Recommendations for ATX Case - for picky, indecisive me...

[Hork]

Believe it or not, I've been trying to decide on a case for a couple of weeks now. I'm feeling pretty wishy-washy about this, so thought I'd ask for help...

I'll be using a MSI K7T Pro 2A motherboard and probably a 1GHz T-Bird.

Here's what I've decided I'd like:
Mid Tower
4 x 5.25 external and 2 x 3.5 external
At least one additional internal 3.5
300W PS
Less than about $80 shipped.
Quiet would be great. Good cooling preferred.

Recommendations?

I think I saw on here that some people had trouble with Enlight with the K7T Pro 2A... is this true?

Thanks in advance!

Hork

 

[Dantzig]

Less than $80 shipped? That may be tough since shipping usually runs $15-25. I couldn't find any quality cases with 4 x 5.25 bays for that price. You may want to look around at Directron.com. They havea fair selection of cases and very good prices and reasonable shipping compared to the other dealers on Pricewatch.

If you can spend an extra $12, I would go for an Antec SX1030 from Computers4Sure. There's a thread somewhere in Hot Deals that explains how to get it for $92 shipped.

 

[Hork]

Isn't the Antec SX1030 a full tower? It certainly looks pretty cool!

Is your post implying that the Enlight 7327 isn't a quality case? I've been looking at it more and it seems to fit my needs, and many people recommend it, but I'm worried about something I read in these forums a while back about having some trouble fitting the KT7 Pro 2A in it.

 

[Dantzig]

Hork - I wasn't implying that about the Enlight at all. One of my good friends swears by Enlight cases

I found this review of the Enlight EN7237. It seems like a good case. I like the metal drive rails; Antec uses plastic drive rails. You may want more internal 3.5 bays in the future though. Also, the Enlight only has two places to mount fans so if cooling is a big issue, you may want to look elsewhere.

I would call the Antec SX1030 (and SX830) case a super mid-tower. It's much smaller than the full-tower case that I had before, but about 6" taller than the mid-tower that houses my second system. I believe it's about 20" tall.

 

[Dan]

Another vote for the Enlight 7237. It's simply a great case for a reasonable price: Enlight

 

[eyez]

I'll cast a vote for the SX1030. Great quality and design. Perfect size. Great cooling. Only down side is the flimsy front panel cover. I heard it breaks off a lot. I'm looking at mine now....the fron is fairly symetrical, wouldn't look too bad even if the cover did fall off.

 

[Tschaft]

go to www.cpusolutions.com/cases/ and they have an enlight 7237 with a 300wtt ps and an extra 80mm fan for $72 shipped.

 

[sparkle]

I vote for the 7237 as well. As for the 2 places for cooling fans, "that's what modding is all about" You can mod the hell outta a 7237. I say go for it.

 

[dadx2mj]

Antec Sx1030 or Sx830 you cant beat this case for twice the price. It is well made looks good and cools great

 

[shiznut123]

antec Sx830 and Sx1030
cools very good

 

[max105]

7237 for me!!

case here

 

[slunk]

I put the MSI K7T Pro2a in an Enlight 7237 without a single problem. It was no different than putting my Abit KT7 in.

 

[jsmonet]

blow the wad on the sx1030b (or just plain ole sx1030). figure it this way, you'll have the case for many years to come. my previous case was a supermicro full tower. it was a good 5" taller than the sx1030, and had gobs more room. the problem with it was it was just really old. it had a poor design for air flow. what did I expect? I bought it for 100 bucks almost 8 years ago I expect the antec to last just as many, if not more.

airflow standards may change, but you can adapt to these changes with a well-built case. you'll have your mobo and processor for a max of 3 years most likely. heck, your hard drives might last you 5 years because our software is getting bigger and bigger. space demands dictate that you upgrade to bigger drives every so often.

I think the only things that may last as long as the case are the floppy drive (mine is 12 years old, more than half my life), and your power strip hahaha


I can't recommend enough the sx1030. the enlight is the most similar to my old case, has much better airflow, and looks RIPE for case mods. people have posted once or twice about the battleship-like thickness of the metal, but that's just cool

if you must go under 80 shipped, how much are fong kai's? the 320 is quite popular among the geeks here (mad love fo ma geekz)

if you get a cheap case, you'll replace it within 2 years (which is FAR too quickly). the only addition I would make to it after a while, no matter what case you get, is an enermax power supply. I'm scrounging to afford the 450 *drool. I shouldn't have to upgrade the power supply for almost as many years as the case will last.

 

[Siamskunk]

Within your budget, Enlight 7237 seems pretty fit.

 

[m8ulook]

I've heard good things about the enlight cases, but my suggestion would be to get a SuperPower Zephyr. They a relatively inexpensive, come with a 300 watt PSU, have screwless design, are very roomy, and have 3 80mm fan mounts( two in the front and one in the back ). It's only $62!

superpower zephyr 201xp

 

[rarebear]

Get a Antec!
They rock I just got a Antec SX830 a few weeks ago it is so cool..
Side Door has latch no screws the front bezel pops off (with door open) and CD drives have a slide you attach and they silde out too and HD cage has latch and it pops out (no Screws)
and it comes with 2 Fans got mine at www.upgradesource.com $74 OH and 300w AMD approved Power Supply

Or go to Fat Wallet and search for Antex SX 830

 

[hagbard]

Elan Vital T-10. As many here know, I've had an extremely bad experience with Antec, so I'd advize avoiding them, unless you're planning to toss the power supply.

...hag