Roundup: Four Gaming Cases Under $150

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[citation][nom]BigDog76_02[/nom]I have to say this is the first review/article from Tom's I have not really appreciated. I was looking at the storm sniper and I am glad to find out it won't accept interior radiator (which I may need). Other than that all I can see is that these are all poor quality cases (except the cm which really had the one flaw that isn't really a flaw unless you're buying with intent to add liquid cooling and a couple degrees higher temps). In which case if any of these cases should've been recommended it maybe should've been the cm, although they all should receive a needs improvement award at best.Chris[/citation]

The Thermaltake gets an award for its relatively low price, super-durable construction, good cooling performance and low noise. The Storm Sniper is a little more precisely built, but it cools worse and does almost nothing to reduce noise.
 
[citation][nom]bk641[/nom]the lancool (lian-li) k62 is a very, very good case for a sub $100 range. i'm using one, and it has pretty much everything you'd want in a mid-tower case. i especially like its HDD bay system, which can be configured to have the hard drives straight on, or perpendicular. in addition to that there are four quiet fans (two on top) and room for two 5870s.[/citation]

I second that... love my K62. The 140mm fans are of the weak/quiet/blue variety, but I can't remember the last time it was so easy to keep my case so clean and cool. I also really like that you can configure the position of the hard drives. It allows me to route the cables in interesting ways.
 
not a single beige case out of all of them. what's wrong with beige? bring back computer beige! Tired of my room looking like HR Giger pooped on it.
 
There are really only three cases in this price range worth considering and not a single one was reviewed. Antec 902, CM 690 II Advanced, and the Lancool K62. All three have painted interiors, wire management, dust filters, superior air flow and can fit a 5870.

If you're air cooling the top notch tool-less design of the K62 gets my nod, where as if you'd like to water cool the 690 II supports up to two interior 2x120 rads.
 
1. Front doors are an anathema. Try leaving one open on the bench and walking by. No door, perhaps. No system, perhaps. Or no elbow, perhaps.

2. Top ports may be nice for someone who puts the system on the floor. Not so nice for people who place the system on a bench or table for ease of access. Older people appreciate this configuration. Cable work is not easy when it entails getting up and down from the floor, something not necessarily easy when you get older. In addition, the top-mounted ports make it inconvenient to stack stuff on top of the case.

3. It would be helpful if you did a little brightness/contrast adjustment on most of the photos. Black blobs inhibit communication. :)
 
[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]The Thermaltake gets an award for its relatively low price, super-durable construction, good cooling performance and low noise. The Storm Sniper is a little more precisely built, but it cools worse and does almost nothing to reduce noise.[/citation]

The CM had the lowest chipset temp and the other temps were 2 degrees higher at the worst and the worst of those being the cpu, maybe you should have tested different cpu coolers to see if that had an affect. Either way the fact that you can recommend a product that requires you to slam it with your hand in order for it to function as designed is disturbing. Now if this was a fan review I might understand, but it is a review of cases and you recommended one of the worst built cases that is likely available. If I paid $30 for a case I would not be happy that I had to slam it to make it function, but I would accept that. For ~$135 I would not accept that type of low quality, and as a respected site it is disturbing that you could recommend it. There is no law that says you have to recommend one of these cases, so why would you??? If I were to buy one of these cases it would be the CM as I could change the cpu cooler and/or fans, but I cannot rebuild a low quality case. So in summary I believe you have misguided your readers with this review and I will keep this in mind when I read future reviews on Tom's

Chris
 
[citation][nom]BigDog76_02[/nom]So in summary I believe you have misguided your readers with this review and I will keep this in mind when I read future reviews on Tom'sChris[/citation]

You're not exactly making sense, because by mentioning that everything about the case was in the article you're saying that Tom's Hardware is honest, then disputing that honesty over the recommendation. Let me put it another way: If you're actually reading the review and don't like what you see, the award has no affect on you. The thing that you'll keep in mind is that it's more important to read the review than it is to look at the pretty picture at the end :)

I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that most buyers don't have the problem. If they do, the second-most-pleasing outcome is a rash of returns that forces Thermaltake to tighten up its production controls.

Tom's doesn't have a "best of the worst" award.
 
I'm surprised. No Antec, Coolermaster cases! Checked New Egg's prices after reading this. Antec 300-$59.99; Antec 900-$99.00; Antec 900II-$119.95; and Antec 1200-159.99($9.00 over the $150.00 range).

