First Case Upgrade in ~10 Years - Need Advice

[RWNorthPole]

Budget (including currency): ~150-200 Euro

Country: the Netherlands

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming, Streaming, Home Media Server, etc.

 

Hi all,

 

About two years ago, I decided it was about time to upgrade my rather old gaming rig for something more modern. I built my original PC around 2013, I think, and only swapped out the GPU once when my trusty 660 Ti died on me.

For reference, I swapped out an ASUS P8Z77-V LX, OC'd i7 3770K, GTX 970, and a whopping 16GB of DDR3 @ 1600MHz for a MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk, a Ryzen 5 5600X (w/ CM Hyper 212 EVO), an RTX 3070, and 16GB of DDR4 @ 3200Mhz. My PSU (Corsair CX750M) was working just fine so I simply cleaned it out and it still runs fine.

Naturally, the performance difference blew me out of the water. But my current build reminds me of a sleeper PC, since it still inhabits my very old Cooler Master 431 Elite case. Like, this thing still has an optical drive, multi card reader, an HDD in a SATA-X dock, and one paltry front 120mm fan with old-school style blue LEDs (although I added a new intake on the bottom and an exhaust on top during my rebuild).

 

So, dear people of the LTT Forums, I need help.

 

I'm looking for a nice, new case, but I'm also on a budget. I have around 150 Euro (maybe up to 200, if its really worth it) and am in the Netherlands, if that makes any difference.

 

Ideally, I'd like something with solid airflow, dust filters, plenty of space for future upgrades, around 3 3.5" bays (I host a home Plex server for family & friends), and solid cable management (you would not believe how awful my cables are right now). RGB would be a nice touch, especially if I can sync it up with components that I'll be buying in the future.

 

I've had my eyes set on the Fractal Meshify 2 RGB for a while, since it seems to land in my price range and appears to be easy to build in. I'm debating between the Lite and full versions, but leaning towards the full version.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has any pointers and/or suggestions to keep in mind, as well as recommendations for other cases to look out for. Am I on the right track with a Meshify 2 RGB, or am I missing something?

 

[johnt]

The Meshify 2 is a good one. Looks like you can fit a lot of 3.5 drives in it, but it will cost you compatibility with larger CPU coolers and GPU cards. Seems like the case has room for two 3.5 drives under the PSU cover without any issues.

 

Future proofing is hard. Everything in this case is standard, but the wildcard is the future generation GPUs. Nobody knows how many expansion slots they will need or if they will require a separate enclosure just to accommodate cooling.

[jaslion]

34 minutes ago, RWNorthPole said:

very old Cooler Master 431 Elite case

Still running that case as a nas to this day works pretty well.

 

Get a phanteks p300a or something plenty good and a 5 pack or actic p12 fans to add fans to it if you wanna be cheap, quality and performant.

 

Or the meshify 2 its a fine case regardless personally not worth the price they ask for it at all but it's a good case.

[RWNorthPole]

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

Get a phanteks p300a

Thanks for the rec, haven't come across the P300A in my research yet - probably since it looks to have come out in 2019 and I've been mostly checking 2023/2022 listicles. It seems to be decently cheaper when compared to the Meshify 2, and it got great reviews from Gamers Nexus.

Good idea to keep this current case around as well - I've unfortunately lost most of the 5.25" and 3.5" bay covers for the front, which is why I'm sticking with outdated components that often aren't even connected (e.g. my optical drive).

 

1 hour ago, johnt said:

Future proofing is hard. Everything in this case is standard, but the wildcard is the future generation GPUs. Nobody knows how many expansion slots they will need or if they will require a separate enclosure just to accommodate cooling.

Fair point, but I think I'm safe from needing to upgrade for a while now. I guess if my next case will prove hard to upgrade then I'll just do another PC makeover in another 8 years. I'm also glad to hear I can fit two HDD's without issue - I'll have to buy larger drives, but they're so cheap nowadays it won't be an issue.

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, RWNorthPole said:

Good idea to keep this current case around as well - I've unfortunately lost most of the 5.25" and 3.5" bay covers for the front, which is why I'm sticking with outdated components that often aren't even connected (e.g. my optical drive).

Good thing those are universal

 

I don't really see a reason to look at recent cases as cases are something that doesn't really become outdated. The only thing that does is front IO and well all have usb 3.0 so thats fine.

[RWNorthPole]

14 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Good thing those are universal

Somehow, in all these years, I've never considered buying a bay cover... Good call, thanks.

[John1272]

FOR ATX I would recommend the Lian Li 216 Black no RGB LEDs, Order the Optional Mesh Filter for the front can get the case and filter for around $120US.  I used the same ANTEC P180 Case for 3 builds going back to 2005 for past 18 Years and I am very happy with its quality and layout vs the price I paid for the 216.  I love the ability to move the front I/O to the side, can't stand top mounted ones, and the cable management features are pretty damn good for a $100 case.  I don't like RGB LEDs they annoy me.