Windows 7: need advice on buying case

hey i'm not sure what case to get, i have looked a round: here are some that interest me; Antec 300, corsair carbide 300r, coolermaster elite 430 (or 431 plus), coolermaster Haf 932, i want to pay about $110-$75. can any one help? thanks

Coolermaster, Antec, and Corsair are generally good brands.

The Antec 300 is a good basic case.

It's mostly personal preference. Some people like windows in the side panel and lots of flashing lights. Others like very low noise levels and no ostentation. What about you?

Make sure it is the right form factor for your chosen motherboard (ATX, micro ATX, etc).

Make sure it has no power supply if you already have one.

Check the fan situation. Some cases include fans, some don't. Some included fans can be very noisy. Ideally, you would want 120mm fan mounts front and rear.

Some cases accommodate long video cards much more easily than others.

Decide how many hard drive and external drive bays you will need.

A micro ATX case is usually large enough for the typical home PC, but may not be OK if you have 5 drives and are overclocking.

Try to find a full-length review of the case online. You might get some clues about it by reading Newegg reviews, but those usually don't have enough detail.

Cable management is difficult for some case models, but that may not matter to you at all.

Consider this the best extra 19.00 spent. Choose your color of choice and don't look back.
NZXT PHAN-001WT Phantom Full-Tower Case - E-ATX, ATX, MicroATX, 5 x 5.25 Bays, 7 x 3.5Bays, 200mm LED Fan, White at TigerDirect
Other wise I'm a huge Corsair admirer. The Carbide series I'd have you consider is this:
Corsair CC-9011013-WW Carbide Series 500R Mid Tower Gaming Case - ATX, mATX, 4x Ext 5.25 Bays, 6x Int 3.5 Bays, 1x 200mm and 2x 120mm White LED Fans, 1x 120mm Fan, 2x USB 3.0 and 1x FireWire Ports at TigerDirect

I just ordered parts from newegg to build a new system. ASRock Z77 Professional motherboard, i7 3770, SSD, etc. I ordered a Corsair Carbide 500R case (the 400 would work too, just decided on the white case color). I looked at a lot of cases before I settled on this one. My old system is using an Antec ninehundred case and it is a nice case, except it's not "toolless" and a hassle to add/swap hard drives or optical drives.

Nice work fireberd,
That 500R is wicked. I love how it has all the features and actually better cooling then the 800D. Enjoy and post pictures when it arrives and you build it up.

The 500R is an awesome case, and it's smaller than the 800D which I consider to be a huge benefit. Having to deal with a huge case is often not super advantageous. Most people don't need the space, and sometimes cables come up short in huge cases.

And the 500R is about 60% less expensive than the 800D.

The Fractal R3 is a nice case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352016
The NZXT case suggested about is a good choice. I recently used a cheapo NZXT and liked it.

Last year I got a Corsair Carbide 400R and really like it. After I bought it they came out with the 500R and now the 300R which has a few less features.





Jim

Phone Man, that is a very clean looking build. I hope mine looks that good after I'm done.

BTW, I used to work in data communications. Had lots of (then) AT&T "long lines" circuits, both basic 3002 voice grade circuits up to T1 links. I was the Regional LAN/WAN Network Manager for SSA out of KC, MO. My screen name comes from the TTC Fireberd T1 Line test set.

Jack

Thanks Jack,
It was a fun build. Corsair did a nice job with that case.
During my career I ran a Data crew in Baton Rouge before the Bell split. Lots of time spend on the old analog data circuits. After the split I got into computers with ATT. Then back in the CO with Verizon Wireless and everything was T1 through OC48 fiber. Always something new but the T1 has never died.

Jim

The case came in yesterday. I'll be starting on the build today. I have the motherboard, CPU, stock Intel cooler that came with the CPU that I'll be using temporarily, one of two optical drives and power supply. The SSD and second optical drive are due in tomorrow.

If all goes well, it will get the smoke test, Friday.

Jack