The best *budget* ATX PC case on the market?

[ARF]

Maybe this. Gamdias Argus E4 Elite WH RGB Tempered Glass with magnetic swing door.

ARGUS E4 ELITE WH Mid Tower Case | GAMDIAS

GAMDIAS ARGUS E4 ELITE WH is a white mid-tower case with a tempered glass side panel swing door along with an increase in overall capacity and compatibility.

www.gamdias.com

 

[pressing on]

A case that comes with a single 120mm exhaust fan is never going to be a bargain. A budget case with a at least two intakes as well might cost more but could be better value. For example the case in the graphic below comes with no less than six pre-installed fans.

 

[freeagent]

Nah..

Fractal Design Meshify C Black ATX Mid Computer Case - Newegg.ca

 

[Marcus L]

Nah..

Fractal Design Meshify C Black ATX Mid Computer Case - Newegg.ca

£90/120ca is not budget though

 

[adilazimdegilx]

I only see a 60$ offer on amazon currently with a single 120mm rgb fan included. Answer is a big NO for that price.

Phanteks XT Pro Ultra is discounted at 70$ right now on newegg with a 4x fan, 360mm radiator support, more room inside, known quality and front fans don't suffocate themselves...
You can always find a good case under 100$ from known brands such as Phanteks, Lian Li, Nzxt, Fractal etc. No point going too cheap on case especially with questionable brands because you can keep it between builds for years. I still remember derbauer's video on that horrible gamdias aio...

 

[freeagent]

Nah..

Fractal Design Meshify C Black ATX Mid Computer Case - Newegg.ca

To us a hundred bucks is cheapish. Better than 200.

Edit:

I bought my Meshify C used for 60 bucks locally

 

[68Olds]

I thought I saw a youtuber talking about Montech cases as being some nice budget cases.

Montech X3 Mesh 6pcs, 3 x 140mm& 3 x 120mm Fixed RGB Lighting Fans (Pre-Installed) ATX Mid-Tower PC Gaming Case, USB3.0, Door Open Tempered Glass Side Panel, High Airflow, Black - Newegg.com

Buy Montech X3 Mesh 6pcs, 3 x 140mm& 3 x 120mm Fixed RGB Lighting Fans (Pre-Installed) ATX Mid-Tower PC Gaming Case, USB3.0, Door Open Tempered Glass Side Panel, High Airflow, Black with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.ca

 

[ARF]

front fans don't suffocate themselves...

The case is marketed on its website with top and rear fans support. You can, of course, install two front fans but I don't think they are necessary.

I will use the case with two Arctic P14 fans on top, and the included rear 120mm RGB one.

A case that comes with a single 120mm exhaust fan is never going to be a bargain

Except that there are relatively good 120mm fans from Spire and Evercool which retail for 6-7$ with tax and delivery.
If you want better, buy the Arctic P14 series.

 

[bonehead123]

I REALLY dislike all these "Best xxx" crap articles, since they usually lack any objectivity or sound reasoning....

If you are going by price alone, then there is a BUTTLOAD of competition at the bottom of the barrel, so the real question, IMO, is "Best" for who ? What may be the "best" for you or me may not be the "best" for anyone else....although this applies to mid & high-end tiers too....

And as already noted, a "cheap" case that only comes with 1 or 2 fans is not really that cheap, since almost any build with reasonably current hardware will REQUIRE several more fans to achieve proper and adequate cooling, which will probably move the cost of said case from the "cheap" realm into the "mid-price" tier pretty quickly...

 

[Onasi]

Well, judging by the recent TPU review, the Air 903 seems like a strong value proposition.

Montech Air 903 Base Review

The Montech Air 903 Base diminishes the barrier of entry even more compared to the already incredibly affordable Max variant. All the while, it delivers everything you anticipate from a contemporary, airflow-centric enclosure. To the extent that this case essentially competes only with its own...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[#22]

It's hard to beat value of regular Pure Base 500 for 70-80$. I call it the cheapest case man could call premium. Understood as one not having typical flaws of budget cases and everything quite decent. Not for airflow&RGB croud though, but here market has a lot to choose from and it's usually looks first.

Btw I don't get saving on a case if you can afford not doing it, going one uncompromised. Especially when it's likely to stay with you for longer. Pricey, but uncompromised one exactly thanks to that won't give you reason to change it and all this time will be serving you the best way. You will get the best experience which will happen cheap in the long run.

