Location?
Requirements (drives bays, form factor, etc)?
Budget?
Preferred purchase method?

This cheap case from newegg USA seems like it would work pretty well.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?I … 118&ignorebbr=1

It's not too flashy, it has plenty of bays, and it looks like it will fit nicely with other cases.

You could also load all 5-6 cases with 4 optical drives each and have endless hours of fun ejecting and closing 20 drives at once 😜

Well all depends What you are after, I my self wanted a new chassi for a retro pic but didn't want USB in front since it wasn't really that normal at that time, so I found chieftec mesh and removed USB plat, well gotec didn't exist at that time also, but u get the point 😉

It is also warty slim, so I was really happy.

tabm0de wrote:

Well all depends What you are after, I my self wanted a new chassi for a retro pic but didn't want USB in front since it wasn't really that normal at that time, so I found chieftec mesh and removed USB plat, well gotec didn't exist at that time also, but u get the point 😉

It is also warty slim, so I was really happy.

I like that look. How much did you get it for and where from if you don't mind me asked by?

Unsure where you are located at but it is on https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00I8Q8ARS/ref … hPqL&ref=plSrch or maybe ask local pic store

I also replaced the power and hd led with each other. Because hd led was red and power green so I matched power to red since gotec is always red and hd led to green since gotec read led is green also 😀

Great case but it's a bit too expensive for my taste. Nearly $100 after shipping. Thanks for info though and I like your ideas!

I don't generally buy a whole lot of a single type of case. Sometimes I do 2 or 3 but that's as far as I go. I have a Microcenter locally and generally I keep my eye out for openbox and clearence deals. I've been known to find some good deals on last gen modern hardware that way.

Where are you located. Selection on Amazon varies from week to week but you can generally always get a case in the 20-30 USD range with free shipping.

Newegg is another good vendor. I could point out cases all day but ultimately it always boils down to personal taste.

I’m bumping this because I’m looking for the exact same thing but I can’t find any Chenbro CR209 or Inwin A500s anywhere.

Not much on eBay or the local stores either. Does anyone else have any tips?

Head to the landfill in the electronics drop off point. At mine, every single trip I go, they have random beige/black ATX and AT cases laying all over the place. It is usually best to go before 4pm, as a lot of scrappers usually come after they get off of work and pick up computers. Also check the rules of the place so you don't get in trouble for taking anything that is not allowed to be taken. At one of mine near my house it is basically a free-for-all, and another one about 10 miles away they don't allow things to be taken.

You may also find electronics recycling yards near you that you didn't know about. A co-worker recently told me about one that is about 20 miles away from me that has boatloads of stuff they just send off to China for "recycling", but they also sell it by the pound to anyone who wants to look through it. It's extremely cheap -- they have everything from desktops to printers, to servers, to 42U rackmount cabinets, etc. At that place I haven't had much luck getting anything good on both trips because eagle eye scrappers/resellers snatch all the good stuff as it gets unloaded, but my buddy got all sorts of awesome stuff the last time he went. (multisync CRTs, beige AT cases with MHz displays, several ISA sound blaster cards, a few 386 socketed motherboards, and VLB 486 motherboards)

That's actually a great idea. Will have to look into it here, the recycling scene is pretty opaque here in Hong Kong. There are dodgy guys wearing wifebeaters hanging around on some of the less gentrified street corners looking to buy old PC hardware off anyone walking by. It all gets chucked in a van and taken somewhere - my suspicion across the border. But I have a feeling most of what we're all may require an earthmover and a few shovels to find 😉

I'm bumping this thread if anyone has suggestions for generic late 1990s-style beige ATX cases similar to the unobtanium Chenbro SR209 / Inwin A500. I'm desperate, I need a case to put all this beautiful gear into!

Since you last posted, a guy on Ebay unloaded a ton of brand new Inwin A500's for $50 each. I grabbed one. You have to be watching all market places with search alerts setup if you want to find things. You can't rely on people telling you because by then they are gone.

wiretap wrote on 2021-07-05, 13:41:

Since you last posted, a guy on Ebay unloaded a ton of brand new Inwin A500's for $50 each. I grabbed one. You have to be watching all market places with search alerts setup if you want to find things. You can't rely on people telling you because by then they are gone.

Damn. I just checked and didn't have email notifications setup for saved searches. Doh. Thanks for the reminder, I guess I'll just wait my turn at the merry-go-round 😉