Best Case around $100

[qsda]

what are good cases out there now thats got at least 2 fans and 350w around $100? thanks

[juppy]

Personally, I like Antec. You should be able to get a good case from them for under $100. The one I used only had one fan that came with it, but it was only $80, so even having to buy another fan, you're still going to be under your $100 target price.

[james8547]

I like Antec too. It's the 1st case I look at when I'm searching for a case. I personally use the Plus1080AMG. I like its 430w PSU and room for 5 case fans. The PlusView1000AMG looks the same except it has a side-panel window but no psu.

[Cricket]

When looking for a case, the most important part is the power supply (if the case comes with one) and that should be your main concern. Most good quality cases do come with good quality power supplies, but it's best to check to see exactly which power supply comes with the case (some Enermax cases come with PowerUp power supplies).

Antec cases are a good choice, so are AOpen, Enlight, Inwin, Lite-On, Supermicro and Enermax (if it comes with a Enermax PSU).

Cricket

[camel]

yeah i agrree u are not needing of such a picky case

[Rof_lmao]

i liek teh thermaltake, it seems nice, and cool with 5 fans already installed! and its about 85 i would think! teh lan series is $l07! No psu!

[gaia]

I'm having my first built to order PC and have selected the following: Asus P4C800-E deluxe, Intel Pentium 4 3.20G-C (800Mhz FSB), 1GB KIT DDR PC3200 400Mhz Kingston, 2 * Seagate 120G 7200RPM SATA-150 8M Cache, CD/DVD ROM, Sony DRU510AK, Gigabyte AGP 128 ATI 9600XT Radeon TV/DVI/Twinview, 19" SONY SDMHX93 LCD monitor, modem, PS/2 keyboard & mouse.

Now the last thing that I need to do is to choose the case.

What I'm after is a solid metal case that will be below the desk and I'm after a tower 18" high with mandatory 2 front side USB ports (and optionally any of front side mic, headphones, speaker, firewire but not essential).

I've narrowed the brands available from the PC builder to Antec & Aopen (& possibly Hyka & Thermaltake) and would appreciate suggestions as to what case and size power supply.

TIA.

[icallmedan]

As far as the powersupply....get teh 420W Enlight PSU from newegg. They just dropped the price on it from about $50 to $32. I have it an it is an awesome PSU, with 2 fans and for the price you can't beat it.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...103-604&depa=1

**edit**
420W is more than enough BTW.

[Cricket]

Originally posted by gaia Now the last thing that I need to do is to choose the case. What I'm after is a solid metal case that will be below the desk and I'm after a tower 18" high with mandatory 2 front side USB ports (and optionally any of front side mic, headphones, speaker, firewire but not essential). I've narrowed the brands available from the PC builder to Antec & Aopen (& possibly Hyka & Thermaltake) and would appreciate suggestions as to what case and size power supply.

I've been using AOpen mid-tower cases for the past year and find they meet my needs pretty well. Lately, I've been using the H600A and H600X and prefer them over the Antec mid-tower equivalents. The construction and material quality is about the same between the two brands, but I feel the quality of the AOpen power supply is a bit better than the Antec. This is because the AOpen power supplies are rebadged Fortron Source OEM PSU's, which are very good quality units.

I used about 12 AOpen cases in the last year (all Intel based builds) and will continue to use them in the future. You can see the AOpen H600 series cases here.

One draw back to these cases is there is no provision for a front fan mount because of the front USB ports, but the do allow for two 80mm fans to be mounted on the back (besides the power supply fan) and that should be enough to create good air flow through the case to keep the system running cool. The H600A does have a provision for a side mounted 80mm fan to cool the 3.5" drive cage and the side panels have air intake slots along the front portion of the panels to allow air to enter.

Another draw back is the 3.5" drive cage only holds 2 hard drives and the floppy drive. If you want to add more hard drives, you'll have to use the 5.25" drive bays with adapters, or get the optional 3.5" drive cage that mounts to the bottom of the case.

On a positive note, the AOpen cases are generally more affordable than the Antec cases of the same size and type.

Cricket

[spartan15914]

thermaltake cases are sweet, but it might be a little more expensive with a powere supply.

[Mac Medic]

I like Lian-Li cases

http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/...search__silver

http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/...BK_PC7B_USB_RT

[QuickSilver]

how about this http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=0

You have to add a PSU but these are awesome cases.

This is also real nice. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=0

This last one is a real solid unit, and it comes with a 450w PSU! http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=0