with SATA connections.

I flatter myself in thinking that I've built the "best of all possible" Skylake systems or general workstation/gaming desktop for air cooling. But the midtower Coolermaster Stacker 830 (~ 2008 model) is still bulky. I may spring to build myself an SFF mATX or ITX system for the same processor tier if I can plan and anticipate by the plan to see similar cooling results.

I'll be lazy and stupid enough to ask here if there has been a list of case models compiled toward that end. I have seen and heard of several, but can't remember them all at once unless I focus attention and time. . . .

 

[bfun_x1]

I forced myself to give up the 5.25 bays on my last build. I like to keep a versatile system but the amount of times I actually used my optical drive last year was probably less than 5. Now I keep a USB Blu-ray drive in a draw and pull it out if needed.

 

[XMan]

If this was for me, I could forego an optical drive as I have a USB3 Blu Ray burner I use for my video editing projects. But my father-in-law would like one for for his CDs.

Circling around, I'm thinking the Silverstone SST-PS14B might an option as well. Going through reviews of it now.

 

[XavierMace]

Silverstone is generally a solid option. I've been happy with every Silverstone case I've owned, which I want to say is 6 or so at this point.

 

[XMan]

Silverstone is generally a solid option. I've been happy with every Silverstone case I've owned, which I want to say is 6 or so at this point.

Same here. LC10, LC10E, ML07B, ML03 . . . they should give me a freebie at this point.

 

[Hans Gruber]

You cannot go wrong with the NZXT S340.

 

[XMan]

You cannot go wrong with the NZXT S340.

For me it would be great. Lack of DVD drive is killer for my father-in-law.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you want to go smaller (if FIL isn't a dual-GPU gamer) then maybe a Fractal Core 1000 or 1100.

 

[XMan]

If you want to go smaller (if FIL isn't a dual-GPU gamer) then maybe a Fractal Core 1000 or 1100.

Both mATX, it seems - I already have an ATX Z77/3770K/16GB combo I'm using for him.

Think I'm going with this one:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163377

 

[WiseUp216]

I've been using a Corsair 270r for a few weeks now and like it a lot. I wasn't looking specifically at budget cases. I just wanted something that was in stock at Microcenter when I picked up my 1700x.

Easy to build in and looks nice. No big compromises on features and it only costs $60. It's one of the smaller cases out there that can fit a 360 rad in the front and 240 on top, though it might be tight on top depending on your motherboard.

It lacks 5.25 bays and no filtering on top but neither of those things are necessary for me. I prefer it over the more expensive Corsair 400r that it replaced.