[SOLVED] Case recommendations under $75 that has a slot for disk drive

[4ktv]

The market for mid tower cases has changed a lot since I built my I5 6600k rig 5 years ago and I am shocked at the number of cases out that don't even offer one 5.25 drive slot. What I'm looking for is a reasonably priced case with good air flow, a disk drive slot, ATX motherboard support and enough space for a Noctua NH-U14S CPU cooler. I'm planning on a 12 core Zen 3 build and ordering some parts a bit ahead of time.

It would be nice if the case had a tempered glass panel side, but that's not a requirement. If there is good reason I would be willing to do $100 for a case, but really $50-75 is my spend target for a case.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Wanting all those things, even excluding the TG, for 75 bucks, is unrealistic, especially right now. We are still in a hardware supply slump from five months of no Chinese manufacturing or shipping, so just about everything out there is slim pickins' and more expensive than normal. But even normally, it might not be all that realistic.

The primary candidates here, if you want something that is of worthwhile quality, are these:

https://www.newegg.com/black-white-phanteks-enthoo-pro-m-se-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811854060


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WVRDC41?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1


But if you really don't mind the acrylic side panel, which IS going to scratch fairly easily and is a serious downgrade from tempered glass, then the Fractal Design Focus G is about the best budget choice out there.

Robot or human?

A case is more like an investment though, and unlike other hardware, most modern cases with any quality at all are something you'll use through MANY rebuilds going forward. Potentially, buying a good case means never buying another case again. If you're willing to spend a bit more than your stated budget, then the Define R6 TG is probably one of the best choices you could make. Being willing to discard the idea of needing a 5.25" drive bay and doing what most of us have done, which is to get an external DVD or BD drive/burner, would really increase the options though.