Value Case Roundup: A Look at the Affordable
by Purav Sanghani on February 1, 2005 12:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Final Thoughts
When it comes to value-priced cases, what features really matter and what can we do without? Tool- less features are almost always left out of a $20 chassis because, for one, they cost too much to implement, which would increase the selling price. Also, many who buy these budget cases do not really do much swapping of hardware and are mostly home users who just want something that they can put their system rigs in.
Only one of the cases has a tool-less feature and that is the Codegen 6209 with its sliding clips for the expansion slots. The 6209 also has a CPU air duct, which allows the system to take in cool air directly from the outside to the CPU, isolating it from the warmer ambient air inside the case.
The Codegen model, however, isn't the only one with good cooling features. Linkworld's 3131G can hold up to seven 80mm fans, which will greatly help cool any system, whether it be just an average setup or any high end equipment. This does come at a cost, though, since adding more fans will increase the sound output of the case overall.
Since most of the cases came with one case fan, we decided to swap out the factory-installed fan(s) with two of our own 80mm fans to benchmark each case and be able to compare them with the same hardware. We found that Codegen's 6209 performed the best in our thermal tests, since its side panels were basically large vents that helped to passively cool the system.
On the expansion side, Linkworld's 3131G had the most options to add more drives with eight total 3-1/2"; drive bays, two of them exposed.
In the end, only two of the model's held our attention as they had the features and performance results that we were looking for.
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We hand our Editor's Choice award over to Codegen's 6209 for its top performance in our thermal benchmarks, a solid construction, as well as features such as a CPU air duct, tool-less expansion slots, and a full set of auxiliary ports. With a price of $32, it is not much more expensive than the others and is well worth the money with the combination of features and performance it provides. |
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KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
sdfg: I think you mean the Antec Lanboy looks like the Chenming cases...Kristopher
aeternitas - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
Yes #24, we are all spoiled. Spoiled with _quality_. Some of us like to have nice things. I for one dont want to see cheap plastic houseing my loveingly put together equiptment. This is a hobby for most, and with a hobby means quality is the standard.If you are just building PCs for people that dont care, then by all means, but this isnt really a site for people that dont care.
sprockkets - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
Err, no In-Win cases?miketheidiot - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
these cases are all trash. Drop the extra $20 and get a decent antec PSU/case combo.And why wasn't the Sonata or something lke that included?
Cygni - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
God you guys are ridiculous! I personally use Antec cases for my own personal builds, but when building for my business, i use the cheapest non-ugly case I can find. Of course, PSU is a concern, but im not slapping FX's in with a 250wt. PSU does change reliability, this is fact, but it is FAR overhyped. Bad RAM can make 10 times the impact.Honestly, who gives a crap if the case isnt amazing? Its a CASE! As long as its not ugly, and as long as its fairly well put together (almost all of them are these days), who cares? 99% of the people i build computers for never open the case, so who cares if it has sharp edges? I dont know. You guys all sound really really spoiled, haha. I personally thought alot of the cases reviewed are FAR less ugly then so called "Gamer cases" that are out there with friggen dragons with LED eyes that readout useless voltage information...
MarkM - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
I'm with #4 too -- a the point you are getting this level case, you are probably looking at a no-frills basic PC with cheaper components, at which point it doesn't make much sense for you to be building anyway, you should just get a Dell & get that conveniecne/security of waranty.Not to mention if you are building so basic a PC, you probably are not reading anandtech :)
Anywya, I'm not sure I see great value. I got my Sonata with the 350w quiet PSU for $70 total AR, some of these cases would cost about as much with even an inferior PSU. So why bother at all?
digit - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
ive got that raidmax (windowless version) and i really like it. it came with the 4 fans already installed in front and its definitely the coolest running case ive ever had. recently ive started having problems with power stability from the psu, but it worked just fine for over a year.fatdog6 - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
Im pretty dissapointed with this review,first off of the 150 or so systems that i have built my first consideration is reliablity/stability expecially in a budget build. I I can i imagine getting a call and then seeing the power supply fell down knocked the cpu off into the gpu trashing the memory on the way.!!
As stated by Spacecomber #15
"So far, I haven't found a case and power supply (bought seperately or together) that is as good as and less expensive than the Antec 1650, which is my choice for entry level and basic systems. $55 for a case that includes 120mm fan, Antec SL-350 power supply, and side CPU air guide."
As stated by Lonewolf #13
"The power supplies of these review units are horrible, and do not in any way represent good additional value"
DaveA - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cases/roundups...yeah whats up with that?
Desslok - Tuesday, February 1, 2005 - link
In the review for the Codegen 6209 is the motherboard tilted in the install pic??