C-M 590 RC-$69.99; C-M 690-$69.99; C-M 690II Advanced-$99.99; C-M HAF 932-$159.98($9.98 over $150.00 range).

NZXT Tempest EVO $89.98.

These cases I looked at were offering either free shipping, or shipping at about $19.95 tops. I have gaming systems with these cases listed above, and have built systems using thes cases, all maxed out with high end components and overclocked and temps in these cases have stayed in the 25 to 36 celsius with high end video cards temps in the 28 to 39 celsius range.

Just suprised that none of these cases were looked at for they are darn good cases.

Oh, BTW......Still looking for Part Three on your review on "Building A Balanced Gaming PC" Peace, Later.
 
[citation][nom]john boy[/nom]I'm surprised.[/citation]

I'm surprised you didn't read the first page of comments. A comprehensive review of every case ever made would take many months to produce.
 
I just came here to comment that while reading this review I got up to get a drink of water. My sandle caught the bottom left corner on the front of the door cover, slung it open, and some how two of the fan blades on the 200MM broke.

Because of the blade vibration I had to unplug the 200MM intake fan.

This thing is a piece of junk, when they say it's hell to work in they aren't joking. I spent an entire sunday afternoon trying to clean up the wires, and at the end nothing had changed.

And without some craftsmanship it's impossible to use with a Corsair H50.

But honestly none of these cases impress me in this review. The hades has a red led but it's not distracting, the zalman looks like it's ready for a disco.
 
[citation][nom]GeekUSA[/nom]I forgot to mention I'm talking about the NZXT Hades.[/citation]

You should tell that to the reviewers at Newegg. Most of them seem to think this eggshell-thin model is a high-quality item. I contend that it's similar in most ways to $40 cases. And I've owned many of those.
 
I honestly cant believe the K-62 wasnt in this means it is 100-120 dollars, and judging by this article would of easily taken top spot.
 
[citation][nom]truhls[/nom]I honestly cant believe the K-62 wasnt in this means it is 100-120 dollars, and judging by this article would of easily taken top spot.[/citation]

Was it released between the end of November and the end of January? If not, did you bother to read the first page of responses?
 
Not sure if anyone posted about this, but...the side fan has no dust filter, what's the point of dust filters on the front if some HUGE fan on the side more than makes up for them by sucking in more dust than you can imagine? I have 4 toilet paper squares covering it for now until I find a better looking option.

This review is correct about the side fan not always working properly, for me, unless you have the panel screws both put in tightly, your fan will periodically disconnect from mere vibration. It also makes alot of noise being so close to the grill.

But I love the fact that the back isn't tool-less, I had issues fitting my dual slot card in my TT armor, but none what so ever in this one :)
 
as scora suggested, would like to see the best case for the money articles by looking at things that could be rated objectively. airflow(temp comparison?), fans(quality of it in terms of how much air they push and dB level), removable mobo tray, cable management (holes with gromets), cpu backplate hole, front ports, weight relative to its size, etc etc. i think it'd be helpful for those who havn't been exposed to the comp case market as much as others.
 
[citation][nom]eylee86[/nom]as scora suggested, would like to see the best case for the money articles by looking at things that could be rated objectively. airflow(temp comparison?), fans(quality of it in terms of how much air they push and dB level), removable mobo tray, cable management (holes with gromets), cpu backplate hole, front ports, weight relative to its size, etc etc. i think it'd be helpful for those who havn't been exposed to the comp case market as much as others.[/citation]
You mean, you would like to see an article...like this one? Did you read it? It says which cases have gromets and where in the case description, it shows and describes the CPU backplate hole, it has temps and noise...what's missing...the worthless removable motherboard tray feature?
 
[citation][nom]dark_lord69[/nom]Personally I don't think it's worth spending $100 on a computer case. Cases that cost less than $100 can still cool just as well and sure they may not have fancier features but all of those extra features are just fluff and not nessary if you ask me.I have:Antec 300 Paid $45 @ Best Buy (with employee discount)I have 2 front fans (120mm each)One side fan (120mm)One rear fan (120mm)One top fan (140mm)That's a total of 5 fans moving air with that much airflow I am able to overclock my CPU using a stock heatsync.Phenom II X4 955 Black @ 3.6GHz @ 42 degrees after stress tests.(FYI, the Heatsync and fan by AMD is the new type with heat pipes)[/citation]

are living in a freezer????
 
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