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

[LExSLAYER1]

I was wondering if I'd ever find a review on the In Win Tau. My local Fry's is the Vendor for it and I considered getting it for a future build. Then I saw the price....
Sweet Case though!

 

[Crashman]

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"

I'm hoping one of the cases in the next one will have the pizazz and the performance to prove you can have both.

 

[Bondfc11]

I agree with part 1's conclusion that the inWin is the most elite case (and not just because I own one). It is bad ass and an amazing almost "out of the box" thinking case.

My biggest issue with computer cases, towers, etc. is they are all the same fugly rectangle. Why is this? Because it has always been that way? We can cram all the water cooling we need in interesting shapes and sizes (and all the required GPU lengths) so why stick with the boring ass box?

That is why I love what inWin has been doing over the last 18 months. Starting with the H frame to the cool as hell D frame and the monster H frame Kingsize. Yes while these are all still that "shape" they are elite in my opinion for the materials used, the ascetic of the case overall, and the performance you can pull from them. I like the odd computer enclosures and will never use another rectangle again - too boring.

Like many of you I spend thousands of dollars and countless hours working and reworking a computer build (even sleeving cables that will NEVER be seen by anyone ever) and to that end I want a case that is a conversation piece. A case that even non-computer geeks and users can go "man, that thing is bad ass."

A 5 year old doesn't know a Lamborghini Aventador from a Toyota Camry, but he will definitely prefer the Lambo.

For me that was and is the Tou - a work of art and the only elite case out there right now.

 

[universal remonster]

wow, I feel cheated. I just read the entire article, enjoyed the benchmarks, and then we get to the last page and all it really came down to was the fact that the InWin has a fancy aluminum frame and tempered glass. This article could have started and ended on page one for that matter. Why even bother testing the cases if the results are just going to be disregarded and it turned into a fashion show? (a very subjective one seeing as I feel that InWin case looks horrible and performs about as well comparatively).

Probably won't look for part 2, sorry.

 

[Crashman]

wow, I feel cheated. I just read the entire article, enjoyed the benchmarks, and then we get to the last page and all it really came down to was the fact that the InWin has a fancy aluminum frame and tempered glass. This article could have started and ended on page one for that matter. Why even bother testing the cases if the results are just going to be disregarded and it turned into a fashion show? (a very subjective one seeing as I feel that InWin case looks horrible and performs about as well comparatively).

Probably won't look for part 2, sorry.

Then you're going to miss the "talent contest" where perhaps a completely different fancy case will perform any better. There's a reason no awards were given yet, but I guess that escaped you.

 

[Deuce65]

I second that. An article about the "Best of the Best" PC cases and you fail to include what are widely regarded among as enthusiasts as the best case makers around?

 

[universal remonster]

wow, I feel cheated. I just read the entire article, enjoyed the benchmarks, and then we get to the last page and all it really came down to was the fact that the InWin has a fancy aluminum frame and tempered glass. This article could have started and ended on page one for that matter. Why even bother testing the cases if the results are just going to be disregarded and it turned into a fashion show? (a very subjective one seeing as I feel that InWin case looks horrible and performs about as well comparatively).

Probably won't look for part 2, sorry.

Then you're going to miss the "talent contest" where perhaps a completely different fancy case will perform any better. There's a reason no awards were given yet, but I guess that escaped you.

Wow, looks like my entire point escaped you.. and the ability to take the slightest bit of criticism for an article that was just a front for the final page where it is revealed that this was just some InWin showcase in disguise... seeing as though the case didn't perform on any level what so ever to be chosen except for the fancy aluminum and glass. I appologize for falling for your title "Best of the best"... I'll know better next time. Yay... Part 2... The "talent contest" of a bunch of mid range performers that just look nice (to some people). How l33t.

 

[universal remonster]

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

Ryan, I agree with this statement 99%. I do appreciate the time that goes into all of the testing. I also understand that he has to work with what is sent. The 1% of me that disagrees is the fact that all the time and effort put into the findings was thrown out the window at the end of the article. If this was indeed the "best of the best" as the title eludes to, it seems the Silverstone hands InWin its fancy tempered glass sides in all of the tests, except aesthetics, in which trumped everything. So why not just lay the cases out, look at them, pick the winner, and save a whole lot of time and effort? Because it is how it felt after reading through the article.

My apologies, but I thought it would have been great to see how Silverstone's entry (the best performer of this batch)performed against the best case in the next batch (or batches) of cases, to come down to "the best of the best" eventually. This is not what this series is about apparently, and I apologize for not being interested in a fashion show.

 

[Crashman]

Wow, looks like my entire point escaped you..

