Question Need help finding<$100 ATX case

ReveurGAM

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Sep 28, 2022
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I do NOT care about visuals, nor do I care about cable management channels or if it's not strong enough for someone to sit on (who would even do that???), but I don't like sharp edges or easily broken parts.

I will be in and out of the case often as I test various things, so convenience in that regard is a plus.

Testing is primarily related to thermals, but also performance.

It should be similar in terms of thermal performance to the Corsair 5000X with decent front to back airflow, with or without mobo-side mount, and not be a terrarium hot box case. If it has the possibility of also producing good bottom to top airflow, too, that would be super!

Don't worry about fans - I have plenty.

It must have
  1. Compatible with ATX mobo;
  2. Price <=$100;
  3. >=2 USB 3.x A (preferably 3.2) and >=1 USB 3.x C gen 2 (no USB 2) on the I/O panel;
  4. air cooler height >=170mm;
  5. max GC length >=340mm (vertical mount isn't important unless it actually gives the card breathing room); and
  6. Can handle a 360mm front rad of any thickness (ex without fans: LF3: 38mm, Hyte Thicc Q60 52mm) so consider the fattest rad with 38mm fans or, if that's impossible, 30mm; and compatible with ATX mobo. If 30mm+rad is also impossible or very unreasonable, I'll have to use 25mm fans.

Do you know of any cases that would meet my needs? I've already looked at hundreds on NewEgg but, while I came up with a short list, most don't indicate what the maximum rad thickness can be.

Please note that I am boycotting Amazon; as their employee, I refuse to give them my money after all the illegal and unethical behavior I've seen and experienced.

Thanks for your input!
 

ReveurGAM

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This is one example;
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kKKscf/asus-a21-microatx-mini-tower-case-90dc00h0-b09000
but you would need to populate it with fans.

You could put your build on PCPartPicker and the choices of cases would be narrowed down. Currently I have this shortlist, set to filter out cases below or at $100;
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case/#X=0,10000&sort=price&page=2
Thanks, I'll look through that list. I wish ANY of the PC building sites had enough filters.

Unfortunately, that Asus is not ATX.
 

ReveurGAM

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NZXT H5 flow $75 at newegg LINK but it only has one of each USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C and USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A. Ive used it 3 times to build CAD work computers this year, if i didnt have my home computers rack mounted it use it at home.
Thanks, I noticed that one, too.
Thanks. The Montech meets my needs. It's out of stock.
 

ReveurGAM

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Sep 28, 2022
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ReveurGAM

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Sep 28, 2022
396
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Updates so far:

Notes:
  • The Cougar DuoFace comes with both solid and mesh panels.
  • Max AIO depth of the Antec P20C case is ~92mm, and width is 140mm, which makes it big enough for the LF3 (33mm + 38mm fans), and the Hyte Thicc Q60 (52mm plus fans).
  • Tony Oh, the marketing manager at SilverStone, stated they don't have any cases that meet the requirements.
  • Segotep didn't answer my question on this topic.
Added:
I eliminated a huge number of cases that weren't eligible, plus the following that were:
 
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ReveurGAM

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Decreasing the air cooler depth to a smaller number was suggested to me by @0lds0d. I really want to be able to test as many cases as possible, but I have NO idea what would be a good number. 170? 180? I really don't know at what point I'm only eliminating a relatively small number of coolers. Please advise.

One source suggests that there are none over 180mm, but I found another source that put the Corsair A115 at 201mm.
🤣
I found what I saw the other day, which says the A115 is 201mm tall, so I looked for the actual height, and here's what the freaking AI said:

  • Height: 164.8mm (as mentioned in {‘title’: ‘A115 Twin Tower CPU Air Cooler - Corsair’, ‘snippets’: […]})
  • Height (with fans adjusted for RAM clearance): 181mm (with 35mm Vengeance DDR5 modules) or 201mm (with 56.75mm Dominator Titanium RGB modules)
That's what I get for looking at an AI response.
🤪




According to this site, the tallest is 171mm: Phanteks PH-TC14PE. Time to sleep if I can stop giggling.
😅