Best Of The Best, Part 1: Who Makes The Most Elite PC Case?

[4Ryan6]

Crashman, Did you send any invitations to CaseLabs or Mountain Mods as these are the Best of the Best cases money can buy?

I was wondering if they refused to participate?

Ah crap, they're not on my list. Do you know these any of these guys or do I need to make contact the long way?

As far as direct access No, you'll probably end up going through the front door, you might want to add a link to what you've already done so they can see what your intentions are.

Tom's is a highly respected site so they just might jump on board, but you need to keep in mind their cases were basically water cooling oriented with major room inside for those type cooling setups.

They both have some that work well for air cooling but the big boys in their lineup were designed for water cooling.

 

[andreme1]

I am not sure I would call the In Win production case due to its rarity. I was only able to find one for $1000, that price alone puts it out of the competition. I would like to see them compare the "Production Cases" to "Custom Cases" like CaseLabs. Personally I have owned a Silverstone Raven, Corsair 650D, NZXT Phantom (which was terrible POS), and CaseLabs Merlin SM8. Going by quality, value, and price CaseLabs is by far the best option. The powder coating in super rugged, two years and it still looks brand new. The size is impressive but it has the best cable management, so easy to build with and the quality is so great I will never need to buy another case in my lifetime. But it did cost $400

 

[vmem]

Silverstone needs to update their FT02 case to modern standards (USB3.0, and I think it only has 7 PCIe slots?), and it will wreck this competition

 

[Bondfc11]

Crashman, Did you send any invitations to CaseLabs or Mountain Mods as these are the Best of the Best cases money can buy?

I was wondering if they refused to participate?

I agree they make great cases, I have an MM case and pedestal, but I wouldn't say they are the best of the best. Depends on what you want. If you want to drop $300+++ on a fully custom solution then both are great.

I liked doing the full water build on my MM Ascension and pedestal and had a great time. I now am working a water build on the inWin Tou and also loving it (hard acrylic build). I love inWin cases for their originality and oddball looks (I built my son's case out of the H frame case - the blue one - ok now I think about it I am a bit of a inWin case fanboy ).

The obvious problem with deciding an elite case is it is all subjective and very much requires you to think X factor is what makes a case elite and then have everyone agree. MM/CL cases are elite due to the fact you can customize almost every facet of the build - awesome sauce. But if you need a more budget-oriented case, say $100ish, then those aren't elite for you. Water? Air? Sound? Visuals? etc. What do you need out of the case?

I love the mental exercise of doing this kind of round up, but I definitely wouldn't want to be the one making the final decisions - too many choice for elite case in my opinion (I can think of 6-8 easy that are all amazing in their own way).

Great job. I am really looking forward to more. Thanks!

 

[ingtar33]

well, i think they need to adjust their definition of elite, or atleast spell it out a bit better... maybe... "feature rich, moderate performance, head turning, super expensive case"?

well i guess that's why they shortened it to "elite"... that is a mouthful. That said, there are dozens of cases out there i would probably take over those first 4... shame silverstone felt the need to trot out a fortress case... those have always been a bit bulky and ugly. They have much better cases that would have done well in this showcase.

 

[thee_prisoner]

Ryan those Mountain Mods cases look great, not to decide if I want to spend 250.0 plus on a tower.

 

[Bondfc11]

Crashman, Did you send any invitations to CaseLabs or Mountain Mods as these are the Best of the Best cases money can buy?

I was wondering if they refused to participate?

Ah crap, they're not on my list. Do you know these any of these guys or do I need to make contact the long way?

Never owned a CL case although I have several MM cases (they are very similar in my opinion). It will be interesting what both companies would ship to you since they both allow customers to customize almost every facet of most of their cases. Hope you get some in - both companies make amazing cases. Yes I would say elite for their purpose (water cooling), but costs are pretty high and may be out of reach for most people.

 

[Bondfc11]

On a side note is it just me or does everyone get those annoying popup adds on EVERY pic throughout the article? Man what a PITA to have to "X" those to see all the pretty pictures!

 

[Onus]

For elite cases, I guess age might keep the older Antec P18x cases out, but some of them were amazing. A year or so ago one was used in the top-dollar SBM build, and IMHO it was the cleanest, nicest looking, most professional PC you guys have ever featured.

