Best Case for Your PC Build: 8 New Chassis Tested & Rated
Best Case for Your PC Build: 8 New Chassis Tested & Rated
Posted 06/13/2011 at 12:12pm
| by Nathan Edwards and Alan Fackler
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When you're outfitting a new computer, it can be tempting to just buy the cheapest no-name case you can find, slap your new parts into it, and call it a day. While that might have been a valid choice in ye olde beige days—heck, early Dream Machine builds didn't even list the case—it's not one we'd recommend today. Enthusiast components today put out a lot of heat, and if that heat isn't dealt with, your rig's lifespan and performance will suffer.
That doesn't mean you have to spend an arm and a leg on your chassis, though you certainly can. This month, we round up eight cases, from the budget to the extreme, to see how they measure up to the task of holding your precious modern components.
How We Perform Thermal Testing
To ensure useful thermal test results, we have to use components that put out a lot of heat. Our case test system consists of a Core i5-750 CPU overclocked to 3.2GHz on an Asus P7P55D Premium motherboard, a dual-fan Prolimatech Armageddon cooler, and an Asus GTX 590—arguably the hottest GPU currently available. We use Intel’s internal Lynnfield testing utility to stress all four CPU cores and loop Unigine’s Heaven benchmark maxed out at 1920x1200 to put load on the GPU. Temperatures are measured with HWMonitor after an hour of activity, and then again after an hour of idling.
Our thermal test bed is designed to put out more heat than the majority of systems—the dual-GPU videocard expels air both fore and aft, and the overclocked processor would throttle on a less able cooler. We tested all cases with their stock complement of fans at their highest settings, so if your favorite case in our roundup has higher temperatures than you’d like, don’t despair—a few judiciously placed extra fans and you’ll be in business.
Big as it is, the Prolimatech Armageddon cooler fits into each case we tested—we worried that it wouldn’t.
CM Storm Enforcer
GOOD LOOKS, LOTS O' FEATURES, LOW PRICE
Our initial impression of the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer wasn’t great. Though the case is only $90, we can’t help but feel wary running our hands over a lightweight plastic front panel. It’s just instinct.
But after spending some time with the Enforcer, we actually came away impressed—mostly. The Enforcer comes with two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports—with an internal header, which is uncommon at this price point. Other welcome details: a removable dust filter, four toolless optical bays, six toolless hard drive bays, two 2.5-inch bays, seven standard PCI expansion slots plus an extra one suitable for a fan or light controller, and a large CPU-cooler backplane cutout.
The Enforcer looks a little bland until it powers up and the 20cm front fan lights up its red LED, which contrasts well with the case’s black trim. The Enforcer also comes stock with a 12cm exhaust fan, and includes additional mounting holes up top. The inside of the chassis feels roomy enough, and you can remove the top hard drive cage to accommodate longer graphics cards. For $90 you get a solid mid-tower that’s spacious and offers a broad range of cooling options, and looks good doing so.
CoolerMaster Storm Enforcer 
STORM TROOPERS
USB 3.0 with internal header; lots of cooling options, removable cages
STORM CHASERS
Plastic front panel; Very simple appearance
$90, www.cmstorm.com
BitFenix Shinobi Window
A RARITY: INEXPENSIVE AND ALSO GOOD LOOKING
BitFenix’s Shinobi Window manages to pack a whole lotta class into its miniscule frame. At 8.1 inches wide, 18.1 inches high, and 19.3 inches deep, the Shinobi Window is firmly in mid-tower territory. It’s made of steel and is painted matte black inside and out, with BitFenix’s smooth, rubberized SofTouch coating running up the front and top panel. The left-side panel includes a dark plastic window with a 12cm fan mount (fan sold separately) and the case comes with one filtered 12cm front fan (another is optional) and one 12cm rear exhaust fan. The top panel can hold two 12cm or 14cm fans (not included).
The Shinobi accommodates ATX, microATX, and Mini-ITX mobos, and the tray has four cutouts for cable routing. It has seven PCI expansion slots and can take videocards up to 12.2 inches. It has three 5.25-inch bays, one of which includes an adapter for external 3.5- or internal 2.5-inch drive mounting.
The eight hard drive mounts are toolless. Due to the lack of stock fans and cramped inner quarters, the Shinobi’s temperatures ran among the highest in our roundup in the thermal tests, but slapping a few more fans into it will improve that.
For $70, it’s a classy-looking and surprisingly capacious case, and a hell of a deal.
BitFenix Shinobi Window
PHOENIX
Great looks; surprisingly capacious
PHONICS
Lack of fans mean high internal temps
$70, www.bitfenix.com
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delpi98
October 24, 2011 at 1:35pm
I like this I am new reader thank you to post Apple Black Friday Black Friday Apple
mocomike
July 14, 2011 at 3:12pm
ive been intersted in the fractal arc case since these guys reviewed it. Only problem is No One Sells It! Why must you tease us with a case we cant buy! fractal shows only Ncix.com and newegg as their dealers in the us but neither of them has it. I even tried amazon but no luck...
