recommend me a clean, classy looking case - $50-100

[BlahBlahYouToo]

UPDATE: went with the Antec Three Hundred - gf approved as well

i want something that's clean but not flashy, which means i don't care for LED's and windows and alien aircraft looking cases.
it will not be moved around, so i don't need aluminum - steel is just fine.

NEEDS:
Quiet, and cool.
Quality construction.

WANTS:
i want nice features like screwless and easy to replace drive/card mechanisms.
i would like it to be black (some silver is fine) to match my peripherals and room decor.
i want it to be roomy (which means mid tower or larger).

i don't care for any particular brand but had good experiences with antec and thermaltake.

i like the Antec P180/182 but my buddy has one and i want something different.

any suggestions? I like the look of the following. can owners chime in on their experiences?

Antec Three Hundred - $69 - looks clean but are drives/cards held in by normal screws?

Antec Solo - $99 - why is it so expensive? it looks like a very normal case.

Antec Sonata III w/500w - $125 - near perfect. is it sold without the psu? i need a silent psu and i'm not sure how good the included one is.

Cooler Master Centurion 534 - $52 - looks nicer without the blue LED's.

Cooler Master 690 - $79 - aesthetically I'd rank this below the CM Centurion above.

Cooler Master Mystique 632C - $79 - this bad boy looks really cool, and different. I might buy this based on looks and coolness factor alone.

Cooler Master Centurion 590 - $69 - very basic case.

Thermaltake SopranoRS - $39 AR - looks cool, low price. lack of cooling scares me.

Thermaltake Tsunami - $109 - might be able to swing this one if you guys say it's really good.

NZXT - $89 - how is this case? never heard of 'em.

 

[BassBomb]

I would go with Sonata III

I got it for my dad for 90$ up in Canada

Tsunami is not bad... I spent about 180 for it back in 2005

 

[Chosonman]

Personally I didn't like my Tsunami as much as I like my Centurion which is probably why I own two Centurions and convinced my friend to buy one too. I've owned a few antec cases, they're solid so I have no complaints. I also own a Themaltake LanBoy so I have no lost love for them they make great cases most of the time, but out of the bunch I say Coolermaster makes the best cases (But their customer service sucks)

I've also owned Lian Li, they're ok. I've never owned Silverstone but they're on my list as a top notch case maker as is Zalman, and Gigabyte.

 

[Chosonman]

I would recommend this version of the centurion

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119152

 

[DCGMoo]

The PSU that comes with the Sonata III is an EarthWatts 500W, made by Seasonic... arguably the premiere makers of power supplies. That PSU should be just fine for any non-SLI/CF system. It's probably not the ABSOLUTE quietest power supply you can find... but it's a VERY good price for a quality PSU.

Worth noting: Keep in mind the Sonata III has a top-mounted PSU, unlike the P182.

If you decide, you can also find a Sonata III without a PSU (open boxed, prob a return) on the store on Antec's website for just under $90. But $35 for a good PSU (and a new, unreturned case) is hard to turn down.

I've pretty much narrowed my decision down to the P182 and the Sonata III for my upcoming build. If you have a specific reason for not wanting the P182... my vote goes to the Sonata III.

Second choice: CM 690 or Centurion (whichever you like the looks of most)

Moo.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: Chosonman
Personally I didn't like my Tsunami as much as I like my Centurion which is probably why I own two Centurions and convinced my friend to buy one too. I've owned a few antec cases, they're solid so I have no complaints. I also own a Themaltake LanBoy so I have no lost love for them they make great cases most of the time, but out of the bunch I say Coolermaster makes the best cases (But their customer service sucks)

I've also owned Lian Li, they're ok. I've never owned Silverstone but they're on my list as a top notch case maker as is Zalman, and Gigabyte.

which Centurion did you have?
was the Tsunami bad, or did you just like the Centurion better?

lian Li is overkill for my needs.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
The PSU that comes with the Sonata III is an EarthWatts 500W, made by Seasonic... arguably the premiere makers of power supplies. That PSU should be just fine for any non-SLI/CF system. It's probably not the ABSOLUTE quietest power supply you can find... but it's a VERY good price for a quality PSU.

so you're saying the included psu is this one? Text
$90?
so the case itself is only $35?

 

[RallyMaster]

I own three Cooler Master cases (all of which are in use):

Cavalier 3 - It has the internals of the Centurion 5 which has been very popular. 80mm front intake near the hard drives, a potential 80mm intake on the side panel, vents near the video card area, rear 120mm fan. The drive mounting system is very easy to use and you will never need to take off the right side panel to get things to work. It's a very sturdy, well built case but could be a pain to get hard drives out of the case if you have a full system installed in there.

