What Case to buy??

[Neo_Geo]

Thinking of building a system for a freind (in the pricing phase now):
Epox EP-8RDA (nForce2)
Athlon 2100+
ATI Radeon 9500 PRO
256MB PC2100 RAM

I always find the case the most difficult thing to choose from when building a system.
I just want something inexpensinve that wil get the job done. Here is what I am looking for:

Plain vanilla beige box is fine by me. I am not at all interested in paying extra for those rounded black, aluminum, clear panel things.

Size - medium tower. Not very important. Just want something with 2-3 5.25" and 1-2 3.5" bays with 2-3 internal 3.5" bays.

Thinking I should have at least 300 or 350 Watt Power supply for this system.

Ease of assembly is not very important. Once the system is built, we will not open it up very often. So I am not concerned about sharp corners or "Screwless" cases.

Airflow, not hugely important. We will not be doing much (if any) overclocking.


It just seems nowdays that there are SO many choices for cases and it is difficult to just find a good cheap case that only does what I need.

Thanks a BUNCH!!!!!

 

[tomstevens26]

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking along these lines

I couldn't care less about all the case mods, neon lights, skull and crossbone fan covers, etc... A simple box with a decent PSU does seem like it is getting harder and harder to find. I've built a lot of systems using Enlight cases (mainly the 7237 series) and even though it seems like a lot of people have knocked them because of "bad airflow" I've never experienced any problems. I have a cheap Super Case/Foxconn on the way that I paid $30 for w/ a 300W PSU so it will be a change to build a system with something other than an Enlight...but it did save me about $20.

 

[chizow]

Check out this thread For Electroseller

They've got pretty much every level of case/PSU on closeout with an easy to manage layout to compare. Key is free shipping (cases can cost a bunch to ship) and a good reseller rating of 8-ish.

I picked up an aluminum case just today from them. I do a lot of tweaking upgrading so I wanted something light, accessible (thumbscrews), lots of case fan slots, and a fully functional front panel (all outputs that are on my newer mobos like USB headers, firewire, headphone and mic jacks etc.)

Great prices, and they have enough variations of similar cases that you can pick and choose which suits your needs.

Chiz

 

[Neo_Geo]

Exactly,

I just want a plain, cheap box with a good power supply.

Any other suggestions??

 

[mastay]

Check dealsonic.com and their codegen selection. Codegen PSU are decent, and their cases are very plain and cheap.