 

[maxfly]

Montech makes really solid entry level cases that do in fact come with alright fans. I've used several in builds. Altho, I don't use fans from any entry level cases regardless of manufacturer. I keep a big ol box of bequiet! SW2s on hand specifically for replacing fans. I've found it's better to be safe than sorry. Nothing aggravates a user more than a fan grinding away, stop-starting or outright dieing.

 

[ARF]

Well, judging by the recent TPU review, the Air 903 seems like a strong value proposition.

Montech Air 903 Base Review

The Montech Air 903 Base diminishes the barrier of entry even more compared to the already incredibly affordable Max variant. All the while, it delivers everything you anticipate from a contemporary, airflow-centric enclosure. To the extent that this case essentially competes only with its own...

www.techpowerup.com

The Montech case is 120-130% more expensive here than the Gamdias case.

I REALLY dislike all these "Best xxx" crap articles, since they usually lack any objectivity or sound reasoning....

If you are going by price alone, then there is a BUTTLOAD of competition at the bottom of the barrel, so the real question, IMO, is "Best" for who ? What may be the "best" for you or me may not be the "best" for anyone else....although this applies to mid & high-end tiers too....

And as already noted, a "cheap" case that only comes with 1 or 2 fans is not really that cheap, since almost any build with reasonably current hardware will REQUIRE several more fans to achieve proper and adequate cooling, which will probably move the cost of said case from the "cheap" realm into the "mid-price" tier pretty quickly...

I disagree. I don't need pre-installed fans because I want to do it myself, with the best quiet fans which are Arctic, and as far as I know they don't come pre-installed in any value PC case.
The case is perfect for what it's worth - bought for only 47$.

 

[Onasi]

The Montech case is 120-130% more expensive here than the Gamdias case.

Depends on where you are, I suppose. And as reviewed it was 65 dollars. You mentioned that you bought the Gamdiss for 47. My math might be rusty, but that is not a 120-130% increase.
Another thing is that the Gamdias has a solid front panel with just small vents on the sides. So the airflow is compromised out of the gate, which isn’t great.

the best quiet fans which are Arctic, and as far as I know

I mean, actually the overall most quiet fans with a still good airflow would probably be Noctuas, but those are irrelevant for any “budget” discussion.

 

[cvaldes]

I mean, actually the overall most quiet fans with a still good airflow would probably be Noctuas, but those are irrelevant for any “budget” discussion.

It's up to the individual but I decided a looooooong time ago for the purposes of building and operating PCs that I would be willing to spend a few extra dollars for better acoustics. So I have a bunch of Noctua fans (not all are being used right now) in various configurations doing various things in various builds.

That said, I have found myself exploring some of the Arctic fan products more recently since the ones included with their AIOs are pretty decent.

I don't recall ever finding a fan included with a PC case to be all that wonderful. So I accumulated a bunch of fans that were pulled out of their original cases (Lian Li, Silverstone, NZXT); I e-cycled these last year. Same with some fans on AIO radiators: the Cooler Master and EVGA fans were less than wonderful. The fans on Arctic AIOs were a pleasant exception and I won't swap them out for Noctuas.

But the theme of this discussion is the budget ATX case. I would nominate the Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance. I know I removed the included fans but the case is very easy to build in and has good thermal performance for a very reasonable price. It is currently housing my primary gaming build (Ryzen 5800X3D + RTX 4080 Super FE). I can't imagine ever ditching this case even if one day it no longer hosts my primary gaming build, I'd still keep it around for tinkering.

 

[Frick]

I bought my Fractal Design R4 used for €50 or so, and it's so much better than any new €80 case. To my mind there are basically no "good" budget cases anymore. Looked around in fall 2023 for a build I was doing and there were ... no good options. In the past I did a lot of builds in stuff like Cooler Master Elite 330, and the Fractal Design Core 1000, both of which were €40 or less, and the build quality was infintely better than the Fractal Design Focus G (at €70) I ended up buying.

 

[LabRat 891]

Fractal Design's $40-69 cases would be my first thought...
NZXT used to be very decent too (for 'budget' chassis)

 

[cvaldes]

Fractal Design's $40-69 cases would be my first thought...
NZXT used to be very decent too (for 'budget' chassis)

I own a couple of NZXT cases and I would never put them in the 'budget' category, at least in 2024.

