Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case $45 at Newegg

I have this case and love it for the price.

Only downside is the reset button is so small, I have to use a pen to reset it, but it is not too often if ever.

Nice minimalistic lines on this one, though I'd just as soon they got rid of the top fan hole and got rid of the perforated metal grills over all fan mounts as it traps dust. Granted, they market it as a gamer's case so I suppose if you have hot running SLI'd video cards another fan at the top could be useful, though I'd think putting a second one on the side instead would be better.

^ The minimalist exterior is very nice; the problem is they carried it over to the inside. Real old-skool interior with just a bottom mount PSU. The top fan in a case like this isn't all that need, nor a deal breaker...

The more worrisome is the PSU has no external intake, so now you have to have at least two intakes (both front or side and front) for any gaming build. Then if you use (and more often will end up) with large 120mm PSU it could ingest warm air from graphic card(s), that's where the side fan would be useful. Then remember to cover that PSU anytime you could drop something. It's more efficient to draw air in with intakes and remove with outlet fans, than only try to suck it out, plus that leaves a lot more dead spaces.

What nice about it is, the front bezel completely detaches (no wires), and the backside of the bezel there's a nice removable/washable filter panel for intake fans. Then those front 120mm are in exterior accessible doors so cleaning and replacement is a snap.

This could use a little updating now-a-days. I'd want the PSU to draw from the bottom and a slide-out filter for it. More holes in the tray to route looms through, and a few more cable tie punch-ups, cut-out for backing plate changes, paint it black, and I would say for the price a removable HDD rack would really give it that little extra.

http://www.overclockersonline.net/reviews/50001752/
http://www.ozhardware.com.au/Case-Reviews/Antec-Three-Hundred-Gaming-Case-Review.html

Casecutter and dave_c,

I've been thinking about getting a three hundred for some time. I recently discovered another case maker, bitfenix. Do you know anything about them? Should I stick with Antec?

The bitfenix shinobi seems like a decent case (in this $45-65 price range). Thanks!

^ I'd go with the antec due to better front intake area, but if you're building a low power consumption/heat level system, that front intake will also "probably" allow more noise to escape with a more direct/lesser reflected wave towards your ears for an overall louder running system. On the other hand with a higher heat system you'd probably end up with the fans running faster on the shinobi which might cancel out the noise differences.

The shinobi looks better inside thanks to the black color but it also means it is harder to see parts without a flashlight or case lighting. I like tool less drive bay mounts but if you aren't moving drives around a lot the old school screw system the antec uses will keep them a bit more secure, and some tool less mounts let drives rattle around a bit.

I've never seen a bitfenix case in person though so I don't know about the overall fit and finish, though it looked ok in this review:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Bitfenix/Shinobi_Preview/

I suspect it might be easier to get replacement parts for the Antec and it can hold more HDDs with good spacing for cooling between them while with the shinobi you'd need to leave every other HDD bay empty resulting in fewer rather than more usable bays, though I'm doubting most people would pick either of these for > 4 3.5" HDD and there are always the 5.25" bays up top that HDDs could be mounted in.

The motherboard try looks flimsier on the shinobi, lots of metal missing in the area under the CPU socket which can slightly help cool the back of a motherboard but this is the area that usually has the most stress on it from the heatsink weight, and while I don't know the metal thickness on the shinobi, I'd guess that it is overall less sturdy. IIRC the antec uses 0.8mm sheeting and I can't tell from the pictures if the shinobi is 0.6mm, 0.7mm, or 0.8mm, but it definitely isn't 1.0mm sheeting.

Either would handle a typical system though, I've built…

^ Agreed, it does completely boil down to the type of build. If the goal is to pull off a "better than budget gaming box" (and do fairly large dual cards at some point) the Antec is a excellent option. Although if the build scheme has you encroaching on a really nice mainstream gaming rig, I might say look for a better "frame" to mount such a tour de force.

Though if building an "all around home system" that is exceptionally distinctive and still supports fairly stout, but not full burdened repertoire of components than the BitFenix Shinobi is an excellent choice. My only draw back is (also) the top-mount I/O panel. That's a way manufactures supply a completely removable front bezel and not worry about the switches and alignment. A top mount I/O is okay if you have proper position placement. I just don't like the USB cables all pointing up, or if a staple dropped onto plug... buzzz.

BitFenix Shinobi is exactly the case that demonstrates the add-value you can receive when you look outside the overly marketed mainstream high-volume chassis selection. The Shinobi provides all those nice touches I mentioned above that can be implemented easily in the initial design, while a few of other feature like, the top cover with grill, room under the mobo tray for concealing looms, included 5.25" to external 3.5" bay adapter, and what they call SofTouchâ„¢ Surface Treatment.

While checking the pictures I'd judge it not cheaply made, and essentially outshines the Three Hundred, and well worth the extra or lack of a rebate to get one at my doorstep.

http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/chassis/shinobi#overview
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/bitfenix_shinobi_review,1.html
http://www.eteknix.com/cases/bitfenix-shinobi-chassis-review-1033/
http://wwwbaconomicmpc.com.au/Gallery/253391,bitfenixs-shinobi-pc-case.aspx/1

just noticed the eTeknix Cooler Master Silencio 550 preview. I'm liking the front filter panel 'n frame on that one, not just that it's a single full height piece but that it would be easy to DIY make a replacement filter medium so when it's time to clean the filter you could just swap in the clean one w/o fiddling around much while a system is kept running... handy for your 24/7 boxes like webserver, fileserver, etc.

It took me an hour to do something equivalent on a case without any such filter accommodations a few years ago, though it's about 2" too shallow IMO, rotated drive bays do not allow shortening a case in my mind, it still limits the amount of room to work in the case and there can be motherboard access issues if it's a full width board.

http://www.eteknix.com/previews/cooler-master-silencio-550-chassis-preview-1158/page2

^ Yea, read about it a day or so ago. Not big on cases with a door, but that is a nicely optioned up box. Sound mate, USB3.0, HDD dock... but it is starting at probably >$100
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1178/pg1/cooler-master-silencio-550-chassis-review-introduction.html

Good pics here, while have a look at the CM Storm - Enforcer based on the same chassis (p.3)
http://www.fudzilla.com/reviews/item/22823-cooler-master-silencio-550-tested

Here's the Enforcer review it little gam'y for my tastes, though more like $80.
http://www.fudzilla.com/reviews/item/22403-cooler-master-storm-enforcer-reviewed

hard to guess what final discounted prices will be like, some CM's list retail around $60 but end up around $10-30 delivered after rebate. Granted they weren't as nice, but I didn't really care about most of the features as much as the single piece, covers-all, filter panel.

Then again, lots of cases can be modded so the front bezel pops off enough to slide a panel in and out w/o opening the side of the case if you use magnets epoxied inside the bezel lipto attach it to the front of the case frame. Recycled magnets from dead HDDs work well enough.

Casecutter: Sounds like the case with the ideal features you described would be the "Corsair 600T"

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139003