Computer Case Brand Rating

[Khalil]

I have used most brand cases on the market, some are great, some good and many are bad.
This rating is for PC cases, does not include server and workstation chassis.
Blue is top notch (excellent fit and finish, ample cooling, everything goes in hassle free, surfaces are clean, no chance of getting wounded while building the machine)
Green is Good (Solid build, good finish, tolerances are not the best, most surfaces are clean, low risk of getting wounded while building the machine)
Red is bad (funky finish, most times come with scratches and broken parts, missing hardware, motherboard and other components just don't fit right, you may need to make modifications, the metal is sharp and you can easily get a nasty gash on your hand while assembling the system)

Lian Li
Antec
Cooler Master
Zalman
Silverstone
Therlmatake

NZXT (Note: between 9/2012 and 10/2012, support was unresponsive.)
Sigma
Foxconn
Gigabyte
Xclio
Chieftec ($75 plus)
Apevia
Enermax
ABS
InWin
JetWay
Ikonik
Enlight

Aerocool
Apex
Ark
Azza
Broadway
Raidmax
Rosewill (NOTE: Model dependent, they do have SOME good cases)
Dynapower
Linkworld
Winsis
Xion
Logisys
Coolmax

Please note, this rating is based on cases I have actually used to build systems. There are other brands I have not dealt with so I cannot rate them.

[quartet-man]

Thanks. I look forward to others chiming in. I am over the store bought computers with their proprietary parts. I guess at this part though instead of getting XP I might be better off waiting and getting Windows 7.

[pam123]

I build with the occasional Lian Li case, I really like them, but mostly it's Antec (They're great.).

I've no reservations about recommending both.

That said, I like plain black cases but anyone who follows this forum knows that, if you like LEDs then go for it.

The only thing you need to do then is pay attention to power requirements once you pick the case and plan the cable routing ( You don't need to be an Origami Master, just get cables out of the way of the LEDs so the case windows can do their thing. ).

Tell us your case of choice.

[glc]

You can put Enlight in the green category and Coolmax in the red category. Rosewill is variable - they do have some good cases. There are VERY FEW cases that come with power supplies that actually have good quality PSU's. Antec is the only one I trust across the board.

[EzyStvy]

Red is bad (funky finish, most times come with scratches and broken parts, missing hardware, motherboard and other components just don't fit right, you may need to make modifications, the metal is sharp and you can easily get a nasty gash on your hand while assembling the system)

I built five computers with Xion cases over a two year period and didn't experience any of the things you listed. So where does that leave us

Granted they are inexpensive cases..but they worked well for their intended use..

[Masaki 7-11]

I've used Raidmax cases quite extensively over the last 4 years and had no problems with them. They were built properly, everything lined up as it was supposed too and all the edges were rounded so there was no risk of being cut. The paint job wasn't too great as it would scratch off pretty easily, however the color was pretty good when the cases were bought and remained so as long as they weren't scratched.

I've worked with some really bad cases before (mostly in my college computer lab) that had very thin steel metal that was not rounded, and would easily lead to cuts (in both humans and cables). I've also used some non-branded cases that were made out of really thin aluminium (5mm or thinner) which didn't allign parts properly and had horrible flex. Compared to these type of cases, Raidmax cases are much better, and although I wouldn't say it's top notch, the cases are quite good and the prices are also very inexpensive.

[David M]

I second Lian-Li. Nice clean lines, no unnecessary glitz. They can get a little expensive though.

I would make Khalil's first post a sticky and put it in General Hardware.

[glc]

It's stickied here, that should be good enough.

[jdeb]

Lian Li is the best i have used.

[Painbringer]

I guess I will put my 2 cents in on a cheap case. I have a Raidmax Smilidon. It was 60 bucks on sale on the newegg. It also had a 20 rebate. Filled it out received check in the mail in three weeks. From others experiences I am very lucky. It has MB tray fold down… not a necessity but good god it makes life easy! On the other side it has a clear plastic open view side with a sidearm for a fan on the graphics. 5 case fans came in the case an all five work and front panel and two case fan light up. It has a spot for an additional fan for the hard drives if needed. Has a hideaway tray for screws and cover plates. Screw less hard drive and cd drive bays. I can certainly see how the mail/ups could have crushed this thing but packaging was fine when I got mine and the case looks great. No scratches dents or anything. My mother board fit but it seemed a little tight but it fits none the same. Graphic cards not sure about the big ones fitting but I am assuming you would have to mod for them anyway. All and all it is a cheap attractive case with some bells and whistles. On a five star scale I would give it 4. (Minus one star for the ugly smilidon down the front door, but that can be fixed with black spray paint  )

[systempat]

Since some of these companies put out 30 case styles and go up and down the price ranges, I think it's hard to say if they all fall in one category.
But I only deal with one case at a time so I don't see that many. Just built a system using a Cooler Master Centurion 541 case, which is a mini-tower for mATX boards. I found it to be a really nice case for a low price.
It has a really understated and classy look to it. The metal and the front panel assembly both feel and look solid. It was big enough to get all inside of it with no fuss. While being a couple of inches smaller in all directions that a Mid-tower ATX case. It has the design where the motherboard is 'flipped over' compared to the usual design. Which puts the CPU socket down low and away from the PSU. I found that arrangement to work well. The worst thing I could say about it is no fans are included but it was clear that was how it was packaged. With the slim case there were cutouts for 2 80mm fans on the back panel, so that what I bought. It's nice and quiet and cool enough. both fans run off 3-pin connectors on the MB. It will only hold 2 hard drives without being creative but that's no problem for what I needed. For a modest mATX build with no raging video cards or banks of hard drives, i'd give it 5 stars.

