Cheapest case with good airflow?

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2009
Posts
18,572
Location
Finchley, London
Don't know yet if I'll need a new case but putting feelers out for the cheapest case which has good space and cooling, don't need anything with fancy lights or dancing bunny girls. Currently I have an old E-Star midi tower ATX which looks just like this with just one side fan and a small front fan underneath at the bottom:

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/1832/estar8870blue.jpg

This will be going into it (new stuff I'm buying from here and some older stuff I have):

AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 BE 3.10GHz
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870
4GB DDR2 PC2-8500C5
WDCaviar 500GB SATA-II drive
Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770
OCZ 500w psu
Old soundblaster live card
DVD writer and old 320GB hard drive on one IDE slot.

Will all this go into my case or does it look tight bearing in mind the graphics card is about 9 or 10"? This is my case currently with old stuff in it, and for size reference, you can see in the pics 7600 GS (actually, that was the 9800 pro I think, these are old pics), XP2000+ 1.7GHz, 2 DVD drives and 2 hard drives on 2 IDEs on asus A7V8X mobo :

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/845/allfinished.jpg
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/5381/gutted.jpg
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4940/connectionsa.jpg

Am I asking too much of it and need something bigger or better or does this look about the same as any ATX case in terms of space and compartments? Do I need a fan cut into the top of a case? It would help to know if I can stick with my case and get a shop to fit this stuff, or else get one from ocUK and get sent the whole bundle already fixed up. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Just get a new case everything will over overheat in that pos :P

And a shop will rip u off fitting your new stuff its a 30min job max & I beat they will want £50 for it.

Its easy its just expensive lego :P

Or just get an OCUK pre built
 
PwnDirect said:
Just get a new case everything will over overheat in that pos :P

And a shop will rip u off fitting your new stuff its a 30min job max & I beat they will want £50 for it.

Its easy its just expensive lego :P

Or just get an OCUK pre built
Click to expand...

Well there's a shop near me that reckoned on £20 to fit it. I'm ok with fiddling inside on bits and pieces, but think I might make a hash of trying to fit a mobo.
If overclockers put it all together for me in a new case, is there an extra charge? What case do you think will work?
 
Merlin5 said:
Will all this go into my case or does it look tight bearing in mind the graphics card is about 9 or 10"? This is my case currently with old stuff in it, and for size reference...
Click to expand...
Long cards are as long as motherboard's width, that's best reference for seeing do they fit and is there any space left.
 
Well, I think I've decided to buy a new case from OC and get everything fitted by them, it's much easier. I mean otherwise, I don't know if the connectors panel at the back of my case would fit with the new motherboard. Can anyone suggest a case for me to buy under £50 that is fairly spacious and good with cooling. if there is such a thing?
 
Last edited:
Merlin5 said:
Well, I think I've decided to buy a new case from OC and get everything fitted by them, it's much easier. I mean otherwise, I don't know if the connectors panel at the back of my case would fit with the new motherboard. Can anyone suggest a case for me to buy under £50 that is fairly spacious and good with cooling. if there is such a thing?
Click to expand...

Hi there matey,

You will not be dissapointed buying a pre-built system from OcUK. Used to work in builds myself and know how good the lads are there in tech.

Also I think they have some stonking deals on pre-built systems for a short period also so there isn't a better time really!

Give them a call if you need custom specs that aren't on the site.

Oh and to answer your question about the case...theres nothing better than the Antec 300 for that price range - I have had one for almost a year running a similar spec - fantastic. I would get this case when you get a build from OcUK.

Hope that helps!

Jon
 
Last edited:
+1 for the Antec 300

I just recieved my second one this morning from ocuk, next day free delivery - cant beat that!

But this case has plenty of space and great airflow, id recommend replacing the stock chassis fans though.
 
Antec 300 isn't that good a case. Definitely not worth £45. At that exact price the NZXT Beta is brilliant. This is my round up:

  • Coolermaster Elite 335
  • Akasa Rev.4 Zen
  • Silverstone PS02B Precision
  • NZXT Beta
  • Antec 300
  • Coolermaster Dominator 690
  • Thermaltake V9
  • Hiper Anubis
  • NZXT Apollo
  • Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K58

Any one of those would be a brilliant choice, it all depends on budget and personal opinion. I think my vote is with the NZXT Beta though.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I'd certainly like to pay the lower price of the antec 300, but reading another thread, many were saying how tight space is compared to the coolermaster 690. However, since you say it's ok, I might still opt for the antec. Superewza, I'll check out those other cases you listed, thanks.

Jonnybase, I'll give OcUK a call, but for now, do you have any idea roughly how much OcUK will charge for putting a custom spec together of the components I've selected from here? These:
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 550 BE 3.10GHz
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870
4GB DDR2 PC2-8500C5
WDCaviar 500GB SATA-II drive
Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770
OCZ 500w psu
And whatever case I choose.
 
Hi there mate,

Can't tell you how much they would charge as I don't have access to that info im afraid!

I can only assume that it may even be waived at the moment due to it being a 'mega system' sale that's on.

Give them a call - oh and haggle!

Jon
 
JonnyBase said:
Hi there mate,

Can't tell you how much they would charge as I don't have access to that info im afraid!

I can only assume that it may even be waived at the moment due to it being a 'mega system' sale that's on.

Give them a call - oh and haggle!

Jon
Click to expand...

Oh I can haggle too? Nice :D Alright, well I'm off to play a gig now and I'll ring OC tomorrow. Cheers! :)
 
Well I just took a look at all the ones Superewza listed and it was difficult choosing, they all look good. I just watched this video though http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZLvtMnfleg and I'm completely sold on the coolermaster 690! It's everything I need, and I love the tool less design, (something I found out the antec 300 doesn't have), particularly the way it's so easy to pull those black plastic hard drive slots out, and the blue clips for the optical drives. How on earth is this case being sold for only a 2 figure sum, it seems to have so many features. Apparently though, it's very difficult to pull off the front grilles to install dvd drives. But not something I'm too bothered about, I'm sure it'll be fine. I believe it's also a very heavy case, but it won't be moved about so not a dealbreaker either. So I've got my full line up now. Will ring OCuk and see what the damage will be.:p
 
The CM690 is a brilliant case you will love it! We have a competition running at the moment (link in sig) - its a very popular choice you won't be disappointed mate! Let us know how you get on
 
I certainly will. :) Couple of questions. If you check out this review video, apparently the front grilles are difficult to remove for installing optical drives, the reviewer says she felt she was going to break it, and also, apparently the on/off button is a bit of a pain and a bit vague knowing if she was turning it on or off, would this be true? I'm not overly concerned but interested to know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yhxw1DcAQo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom