Silverstone, Fractal Design, and Lian Li all make what I consider very elegant and subtle case designs. Corsair makes some nice ones too. I don't think you'll go wrong with either of the cases you've picked out, they both have good modern convenience features and pretty good reviews.

Really anything with 120mm or bigger fans tends to be pretty quiet in my experience; the GPU fans are almost always louder. The FT02 is pretty interesting with its rotated motherboard layout. I probably wouldn't get it if you plan to have the PC on carpet given its bottom intake fans.

I house my LGA 2011 in a Lian Li PC-A71F. I bought it's because it looks great - big black monolith - and has enough space inside. It's successor is the PC-A76 - externally (except for the back) they are the same. Internally it seems both have its problems, the A76 for example has a non removable HDD rack and poor cable management, but these are minor inconveniences for the cool look..

Other cases I have considered:
Maingear Shift - this was my reference, but they're unavailable outside of the US.
Corsair Obsidian 550D
SilverStone TJ10, especially the nVidia version: TJ10-WNV
Lian-Li PC-B10 - a smaller A71F.

My previous case was a Chieftec Dragon DA-01B-D - it was nice when I bought it in 2004, but the design didn't age very well. Now it will house my 486 EISA build 😉

Yeah, I hear you on the LED's, I just end up cutting the LED's out or their power wires myself.

I do not mind the side panels that have a window so much but would rather have Side Venting/Grills instead.

This is my current gaming rig chassis:

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=14

And this is my current File Server/Workstation Chassis:

http://www.raidmax.com/chassis/platinum.html

The Raidmax chassis has very bright BLUE led's and they had to go.

I covered up the Power and the HDD led's with a couple of old floppy diskette notch tabs, the silver colored ones so they really contrast the black case wonderfully 😉

Now that's a case.

Unfortunately, they don't make them like they used to.

Just came back from the store, where I bought a 650D and a Lian Li PC7 FWNX. They didn't have the Fractal Define XL or FT02 in stock, but that's ok, as these two were in my shortlist as well.

Now I just need a mint beige Enlight/ Aopen/ Chieftec to fit my Tualatin system in and I'll be a happy camper!

Holding out buying decent cases till I stop moving round, but your Lian-Li case is on my very short list. Something elegant not flashy although for me the Fractal is a bit boring.
Never went in for the LED’s, Windows, etc although now I’d quite like a case with both just a bit of back lighting to show off the insides.
Not on my 486 (or any other AT era PC) that’s just wrong. Don’t think I’ve ever had a zero wait 486, even if its just waiting to load all the dos drivers

I recently swapped out my aluminum Lancool PC-K7B ("Metal Boned K7") for a SuperMicro SC732and am totally satisfied. The Lancool (mfd. by Lian Li) was elegant but had flimsy aluminum panels that vibrated and a strange HDD mounting assembly. The SuperMicro is much more solid, looks good, and has the feel of older-style PC cases with steel housings. It can accomodate full-length expansion cards, plus it has a spot for a floppy drive and up to 4 internal hard disks on a pivoting drive cage with rails. Highly recommended.

My current i5 3570k gaming system is using the 'In-Win Dragon Slayer' micro-ATX case... A totally shite name and the aesthetics won't appeal to everyone, but that doesn't bother me though. It has excellent cooling with optional extra cooling, plenty of space and good cable management (for a micro-ATX case). It doesn't cost much and i went through a couple of other micro-ATX cases including the crappy NZXT Vulcan before choosing this one. I'm totally satisfied with it. It also received plenty of good reviews 😀

The last aluminum case i owned was the NZXT Adamas (around 6 years ago):

I dislike Lian Lis because they have no lines, they are literally just plain black box. I opted for the NZXT M59 not too many lines. you guys will hate it. it reminds me of a lighted control panels on the front, it also has a few MAX GAMER PC case lines... just a few. i use the LED fans for light but, since the window is tinted you just see a few of the lines light up inside.

ultimately since i have ALL black hardware i'd like to light with a cathode but, i don't want it to be too bright.

aside form the fact my PSU isn't' sleeved i went fora cheap million dollar PC look. black everything even the screws which i order from the UK.

http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/

EDIT: i also like some of the InWin cases like the one posted above and also this one,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16811108210

except i had the ATX version which looks a little better and more proportioned.

to all: isn't hdd making your case vibrating (low noise)?

My current case is a "Coolermaster 690 II White Limited Edition"

I think the white makes it look more elegant than current gaming cases, as for leds and shiny things, I got the version without the side window, and the front fan led can be switched on and off from the case itself,when you really feel the need for some bling,though I keep it off.