I didn't miss anything, you're simply wrong. These cases weren't bundled up to make any of them look better than the others, they were bundled up based on the order in which they arrived. More to come, more to miss out on, so sad because you let the cases you've seen prejudice your opinion about the cases you hadn't seen yet.

 

[vertexx]

Ryan, I agree with this statement 99%. I do appreciate the time that goes into all of the testing. I also understand that he has to work with what is sent. The 1% of me that disagrees is the fact that all the time and effort put into the findings was thrown out the window at the end of the article. If this was indeed the "best of the best" as the title eludes to, it seems the Silverstone hands InWin its fancy tempered glass sides in all of the tests, except aesthetics, in which trumped everything. So why not just lay the cases out, look at them, pick the winner, and save a whole lot of time and effort? Because it is how it felt after reading through the article.

My apologies, but I thought it would have been great to see how Silverstone's entry (the best performer of this batch)performed against the best case in the next batch (or batches) of cases, to come down to "the best of the best" eventually. This is not what this series is about apparently, and I apologize for not being interested in a fashion show.

I had the same opinion after reading the article - it's something that Crash needs to work on in general - developing more thought-out conclusions. Maybe deadlines prevent that. If so, then the editors need to step back and facilitate more thoughtful conclusions to these articles, because I'll tell you that Tomshardware's competitors are generally doing a better job of late in that regard.

It's obvious Crash has a TON of experience. I'd really like to see a well informed opinion of how these cases work. With a case, you need to look at a ton of different factors that go into the overall value: Aesthetics, Form Factor, Build Quality, Ease of Build (initial and ongoing), Cooling Effectiveness, Adaptability (Air vs. Water-cooling, SSDs vs HDDs, Overall Build Purposing, etc), Noise, and finally Price.

I was totally stoked when I saw this article, and totally let down by the actual cases included and the conclusion. It really would have been better to hold the article until a better line-up could be accommodated.

Just my opinion....

 

[Onus]

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

This. Vendors were given the opportunity to send samples. Some did, some didn't, and the ones they sent weren't the ones out of their lines chosen by Crash or by editors.
The gripes about the conclusion illustrate how difficult it is to make a decision about something as personal as a case. I think the lack of any awards reflects that; nothing was so outstanding that recommending it would trump all possible considerations. We may not see an award, or if we do, a lot of people won't be happy, because the anointed one(s) will be missing that "something" those people expect in an elite case. As hard as it is to be objective on quality, the "feel" of each case may be what generates the picks.

 

[vertexx]

This. Vendors were given the opportunity to send samples. Some did, some didn't, and the ones they sent weren't the ones out of their lines chosen by Crash or by editors.
The gripes about the conclusion illustrate how difficult it is to make a decision about something as personal as a case. I think the lack of any awards reflects that; nothing was so outstanding that recommending it would trump all possible considerations. We may not see an award, or if we do, a lot of people won't be happy, because the anointed one(s) will be missing that "something" those people expect in an elite case. As hard as it is to be objective on quality, the "feel" of each case may be what generates the picks.

Well, then the article should have been held until more appropriate cases were received. It's not difficult to provide a description of your opinion of a case based on different aspects that make up the overall value. Sure, there may be some debate about that, but it's better than not having anything at all. I have a lot of respect for Crash's opinions - I'd really like to see what he THINKS about the different aspects of these cases.

 

[universal remonster]

Wow, looks like my entire point escaped you..

I didn't miss anything, you're simply wrong. These cases weren't bundled up to make any of them look better than the others, they were bundled up based on the order in which they arrived. More to come, more to miss out on, so sad because you let the cases you've seen prejudice your opinion about the cases you hadn't seen yet.

lmao.... Ok, well it is abundantly clear that you haven't understood what my point has been this whole time, nor do I expect that you will later. I know this to be true because you have replied to a couple of my comments and have not even once acknowledged the one very simple complaint. Instead, it seems you're skim reading and pulling one sentence out to respond to that isn't really relevant to the core issue. I have no idea why, as other commenters have acknowledged and agreed with my perspective, so I know I'm not expressing my opinion in some sort of vague, wishy washy manner. You don't have to agree with me, that's absolutely ok. But man, seriously... put a little effort into some reading comprehension so that you can at least interact with your readers in a slightly more professional sounding manner than "you're simply wrong" and then trying to back that with an account that no one has ever even talked about at all (case bundles, order received...uhh wth?) just because someone is critical of a lacking article... maybe try to address the actual point of the readers comment.

Cheers!

 

[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

This. Vendors were given the opportunity to send samples. Some did, some didn't, and the ones they sent weren't the ones out of their lines chosen by Crash or by editors.
The gripes about the conclusion illustrate how difficult it is to make a decision about something as personal as a case. I think the lack of any awards reflects that; nothing was so outstanding that recommending it would trump all possible considerations. We may not see an award, or if we do, a lot of people won't be happy, because the anointed one(s) will be missing that "something" those people expect in an elite case. As hard as it is to be objective on quality, the "feel" of each case may be what generates the picks.

