Best quality case

Annatar · 22 Nov 2025 at 19:21

What would be your pick for best quality case? Just in the market for a new case and thought it would be interesting to see what everyone considers for their pick.

hornetstinger · 22 Nov 2025 at 19:26

Personal opinion..

but I don't like the fishtank cases don't like glass side panels, prefer screwed in panels rather than hooks or push pins. Don't like small cases, or RGB.

ATIorNvidia · 23 Nov 2025 at 05:02

I really like the HAVN cases. I would be all over the HS420 if I still used mid/full tower cases.

freddie64 · 23 Nov 2025 at 17:30

Lian li Lancool 216.

No RGB, plenty of room without being oversized and built really well.

The only way they could improve it is if they did a none glass version or at least have a metal panel you could buy to replace the glass.

Yes it is a boring black box, but mine is under my desk out of sight so don't need/want any bling.

dave28 · 23 Nov 2025 at 17:57

The top of the range larger size Phanteks are the best quality standard type cases I have owned.
I just like the way they are designed and built.

Gray2233 · 23 Nov 2025 at 18:10

I really like the HAVN cases, unfortunately they're all quite large and I prefer smaller form factors such as M-ATX.

That said, I honestly don't feel that the premium demanded by supposed top tier cases quality wise is worth it. You can get excellent cases for £50-100 that look great and cool well, they might be a little bit more fiddly to work with for various reasons but not by much.

If I was buying a new case for myself right now it'd probably be one of the following:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Antec CX600M ARGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-04160) = £54.95
1 x PHANTEKS XT M3 Micro-ATX Case, includes 3x 120mm Fans - Black (SKU: CAS-PHK-05735) = £59.90
1 x Lian Li A3 mATX Wood Edition - Black (SKU: CAS-LIA-02630) = £69.95

Total: £200.80 (includes delivery: £15.99)

Glanza · 23 Nov 2025 at 18:20

From the quality of parts Havn and Phanteks have always felt premium when I've built in them.

Drumroll · 26 Nov 2025 at 08:56

The Lian Li A3 is quite decent, and cheap.
I was impressed by the Jonsbo D41. Proper thick panels, very solid case.
What annoys me the most is some cheap design like BeQuiet uses for their cases. The push-in pins for the front panel.

Fluffybob · 26 Nov 2025 at 09:22

I do like Antec cases, built a system for my nephew in a C8 recently and was impressed with the build quality.

Drumroll · 26 Nov 2025 at 10:02

Fluffybob said:
I do like Antec cases, built a system for my nephew in a C8 recently and was impressed with the build quality.

Used the C8 Curve. Shame I needed a slimmer case. Very solid and a bargain for the price.

sastusbulbas · 29 Nov 2025 at 18:03

I've always quite enjoyed owning and working with NZXT and Phanteks cases. And they pretty much seem to cover most requirements in one form or another.

HAVN have interesting cases, and I was interested in the Antec Flux Noctua edition. But I have considered back connect motherboards and a 420 AIO which is not quite something Antec or HAVN have covered.

hornetstinger · 29 Nov 2025 at 18:06

sastusbulbas said:
I've always quite enjoyed owning and working with NZXT and Phanteks cases. And they pretty much seem to cover most requirements in one form or another.

HAVN have interesting cases, and I was interested in the Antec Flux Noctua edition. But I have considered back connect motherboards and a 420 AIO which is not quite something Antec or HAVN have covered.

Antec Flux Pro Noctua will be stupidly expensive- the stock model is about £150-£170 as it is

sastusbulbas · 29 Nov 2025 at 18:25

hornetstinger said:
Antec Flux Pro Noctua will be stupidly expensive- the stock model is about £150-£170 as it is

Nothing wrong with £170 cases, but for a Noctua theme case Antec are looking to try and make it cheaper than buying the case and fans separately. It comes with four 140mm G2 and two,120mm G2 as well as the Noctua fan hub.

If you run a Noctua cooler and want a premium case capable of taking a lot of hardware it's not that bad.

The other option I'm looking at is the NZXT H9 with a Silent Wings 420 AIO and six be quiet silent wings4 Pro 140mm fans.

The case I would probably prefer working with is the Fractal Define XL, but it's old and not reputable any more, not the best at cooling.

I still have a need to work with optical drives, and despite attempts to ditch cables will probably end up with four sata drives, SSD and HDD.

Sadly no Define XL or 5.25 full fat external drives popping up for amazing prices so no rush or sway towards anything as yet.

hornetstinger · 29 Nov 2025 at 18:27

sastusbulbas said:
Nothing wrong with £170 cases, but for a Noctua theme case Antec are looking to try and make it cheaper than buying the case and fans separately. It comes with four 140mm G2 and two,120mm G2 as well as the Noctua fan hub.

If you run a Noctua cooler and want a premium case capable of taking a lot of hardware it's not that bad.

The other option I'm looking at is the NZXT H9 with a Silent Wings 420 AIO and six be quiet silent wings4 Pro 140mm fans.

The case I would probably prefer working with is the Fractal Define XL, but it's old and not reputable any more, not the best at cooling.

I still have a need to work with optical drives, and despite attempts to ditch cables will probably end up with four sata drives, SSD and HDD.

Sadly no Define XL or 5.25 full fat external drives popping up for amazing prices so no rush or sway towards anything as yet.

Still rocking my Coolermaster Stacker 810. Added a 5.25" front bay for USB 2, USB 3 & USB -C ports. Updated to new 4 pin fans, got three 3-in-1 CM modules

jammir · 4 Dec 2025 at 00:54

I used to be really into SFF cases but think I liked them just for the challenge as I loved making hardline custom loops in them. Now Ive stopped using open loops just settled on a Ssupd ATX case.

clone · 4 Dec 2025 at 08:40

My phantek nv9 is really well built I'm more than happy with it.

Drangueos · 4 Dec 2025 at 09:03

I think the quality on Phanteks are good.

rare · 4 Dec 2025 at 09:42

Lots of really good cases these days, even some of the ‘budget’ brand ones like Montech I’ve found to be really good, Deepcool as well.

I think Fractal lowered some of their quality to be a bit more competitive in some areas but that’s fine, they still make really solid cases. Phanteks as well, and when I tried a white Antec Perfomance 1 last year I was extremely impressed with the quality of it, mega case.

I do miss the aluminium cases of the early to mid 2000’s though. Some of my Coolermaster and Lian li cases are on another level quality wise.

MassiveJim · 4 Dec 2025 at 09:52

i find most cases quality isn't as good as it used to be, I once worked on a Lian Li case from around 15 years ago and the quality of it was far superior to anything else I have worked on, the newer lian li cases I have had my hands on aren't near it in terms of quality.

rare · 4 Dec 2025 at 10:00

MassiveJim said:
the newer lian li cases I have had my hands on aren't near it in terms of quality

I think once the son of the former owner took over he took the company in a totally different direction, which makes sense in today’s market as they’ve obviously done very well out of it. I would love it if they did some kind of prestige line which were still aluminium build like they used to be, I would probably pay a premium for a really high end case like that now.