Budget Case with Airflow?

[redsquirrel0249]

Looking to build a cheap office-grade computer for lots of chrome tabs and webpage multitasking for my grandpa, and I'm looking for some super value options for the case. I'm ultimately looking at a 2-3 fan setup with the stock cooler on an i3-8100, so overclocking is not in the realm of possibility. Therefore, thermals shouldn't be a problem, but I'd also like to provide a case, power supply, and RAM that can be used in the subsequent upgrade.

 

Suggestions? Questions? Comments?

[emosun]

if it's a non overclocked i3 then almost any case should work

[redsquirrel0249]

2 minutes ago, emosun said:

almost any case should work

 

20 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

I'd also like to provide a case, power supply, and RAM that can be used in the subsequent upgrade

 

So, if you can't read my post, CAN YOU READ THINGS IN CAPS?

[emosun]

4 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

So, if you can't read my post, CAN YOU READ THINGS IN CAPS?

yeah that'll get people to help you real quick , can't wait to help this guy out.

[TVwazhere]

14 hours ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

So, if you can't read my post, CAN YOU READ THINGS IN CAPS?

14 hours ago, emosun said:

yeah that'll get people to help you real quick , can't wait to help this guy out.

It's not recommended to flame people who are trying to help you, even if they're only helping partially. 

 

14 hours ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

 I'm looking for some super value options for the case. I'm ultimately looking at a 2-3 fan setup with the stock cooler on an i3-8100, so overclocking is not in the realm of possibility. Therefore, thermals shouldn't be a problem

There's a lot of cases here under $50. DIYPC cases usually are the ones that come with extra fans, but they're kinda "gamer-y" not sure that's the look you're looking for, or if you'd prefer something a bit more mute for your G-pa.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/case/#X=0,5446&t=3&sort=price&page=1

 

14 hours ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

 I'd also like to provide a case, power supply, and RAM that can be used in the subsequent upgrade.

For PSU's I would look here:

Sonething in tier 2 or 3 should be good and relatively affordable (EVGA B2 series or Corsair CX gray labels for example, CX's go on sale randomly for like $20 or 30 so keep your eye out for them)

 

As far as RAM goes, literally the cheapest 2133 or 2400mhz speed DDR4 in your choice of capacity (8 gigs recommended, 4 gigs minimum) it's hard to get "bad ram"  and for the most part on intel boards the speed doesnt impact performance greatly.

 

Full Filtered List

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/memory/#s=402133,402400&Z=4096001,8192001&sort=price&t=14

 

2133 4gb

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/qx648d/gskill-memory-f42133c15s4gnt

2400 4gb

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/GXbkcf/patriot-memory-psd44g240081

 

 

2133 8gb

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/XZfmP6/mushkin-memory-992183

2400 8gb

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/kLWrxr/gloway-8gb-1-x-8gb-ddr4-2400-memory-lysb01ehfw722-electrncs

[redsquirrel0249]

4 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

flame

It wasn't an insult, it was a joke, calm down. You're now leaving Seriousville, population you.

 

4 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

helping partially

The comment didn't help at all, actually, that's why I joked about it to make the person feel less useless. What did you want me to say? "Oh, thanks for nothing" would have been legitimately mean, and an "informative" reaction would've been patronizing. Ignoring would've been ok I guess, but that's not my style. And just shrugging the comment off with a "thanks anyway" would literally be lying. It's just like when someone at dinner says something awkward. You either help the whole group get past it with a joke and expect the person to take a joke, or you swallow the awkwardness like an extra large horse pill.

 

4 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

There's a lot of cases here under $50

Yes, I know that, but I'm trying to find one with good ventilation like a Meshify C without the glass and cable management extras but possibly still with some fans. I just don't want to wade through a price bracket on PcP, especially when I know they don't list a lot of good products. Do you have any specific recommendations? I could go without fans if the case is good enough, but with the low cost focus, it's hard to not want them. It's also hard to not want to just buy a Meshify C. OEM style cases are trash imo, not just in aesthetics, but design. It's not expensive to make a cheap product copy a good design.

 

 

My mentioning of PSU and RAM additionally is merely anecdotal, I already have those decided. I've seen the PSU thread, it's ok.

 

4 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

go on sale randomly

 Probably not going to wait for those. I did that for my build, but the person I'm building for isn't super budget sensitive, he just wants it done.

 

 

[TVwazhere]

3 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Yes, I know that, but I'm trying to find one with good ventilation like a Meshify C without the glass and cable management extras but possibly still with some fans. I just don't want to wade through a price bracket on PcP, especially when I know they don't list a lot of good products. Do you have any specific recommendations?

