Need a cheapish case. Very slow build being done cheap but slowly be upgraded

[smmmokin]

So. I've used laptops most of my life. Somehow always bought them for gaming and am somewhat lost. I get components but when it comes to a case I'm having a tough time. I'd spend $50 if I could get one at that price but am willing to go to around $150. I'll be going ATX. I'm used to gaming on a laptop so won't be spending a ton of money on the first graphics card. It'll be just a cheap small guy. I'd like the option to add more cooling in the future and be able to upgrade everything with the same case. So enough room for everything to fit with a larger graphics card in the future. Don't need CD drive, 2 hard drives max. The motherboard is the only new thing I will spend decent money on. All the rest may even be used until I upgrade.

 

Does anyone have a suggestion for a case? I'd buy case, then motherboard and slowly start building around that. Going off Amazon reviews to get a case feels like a horror show.

 

EDIT: Looks mean nothing to me. It'll be on the floor. No RGB if it saves me 10 cents lol

[Zusafek]

7 minutes ago, smmmokin said:

So. I've used laptops most of my life. Somehow always bought them for gaming and am somewhat lost. I get components but when it comes to a case I'm having a tough time. I'd spend $50 if I could get one at that price but am willing to go to around $150. I'll be going ATX. I'm used to gaming on a laptop so won't be spending a ton of money on the first graphics card. It'll be just a cheap small guy. I'd like the option to add more cooling in the future and be able to upgrade everything with the same case. So enough room for everything to fit with a larger graphics card in the future. Don't need CD drive, 2 hard drives max. The motherboard is the only new thing I will spend decent money on. All the rest may even be used until I upgrade.

 

Does anyone have a suggestion for a case? I'd buy case, then motherboard and slowly start building around that. Going off Amazon reviews to get a case feels like a horror show.

 

EDIT: Looks mean nothing to me. It'll be on the floor. No RGB if it saves me 10 cents lol

I personally like the Phanteks P400 series. They have a non rgb version that is cheaper as well.  Plenty of room for cable management, large gpu, large cpu coolers, has 2 mechanical hdd slots and 2 ssd slots behind motherboard tray.  Good solid case for less than a hundred bucks.  You can also check out the p300 and the p350x. 

 

Also another good case is the Meshify C. 

[smmmokin]

Just now, Zusafek said:

I personally like the Phanteks P400 series. They have a non rgb version that is cheaper as well.  Plenty of room for cable management, large gpu, large cpu coolers, has 2 mechanical hdd slots and 2 ssd slots behind motherboard tray.  Good solid case for less than a hundred bucks.  You can also check out the p300 and the p350x. 

 

Also another good case is the Meshify C. 

You are awesome my friend. I will check them out!

[Chris Pratt]

Don't do this. This is the absolute worst way to build a PC. You need 6 components minimum to boot (mobo, CPU, RAM, GPU, PSU, and storage), and a case to put them in, of course. You shouldn't buy any of them, until you can buy all of them. It does you no good to buy piecemeal, because you can't do anything until you have everything on the list. That just means you've got parts sitting around collecting dust, losing value, and burning through their warranty periods, for absolutely no reason. Save your money until you can buy it all at once.

[keysbeast]

8 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

Don't do this. This is the absolute worst way to build a PC. You need 6 components minimum to boot (mobo, CPU, RAM, GPU, PSU, and storage), and a case to put them in, of course. You shouldn't buy any of them, until you can buy all of them. It does you no good to buy piecemeal, because you can't do anything until you have everything on the list. That just means you've got parts sitting around collecting dust, losing value, and burning through their warranty periods, for absolutely no reason. Save your money until you can buy it all at once.

as some one on a buget every month some times people can only build this way and getting the case first is the best start i have built sever computers for myself and friends like this. its about the end not the now 

[smmmokin]

6 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

Don't do this. This is the absolute worst way to build a PC. You need 6 components minimum to boot (mobo, CPU, RAM, GPU, PSU, and storage), and a case to put them in, of course. You shouldn't buy any of them, until you can buy all of them. It does you no good to buy piecemeal, because you can't do anything until you have everything on the list. That just means you've got parts sitting around collecting dust, losing value, and burning through their warranty periods, for absolutely no reason. Save your money until you can buy it all at once.

Appreciate it! Really do. But having used a laptop forever my performance expectations are so incredibly low. Within a few months I'll be able to have things together. I'm used to playing games with an FPS of 30 lol. I'm definitely not looking for maximum performance. Just something that is like my laptop with the opportunity to upgrade. If I hit 60FPS I'm happy with it staying like that for 5 years. I'm an idiot to spend $1400 on a laptop to play games that sucks at playing games. I could of had this thing built already. Before it overheats and dies I want to have something else thats cheap to fix vs. spending $900 on a laptop board because the GPU is soldered on. It's going to happen any day now. Sadly I can feel it coming.

