New Case

FC1983 · 30 Aug 2006 at 12:21

I am looking at a new case for a friend, they would like it to be black and ~£40. They currently have a PSU in their current PC.

How about:
Akasa AK-ZEN-01-BK Zen Black Case - No PSU (CA-020-AK)
OR
Thermaltake VC2000BNS Mambo SuperMidi Tower - Black (CA-026-TT)

Are either of these any good?

EDIT:
Also seen
Asus TA-210 Series Midi Tower (Black) - 360W PSU (CA-004-AS)
And
OcUK Value Estar 7799 Case With 400W PSU (CA-012-OK)

orderoftheflame · 30 Aug 2006 at 12:23

Better posting in Case Central?

celliott · 30 Aug 2006 at 12:24

Personally I would pay a little more and get a Thermaltake Soprano, have built in one of these recently, highly reccomended.

Both of those are good cases though, I would probably go for the Thermaltake over Akasa.

FC1983 · 30 Aug 2006 at 12:25

orderoftheflame said:
Better posting in Case Central?

Thanks never noticed that :eek:

FC1983 · 30 Aug 2006 at 12:25

celliott said:
Personally I would pay a little more and get a Thermaltake Soprano, have built in one of these recently, highly reccomended.

Both of those are good cases though, I would probably go for the Thermaltake over Akasa.

Is the soprano much better than the mambo? He could probably pay the extra for it.

celliott · 30 Aug 2006 at 12:42

Although I have never seen one the Mambo is basically the same without the side window.

For your budget a Mambo + 120mm fan (For Front to cool hdd's) would be a good choice.

Or even this: Antec Super LANBOY Aluminum Super Mini Tower Case - No PSU (CA-012-AN)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Antec_Cases.html

Great little case for the price and includes decent case fans.

Yewen · 30 Aug 2006 at 14:17

I would go for the Zen having owned both, the Mambo is very thin on the side panel front and has a few sharp edges.

The zen is just about the best £30 case you can get, but as said the Lanboy is by far the best option sub £40.

The Mambo is more in the style of the old Thermaltacks, same with the Tsunami which is why I think the best case Thermaltake has ever made is the Soprano.

If you can stretch to the Soprano you may aswell go all the way to a PC7+, but the Lanboy or Zen, although one the wrong colour would get my vote.

FC1983 · 30 Aug 2006 at 14:26

Yewen said:
I would go for the Zen having owned both, the Mambo is very thin on the side panel front and has a few sharp edges.

The zen is just about the best £30 case you can get, but as said the Lanboy is by far the best option sub £40.

The Mambo is more in the style of the old Thermaltacks, same with the Tsunami which is why I think the best case Thermaltake has ever made is the Soprano.

If you can stretch to the Soprano you may aswell go all the way to a PC7+, but the Lanboy or Zen, although one the wrong colour would get my vote.

Thanks for all your help I'll see what he says.

Yewen · 30 Aug 2006 at 14:28

Forgot to mention the Zen comes with Amber fans but with a slightly worse motor. So not technically Ambers but still good!