Which type of case do you prefer, ful or mid tower?

[rjcoolpix880]

I was wondering which size case you guys use. Why you like or don't like it (pros and cons).

I had a mid size tower and decided to chop it up and use and make a plexi-glass mid size tower for a project, and am currently looking for a new case.

Pros: It looks really really cool- its totally clear
Cons:Flimsy, Loud, Poor craftsmanship(on my part), space on inside is cramped.

 

[minendo]

Always a full tower for me because I like the room and have tons of crap to put in them. Have a look at my twins. The Compaq monitor you see is not the actual monitor I use. The KDS Rad 5 (15" LCD) is on the desk to the left of the towers.

 

[Geoffrey]

I like the mid towers because they make me have to think about what I'm spending money on...see, I had this full tower, and I went and spent all this money on nifty gadgets to put in it (and I don't really regret it!), but with my latest machine, I decided on a mid tower, which helped my decide on what I really needed...it helped me save a lot of money! Plus, I'm running out of room...my mid tower takes up a lot less room than my full. And I found that the mid towers seem to be a lot cheaper.

 

[whitelight]

a small full tower - something like the antec 1000 series. if offers more places to put exhaust and intake fans. the only drawback is naturally the weight of that big mother.

 

[Dre]

midsize

 

[ChefJoe]

I bought a generic full tower long time ago which I still use... modded it quite a bit, but it still stinks as far as internal layout (not enough spaces for HDs, so I have lots of 5.25 slots taken by HDs in brackets). I wish I would have bought a mid-tower with a better layout of the HDs and brackets.

What's that mean, if you're going for quality, mid-towers can be really nice... if you go generic cheap-o, might as well get a full tower that you can hack up and is sure to have plenty of room.

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

I like to stick to the mid towers. Still have plenty of room and bays, but not the sheer heft and over-kill of the full towers. I had an InWin Q700, but got to be too much of a PITA when I wanted to pull it out and work on it..

 

[astro]

A vote for the full tower....as long as you're not dragging it to lan parties or moving every couple of months

 

[bluemax]

I still think big towers are ugly.... sure you can fit lots of stuff in it, but it's a big, ugly TOWER on your desk! Gimme' a nice-sized desktop that's not too big, not so small it restricts you to 1 5.25" bay and half-height PCI.

It's a tall order there - the CASPER II has the full-sized expansion but only one bay. Directron has the Enlight 7180, a twin 5.25" case but has 1/2 height PCI....
How tough would it be to make it juuuuuuust a bit taller?

EDIT: Heeeeyyyyyy... THIS guy might have potential.... It's a bit bigger but not obscenely big like the Enlight 7200.

 

[DeepFried]

My current machine is housed in one of the giant Antec cases. I got it for the room inside and it has done nicely. It doesn't look bad either. However, I find myself wanting to takemy machine with me sometimes so I'm working on a new system that will be housed in a much smaller, much lighter case (Lian-Li PC68 to be exact).

 

[eplebnista]

<< midsize >>

 

[krackato]

Midtower.

 

[Neuroanatomist]

Midtowers are much better built these days.

I've bought 15-20 cases in the past 4 years and through all the upgrading and swapping of parts and cases..
I finally abandoned my Supermicro 750A (fulltower) and my other black fulltower as seen in 1999 Maximum PC rig of the year link.

Both full towers had great features (butterfly removable doors, lots of room to work in, no sharp edges, good asthetics, good cooling) (relative to other midtowers available at the time).

Full towers were great for holding alot of SCSI internal and external drives..but now I just put them in my YY-0221 cube case. link.
Much better use of interior living space.

 

[crasher88]

full I love the room and flexability to be able to put anything I want in it

 

[Underclocked]

I want one 22" tall, 8" wide, and 17" deep with great air flow. It should say Antec on it and look similar to the 830 but but have the features of the newer Antec performance series. And, definitely a TRUE power supply.

But what I've really been using for a very long time now is the AOpen HX08 full tower - nice case but really needed a better placed rear exhaust fan and the front of the case could use some updating.

 

[DS1MCSE]

<< I still think big towers are ugly.... sure you can fit lots of stuff in it, but it's a big, ugly TOWER on your desk! >>


Umm...no. It's a nice roomy full-sized tower on the floor. I don't know anybody who puts a tower on their desk.

I second the vote for the smaller-sized full towers like the Antec 1000 series. Not too big, not too small, just right...now where's that porridge?

 

[bluemax]

When you access your optical drives A LOT, having it on the floor is a pain. That, and I want to look at my neat-o computer. Unless it's ugly.... then it goes under the desk.

 

[acidpad]

Full tower all the way. i have built alot of machines for different people, and the midtowers just get cramped. With the full towers, you get alot better air flow, not to mention all the space to put stuff. I mean, you never know when your going to want to toss a DVD burner in or something

 

[MoFunk]

My full tower dually!!!! Yeah Baby, you want room? Check this out! Linky Loo!

 

[CubicZirconia]

I prefer the high quality mid-towers (lian li for me). My mid tower has plenty of operating space and enough drive bays for everything I need. Plus, its good and light.

 

[WhiteMyth]

I just got an sx1030 and love it. Perfect size, lots of room and great cooling.