I knew the cases before Rosewill ever got their hands on them. They are excellent basic designs - many way more expensive cases don't do nearly as well on functionality. Plus they don't look bad and don't cost much. I don't see how anyone can argue with that.
I don't have any econimic interest in anything I recommend (unless I'm selling it myself in the For Sale/Trade section here - but I'd have recommended it even if I wasn't selling it). I'll expect you to let me know if you find anything of equal or better functionality in the price range. If I agree, I'll be recommending that too.
My basic criteria (in no particular order):
- 0.8mm SECC at least - I want the case to feel solid.
- Indirect path(s) for noise at the front.
- Mostly toolless.
- At least a 12cm fan mounting at the rear (which is most important) and some active cooling for the HDD bays.
- Some noise isolation for the HDDs (rubber bushings, etc.)
- Doesn't look like a steaming pile... (can be waived if the basic design is good enough)
What say you there, L-L?
So here's my current list of budget cases.
These are all in the same family: Compucase/HEC 6A19 series, Antec SLK3000-B (and the earlier SLK3700-AMB which is discontinued - the 3000 is basically a black 3700 w/o the PSU), Rosewill R6Axx series (the Tt Tsunami is the same thing in aluminum, but you couldn't call it "budget").
Same family: Yeong Yang YY-560x series, Rosewill R560x series, (Tt SViking and maybe others are also in the family but cost more).
Same family: Evercase 52x2 series, 4x02 series, AMS 4292 series. The rubber bushings for the HDD racks generally don't come standard due to resellers that don't understand the products they carry :roll: , but are available direct from Evercase (they charge excessive shipping for only one or two sets to discourage direct orders - I have some spare sets if you know anyone in need and my shipping is relatively cheap).
.bh.