SilverStone on the other hand would certainly qualify with some of their offerings. I have one budget mATX model that's a total pain to build in due to the extremely small clearances. I thought about tossing it but I keep coming back to it because once built it actually works really well (good thermals).

 

[LabRat 891]

I own a couple of NZXT cases and I would never put them in the 'budget' category, at least in 2024.

SilverStone on the other hand would certainly qualify with some of their offerings. I have one budget mATX model that's a total pain to build in due to the extremely small clearances. I thought about tossing it but I keep coming back to it because once built it actually works really well (good thermals).

Wow, how things have changed. My last NZXT (Gamma?) Was less than $60 IIRC.
Silverstone has always been 'a spendy brand', to me.

Zalman also makes some Budget cases, but as I recall, they're not that great.

 

[cvaldes]

SilverStone makes a variety of case products at different price points from server chassis down to bargain tin cans. I own one of the latter, the PS15. All of the PS models are pretty simple and inexpensive compared to the competition.

Of course things change over the years and you can't compare today's offerings to the prices you paid pre-pandemic, just like you're not going to find gasoline at $3/gallon (in the USA), $99 discrete GPUs or a cup of coffee for a dollar. None of those prices are coming back. Ever.

If NZXT ever had products that could be inexpensive, that was also before the pandemic, they have moved to a different pricing policy to target a different market. I'm not implying that they are overpriced but their cases are now squarely in the middle of their respective price ranges.

 

[LabRat 891]

Nah..

Fractal Design Meshify C Black ATX Mid Computer Case - Newegg.ca

Fractal Design Focus G (IIRC) can be had for $32-50.
Admittedly, other than airflow, the chassis is an 'out of style' design. Acrylic Window, 5.25 bays, etc.

TBQH, aside from cooling improvements, I cannot stand the way most of these 'new, trendy' cases look.
Someday, I'd love to shove my modern build in some old Lian-Li all Aluminum case, and just deal with the fan noise.

SilverStone makes a variety of case products at different price points from server chassis down to bargain tin cans. I own one of the latter, the PS15. All of the PS models are pretty simple and inexpensive compared to the competition.

Suppose that makes sense. I've seen SilverStone 'private brand' a lot of 'import' accessories, too. (Usually, at a reasonable markup over Ali/eBay)

Of course things change over the years and you can't compare today's offerings to the prices you paid pre-pandemic, just like you're not going to find gasoline at $3/gallon (in the USA), $99 discrete GPUs or a cup of coffee for a dollar. None of those prices are coming back. Ever.

Correct. However, sometimes "less in the box, same price" isn't too bad (given the larger PoV)

If NZXT ever had products that could be inexpensive, that was also before the pandemic, they have moved to a different pricing policy to target a different market. I'm not implying that they are overpriced but their cases are now squarely in the middle of their respective price ranges.

Considering, that's *all* I remember them for (including, $100-150 Phantoms, competing with $200-300 cases)... That's surprising.
Probably best for them as a company, though.

 

[#22]

NZXT nowadays tends to be surprisingly value with their new lineup of cases like H5 and H7 family or this new aquarium aiming affordability. I like the way how they balance features to make their cases nice to use, but keep the price lower. ~130$ H7 Flow is a good example here. Most of the builds don't significantly benefit from more than one or two fans and NZXT don't add much cost here. On the other hand case is well filtered what majority will like. I/O panel is barebones and there's no fan hub or rubber grommets, but not many care and what anybody appreciates is whole case being well ergonomic. Whatever you do like easy to remove panels and filters or well thought out and equipped cable management side.

It's a good way of engineering cases aiming delivering possibly cheaply one lacking typical budget solutions - creating possibly good base, so what anybody will appreciate. Sadly most of the market thinks opposite and equips budget cases with some premium features to impress average Joe not knowing much about cases. It results in products not cheap and for people having both low and high expectations, so quite strange people...

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

The best budget cases are previously owned. Simple.

 

[Remeca]

I got the cheapest case I could find at Canada Computers or Amazon at the time (early 2023), a Thermaltake v100 perforated. I paid around $45 CAD for open box. Another $20 went to 3 more case fans. No fancy window or anything but I can't complain.

 

[Keullo-e]

I have this Deepcool case as white on my Skylake build and nothing to complain. The fans aren't ARGB but I don't mind. Though there's a V2 version out as well.

https://global.deepcool.com/products/Cases/CC560WH-Mid-Tower-ATX-PC-Case-White/2021/15217.shtml