what's better?

[ghiaknchi]

i have a micro atx mobo...

what do you think is better?

Cougar mg110-window? (with more slots for 2.5'' and is mini tower and with cable management holes but with only one rear fan pre installed and 3 fans optional at the front and the top, the psu is installed on the base of the case)

or

Cougar mx200 (with only 1 2.5'' slot, is a mid tower, with only 2 holes for cables top and bot but with 2 pre installed fans (rear and front) and with 2 side windows optional fans, the psu is installed at the top of the case)

 

mg110 costs about $3 more

my real decision is between 2 pre installed fans vs all the rest that the first is better

[mariushm]

the 2.5" slots don't matter. You can buy adapter things that go in the 3.5" slots or 5.25" slots and allow you to install 2 x 2.5" drives.

Examples:

1 x 3.5" to 3 x 2.5" : ICY DOCK Triple 2.5 SSD / HDD Bracket / Mount / Adapter / Kit for Internal 3.5 Drive Bay - EZ-FIT Trio MB610SP - Newegg.com

1 x 5.25" to 4x2.5" : ICY DOCK 4 x 2.5" HDD / SSD Bracket Mount Kit Adapter for 5.25” Drive Bay - FLEX-FIT Quattro MB344SP - Newegg.com

You'll find cheaper (and simpler) adapters on eBay for 3-5$.

 

The MX200 is an older design, which is obvious by the full length drive cage and the top placement of the psu... it's kind of out of fashion these days to have the long drive area and newer designs don't have it, to make room for longer lengths video cards and for mounting water cooling radiators in the front.

Even though it's more metal, the case is cheaper because the company already recuperated the money they spend in tooling to make that case and they reused the same tools to make several similar designs.

 

MX200 is limited to 240mm when it comes to video cards. The MG110 will do 350mm.

The 240mm will by typically enough for MOST cards that have only 2 fans on them... it's most because some high end models will be 10" or longer ( ~270mm or more), for example this RTX 2070 Super is 270m : evga 2070)

If you're looking at something that would be more typical for someone buying such cases, the RX 590 cards are around 9.06"..9.1" or around 230mm, so they'd fit

Here's a couple examples to get an idea about maximum size: Sapphire Radeon PULSE RX 590 8GB,  GIGABYTE Radeon RX 590

 

What else to look for... the MG110 is (width, height,depth) : 198 x 378 x 411 (mm) while the MX 200 is 195 x 410 x 430 so it seems like MX 200 is a bit taller, and a bit deeper.

That could mean you'll have a bit more room around the motherboard, so you'd be able to more easily manage the wires even though the case itself may not have clips or locations to die down the wires.

 

The PSU being mounted at the top is not really a big deal, it can in fact even help move air around, by sucking the air from the cpu area and ejecting it out.

 

You also have a benefit with the fan grills on the side panel with the MX 200 ... if you install a long video card, you'll basically segment your case in two - everything from the video card down, and everything from the video card up.

You can add one or two 120mm fans on the side panel which will basically blow cold air directly over a video card and keep the video card much cooler, so its fans won't spin fast and make lots of noise.

 

 

So basically i'd say this:

 

If you think you're gonna use long video cards (with more than 2 fans, or high end models) go with MG110

If you think you're gonna want to install a 2 x 120mm radiator for water cooling, go with MG110

 

If you want a bit more space inside the case (excluding the video card size limitation), or more flexibility with drives, go with the MX200 case.