Centurion 590 - The drive mounting system is to be honest, very useless. I end up having to use screws for every device that I install in there. The hard drive cage needs screws to mount the hard drives into it, and then needs more screws to hold the hard drive cage into the case. I honestly found that to be somewhat of a hassle and should have gone with the 690 (although the 690 is more flashy and has weird, delicate power buttons). My left side panel also refuses to line up with the screwholes so I will definitely be enlarging the thumbscrew holes on the side panel. There's some definite QC issues with this case which I hope they've fixed by now.

Centurion 534 - The one case that I've recommended to a lot of the people wanting to build a case. It looks clean, has easy access side mounted hard drive cage (stores 3 hard drives), and is capable of holding three 120mm fans stock. I run my computer in a passive configuration and while it gets a bit warm, it's extremely quiet and I can't hear it over my ceiling fan. This case is a bit small but if it fits & cools a 6800GS with an Accelero S1 Rev 2, X2 4200+ with a Scythe Ninja and keeps two hard drives to a decent temperature, I say this is my best Cooler Master case thus far and I personally only got it last week. I can definitely say I can sleep beside this thing.

 

[fierydemise]

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
The PSU that comes with the Sonata III is an EarthWatts 500W, made by Seasonic... arguably the premiere makers of power supplies. That PSU should be just fine for any non-SLI/CF system. It's probably not the ABSOLUTE quietest power supply you can find... but it's a VERY good price for a quality PSU.

It is worth noting that the EarthWatt 500 is now made by Delta who is a maker of industrial PSUs, however there have been no reviews of the new Delta made EarthWatt 500 so its performance is a bit of a question mark right now.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
Antech Solo - $99 - why is it so expensive? it looks like a very normal case.

The last one I bought was $30 after rebate, with free shipping. Typically though it can be found for cheaper than Newegg.

It is "normal" in that it is steel and has the standard layout. The features are that it has some "quiet" features such as sound dampening materials applied to the three largest panels (two sides and top), two ways to soft-mount hard drives to make them quieter, indirect air path in front to reduce noise.

The Solo is actually my choice of case for my main rig at home, as I wanted something quiet, not too large (the Antec P180 type cases are bigger and more expensive) and clean looking without being a boring beige case.

 

[scruffypup]

Throwing in my 2 cents, I have the Sonata III for a recent build. I love it. Great looks, comes with a very quality 500W PSU which will be enough power for most systems easily and 2 120 tricool (Three setting) fans, which at low speed are fairly quiet. This case has fairly decent airflow for a case without fan holes all over the place (even though some will argue it doesn't due to the placement of the front fan).

Keep in mind that with some of these midtower cases you might find it somewhat cramped depending on your components. The two things to keep in mind would be what video card you will want and the length of it (the sonata III will accept larger cards but you will have to forego the front fan or get a thin one instead - not really an issue to still have decent airflow) and the heatsink/fan you want to use,... the towers will run up to 160mm and can create issues,... the sonata III should barely accept some of those from what I have read however I am currently running the intel stock HSF with mild 25 % overclock so I cannot verify from experience.

 

[Zepper]

The EA-500 was recently being sold at the Egg for $60. shipped - if it's the Delta version it should be marked or labeled EA-500D. The high end Delta OEMed units like you find in some HP workstations, etc. are great PSUs, but IDK anything about the new Antec rebadged units.
. If you want a large and impressive Lian Li made case for reasonable bucks, check out the Rocketfish in my FS/T listing linked in the sig below.

.bh.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Zepper
The EA-500 was recently being sold at the Egg for $60. shipped - if it's the Delta version it should be marked or labeled EA-500D.

Yeah, if you paid for an EA500 and got an EA500D, you'd have a legitimate beef in my mind. Not that the Delta version is necessarily bad, but it isn't what you paid for until there's more information about the quality of the Delta.

As far as the Solo, I have one and like it a lot. It's definitely quiet, and it cools very well. The one thing it isn't is roomy. If you do decide on the Solo, I wouldn't pay $75 for it, much less $99, because it goes on sale for around $30 every other month or so. Keep tabs on SD or the Hot Deals forums here and you'll find it on sale either at Fry's or Newegg.

 

[perdomot]

The SopranoRS looks great to me plus you can add 3 fans if cooling is a concern(one in front and two mount on the window with the pre-drilled holes)

 

[ShockwaveVT]

The Solo is a very well designed & quiet case but is a bit cramped. Cards over 10" long like the 4870 and 9800GX2 won't fit.

