Good aluminum cases?

[erub]

I'd like to get a nice case that will last me a long time. Preferabbly aluminum, with a side window (if any good ones are made like this?) - just because I think it would look cool. I saw one on Newegg -- Pro Source Full Tower ICEBURG Aluminum Case - its $93 including shipping. The other case that sounded nice was the Raidmax A228 - it is made of aluminum, and has a window, but it also has a noise activated neon stick - sweet! But the only thing that worries me is that it only has 1 hidden 3.5 drive bay, and 2 exposed ones...that means that I would have to mount my 3rd harddrive in a 5.25 drive bay.

With whichever case I choose, I'm going to get an Antec TruePOWER 480W - so the powersupply is not that big of a deal. The other case that looks nice is the blue Chieftec with a sidewindow that newegg has on sale right now - but I bet its real heavy and probably overkill for my needs. I won't be uninstalling/installing motherboards very often - probably every 1.5 years at max. Price is not that big of a factor, although I don't really want to spend much more than $150.

Thanks!

 

[DACracker]

It sounds like the Enermax 3051L-B3A @ directron.com is perfect for you... aluminum, pre-modded windo, they ahve black and silver versions, like 7 3.5 in drive bays, comes with a neon light too, all for $75. I just bought one for way more than that ar xoxide.com, before i noticed the SAME case at directron. i'm sad. anyway, i should be getting it monday or so. i'll post my opinion of it then if you'd like. i'm pretty exceited about it.

 

[DarthEuro]

How much are you willing to spend? The sub-$100 aluminum cases are in general not of good quality.

I'd look into Kingwin, Coolermaster, or Lian-Li. (In that order)

This Kingwin Case is my favorite, it has 3 (yes 3) windows, and is very well built. I've seen it for ~$160. (no powersupply) 3 exposed and 6 hidden 3.5" bays - that should be enough...

 

[CubicZirconia]

I reccomend Lian-Li. I love my pc-65.

 

[sodcha0s]

I have that 'kingwin' case, except in black and without the windows. It is an awesome case, identical to the Lian-Li's internally, looks better IMO, and has much better openings for the rear fans. The one I have has 2 additional fans... one exhaust on top, one intake on the left side, for a total of six instead of the windows. They are manufactured by Super Flower in Taiwan. You can buy them HERE and check out several other nice aluminium cases.

 

[JokerF15]

The Kingwin Case is pretty sweet, besides it being pre-modded.

But yea, Kingwin, Lian Li, Chieftec (aluminum) you can't go wrong with any of those. They're light, functional and most importantly great quality.

-JokerF15

 

[JokerF15]

The A288 case is a great 'budget' aluminum case. It doesn't have the features of the lian li, chieftec, kingwin cases, but if you don't need the features than its perfect.

The Chieftec Aluminum case weighs 14lb's in BOX! Which is MUCH lighter than the steel antec cases (30+ lbs).

-JokerF15

 

[Mikki]

I have a Coolermaster ATC201, and after checking out a lot of fairs and showrooms, I can honestly say this is the highest quality case I've ever seen, steel or alum. I highly recommend it and all my friends now do also .

 

[Nyconx]

I actualy purchased the raidmax a288 from svcompucycle. premoded with X type window with fan in center. Front panal is acrylic (slight blue tint) which just makes it look sweeter. This thing is sturdy, lightweight, and cheap! You can buy this for less then $70. It has ten total bays. 4-5.25, 2-ext. 3.5, 4-internal 3.5's IT also has front usb ports already installed and punch out sockets for adding front speaker, mic, and firewire ports. I am very happy with this case and for that price was amazed at the quality. Much better then some cases over $150.


review of case: http://www.pcextreme.net/raidmax-a288.php


where to get it: http://www.svcompucycle.com/almida2wus2n.html

 

[Johnnie]

Lian Li

 

[LongCoolMother]

lian li pc65 is a good one with a side winder.

might wanna check out directtron.com, they have lots of premodded cases i believe