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

[jrozycki]

A cool follow up would be HTPC cases. It's not as large of a market but it's there. Plus I feel there is more to talk about with HTPC cases given the different functionalities.

 

[vertexx]

Jeeze Crash, what the heck? Just like all your other conclusions.... it's like, you go through all this analysis and then just roll the dice or flip a coin to pick a winner. How the heck did you arrive at the in Win case?

 

[TeamBLU 4K]

I've recently purchased a case for my new 4K gaming rig/multimedia server.

In my eyes that meant:
1) a stylish case that looks awesome from outside, and is spatial and offers enjoyable building inside
2) has very high 2.5/3.5" bay capacity for all my storage needs and expansion options

I've done A LOT of research in order to find the best "Elite" case for my build, and ended up with three clear finalists - yet I don't see either of those three majestic cases in this so-called review of the "best" elite cases:

Nanoxia Deep Silence 6
CoolerMaster Cosmos II
Corsair 900D

Since Cosmos II looks so much sexier, I decided for it in the end despite highest pricetag.

 

[Crashman]

Jeeze Crash, what the heck? Just like all your other conclusions.... it's like, you go through all this analysis and then just roll the dice or flip a coin to pick a winner. How the heck did you arrive at the in Win case?

Antec's Three Hundred Illusion is one of the best performance cases you can buy if you compare cooling to noise, and it only costs $60. I had to make huge price concessions for manufacturing cost and materials to even put together an article where $180 was the entry point. Even after telling manufacturers I'd do that, I still received cheaply-made stuff from Azza and Rosewill.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Crashman , what are your thoughts on the Corsair 900D?

 

[vertexx]

Antec's Three Hundred Illusion is one of the best performance cases you can buy if you compare cooling to noise, and it only costs $60. I had to make huge concessions to the price of cost and materials to even put together an article where $180 was the entry point, and even then I got cheaply-made stuff from Azza and Rosewill.

Yeah - I was partially messing with you... I was thinking Silverstone all the way because of the cheapo Azza and Rosewill entries and then the outrageous price & relatively poor performance of the In Win.

Overall not the best choice of entries. I'm actually in the market for an elite case - seriously I started my search by searching Newegg in reverse order of priced, so this article really caught my interest. I'm going back and forth between the Silverstone FT02 and FT04. I really like the FT02 but the FT04 is a better fit geometrically for the space I have for it. I'm not a fan of the upcoming FT05

I've also looked a the Phanteks Enthoo Primo - too tall - so I'm eagerly awaiting the Enthoo Luxe. I love the look of Lian Li's PC-A51, but they screwed up the PSU arrangement so dual GPU is not an option - is it too much to ask for a Lian-Li/Silverstone hybrid? Silverstone is the genius of the layout and cooling effectiveness. Lian-Li is master of build quality.

Overall, I'm surprised there is nothing from Phanteks, Corsair, or Lian Li - maybe part II.

The serious part of my busting on you though, what case do you really think is the best Elite case and why? Really, why? Break it down some more for us. Case selection can be a complex beast of a decision. Maybe more in part II, eh?

 

[Crashman]

Crashman , what are your thoughts on the Corsair 900D?

It's a nice case. Hard for me to give elite status to something punched out of recycled tuna cans, but that pretty much applies to anything I'd actually buy (based on what you get vs what you pay).

Antec's Three Hundred Illusion is one of the best performance cases you can buy if you compare cooling to noise, and it only costs $60. I had to make huge concessions to the price of cost and materials to even put together an article where $180 was the entry point, and even then I got cheaply-made stuff from Azza and Rosewill.

Yeah - I was partially messing with you... I was thinking Silverstone all the way because of the cheapo Azza and Rosewill entries and then the outrageous price & relatively poor performance of the In Win.

Overall not the best choice of entries. I'm actually in the market for an elite case - seriously I started my search by searching Newegg in reverse order of priced, so this article really caught my interest. I'm going back and forth between the Silverstone FT02 and FT04. I really like the FT02 but the FT04 is a better fit geometrically for the space I have for it. I'm not a fan of the upcoming FT05

I've also looked a the Phanteks Enthoo Primo - too tall - so I'm eagerly awaiting the Enthoo Luxe. I love the look of Lian Li's PC-A51, but they screwed up the PSU arrangement so dual GPU is not an option - is it too much to ask for a Lian-Li/Silverstone hybrid? Silverstone is the genius of the layout and cooling effectiveness. Lian-Li is master of build quality.

Overall, I'm surprised there is nothing from Phanteks, Corsair, or Lian Li - maybe part II.

The serious part of my busting on you though, what case do you really think is the best Elite case and why? Really, why? Break it down some more for us. Case selection can be a complex beast of a decision. Maybe more in part II, eh?

In Win gets noticed for being noticeable. In the next installment I'm looking for something of similar precision and unusual materials that can actually perform better. Since an open chassis is the Ferrari of computing, I'm taking the unusual measure of tackling the Rolls Royce market. Or maybe Maybach.

 

[vertexx]

Maybe should have used the word "Exotic" instead of "Elite" as the title then.

 

[Crashman]

Maybe should have used the word "Exotic" instead of "Elite" as the title then.

But people would complain that the most-exotic is one of those one-off creations that you can't actually buy unless you know "that guy"

 

[weavermsi]

I think this project needs to be put on hold until we've heard from CaseLabs.

 

[Crashman]

I think this project needs to be put on hold until we've heard from CaseLabs.

I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you

 

[royalcrown]

I'll consider my Define XL R2 Elite then because I don't hear noise and it looks great and ridiculously large !

 

[4Ryan6]

Every reader needs to understand, that the way it works is invitations to participate in a review are sent out to the individual vendors, it's not Toms or the individual reviewers option to know who or what testing candidate will actually be submitted, until they agree to participate in the review by submitting a test candidate, so bottom line is, it's not up to Crashman.