 

[biggestinsect]

CaseLabs without a doubt. Amazing build quality, attention to detail and lots of options for custom configurations. They have excellent customer service and are made in the US for those that find that important. I got an M8 about two years ago and it make cases from the likes of NZXT and Corsair look like comparative junk. (I think both those companies have some excellent designs, especially for the price, and am referring to the quality of materials used and overall fit and finish.) I think the cases coming from In-Win also qualify as elite; nice use of quality materials especially glass. But there always seems to be at least one or two design concessions involving cooling options with their cases. Lian Li and Silverstone, both known for quality aluminum, don't come close to the quality of the CaseLabs product. Mountain Mods are somewhat similar to some CaseLabs cases in respect to customization. They have been around much longer and the construction techniques used are somewhat coarser. Main issue with CaseLabs for most is of course price. Their cheapest case for an ITX setup start at around $190. ATX start at around $300. My M8 with optional bits was around $450.

 

[4Ryan6]

Ryan those Mountain Mods cases look great, not to decide if I want to spend 250.0 plus on a tower.

What I have my eyes on is going to cost more than that, as my goal is to get my entire cooling and computer setup, which presently occupies two cases, into one large case.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/282844-29-peltier-water-cooling

 

[RedJaron]

I think Silverstone's own Raven 3 is still superior to their Fortress cases ( though, yes, the Fortress line does look a little snazzier. ) Tons of space, very quiet, and superb cooling for ~$150.

On a side note is it just me or does everyone get those annoying popup adds on EVERY pic throughout the article? Man what a PITA to have to "X" those to see all the pretty pictures!

Yeah, I'm seeing that too. Yes, I find it annoying as well.

 

[Onus]

I use Firefox with AdBlock+ and NoScript. I don't get the ads.

 

[redgarl]

In Win are making beautiful cases, just too bad they perform so bad and are limited in flexibility. The In Win 904 is my favorite, but that think cannot hold High GPU and the heat would just be unbearable.

 

[Datcu Alexandru]

Personally i found the criteria a bit well snobish. Personally in the future or maybe it could be a bi-annual thing, i would like to see a list of the biggest and baddest cases in terms of expansion space, cooling solutions and noise. When i build a rig for home use i don't care how it looks or how big and heavy it is, What i care about is raw performance and options and lastly price.

 

[seth89]

I have the Black Hawk Ultra, its a rock solid case with loads of room for oversized motherboards. Also offers two places to mount a PSU

 

[krobjack]

I happen to love my Cooler Master Cosmos II.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I'll take my 750D over these cases any day of the week.

 

[Mac266]

I'll take my 750D over these cases any day of the week.

AMEN!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

If the user's case budget doesn't allow the Enthoo Primo, my next recommendation is the 750D .... over on OCN, the two longest case threads of 2013 are the Enthoo Primo and 750D .... I think we'll see the 750D's price drop a little too once the Enthoo Luxe is released..... after the primo came out, the 900D was dropped making both Enthoo and 900D soon-to-be owners happy.

 

[Crashman]

Personally i found the criteria a bit well snobish. Personally in the future or maybe it could be a bi-annual thing, i would like to see a list of the biggest and baddest cases in terms of expansion space, cooling solutions and noise. When i build a rig for home use i don't care how it looks or how big and heavy it is, What i care about is raw performance and options and lastly price.

Perceptions of snobishess concerning cases of this price is the reason we don't get to see them much at Tom's Hardware. I believe the last "most exclusive production cases" article was the one with the Luxor Pyramid in 2007!

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/unique-atx-cases-compared,1561.html

 

[may1]

don't really understand how these cases can be considered "elite" - the leader of the pack.......

 

[wolverine96]

I love the Blackhawk-Ultra! I almost bought it, until I realized how big it is. I instead got the more modestly sized, yet still beastly Cooler Master HAF XM.

I think that In Win Tou is just hideous looking!

No HAF X? Not even any Cooler Master case? Come on!

 

[Onus]

I've had positive experiences with ever Rosewill case I've used. I wouldn't want a full tower, but the Blackhawk (non-Ultra) with it's top SATA dock is on my short list if I were to need an ATX case.

 

[GObonzo]

would take the Blackhawk over any of them. that FT04 may be cool as an exhibition piece but i dont want that thing sitting on my desk.