Newbie needs help

[Midgetboytom]

How important exactly is the case?? basically i want to get a case that will give good room for upgrades and has relative cooling with average aesthetics but im not sure how much to spend.

Im just about to order my first custom pc and want to know how much you reckon to spend on a case.

i was looking at getting this case but my budget is being stretched at the moment and wanted to know if i could afford to downgrade a bit.

Cooler Master HAF 922 Case - Black

 

[FabienO]

A good case keeps dust out, sound in and has nice airflow. It can also make cable management a nightmare or beautiful.

My recommendation. When you can buy a GOOD case, buy it. It'll last longer than the components. I bought a Cosmos 1000, though not a bad case. I wish i'd spent a little more time and money investing in a Lian Li or the 800D looks good these days.

I guess it depends how seriously you're into PCs. There's nothing wrong with that HAF. You get what you pay for.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-computer-case,review-31843.html read around, see what they test for and get a feel for what a good case is.

For me, either spend < £100 or > £200 but I'm a case noob, so don't ask me ... heh

 

[Porcelina]

Having recently built my own rig, building for the first time in over eight years, I went with http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-196-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29 the CoolerMaster CM-690 Advanced Dominator.

For what it is worth, a lot of the cases that range around £80 seem to be of a decent quality. My pick was a bit fiddly to actually build. For a seasoned rig builder I am sure there would be no problems, but for someone who quite often would have to refer back to build guides it was not the simplest of tasks. If you definitely want a toolless approach, your choice is the way to go as the Dominator required some bolts and nuts, not that I minded one bit.

I am really happy with my case. The sound dampening could be better, then again my components run really quietly but the airflow when I finally got things situated correctly is really good and so far it has not been a dust attractor as other cases go.

All in all, I doubt that many people have had a lot of experiences with different cases in the exact same price range. So take whatever advice you get from enthusiasts and mix that with what reviews you can find. In the end, as long as you stay with a quality brand that has good reviews, it is hard to go wrong.

And yes, you do almost always get what you pay for. So really the trick is to figure out your budget and just as importantly what your own needs are.

 

[maddy]

i have a factual design r2, it is a nice case but it does have its bad points the same as any other case.

first off there is only 1 5.25 drive bay which i dount mind too much but if i wanted any other devices card readers fan controls ect i cant put them there.

the other draw back is its cooling is not great if you only use the fans that come with it, i have spent an extra 10 on each fan so i have filled all the slots availble except the bottom intake fan.

so whatever case you go for i'd recommend looking through some reviews for me the most important factor is cooling, then size and upgradability options. i find that http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/ have some really good reviews on what ecah case is like, including cooling and quality and ease of build

 

[C64]

If looks aren't important to you I'd take a look at the nzxt range of cases.

If you are asking is there a case that is much better than the 922 for much less money then probably no.

Depends on what you are putting in there and future plans for it really.

You'd probably get away with an antec 300 or similar if a modest build.

if I were buying aroud the £80 mark though I'd get one of these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-LN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1447 or these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-196-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29