If the vendor or brand line doesn't submit a test candidate then it's not in the testing lineup, Toms does not go out and buy every case on the shelves to review, they would go bankrupt trying to do that!

So if a test candidate is not submitted, it won't get tested and reviewed, I hope that clears up some of this why didn't you test this, and that, and this is only part 1 anyway.

Most of you don't have a clue as to how much work and time is invested in these reviews, so just cut Crashman some slack, and chill, it is what it is, you get what he can give you!

With all due respect to all! Ryan

 

[vertexx]

Every reader needs to understand, that the way it works is invitations to participate in a review are sent out to the individual vendors, it's not Toms or the individual reviewers option to know who or what testing candidate will actually be submitted, until they agree to participate in the review by submitting a test candidate, so bottom line is, it's not up to Crashman.

If the vendor or brand line doesn't submit a test candidate then it's not in the testing lineup, Toms does not go out and buy every case on the shelves to review, they would go bankrupt trying to do that!

So if a test candidate is not submitted, it won't get tested and reviewed, I hope that clears up some of this why didn't you test this, and that, and this is only part 1 anyway.

Most of you don't have a clue as to how much work and time is invested in these reviews, so just cut Crashman some slack, and chill, it is what it is, you get what he can give you!

With all due respect to all! Ryan

Please, Crash can take the heat....

 

[AndrewJacksonZA]

Every reader needs to understand, that the way it works is invitations to participate in a review are sent out to the individual vendors...

Some of us know that, but thank you for informing the majority(?) of us who didn't Ryan.

@Crashman: Did you sent an invite to Nanoxia?

 

[Crashman]

Every reader needs to understand, that the way it works is invitations to participate in a review are sent out to the individual vendors, it's not Toms or the individual reviewers option to know who or what testing candidate will actually be submitted, until they agree to participate in the review by submitting a test candidate, so bottom line is, it's not up to Crashman.

If the vendor or brand line doesn't submit a test candidate then it's not in the testing lineup, Toms does not go out and buy every case on the shelves to review, they would go bankrupt trying to do that!

So if a test candidate is not submitted, it won't get tested and reviewed, I hope that clears up some of this why didn't you test this, and that, and this is only part 1 anyway.

Most of you don't have a clue as to how much work and time is invested in these reviews, so just cut Crashman some slack, and chill, it is what it is, you get what he can give you!

With all due respect to all! Ryan

Please, Crash can take the heat....

I think he's trying to protect me from myself

@Crashman: Did you sent an invite to Nanoxia?

Andy's on the list, so yes

 

[Onus]

That may be true, but trolling is still trolling...
We get so tired of squishing spammers sometimes that a delicacy like fresh troll can prompt some pretty wild banhammer-swinging, which is probably not a good thing.

 

[vertexx]

That may be true, but trolling is still trolling...
We get so tired of squishing spammers sometimes that a delicacy like fresh troll can prompt some pretty wild banhammer-swinging, which is probably not a good thing.

Sure, but I don't see any trolls on this thread. Some good discussion and feedback but no trolling.

 

[AndrewJacksonZA]

Thanks Crash. I really hope that they respond positively. 🙂

 

[Onus]

Right vertexx, no trolling at all. Just letting Crash know we've got his back if someone tries to wind him up.

 

[allanitomwesh]

I thought the silverstone won really,does elite in this instant mean looks over actual performance?

 

[AndrewJacksonZA]

does elite in this instant mean looks over actual performance?

It certainly looks like it (pardon the pun 🙂 I guess maybe a more appropriate title might be "Who Makes the Flashiest Case for Display Purposes?"

 

[allanitomwesh]

does elite in this instant mean looks over actual performance?

I guess maybe a more appropriate title might be "Who Makes the Flashiest Case for Display Purposes?"

Zalman's should be interesting then. Is Thermaltake in it? I know those two brands like to "experiment"

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I've done A LOT of research in order to find the best "Elite" case for my build, and ended up with three clear finalists - yet I don't see either of those three majestic cases in this so-called review of the "best" elite cases:

Nanoxia Deep Silence 6
CoolerMaster Cosmos II
Corsair 900D

I had two of the three on my list (900D / Cosmos)and in fact was inspired to do my last build based upon this one in the Cosmos.

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?33364-Maximus-VI-Formula-Show-Casemod-MbK

Hmmm.... linked pics but not showing 🙁

My feelings were ..... 900D was a bit to sedate and the Cosmos was a bit too aggressive ....I was looking for the "Goldilocks" box..... one that was right in the middle styling wise, had less wasted space. When I saw the Enthoo Primo that was mu Goldilocks Box but it had loads of extra features and cost less than both I was thrilled. Unfortunately had to wait 3 months for it to hit the shelves but was well worth it.

Had it not popped when it did, because of the office setting, I prolly wuda went with the 900D but up till then I was waddling back and forth every other week,

 

[AndrewJacksonZA]

I've done A LOT of research in order to find the best "Elite" case for my build, and ended up with three clear finalists - yet I don't see either of those three majestic cases in this so-called review of the "best" elite cases:

Nanoxia Deep Silence 6
CoolerMaster Cosmos II
Corsair 900D

I had two of the three on my list (900D / Cosmos)and in fact was inspired to do my last build based upon this one in the Cosmos.

The Nanoxia DS1 is on my wishlist for my next (very silent) PC. I really like the silence and the white colour option. The weight and construction material would add to my list of epeen brag points, but I really like the subtle, understated, unassuming look of the case. The DS6 is pretty much a bigger version of the DS1, and to me it looks just as attractive, which means it can fit more stuff inside and is much quieter and cooler than the DS1.