Since you list roomy as one of your requirements I suggest the Lian Li / Lancool PC-K7. It has rubber soft-mounts for 5 HDD's (HDD cage can be rotated 90/180 deg), twin 120mm intakes (pro: allows 2 low-speed fans to reduce fan noise, con: open front means hdd noise is more apparent), superb wire management. Compatible with most Lian-Li accessories like drive stealth covers, PCI slot fan, etc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811112154 ($105 shipped)

 

[Chosonman]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Chosonman
Personally I didn't like my Tsunami as much as I like my Centurion which is probably why I own two Centurions and convinced my friend to buy one too. I've owned a few antec cases, they're solid so I have no complaints. I also own a Themaltake LanBoy so I have no lost love for them they make great cases most of the time, but out of the bunch I say Coolermaster makes the best cases (But their customer service sucks)

I've also owned Lian Li, they're ok. I've never owned Silverstone but they're on my list as a top notch case maker as is Zalman, and Gigabyte.

which Centurion did you have?
was the Tsunami bad, or did you just like the Centurion better?

lian Li is overkill for my needs.

I have two of these:
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119068

The thing I didn't like about the Tsunami:
1) I realized having front doors is more of a nuisance than aesthetically cool
2) The case is HUGE and bulky
3) It's fairly light-weight and cools well, but felt flimsy and plasticee around the edges
4) The tool-less system wasn't that great but not bad

What I liked about the coolermaster
1) No doors to kick open every time I walked by
2) Compact for an ATX Case
3) Cool and relatively quiet (much quieter and cooler than my compact Lian Li case)
4) Excellent tool-less system - The best I've used
5) Looks HOT with a Thermaltake internal SATA hot swap cage (w/ Silver doors)
6) Front pannel is fully vented meaning more air passes through the case than with any other I've used

 

[Jakeisbest]

Originally posted by: Chosonman
I would recommend this version of the centurion

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119152

I agree with this case.

Or call you local best buy and hope they still have a rocketfish case sitting on the shelf.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: DSF
If you do decide on the Solo, I wouldn't pay $75 for it, much less $99, because it goes on sale for around $30 every other month or so. Keep tabs on SD or the Hot Deals forums here and you'll find it on sale either at Fry's or Newegg.

That happened throughout last year, but looks as if those deals have dried up this year. However, still worth it to keep looking, unless you need it now.

Originally posted by: ShockwaveVT
The Solo is a very well designed & quiet case but is a bit cramped. Cards over 10" long like the 4870 and 9800GX2 won't fit.

Good point.

 

[smthmlk]

Antec Solo: This doesn't seem to meet the OP's requirements. First, the hd mounting systems are not toolless unless you use the bands (which may work for the OP given their statements, but the bands don't really satisfy me for securely mounting hd's) and the other system utilizing individual drive cages (and some rubber) require four screws and opening of the front to insert/remove--painful. Second, the case is not roomy at all compared to similar sized atx cases. Other noteworthy tidbits for the OP: the case isn't loud by any means, but it's not extraordinarily quiet, and cooling is only OK due to their use of 92mm fans up front instead of a pair of 120mm's like in the antec 300. In my opinion, the only differentiating features here are the glossy paint job and the hd mounting mechanism. Definitely not worth more than $50 (w/o psu).

Antec 300: This is a much better case in my experience, probably one of the best values I've come across in cases in years. I believe this fits the OP's requirements pretty well: First, it's pretty roomy for a mid-size ATX case, and the way the hd rack is mounted creates a nice large pock to hide/route cables; it's very easy to keep the cabling clean. Second, though the hd rack uses screws to mount drives, antec gives you a bag full of thumbscrews you can use for whatever you like, including on the hd rack (presto! toolless); optical drives, however, are not toolless. You don't have to remove the front to get drives in/out like on the Solo. Third, the cooling is very nice with filtered spots up front for a pair of 120mm fans (not included) as well as a top mounted 140mm exhaust and a side mounted 120mm spot over the gpu area. Also, while the hd rack can hold 6 drives, it does so in a way that provides a decent gap between each drive to allow for airflow. Surprisingly, it's not a loud case at all, given all the cooling and openness involved, and the included 140mm and rear 120mm fans both are antecs 3-speed fans, plus you can add in your own favorite model 120mm's in front. For $60 at local stores here, this is one hell of a value in my opinion.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: smthmlk
First, the hd mounting systems are not toolless unless you use the bands

You bring up valid concerns. I just want to comment on the "toolless" part in general. I have yet to see any 100% truely toolless design that I liked. My Compucase 6A19 had a toolless retention for expansion cards that was divided and a PITA to use. The ones that did work held the cards loosely. Even worse was the toolless retention for some crappy Codegen case that I inherited (so to speak). The clips kept falling off. My most recent system build was in a Cooler Master Mystique case. The toolless 5¼" drive bay system was a PITA to use. They did not hold the drives securely at all, and even if they did, one side wasn't held. The expansion card retention was a LOT better than the other cases I've mentioned, but still didn't feel as secure as if the cards were just screwed in. Perhaps I'm biased because I move some of my systems a lot (frequent LAN parties) but I don't want anything in my system to be the least bit loose or wiggle any.

