[SOLVED] Best ATX square black box with good airflow, cable management, harddrive bays, etc?

FatheredPuma81

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Aug 18, 2013
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Looking for a replacement for my god awful EVGA DG-76. However it's proving difficult to find any that fit my needs as almost all cases I can find being recommended have tons of issues with few matching most of my minimum requirements.
Budget: Less than $100
Minimum Requirements:
Size:
ATX, Physical size doesn't matter, must fit very large graphics cards and large CPU coolers,
Looks: Clean, Square flat (normal PC no bulges), and black
Front I/O: Power, Power LED, Reset, Headphone jack, microphone jack, and 2 USB 3.0
Exterior: Mesh front, lots of dust filters, easy to remove and clean dust filters,
Features: 2x 240mm RAD support, 4x Harddrive bays or 6x if no 2.5 spots, really good and easy cable management, really good airflow, easy to build in,
Note: These are bare minimum requirements for me so anything extra is a plus but anything missing means no.

Things I dislike about my current case: God awful airflow, horrific cable management, cheap and difficult to remove dust filters on all but front, no harddrive bays, have to mount 240mm AIO in front, complicated and time consuming to add and remove PCIe cards (Have to unscrew and take off back, unscrew and take off side, unscrew and take off back plate, and then can finally unscrew and take out/put in PCIe card), sticker on glass side, tinted side,

Thanks :D
 
Last edited:
Solution
You don't have any options within that price range that doesn't sacrifice some of your minimum requirements. All those extra features add to the cost.
Below is a list of ones that come 'close, but not quite'. This is also assuming the cost of the chassis alone, and not including the addition of fans, because some models have crap stock fans, or they only provide a couple, etc.
Also, I'm not sure if chassis with filters woven into the front panel is really a con or not for you... it's not hard to just take the panel off and rinse it, right?

Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG
-right at 100USD
-power/reset button - not sure if that's really a con
-2 HDD bays and only 1 SSD bracket included
-2 more SSD brackets can be added, but they're sold...

Phaaze88

Titan
Ambassador
You don't have any options within that price range that doesn't sacrifice some of your minimum requirements. All those extra features add to the cost.
Below is a list of ones that come 'close, but not quite'. This is also assuming the cost of the chassis alone, and not including the addition of fans, because some models have crap stock fans, or they only provide a couple, etc.
Also, I'm not sure if chassis with filters woven into the front panel is really a con or not for you... it's not hard to just take the panel off and rinse it, right?

Phanteks Enthoo Pro M TG
-right at 100USD
-power/reset button - not sure if that's really a con
-2 HDD bays and only 1 SSD bracket included
-2 more SSD brackets can be added, but they're sold separately
-a 5 bay HDD cage can be added - sold separately, but it'll block the front radiator install

Fractal Design Meshify C
-2 HDD bays and 3 SSD mounting spaces
-front mesh panel is angular

Lian Li Lancool 2
-not entirely front mesh, there's a bezel down the middle
-3 HDD bays and 4 SSD mounting spaces
-headphone/mic jack
-it's not exactly squared either: the front panel and the intake grille on the side

Cooler Master Masterbox MB511
-2 HDD bays and 1 SSD mounting space
-2 more SSD brackets can be added, but sold separately
-it's not squared - front panel
 
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Solution

FatheredPuma81

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Aug 18, 2013
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Well that sucks. I thought these were honestly relatively tame requirements honestly and could be met by a $75 case or something..
The Lian Li Lancool 2 doesn't seem to be that bad but I might be better off waiting for Black Friday sales in that case :\.