The case has a lot of room inside, enough for multiple water cooling rigs, bigger fans, and the hard drive cady can be removed completely perfect for some one with a 1x HDD and 1x SSD setup, giving the case a lot better airflow.

It also features a hard drive dock on the top of the case, meaning you can simply slide in a loose hard drive and windows will detect it (if your motherboard supports hotswap over sata)

Pictures dont do this case justice, it has this smooth white finish thats hard to capture.

Edit: The case is allso pretty cheap.

@PowerPie5000: That NZXT Adamas looks damn fking good. Kinda reminds me of the original CM ATCS.

@cdoublejj: I blame MDPC for my current predicament.... after seeing those builds, I must have my modern rigs looking the same. I don't know how much more of this my wallet can take. 😖

@FasMan: I have an original CM690 Pure Black in my collection. It's a great case.

@SiliconClassics: I wish I could get one, but I don't think they're available at all here. An industrial themed build using a Sabretooth or UD7 board in that, with the insides painted black would be smokin'.

In any case, if you look at show quality builds from around the net, e.g. like MDPC, the predominant cases are Silverstone, Lian Li as well as higher end Corsairs and Cooler Masters.

@ OP, I think alot of people are feeling your way. The fast and the furious tuner look is wearing down. hehe

I'm a cheapass. I paid a whopping $20usd for a Rosewill Challenger 3.0. Not that bad of a case. My biggest grip is space behind the mobo tray for wire management.

Paid around $25 for my Thermaltake V3 Black case for my Pentium III build.

I think for the money these cases look pretty nice and have the ability to have high airflow.

@ FaSMaN

Airflow on my main rig is slightly different than your 690II for extreme positive pressure 😀 . Added a 200MM Intake fan externally on the side door and turned the top 140MM fan to a intake fan as well (fans like to make a ticking noise as a top exhaust setup), no bottom fan though. That makes 3 intakes and 1 exhaust fans.

Got a low ambient so most wouldn't like to hear my temps 😉

I remember my first case was the Apevia X cruiser because it had gauges. Now my cases are the the Haf 912 and M59 as listed in my previous case. So there is truth to getting tired of the tuner look. However I don't really care for Lian Li except for maybe HTPC cases.

SiliconClassics wrote:

I recently swapped out my aluminum Lancool PC-K7B ("Metal Boned K7") for a SuperMicro SC732and am totally satisfied. The Lancool (mfd. by Lian Li) was elegant but had flimsy aluminum panels that vibrated and a strange HDD mounting assembly. The SuperMicro is much more solid, looks good, and has the feel of older-style PC cases with steel housings. It can accomodate full-length expansion cards, plus it has a spot for a floppy drive and up to 4 internal hard disks on a pivoting drive cage with rails. Highly recommended.

You forgot to mention how MUCH it costs.... ouch double ouch..... 🤑 😵
(USD $540 over here)

My everyday modern(? - Core2 Quad)) PC is in a Coolormaster Cosmos 1000. It aged a bit but still my most favorite one.

Just what I want, all together. No fancy leds, or fleurescent trims, or transparent panels (which I really hate), too much room for almost everything, practical trays for my 6 disk RAID, tough steel construction, cool and handsome outer looks, and many other small details that makes me happy.

My old (and now XP) box has a more classical one, an Aopen A600 aluminium case:

And finally my 7-year old daughter's case: 😁

bestemor wrote:

You forgot to mention how MUCH it costs.... ouch double ouch..... 🤑 😵
(USD $540 over here)

Where are you located? I got mine for about $200 from these guys. The SC732D4F model has front-facing audio, firewire, and USB ports.

My most modern case is a Coolermaster Centurion 5. I like it because it looks very nice and has the PSU in the top of the case (for some reason I don't like bottom mounted PSU's).
And I like my cases without any openings in the top for 2 reasons:I can put stuff on it 😁 and no risk of damaging the insides if I accidentally spill something which was placed on the top of the case.

But maybe I'm just old-fashioned 😜

@tayyare: Salam! You have excellent taste in cases, and your daughters PC looks adorable! You says electronics can't be cute? 😁

@ Tetrium: You're not the only one! If I could still get them, I'd only have top mount PSU cases. Cable management is much easier in those IMO. You just stuff all the unused junk above the optical drive and be done with it. In a bottom mounted PSU case, fiddling about behind the motherboard tray is a pain and a half, but if you don't do it, your build will really look half-arsed.

Also, you'd really hate the Corsair 650D, it's top is all mesh, so if you sleepily spill your morning coffee into it, kaboom!

@cdoublejj: To be honest, I only really like Lian Li's classic mid-towers. I had to have a PC7 with a window after seeing Obi_Wan_Kenobi's (of 3dfxzone.it) build, and I've been obsessed about them ever since.