best case under £50?

[MuTTy_Hc]

Hi all...

I'm after a midi-tower case, not too big or too heavy (note I really would prefer if it didn't weigh a ton! )

I was looking at the antec 300, but I also saw the Xclio / Meridian Technology Nighthawk at scan for £30.

It's to go inside a piece of furniture hence I don't want it to be too heavy.

Are there any others I should consider? Needs space for the usual things, full size gcard, atx mobo, dvdrw/hdd really.

Cheers.

[c.ruel]

If you want it to be light then really you want an aluminium case. Coolermaster do a fair few cheapo alu cases.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...r-case-w-o-psu

This one is a mixture of plastic steel and aluminium so should be light but it is unfortunately 46 quid :S.

If you are willing to go for micro atx you could get the elite 341 which is all aluminium and often just £25 on the scan today only bit ... I have one and it is really light.

Coolermaster also usually specific the weight of their cases on there website so that is definately a good place to look.

I would strongly recommend coolermaster for their cheapness, relative lightness and ok build quality considering the pricepoint.

[Pob255]

Ummm there's no aluminium used the cm elite 341 (and it matx)
CM centurion 5 II has just two thin token strips of aluminium down each side of the bezel which I'm pretty sure is just glued onto the plastic bezel for looks

There's the HAF 912 but that's £62

Casecom 6788
CM Elite 330 or 331 or the new 370
NZXT BETA EVO
Silverstone Precision PS02B
Akasa Freedom Xone
Zalman 27 Plus

As you can tell the Antec 300 is rather overpriced these days

For full aluminium your looking at twice the price Lian-Li PC-60FW
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/lian-...window-w-o-psu

[Domestic_Ginger]

Someone on here got that case recently and did a mini review. I think it looks pretty good.

[c.ruel]

@pob I am heart broken I always thought my case was aluminium Looked on the coolermaster website and you are right it isn't Have to admit I did think it was like the ugliest aluminium ever LOL.

soon i will have an aluminium case. Got my lian li a17a waiting for me at my dads (I keep on going on about it I know but I am very excited ). 15 quid over the OPs budget but is very light and ATX, would be a bit of a travesty to cover it in wood though!

Sharkoon do some fairly cheap aluminium cases. 58 quid

But tbh maybe just save your pennies and go for one of the SECC ones pob suggests ... those sharkoon ones are suppose to have awful build quality.

[DanOln]

I'm planning to build a new system in January (around an i7 950) - also looking for a sub-£50 case. Currently weighing up between -

Antec VSK-2000: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/antec...r-case-w-o-psu

Coolermaster Elite 334: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...r-case-w-o-psu

Both about £30. Leaning towards the Antec; from reviews I get the sense it's airflow is really good for the price.

Slightly off-topic, but an interesting aside: http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/pc..._cooling_guide

That concludes a rear-exhausting single fan is actually a better cooling option than several fans...

[scaryjim]

As ever, I have only one thing to say on the matter of budget cases: Casecom 6788

Lovely case to build into, only £30. What minor niggles it does have are more than justified by the ridiculously low price for a case with bottom mount PSU, plenty of fan mounts and all tool-less drive bays. ebuyer also have a couple of other variants which are the same internals but with different bezels if the look of the 6788 doesn't take your fancy.

[Cheapy]

Casecom 6788
CM Elite 330 or 331 or the new 370
Silverstone Precision PS02B

Coolermaster 330 is an ahttp://forums.hexus.net/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2002242lright case but has no cable management and only 2 real fan mountings. The Casecom 6788 is a much better choice as Pob and scaryjim said. Probally the best bang for buck case in your price range.

The latest silverston precision PSO5B looks quite tempting too but its more expensive than the casecom.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silve...su-best-seller

And Rob B's review of his Xclio Nighthawk
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...nighthawk.html

[DanOln]

Uuuurgh, choices!

I'm new to bottom-mounted PSUs - a quick google hasn't given me any immediate insight into the relative merits of them. Anyone got reasons for preferring one over the other?

[Rob_B]

These are often on Scan Today Only Xclio Nighthawk
Currently £24.66 on Today Only so go for it

I luuuurve mine

[Pob255]

Go for the 330 or 331 over the 334 or 335
the 330 and 331 are 200mm wide, the extra width really comes into it's own when your doing cable management and for larger after market cpu coolers.

The Xcilo nighthawk is great if you catch one of the deals to get it for under £30

Oh and the Sharkoon one is not Aluminium, again it's sttel with a plastic bezel and a plate of anodised aluminium glued to the front of the bezel for that aluminium look. (just like the corsair 800d) however sharkkon didn't do anything to the rest of the case so it pretty much up the air flow in that model
Shame really because the Rebel9 Pro Economy, same case but with a mesh front is actually quite good.