What are some of your guys favorite pc cases for the money? Looking to upgrade!
Posted by modular511@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 22 comments
I have an nzxt h510 I was given and airflow is horrible as it is known to be, looking for something ideally cost efficient that is a decent size, supports a handfull of full size hard drives, and has good airflow - a bit out of touch these days with parts, so some guidance could be cool! seemed to be a lot of decently priced case manufacturers ive never heard of! ty for any info!
James_Skyvaper@reddit
I'm a bit late to the post, but these are my personal favorites after literally months of research —
Corsair Air 5400, Frame 4500x, and Frame 5000/4000D (esp the digital version with a Xeneon screen built-in), Phanteks NV7/NV5 and Evolv X2, Cougar CFV235 Vision (good luck finding one), Lian Li 011 Vision Compact, 217 Infinity, and 011 Mini V2, Montech King 45, Fractal Design Meshify 3 Ambience Pro RGB, Antec C8 curve (wood version), Havn HS420 VGPU, Hyte Y70 Touch Infinite, and the Zalman P40 DS (nice budget case with screen).
Those are my top favorite cases that I'm looking at since I am upgrading from my AM4 3300x to an AM5 build. So far I have an 850W Montech PSU, Tryx Panorama SE 360 aio cooler, 32GB 6400/c32 RAM, 2TB nvme boot drive, Ryzen 7600x3D, RTX 5070 TI, and I am just having trouble deciding on a case and motherboard at the moment.
Amazing_Glass8261@reddit
I just completed a build with the NZXT H5 flow. It's not expensive and is easy to cable manage.
modular511@reddit (OP)
that ones nice, if i didnt have 5 3.5" drives that could be a kickass option!
Amazing_Glass8261@reddit
I am moving on from my 15 year old Antec case that I used in 2 previous builds. It feels strange not having a disc drive. My plan is to put an old build back in my old case for if I need a disc drive for something.
modular511@reddit (OP)
can also just do what i do and get a usb one, pretty simple and usb dvd burners are cheap as hell these days! I miss when we got physical games for our money as well as physical media in general, thought for sure bluray drives would have filled that slot - nope!
JeffersonPutnam@reddit
You could provide a budget? I assume you're buying in the USA since you didn't specify.
One issue you will have is that as 3.5" HDDs have been phased out, fewer cases have that feature. That's probably going to steer your budget in the higher direction. Could you be more specific on number of hard drive bays and budget?
modular511@reddit (OP)
sadly I am disabled, so cash is sparse - I used to volunteer at ewaste centers and use whatever I came across, but I moved far away from used parts - friend gave me an nzxt h510 he ironically upgraded from due to how poor it was at cooling lol until I have more money and can build a standalone server - I have 5 3.5" drives currently - cost will be whatever is cheapest, im not picky on brands or looks or fancy features - ty for the help!
JeffersonPutnam@reddit
OK, this has 10 HDD bays, and it's $81 for an open box. amazon.com/dp/B0CQZS7KN5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_BEZSJKRJGN6X721A8877&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_BEZSJKRJGN6X721A8877&social_share=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_BEZSJKRJGN6X721A8877
The thing is, 5 spinning disk hard drives is a lot in today's market. So, you're looking for a very niche product. And, adding hard drive enclosures costs money and adds to shipping weight and the vast majority of people building a PC nowadays use 0 HDDs.
Also, you didn't say what your budget actually was.
modular511@reddit (OP)
okay this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for and after, you rock - you must have replied prior, but at the i added an edit stating im disabled, so just looking to save my pc and ideally I am after whatever is cheapest, ty!
JeffersonPutnam@reddit
Hopefully, that's within your budget. I did a quick search and didn't see anything cheaper.
modular511@reddit (OP)
that is actually super ideal and perfect to my needs, going to just hope these sony bvm sell in time before the open box one sells! idea was in time this will become my nas, and when ram drops and ive saved ill just build a new pc and have something apt for storage!
corwulfattero@reddit
Corsair Frame 4000D
plutosaurus@reddit
Rosewill helium flow
nesnalica@reddit
fractal design makes very clean pc cases
modular511@reddit (OP)
more so after ugly and cost efficient, im pretty uncaring about what it looks like lol
x_scion_x@reddit
Honestly I want this one, probably overkill though.
https://hyte.com/store/y70/cs-hyte-y70tti-ww?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21751665085&gbraid=0AAAAABOFE_iOuH1FfdPeTiPFpysy5JXit&gclid=Cj0KCQiA49XMBhDRARIsAOOKJHbh7s_ZSc92G-RL4W5svrwKhrP-CNEAybtmdi6kwHf-dsr5VRuLRyEaAsd7EALw_wcB
Wanted it for my AI server, but apparently teh front doesn't work w/Linux.
modular511@reddit (OP)
" looking for something ideally cost efficient" lol very far from that, looking to just get something cheap from a lesser known brand for now - if it exists, this case is adhorrent
x_scion_x@reddit
not wrong lol
What is 'cheap' for you though?
What I went with for my server was Fractal Node Torrent and it has well more than enough room & cooling.
modular511@reddit (OP)
I am disabled, I usually would find mostly used parts when I did builds - but i live in the sticks now, far from ewaste centers and people with extras! (and i doubt anyone is shipping used pc cases lol) My idea of it it is - As cheap as I can, want it to hold ideally 5-6 3.5" drives that has good airflow, I went smaller case wise and am regretting it lol the nzxt h510 looked good - LOOKED GOOD - its a hotbox for the poor pc I learned as im monitoring its temps more actively! It doesnt need to be pretty, it just needs to perform! lol
x_scion_x@reddit
I completely get it. That's why I went with my Torrent for my AI server.
I wanted a smaller form factor for my homelab and ended up barely fitting everything into it (Fractal Design Node 804).
Now I want a new case to move it too because there is no breathing room in there.
modular511@reddit (OP)
yeah ideally and honestly an old workstation case or something might help me out - i wanna eventually have a standalone server but deff cant afford to build one rn
lordpiglet@reddit
Fractal Design Define.