New case reccomendations for friends build, cheap but nice looking.

[Stylis10]

Hello everyone,

Im building a PC for my friend (he actually bought all the parts already), and he would like a case with the following criteria:

M-atx size mobo, can house gtx 660, place to mount a corsair H70, 2 HDDs and 1 SSD, a normal sized optical drive.

BUT! It has to look good! (Now for clarity I have asked what this entails)
He basically hates looking at the ugly optical drive on the front of the case and he will keep the case on or under his desk at the front fo convenience.
So essentially a case with a minimalistic design front door. He quoted the "Antec P182" and "Fractal Design Mini" as good looking cases.

Budget is £20...can stretch to £30.

[Bagnaj97]

I'm not aware of any decent cases with a door in that price range. These are your options as I see them:

1. Don't use a case until he's saved and got a bigger budget - things will get dusty, take up space, look ugly, risk of spills and knocks etc, but you don't technically need a case. I don't recommend this!

2. Buy the cheapest case that'll hold everything, then replace it later on. You'll eventually end up with a wasted case (and the cost of it) though. GTX660 isn't a long card, I think this will hold everything, but it'll be a squeeze.

3. Buy a minimalist but doorless case (Fractal Design Core 1000?) and live with the optical drive. Could replace with USB optical later down the line, which can be put away when not in use.

Personally I'd take option 2. Yes, you have a wasted case, but ultimately he'll end up with the case he really wants. With option 3 he'll end up with a case that's too good to scrap, but not really what he's after.

Edit: Actually both cases I linked only have a 92mm rear fan mount so the H70 may not fit them. This is the cheapest I can see that has a 120mm rear fan mount.

[Spreadie]

With those requirements, he's going to need to more than double his budget at the very least; if he wants to buy new.

Throw up a wanted ad on the forum or try feebay for a Define Mini or Mini P180.

Can he live without a permanently installed optical drive? Has he considered a portable unit? The problem with minimalist designs is that the price is anything but.

[Shirty]

Yep, for £20-30 you are going to get at best a functional case with poor cooling. Those are some nice components, it would be a damn shame to shove them into a rubbish case.

If the H70 is still sealed then returning that for an H55 would add a tenner to the budget. Then if he wants to add a second fan at a later date he'll get roughly equivalent performance.

It's a bit like putting a nice shiny V8 into a Hyundai Accent. It'll go fast but look crap and overheat.

[Pob255]

Simple answer, at that budget, unless you find a lucky 2nd hand score, No.

There are ways to "stealth" an optical drive, mount the optical drive farther back, cut the clips off the 5.25" blanking plate, then glue the plate onto the front of the draw, it should lay flush against the eject button, press the plate and there should be enough flex in it to depress the button enough to trigger the eject (or only eject via software, in windows right click on the drive and select eject)

Over your £20 but this is my current top recommendation for a budget mATX case http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ace-e...oofing-w-o-psu
However if an actual smaller case is not an issue, then you're better off with an ATX mid tower

[Stylis10]

Thank you for the replies everyone! I did reslise that what he wanted was a hell of a lot to ask for within his budget, but that was with my small knowledge of the market, I thought asking may throw in some cases I hadnt considered.

I shall be giving him an old scrap case I have lying around and let him build up his budget once again.

[AEGIS]

A good looking chasis with front cover for that budget... I just can't see it, gotta wait for sales or look for discounts.

[vfdb]

these looks good for the price:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=52983
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/...roductId=53230
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=45751

[Stylis10]

I decided to go for the Fractal Core 1000, and going to do a front panel mod with black acrylic with a stealth mod optical drive.