yancey42
June 14, 2011 at 8:48pm
I was wondering why no cases from NZXT. I just bought my first NZXT case for around $35 from Amazon. It was a GAMMA Classic Series ATX Mid Tower Interior Steel Chassis (Black). It was pretty barebones, without a lot of fans, but had places to mount them, if needed. It seems to have good build quality, and for $35 bucks it had both hidden cable routing and tool-less hard drive mounting, and included zip-ties (A nice touch). I bought this for a server build I was working on, but it would have worked well for a budget build as well. Don't know if you could get a large graphics card in there or not, but did I mention it was $35 bucks. I have bought cases in the past for much more without this ones build quality. I never worked with a NZXT case before, but was impressed. I know MaximumPC has reviewed NZXT cases in the past, I was disappointed that one wasn't included in this review.
nedwards
June 14, 2011 at 10:51pm
We just reviewed the NZXT H2, and I asked if they had any cases we hadn't yet seen when I was collecting cases for the roundup. They didn't at that time. They did just announce some new cases, I believe, and we'll review 'em when we get 'em in.
yancey42
June 14, 2011 at 8:48pm
I was wondering why no cases from NZXT. I just bought my first NZXT case for around $35 from Amazon. It was a GAMMA Classic Series ATX Mid Tower Interior Steel Chassis (Black). It was pretty barebones, without a lot of fans, but had places to mount them, if needed. It seems to have good build quality, and for $35 bucks it had both hidden cable routing and tool-less hard drive mounting, and included zip-ties (A nice touch). I bought this for a server build I was working on, but it would have worked well for a budget build as well. Don't know if you could get a large graphics card in there or not, but did I mention it was $35 bucks. I have bought cases in the past for much more without this ones build quality. I never worked with a NZXT case before, but was impressed. I know MaximumPC has reviewed NZXT cases in the past, I was disappointed that one wasn't included in this review.
fallout330
June 14, 2011 at 4:41pm
Looks like the Corsair 650D would be my choice....if I had flexibillity with cost. Great looking Case.
Kazz
June 14, 2011 at 8:04am
Sub-$100 is where it's at for me. And I don't need a case to come with countless fans. I install my own. The BitFenix looks good...
newegg911
June 13, 2011 at 7:11pm
I'm with Neufeld. I actually consider tooless PCI brackets a minus. They are almost always uneeded garbage.
newegg911
June 13, 2011 at 7:09pm
I still don't like it, but the Thermaltake Level 10 is almost reasonably priced this time.
What's up with the Silverstone Temejin? $600? Are you freakin' kidding me? Does it include an expresso machine? It doesn't even look like anything special anyway. And what's up with the TEN bay slots? Cool... it can hold every optical drive I've ever owned at once! I can jam my 4x CD burner from 1997 in there!
I have a HAF 922 and I love it. It's heavy steel, has awesome cooling out of the box, and can be found for under a C-note.
Jasker
June 13, 2011 at 4:35pm
Since when is 57 degrees hotter than 59? Silverstone won system burn also.
MrSatyre
June 13, 2011 at 4:31pm
Huh? The Temijin's slots all point to the top?!? Who wants all their cables sticking out of their case's top like Medusa?
Marthian
June 13, 2011 at 11:52pm
to some, it looks cool. Others, why on earth are there cables up there?
I also believe the reason for the wierd mount is because the air moves better up so I hear. Vapor chambers in the nvidia gpus benefit from this I believe.
Cooketh
June 13, 2011 at 4:14pm
I'm sitting on the Thermaltake Xaser which is a massive tower. I believe it cost me around the $200 range and though it's large, it's all metalic, very little plastic, a ton of fan slots, excellent cooling, roomy, all the perks, but no USB 3 on front.
It's similar to the Silverstone one in alot of ways, but not as tricked out internally. I'd reccomend anyone who wants a big case for modding, cooling, etc take a look at it and the Corsair case featured in this review. My friend uses that corsair case and he loves it. And it looks beautiful in person.
plaskon
June 13, 2011 at 4:04pm
Cooler Master HAF-912 Advanced ... toolless, roomy, plus two very quiet 200mm fans.
Insula Gilliganis
June 13, 2011 at 2:45pm
Wrong about "early Dream Machine builds" not listing the case used.. take off the S on "buildS".. only the original 1996 boot 01 Dream Machine didn't list the case used. But a year later with the 1997 Dream Machine 02, the case was listed as the IW-A500 CompuDEX ATX Medium Tower and every case used in the Dream Machine builds going forward were also listed.
The one time I really cared that Maximum PC miss mentioning what case was used was in the November 2000 issue when reviewing the "Chamsalot P-III 1GHz". Josh Norem mentioned that it was the "Case of the Gods" and "The case is an ace!" but the model number wasn't listed in the specs and only mentioned that it was made by Antec. I hope Mark Miller (aka Chamsalot back then and I believe now roams the MaximumPC hallways as "Number Six") will tell us what model Antec that he used 11 years ago! If only that RAID array would have worked correctly, Mark would have had a Kick Ass 11 rig in his law office! BTW, that case would have fit in nicely inside a Cylon basestar. By your command!
Neufeldt2002
June 13, 2011 at 12:54pm
I really don't understand why you knock points off for a non tool-less design on the PCI slots. I have had tool-less and every one has been flimsy and cheap, that leads to breakage and loose cards. I would gladly take screws on the PCI mounts anytime over tool-less, unless they are thumb screws.
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