[Looneycooney]

Can i just add one?

Corsair.... You guys should try the 800D and 700D ,even the 600T for smaller systems..
These are really great ones , i've just recently build a system for a friend in a 800D case.
I have to say , myself owning an antec P182 , i was pretty jealous !

Wkr

[glc]

For the price Corsair wants for those cases, they BETTER be awful good! Those are up in high end Lian-Li territory. Until I read your post, I wasn't aware that Corsair was even making cases. It sure looks like they are trying to be a diversified high end component manufacturer.

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by glc For the price Corsair wants for those cases, they BETTER be awful good! Those are up in high end Lian-Li territory. Until I read your post, I wasn't aware that Corsair was even making cases. It sure looks like they are trying to be a diversified high end component manufacturer.

And it doesn't even come with a Corsair PSU

[Looneycooney]

Well my impressions about these cases are pretty darn good! ;-)
I never owned a lian-li , so i can't compare those.
However..i can compare them to Antec-cases..needless to say however , the Corsair's in a very different league .
The finish of the case , the cablerouting , the backplate-piece to work on the cpu-backplate etc are all from a high-standard finish and a very well , solid build .
It's also a very easy and clean build-up proces with this case and the result is ready to go to the shows .
The only minor thing i found was that the inside is easy to scratch when you don't watch it.
Maybe one other note..the window is a bit low , so a non-modular psu can look a bit messy .
It's also SSD-ready and has hotswapable drivebays , although you can choose to use it or not.
You can even change the way the door opens (left or right)

But then comes the thing i loved really the most..the 3-zone airflow , which is also very quiet !
I installed fe. the airflow dominators in it , and you couldn't hear that at all once closed.
The way the psu is placed , together with the openings on the bottom, is really nice, this way the psu-cooling won't interfere with the cpu/gpu-cooling..and even the hdd-cooling is separate. They also come with dustfilters on the openings.
Coolingwise this case was very effective on the system i've build (with 5 extra fans , 8 in total) ..i'm sure one of the best on the market . When using watercooling , there's plenty of room to place all the components aswell as make it a beautifull-build with all it's wc-features.
They even thought of the sli/crossfire-opportunity and made extra coolingvents for the lower placed cards.

I really liked this case and probably will buy it aswell , atleast that is if they keep on selling it...as far as i know, they will only continue it, when the sales are good enough and the stocks aren't that high in the shops.
Did i found this case worthy of it's pricetag...without a doubt !

here an example of how beautifull you can set it up with watercooling in this case :
http://www.l3p.nl/files/Hardware/Cor...2/P1030495.JPG
http://www.l3p.nl/files/Hardware/Cor...t/P1030577.JPG

[DrWambu]

I really enjoy Thermaltakes cases. Sometimes they have an abundance of wires everywhere but you can always take those out.

Latest build is with the Thermaltake LanBox. It was hard to stick in a big video card, nothing short of having to actually bend a piece of the metal rack inside the case to make it fit. But it seems to be keeping semi-cool considering the size of the box.

I would really recommend trying out the LanBox if you don't have a huge need to have lots of components inside the case. Oh, and its real easy to take on the road or to LAN parties.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-044-_-Product

[dlwright91]

How about Mountain Mods Cases?

[Jbc223456]

Someone might want to edit Khalil. I'm pretty sure Khalil meant Thermaltake instead of Therlmatake.

I'll have to agree with Khalil on the Antec cases. Mine is pretty solid and I had absolutely no sharp edges. Very good case.

[CrazyIrishman]

The first case I used years ago was cheap, and didn't even have a trademark or a badge to tell you the brand.

I thought that it should've been call "Samurai" or something similar because it was nearly impossible to go inside it without getting a cut or two!

The first decent case that I bought almost four years ago was the Thermaltake Xaser Damier V in black with a window and the digital temp & fan control. There are 5 fans total for the case not including the CPU fan & heatsink. The fans positions are 1 rear, 1 top, 1 front, and two in the side.

Although it doesn't have a slide-out mobo tray it certaintly has excellent cooling & plenty of space with 2 external bays for floppy drives, 4 internal bays for HDD's , and 5 external 5 1/4" bays but one is used for the temp & fan control.

In the back it has 7 expansion slots. It will handle an EVGA GeForce GT 260 without space issues. I don't know about the newer cards.

Anyway......I liked the first Xaser Damier V so much that when Thermaltake was selling the last of these cases I bought one NIB for $50.00 shipped! The steel version is about 38 lbs empty(estimate), and the aluminum version is about 24 lbs. or so.

These Xaser V's are built like a tank!


HTH,

CI