[Chris Pratt]

Just now, keysbeast said:

as some one on a buget every month some times people can only build this way and getting the case first is the best start i have built sever computers for myself and friends like this. its about the end not the now 

There is no difference between actually buying the component of just throwing the money you would have spent into a savings account, and buying it all at once at the end. You won't get a working computer any sooner. However, by actually buying the components over time, you're getting stuff that's potentially already outdated by the time you finally build, sinking money that can't be recovered if you actually need it (which is a distinct possibility if your budget is that tight in the first place), and burning through your warranty period before you can even power it on. It's just not smart.

[smmmokin]

3 minutes ago, keysbeast said:

as some one on a buget every month some times people can only build this way and getting the case first is the best start i have built sever computers for myself and friends like this. its about the end not the now 

Yeah true. I replied to him to further explain. I understand his thinking but he has no idea what minimal expectations I have to fill lol. But I always appreciate people just saying what they think. It's why I come here.

[keysbeast]

go look at newegg i have this in black and love it https://www.newegg.com/black-white-metallic-gear-neo-air-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811854093?Item=N82E16811854093 59.99 then 3.99 shipping. the only thing i would say is hold off on the motherboard and cpu until after next month when AMD drops the new cpus so then we will know what the prices are and what mother boards are going to support the new cpus in the b450 mobo range 

[Chris Pratt]

5 minutes ago, smmmokin said:

Appreciate it! Really do. But having used a laptop forever my performance expectations are so incredibly low. Within a few months I'll be able to have things together. I'm used to playing games with an FPS of 30 lol. I'm definitely not looking for maximum performance. Just something that is like my laptop with the opportunity to upgrade. If I hit 60FPS I'm happy with it staying like that for 5 years. I'm an idiot to spend $1400 on a laptop to play games that sucks at playing games. I could of had this thing built already. Before it overheats and dies I want to have something else thats cheap to fix vs. spending $900 on a laptop board because the GPU is soldered on. It's going to happen any day now. Sadly I can feel it coming.

Again, buying pieces now or all at once in a few months when you can afford it all, doesn't change how quickly you have a working computer. It has nothing to do with specs. You could be building a $250 rig for all it matter, the point still remains: 7 things you need, buying one before the others offer zero benefit, and carries tons of detriment.

[smmmokin]

Just now, Chris Pratt said:

Again, buying pieces now or all at once in a few months when you can afford it all, doesn't change how quickly you have a working computer.

I've been wanting to do this for a long time but always put it off. I just buy other stuff and keep using the laptop. If I had $1000 just laying around it would be a hell of a night lol. But I get what you are saying completely. It's now in the back of my head. So thanks for that

[Guest]

What happens if you don't spend your money right away?  Does someone come into your house and steals it?  Or does the government have a 75% tax on monies unspent?

 

I'm with Chris here.  You should save the money until you can afford all of the core components.  Not just buy one component at a time as you have money.  If anything prices go down, not up.  Especially with the pandemic nearly coming to an end.

 

[Moonzy]

if you can see yourself buying a new PC within the next ~3 months, you can buy things that can tell defects obviously, like cases, first when they're on sale (like black friday and what not)

though you do risk of commiting yourself to a certain motherboard formfactor/case size

otherwise, buying them at normal pricing isnt such a great idea.

[smmmokin]

1 hour ago, jonnyGURU said:

What happens if you don't spend your money right away?  Does someone come into your house and steals it?  Or does the government have a 75% tax on monies unspent?

 

I'm with Chris here.  You should save the money until you can afford all of the core components.  Not just buy one component at a time as you have money.  If anything prices go down, not up.  Especially with the pandemic nearly coming to an end.

 

I feel like it's never going to end. This is life now forever. I've got a decision to make. If this laptop craps the bed I still need something for some other stuff too. I could buy a cheap $400 laptop using valueless Canadian dollars to get by but then that thing is garbage once I fix the problem. That or pay $900 for a new board for the laptop I currently have. I'm shocked the laptop I'm using refurbished is selling for $2000 on ebay. wow. I paid $1400. so lets say even if I get $600 on the very low end. I'd badly rather get rid of this before it dies vs it dying and getting nothing. Thats the main concern is this dying. It's always on a desk and I treat it like an infant. Cooling on it is fantastic but if it's dead, I get $0. If I have parts sitting it'll be easier to say "No skip a few smokes. You're almost there" to save some cash. Right now it's a mountain so I don't even bother. If I get halfway there I'll have no excuse but to do it.

 

To top it off, Yes. I am an adult.