Cooler Master and Lian Li make great cases, I like a couple of the Antec ones too, right now I have a P182-SE but I like the new P280 and will probably get one of them for myself. The Sonata Solo II looks like a nice smaller Antec case too.

Those are my favorite case companies and I have used several of each of them, they are all high-quality cases for the most part and many have very nice styling. I prefer a more conservative look myself, with plenty of room. I also tend to get mid to full tower cases. I don't really like how cramped the smaller ones are.

If computer cases were cars, Lian li would be the rolls royce. I paid $400 for mine and I WOULD DO IT AGAIN in a heartbeat. Only part is, I don't need another case. The one I have is basically a sleek black anodized aluminum monolith. Space for 12 hard drives, soundproof foam, the whole nine yards. I've had it since 2004. looks like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16811112064

cooler masters are okay, but nothing tops lian li.

I've got 2 favourite cases at the moment.

One is a Lian Li PC50 or PC50A - they really are nice to work on, although the aluminium is a bit bendy - I've noticed that without expansion cards the PSU makes the case flex, so it must be putting the cards under more strain than they'd get in a steel case. IMHO anyway. But its lovely and light, easy to move around, and easy to get stuff into and out of, nice fittings etc. A lot better than run of the mill cheap cases and even being compact I can get long cards in [need to remove the second disk cage but at least it unscrews!].

My overall favourite case is a Jeantech - I always thought these were PC World own-brand crap but I got one in a sale one day. It has a removable cage, and with drop-down sides, so the whole motherboard with expansion cards just drops down when you pull the handle - changing a mobo recently was an absolute breeze on this, really fast and easy. Case also has good fittings for fans, I love it.

Besides the obvious, i.e Lian Li and Silverstone, Gigabyte makes damn good cases too. Coolermaster is kinda meh on the low/ mid end, but pretty nice on the high end- ATCS 840 anyone?

I built a PC for my dad back in 2007 with an Antec 1200 case. It's got several huge fans that keep it running nice and cool. I had an older Antec case (I forget the model) back in 2002 for my XP system. It's been moved through 3 states, dented, scraped, gotten wet, had the door/front USB panel torn off by a running German Shepherd, etc. ...you name it! I have a lot of respect for Antec. The only thing I hate about my dad's PC is the 1200's fans get very dirty due to their large size and the grill on the front sucking in dust. So it needs frequent cleaning.

Anyone can make a case. The ones that are best have these features:

1. No sharp edges

2. No proprietary mounting rails or parts

3. 120mm or larger fan mounts, at least 1 in front and 1 in back, and for newer systems, an optional 1 on the side for the CPU.

4. Enough room to prevent HDDs and CD-ROM drives blocking ports on the motherboard

5. Shouldn't have any rattling or lose parts

6. Feet should be mechanically attached, not adhered.

7. Should be sturdy enough to not bend or warp when being transported or handled

Just my opinion, but I've worked on a huge number of computers. My current case violates 2 of these rules (#2 and #5) but it looks cool, so that may factor into your decision somewhat.

McMick wrote:

Anyone can make a case. The ones that are best have these features: […]
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Anyone can make a case. The ones that are best have these features:

1. No sharp edges

2. No proprietary mounting rails or parts

3. 120mm or larger fan mounts, at least 1 in front and 1 in back, and for newer systems, an optional 1 on the side for the CPU.

4. Enough room to prevent HDDs and CD-ROM drives blocking ports on the motherboard

5. Shouldn't have any rattling or lose parts

6. Feet should be mechanically attached, not adhered.

7. Should be sturdy enough to not bend or warp when being transported or handled

Just my opinion, but I've worked on a huge number of computers. My current case violates 2 of these rules (#2 and #5) but it looks cool, so that may factor into your decision somewhat.

And to add to point number 3, the case fan opening should not be made of lots of those tiny holes 😵

The side panels should be easy to remove or put in place. I have cases where the side panels will either be stuck in place (and I have to mention, it's nice if the side panels have those "dents" where you can put your hands when handling the side panels) or fall out all the time when no screw is fastened.

I always wanted an Antec P182SE, but I think they only made around 5000. It was some kind of limited edition model.

CoolerMaster HAF-X here. Love it.

Previous case was an Antec 900, which was pretty good too, but full-length video cards limited where you could put the HDD cages. Also it was heavy as hell.

I like the full tower Chieftec ones... classic and no fancy cr4p 🤣