The only toolless parts I've used that seem to work fine are the hard drive rails for various Cooler Master cases. These rails clip in to the screw holes and work fine. Of course the cases don't come with any mechanism to hold extra rails inside it, so the onus is on the user to not lose their rails. Oh yeah, also the rails don't do a whole lot in decoupling the HDD from the chassis (for noise reduction).

 

[imported_Irse]

I had an Ultra X-Blaster which is a mid tower and kind of roomy. Toolless HD, optical drive and PCI expansion slots. Easy to work with but since I like to have a lot of stuff (5-6 HDs, 4 opticals) it ran a little hot (49 C) with a Q6600 at 3.0. It had too many cables running in front of my HSF. If you don't have a lot of "stuff" in the case, its good. I now have a 590 that is cooler but a bit louder and definitely not toolless.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: smthmlk
Antec Solo: This doesn't seem to meet the OP's requirements. First, the hd mounting systems are not toolless unless you use the bands (which may work for the OP given their statements, but the bands don't really satisfy me for securely mounting hd's) and the other system utilizing individual drive cages (and some rubber) require four screws and opening of the front to insert/remove--painful. Second, the case is not roomy at all compared to similar sized atx cases. Other noteworthy tidbits for the OP: the case isn't loud by any means, but it's not extraordinarily quiet, and cooling is only OK due to their use of 92mm fans up front instead of a pair of 120mm's like in the antec 300. In my opinion, the only differentiating features here are the glossy paint job and the hd mounting mechanism. Definitely not worth more than $50 (w/o psu).

Antec 300: This is a much better case in my experience, probably one of the best values I've come across in cases in years. I believe this fits the OP's requirements pretty well: First, it's pretty roomy for a mid-size ATX case, and the way the hd rack is mounted creates a nice large pock to hide/route cables; it's very easy to keep the cabling clean. Second, though the hd rack uses screws to mount drives, antec gives you a bag full of thumbscrews you can use for whatever you like, including on the hd rack (presto! toolless); optical drives, however, are not toolless. You don't have to remove the front to get drives in/out like on the Solo. Third, the cooling is very nice with filtered spots up front for a pair of 120mm fans (not included) as well as a top mounted 140mm exhaust and a side mounted 120mm spot over the gpu area. Also, while the hd rack can hold 6 drives, it does so in a way that provides a decent gap between each drive to allow for airflow. Surprisingly, it's not a loud case at all, given all the cooling and openness involved, and the included 140mm and rear 120mm fans both are antecs 3-speed fans, plus you can add in your own favorite model 120mm's in front. For $60 at local stores here, this is one hell of a value in my opinion.

i wouldn't say that toolless is a requirement, more of a want.

the only true requirements is that it has to be a quality case (meaning no flimsy metal/plastic, sharp edges), good sound insulation, and conservative while aesthetically pleasing (subjective).

 

[nerp]

PC-A05B.

Seriously. Get it.

Text

 

[Chosonman]

Originally posted by: nerp
PC-A05B.

Seriously. Get it.

Text

That's the case I had. Gave it away to my brother in law because it was hot and loud.

 

[finbarqs]

http://www.coolermaster.com/pr...t.php?act=detail&id=71
i think the cavalier 3 looks awesome.. VERY Classy, and VERY clean lines, as well as VERY cheap! I own this one, and it kept the system pretty cool. Plenty of room inside! In fact, to me, this is Cooler Master's last best case design....

if you can find these cases...
http://www.virtual-hideout.net...ter_atc210/index.shtml

I had 3 of these cases: One for my mom, one for my aunt, and one for myself. My mom had the light greenish tint one with the fog in front to cover up the drive bays. My aunt had the blue one. I had the greenish tint one without the fog in front. I actually took out the HDD LED (blue) and replaced it with white, so I had a POWER LED of a solid blue, and the HDD with white which made it look awesome (instead of just 2 blue led's). I also got a 2 5.25" drive bay LCD that dispalyed the temps, and various music information that had an alluminum finish to it, as well as the pioneer dvd/rw that had the alluminum bezel to match everything else.

http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/index-usb.html
was my LCD i used... I think matrix Orbital has better ones though...

ANyways, the ATC-210 (i would say) is probably the best, most elegant case design to ever come out of cooler master.