Hello, everyone. I'm going to build a new PC and want a gaming machine that will perform well without breaking the piggy bank.

I plan on overclocking at some point, so I'd like a case that keeps things cool.

Should I go for a full-tower or will a good mid tower do the trick?

Should I go for aluminum?

Please advise. If this question has already been asked and there's a good resource handy, please direct me. Please note than I want to spend less than $150, preferably in the $100 range.

Thank you.

I like the coolermaster praetorian its a nice simple design with good feature. It was my first new non beige box. I have had it for almost 2 years now and it has served me well. My only issue with it is that the psu is in the top of the case, not on the bottom like the lian li and antec cases. Its not a huge issue though as I am in the process of cutting some holes and flipping the case upside down. It is super easy to work on because almost every single panel is removable. I just used 2 in a build this weekend. assembled and tested both machines in about 12 hours.

Heres a quick breakdown
- Mid tower ATX
- Aluminum alloy construction - Top, Bottom & Face are 14 gauge. The sides are 19 gauge.
- 4x 80mm fans
- Pull-Out MoBo tray (it aint on glides! but is nice to build & test on b4 putting it in the case)
- Flip open front panel with 1394, USB and Audio mic-in & stereo out


Here it is at NewEgg they cost about $90LINK

If you go mid tower now you will be back to looking for another case sooner or later a full tower

I plan on overclocking at some point, so I'd like a case that keeps things cool.

Alot of people end up watercooling. A full tower would be the way to go. You may not need all the space now but most likely in the future you will be glad you have it.
I would go to neweggs site and use the saerch preferences for a case.
Choose ATX, full tower, steel or aluminum, 120mm fans (i like 2 one intake one exhaust), windowed pannel? color?
and then see what cases they show you.

Can't go wrong with
Coolermaster
Silverstone
Lian Li
Some of the Antecs or thermaltakes

Take a look at some case gallerys and get a idea of the size and style you would want.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=760053
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18931
Also I think in off topic section theres a thread with pictures of people computers.

Best thing to do is look at alot of different cases to get a idea of what will fill your needs now and in the future.
When it comes to your computers the case is what you and everyone looks at first.

The Antec Superlanboy gets good reviews. Im happy with mine. It is cheap, light weight and looks good.

Its small but still able to arrange cables and keep everything cool.

I will say its not the most durable case tho.. with intention, as its designed for lan gamers the whole construction is fairly thin to keep weight down although i have never found this to be a problem (even tripping over it drunk a few times).

I'll check some full tower specs. I hope it's not too hard to carry...not that I plan on moving it often. Thanks for the input, dudes.

I have water cooled some mid tower cases. It can be a real pain.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811112099
Probably the best case I've dealt with. Extremely light even with everything installed. Last time I checked, my whole rig weighs about 20lbs/9kgs. Excellent air flow but I don't know how the stock fans will prefer since I replaced them the moment I built my computer.
Great performance at an unbeatable price.

Antec P180(.
Lots of 120MM fans mounts. Comes with 3 fans with 3-step controllers (Whisper quiet/Quiet/Noticable).
PSU down below.
Will take the longer GPU's providing you only have one or less HDD's in the upper section caddy.
Silicon caps to reduce noise/vibration from your HDD's and PSU. (And feet too)
Filter on front intake.
Cable ties.
Two split rubber holes for water cooling.

Downsides are Cable management. Its a stretch on some of the cables on my GXS600. Good when its done but you will swear, many times!

I haven't been able to find it but theres a PDF document from CustomPC (uk) which showed thermal imaging of the cases. The Antec P180 was tops closely followed by the Coolermaster Stacker.

Part of my choice of the Antec was the much lower price. A lot depends on your space and budget but there are some top notch cases out there.

Check out this badboy
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=323

I love my Antec 900. I had doubts with it's size and weight, but with all the fans this beast has, and the silverstone 120mm I added to the window it keeps my OCed setup nice n cool with just air. Fit my 8800GTS fine, but might have trouble throwing a GTX in there.

There are definite pluses to the Antec LanBoy. It is very light, has a decent drive mounting system, good HDD bays and so on. Might be a little blingish, but is a solid case and easy to work in. As a plus, I never once lost blood to this case....which had been my experience with previous cases. I hate the damn door though.

I tossed together some older components and put them in the LanBoy to play with an Ubuntu 7.04 install and it reminded me of what I liked about the case.

However, I am still in love with the big ass Coolermaster Stacker for my main rig.

Wow, the Antec 900 looks really good to me. I'm strongly considering going full tower, though, for the sake of great airflow and more options (such as liquid cooling). Anybody here overclock their mid-tower system with good temps? How do you keep the heat low?

Thanks for all the help, guys. I'm really taking notes here.

Mid-towers work fine for moderate overclocking, if you aren't really going to increase the voltage you'll sure be fine. There's only one real disadvantage to some midtower cases - they can be narrower. Not a big deal really even a year ago, but there are some real monster heatsinks out there now that perform very well, and you'd probably like to get one.

The only other thing is if you want good airflow with fewer fans you might have to have slightly noisier, more powerful fans to move that air. I used a Lian-Li V1000 (pretty damn cramped) for a time and it really did work beautifully once properly set up. Swapped the two stock fans for a bit beefier pabst fans and put two big 120mm intakes on the top of the case as well. Everything on a fan controller of course to help keep the noise down, only need to speed those guys up when gaming really.

If I had kept the case (upgraded to the V2000 for watercooling) I would have put a single 120mm intake across from the board on the sidepanel so the ram and mosfets get some more air directly on them.

Midsize is fine really - but you might have to go to a bit of work to get the most performance out of them. :angel:

I'd definitely recommend the Lian Li PC-G70... I'm finding it absolutely awesome... I'll only ever buy Lian-Li again!

I'd also recommend the 3D Aurora from Gigabyte... MaximumPC Kick-ass award, and getting good reviews all over the net... and at under $150 it's well worth it!

I take it thats the latest revision of the Aurora. I read the reviews too and was impressed but I'm a forum leech and buy on the recommendations of those that invested their hard earned cash and learned some non-marketed lessons. Not saying the aurora is bad just having a minor therapy moment.

By the way thanks to all those that did, and do, and hopefully will, keep me buying good kit.

Xclio A380

Reviewed Here

Just moved my dual opty server into this case over the weekend...kicks ass. Dual 25CM fans look sweet, keep everything cool, and are very quiet.

I have been using the rig in my "Sig" for over a year for gaming. I absolutely would not have another case. Unless, of course, someone just gave it to me.

I certainly can't complain about my Antec 900. Works well for me.:nod: