One of the cheapest, good quality, cases you can get your hands on. Only been this cheap once before, back in August 2015.
Would be ideal for a sub-£500 mATX gaming build.
Solid airflow
Side Panel window
Tool-free drive installation
Supports radiators up to 240mm
Should be easy to work on for first time builders.
24 comments
S.c.0.TT.y
10 Aug 17#1
Thats one nice looking case.
Voted HOT.
robodan918
10 Aug 17#2
good case and good brand hot
ST3123
10 Aug 17#3
Looks amazing for a budget case, heat!
lightningspaceman
10 Aug 17#4
Good budget case but terrible cable management space. Still vote HOT for the price
Joshimitsu91 to lightningspaceman
10 Aug 17#5
Looks OK from the screenshots?
ollie87 to Joshimitsu91
10 Aug 17#6
Same.
Wotan
10 Aug 17#7
I used this for a budget built a few months back. Cable management isn't amazing but there is some, case is really well laid out and for under £30 you can't complain.
AnonAnonAgain
10 Aug 17#8
I'm looking to build a basic pc myself, would like this case but haven't done so in over 10 years, I don't want all the bells and whistles but want something quick that can cope with HD video, I already have an ssd, any help would be appreciated as I feel a noob nowadays.budget preferably under £300. Cheaper the better.
ollie87 to AnonAnonAgain
10 Aug 17#9
£300 is probably a bit on the low side for a video editing rig.
AnonAnonAgain to ollie87
10 Aug 17#11
Watching, not editing, I'm just after a family pc but slow, laggy, buggy etc are all things that drive me insane, I've had many a laptop etc that's had rave reviews etc and I still can't handle it so I have decided to build my own.
ollie87 to AnonAnonAgain
11 Aug 17#13
Are you sure it's not just your kids filling the PC full of crap? :stuck_out_tongue:
Sadly since the Brexit announcement prices of PC bits in the UK has gone a little silly.
But if what you say is really the case you're going to want to spend the cash in the right places, like a really good SSD and a decent CPU. For that £300 is an extremely tight budget (even this case is out of budget), but I aim for options.
Case: Zalman - T2 Plus MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£23.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA - 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (£38.93 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £290.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-11 08:31 BST+0100
Pros: Meets your budget That CPU is still nearly as fast at the latest i3 GPUs SSD is a pretty good unit in my experience
Cons: Zero upgrade path DDR3 is dead now, DDR4 is now mainstream Very weak motherboard CPU is very old tech now Case is super crappy No extra storage except for a 256GB SSD
Storage: Corsair - Force LE 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£71.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Zalman - T2 Plus MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£23.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA - 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (£38.93 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £325.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-11 08:42 BST+0100
Pros: Has some of an upgrade path, you could add more RAM, an i5, etc. Could be alright for gaming if you added a solid GPU.
Cons: Motherboard is poor, literally the cheapest board I could find. And it's a weak chipset. Memory is pretty slow, but for your needs okay That CPU isn't the latest i3, a newer one would cost about £10 more, but you'd need a newer motherboard (or one that supports flashing from a USB stick without the CPU installed) Same crappy case
Case: Zalman - T2 Plus MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£23.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: EVGA - 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (£38.93 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £357.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-11 08:49 BST+0100
Pros: Has some of an upgrade path, you could add more RAM, an i5, etc. Could be alright for gaming if you added a solid GPU Faster memory, in dual channel Fairly decent motherboard Latest i3, although is the base model
Cons: Same crappy case
Another option is second hand parts, although if you're not an experienced PC builder I suggest you avoid stuff without a warranty.
shkapars to ollie87
11 Aug 17#14
He already has ssd so no need for another one, also for his needs corsair vs350 psu is more then enough, so you can save another 10£, and case could be this one instead of crappy zalman. Once you change these the third build will meet his need and wount exceed 300£ cap.
AnonAnonAgain to ollie87
11 Aug 17#15
That is a fantastic amount of effort there, thanks for your time, option 3 looks good to me, I'll take a good look after work. :laughing:
123JohnSmith to AnonAnonAgain
11 Aug 17#17
The option 3 is solid but I'd suggest a different CPU
In CPU demanding tasks like gaming/editing, it's just about 10% weaker than the i3-7100 but for a lot cheaper. You won't see a difference in daily usages.
blue2moro to ollie87
11 Aug 17#16
Awesome stuff, I was already considering a build based around the i3-7100 so your option 3 helped me with my own build. I went for a slightly larger 250GB Samsung Evo2 SSD and added a GTX 1050. Along with re-using my current PSU & 2TB HDD I've got a good build (for me at least) for a little over £400. Been 6 years since my last build, time to encourage my 8 year old by getting him to help me with the build. :thumbsup:
ollie87 to blue2moro
11 Aug 17#19
No worries. Always glad to help.
I've got lots of fond memories of building PCs with my Dad, it's great father-son activity.
Nexy to ollie87
11 Aug 17#18
Some nice builds there.
AWD-IT have stock of the Pentium G4560, it is worth a look. It's 3.5GHz, dual core AND hyperthreaded at £70. It's got the
Intel® HD Graphics 610 in it. The i3-7100 is a weird one for Intel after they added Hyperthreading to the Pentium line. Unless you want AVX instructions or the bump from HD 610 to HD 630 graphics (that the Core i3-7100 has), save the £30 and go Pentium.
Another option if you're looking sub-£400 is the Ryzen 3 1200 and a dirt-cheap graphics card. (GT 710, R5 230 etc). A little more expensive because of the graphics card, but a true quad-core chip (and a hell of an upgrade path.)
Edit: And AM4 mobo of the same Asus PRIME range, or slightly cheaper Asrock A320M (depending on supplier and stock).
psycho_terror
10 Aug 17#10
Used this case for a build a few months ago, can't imagine getting anything better for the money. Was almost tempted to use it for my own rig!
SgtFlash
11 Aug 17#12
I used this for my HTPC build. This is a really solid choice for a case, even if it was three times the price. The one and only gripe/niggle is getting the cables plugged in nicely if you use the two 2.5" mounts on the back as an SSD will slightly overhand and they sit horizontally with the ports in the direction of the motherboard. Based on Ollie87's post with the two pictures, they are located where all of the cable management has been moved to from the bottom picture.
Pop a 500-600W power supply in there and you'll quite happily be able to get top-end specs in that case. There's plenty of room spare for long graphics cards - I've got a GTX 980 in there with room to spare. Water cooling I haven't tried at all, I've had stock or standard tower. A Hyper 212 should fit just fine.
So yeah, it'll take a low-budget system, high-end and pretty much anything in between.
savvyB
11 Aug 17#20
What is it though, wine chiller ?
AnonAnonAgain
11 Aug 17#21
Please forgive my ignorance but... do I no longer need a sound or video card, and what about wifi/network? I see the mobo is well equipped but still unsure
ollie87 to AnonAnonAgain
11 Aug 17#22
No. Build into the CPU and motherboard.
WiFi you didn't ask for, you can either add a card or get a USB stick, both are equally crap. WiFi is for laptops.
AnonAnonAgain to ollie87
11 Aug 17#23
Lol @ the laptop comment, I know speeds are affected etc but I hate wires. Think I'll get the g4560 cpu, the Asus prime, the evga psu and a blue led case fan (for the boy), and this case or similar:) comes out around £260 And thanks again, You've been very helpful
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Opening post
Would be ideal for a sub-£500 mATX gaming build.
Should be easy to work on for first time builders.
24 comments
Voted HOT.
hot
Sadly since the Brexit announcement prices of PC bits in the UK has gone a little silly.
But if what you say is really the case you're going to want to spend the cash in the right places, like a really good SSD and a decent CPU. For that £300 is an extremely tight budget (even this case is out of budget), but I aim for options.
Option 1 - £291
Pros:
Meets your budget
That CPU is still nearly as fast at the latest i3 GPUs
SSD is a pretty good unit in my experience
Cons:
Zero upgrade path
DDR3 is dead now, DDR4 is now mainstream
Very weak motherboard
CPU is very old tech now
Case is super crappy
No extra storage except for a 256GB SSD
Option 2 - £326
PCPartPicker part list: uk.pcpartpicker.com/lis…X7h
Pros:
Has some of an upgrade path, you could add more RAM, an i5, etc.
Could be alright for gaming if you added a solid GPU.
Cons:
Motherboard is poor, literally the cheapest board I could find. And it's a weak chipset.
Memory is pretty slow, but for your needs okay
That CPU isn't the latest i3, a newer one would cost about £10 more, but you'd need a newer motherboard (or one that supports flashing from a USB stick without the CPU installed)
Same crappy case
Option 3 - £358
PCPartPicker part list: uk.pcpartpicker.com/lis…zVY
Pros:
Has some of an upgrade path, you could add more RAM, an i5, etc.
Could be alright for gaming if you added a solid GPU
Faster memory, in dual channel
Fairly decent motherboard
Latest i3, although is the base model
Cons:
Same crappy case
Another option is second hand parts, although if you're not an experienced PC builder I suggest you avoid stuff without a warranty.
Once you change these the third build will meet his need and wount exceed 300£ cap.
uk.pcpartpicker.com/pro…560
In CPU demanding tasks like gaming/editing, it's just about 10% weaker than the i3-7100 but for a lot cheaper. You won't see a difference in daily usages.
I've got lots of fond memories of building PCs with my Dad, it's great father-son activity.
AWD-IT have stock of the Pentium G4560, it is worth a look. It's 3.5GHz, dual core AND hyperthreaded at £70. It's got the
Another option if you're looking sub-£400 is the Ryzen 3 1200 and a dirt-cheap graphics card. (GT 710, R5 230 etc). A little more expensive because of the graphics card, but a true quad-core chip (and a hell of an upgrade path.)
Edit: And AM4 mobo of the same Asus PRIME range, or slightly cheaper Asrock A320M (depending on supplier and stock).
Pop a 500-600W power supply in there and you'll quite happily be able to get top-end specs in that case. There's plenty of room spare for long graphics cards - I've got a GTX 980 in there with room to spare. Water cooling I haven't tried at all, I've had stock or standard tower. A Hyper 212 should fit just fine.
So yeah, it'll take a low-budget system, high-end and pretty much anything in between.
WiFi you didn't ask for, you can either add a card or get a USB stick, both are equally crap. WiFi is for laptops.
Think I'll get the g4560 cpu, the Asus prime, the evga psu and a blue led case fan (for the boy), and this case or similar:) comes out around £260
And thanks again, You've been very helpful