Right, it wasn't a "best performing low-noise case" article because, well, we do those. Or a "best performance case for under $100" because those have been pretty easy to figure out too. The only way to add $180+ cases to the total coverage area was to be flexible on performance (more of a pass/fail system) and look at silly things like materials and precision of assembly.

I probably should have raised the entry level to $250 just to keep out the more expensive "tin can" cases presented in two of the examples here. Maybe then I would have even gotten the number of cases received to a manageable number, in order to avoid splitting the article up into pieces.

Wow, looks like my entire point escaped you..

I didn't miss anything, you're simply wrong

lmao.... Ok, well it is abundantly clear that you haven't understood what my point has been this whole time

I responded to exactly what you said about In-Win's treatment. Here's a quote from my response:
"These cases weren't bundled up to make any of them look better than the others, they were bundled up based on the order in which they arrived."
I hope you find Part 2 more interesting.

 

[pablo_max]

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but why on earth do they need to make these cases so damn ugly?
I, like many adults have no need for windows, racing stripes and plastic bits jutting out here and there.
Why do they not make an elegant, clean design that you can have in say, your living room without being ridiculously obtrusive and looking like a pre-teen nerds we tdream?

 

[Crashman]

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but why on earth do they need to make these cases so damn ugly?
I, like many adults have no need for windows, racing stripes and plastic bits jutting out here and there.
Why do they not make an elegant, clean design that you can have in say, your living room without being ridiculously obtrusive and looking like a pre-teen nerds we tdream?

You mean just a brushed aluminum box? Perhaps in black anodize? I like those

 

[Bondfc11]

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but why on earth do they need to make these cases so damn ugly?
I, like many adults have no need for windows, racing stripes and plastic bits jutting out here and there.
Why do they not make an elegant, clean design that you can have in say, your living room without being ridiculously obtrusive and looking like a pre-teen nerds we tdream?

That's why so many people are struggling with this series - what is elite for one is not for another. I hate the black anodized rectangle. Does that make me a pre-teen with wet dreams of an unusual looking case design? Maybe in your eyes, but to me the standard computer case is bland and boring (at least we have gotten away from clay as the color de rigueur). Clearly there are plenty of cases from flashy to plain jane and plenty of those will be elite.

 

[Crashman]

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but why on earth do they need to make these cases so damn ugly?
I, like many adults have no need for windows, racing stripes and plastic bits jutting out here and there.
Why do they not make an elegant, clean design that you can have in say, your living room without being ridiculously obtrusive and looking like a pre-teen nerds we tdream?

That's why so many people are struggling with this series - what is elite for one is not for another. I hate the black anodized rectangle. Does that make me a pre-teen with wet dreams of an unusual looking case design? Maybe in your eyes, but to me the standard computer case is bland and boring (at least we have gotten away from clay as the color de rigueur). Clearly there are plenty of cases from flashy to plain jane and plenty of those will be elite.

That's why the precise construction and unusual materials of the In Win case got special recognition at the end, even though it didn't get an award. Then again you might not think that one's flashy, or the right kind of flashy.

 

[Onus]

If nothing else, this article (and likely the next) ought to show how truly difficult it is to provide any meaningful rating on a case beyond the purely objective measures of noise, cooling, and price.

 

[wolverine96]

If nothing else, this article (and likely the next) ought to show how truly difficult it is to provide any meaningful rating on a case beyond the purely objective measures of noise, cooling, and price.

Exactly. I got my HAF XM because it had great airflow, it was on a great sale of $110, and the nice looks was a pleasing side effect. It is a huge beast, but I love it. Others may hate it.

(How do you stop a thread from notifying you? Even if it is a bit amusing, I am getting tired of this thread! 😉)

 

[Onus]

On page #1, on the original post, there is a link to stop tracking this thread.

 

[wolverine96]

Thanks. I was kind of joking, but I think I'll do that right now, LOL.

 

[allanitomwesh]

I'm hoping one of the cases in the next one will have the pizazz and the performance to prove you can have both.

All the best then,i think the title is the most misleading,anyone reading "best of the best" and "elite" will come in looking for performance not looks.

 

[NightLight]

i'll take a corsair over any of those any day!

 

[Crashman]

I'm hoping one of the cases in the next one will have the pizazz and the performance to prove you can have both.

All the best then,i think the title is the most misleading,anyone reading "best of the best" and "elite" will come in looking for performance not looks.

Your definition leads to an open frame.