The thing is, with an i3-8100 you could put it in an OEM case with an 80mm rear exhaust fan and it'd be okay. Hence the "literally any case will work" because a Meshify C for this system would be like building a Honda Civic frame, engine and suspension and then putting Formula F1 body panels on it. 

 

Here's 7 cases with no side panel window under $50

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/c67wrH/thermaltake-case-ca1b200m1nn00

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jL6BD3/bitfenix-case-bfccom100kkxs1rp

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/LPhKHx/raijintek-arcadia-atx-mid-tower-case-0r200004

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/g4XfrH/deepcool-case-tesseractbf

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wNrG3C/cooler-master-case-nse400kkn2

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/HDqbt6/bitfenix-case-bfxnov100wwxkkrp

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JcgPxr/corsair-270r-atx-mid-tower-case-cc-9011106-ww

[redsquirrel0249]

18 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

like building a Honda Civic frame, engine and suspension and then putting Formula F1 body panels on it

I'd say it's more like buying a 4 bedroom house when you only have two kids, enabling yourself to comfortably have more kids. Yes, it's overkill now, but it saves you having to buy a whole new one.

 

And a lot of those cases don't have good airflow, which was something I was looking for. If you're just going to mass link me to stuff, I can find them myself, I was just looking for any outstanding models in my criteria. That's all. Though, the DeepCool Tesseract isn't too bad with the side vents.

[emosun]

22 hours ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

You're now leaving Seriousville, population you

@TVwazhere you have so much more patience than I do

[TVwazhere]

On 7/6/2018 at 1:49 PM, redsquirrel0249 said:

And a lot of those cases don't have good airflow, which was something I was looking for. If you're just going to mass link me to stuff, I can find them myself, I was just looking for any outstanding models in my criteria. That's all. Though, the DeepCool Tesseract isn't too bad with the side vents.

I gave you a generalized link with lots of cases, you didn't like that I didnt narrow down any cases.. 

 

I gave you specific links, you didnt like that I.... Didnt give you just the names of the cases?

 

 

And with that sir, I bid thee farewell. Good luck with your endeavors. 

[-rascal-]

9 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

I gave you a generalized link with lots of cases, you didn't like that I didnt narrow down any cases.. 

 

I gave you specific links, you didnt like that I.... Didnt give you just the names of the cases?

 

And with that sir, I bid thee farewell. Good luck with your endeavors. 

 

It's okay bruh.

 

 

Let me try to take a stab at this.

Grandpa, i3-8100 general web browsing PC...case with decent airflow.

IMO, I'd get a micro-ATX size case...it would be more or less the form factor of a typical DELL / HP / Acer workstation.

 

Of course, a micro-ATX case won't work if you get a full-sized ATX motherboard...

I'll recommend a mix of both micro-ATX and mid-tower ATX

 

Could be too "gamer" like with the blue or red accents, but support for 1x 120mm in the front, 1x 120mm in the rear, 2x 120mm on the side.

DIYPC Solot-T1 -- https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8ZL7YJ/diypc-case-solot1r

 

Surprisingly priced at ~$30 IMO...decent airflow capability, acrylic side panel..

Support for 2x 120mm in the front, 2x 120mm at the top, and 1x 120mm in the rear

Cugar MX330 -- https://pcpartpicker.com/product/vYp323/cougar-mx330-atx-mid-tower-case-mx330

 

2x 120mm in the front, 2x 120mm up top, 2x 120mm side, and 1x 120mm rear

Cougar MG110 -- https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9dCD4D/cougar-mg110-microatx-mini-tower-case-mg110

 

2x 120/140mm front, 1x 120/140 mm top, and 1x 120mm rear

Thermaltake Versa H17 -- https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JtWfrH/thermaltake-versa-h17-microatx-mini-tower-case-ca-1j1-00s1nn-00

 

Corsair Carbide 88R -- https://pcpartpicker.com/product/shtWGX/corsair-case-cc9011086ww

 

Cooler Master N200 -- https://pcpartpicker.com/product/T3rG3C/cooler-master-case-nse200kkn1

 

At the $40 ~ $50 mark, you are start to step into the budget gaming cases...

Cooler Master MasterBox, and Corsair Spec gaming series.

 

For something simple, more classy, looks...something like the

- Cougar MG 110

- Carbide 88R

- Cooler Master N200

- Corsair Carbide 270R

[redsquirrel0249]

On 7/7/2018 at 6:05 PM, TVwazhere said:

gave you specific links

Just because you linked specific cases doesn't mean you picked them for any particular reason. At any rate, I ended up just finding a better case myself. Thanks anyway, I guess.

 

Generally, when someone is looking for specific parameters, you try to meet those. It just didn't seem like you were trying to meet all my parameters with your specific links. You linked cheap cases, but I wanted more than that. That's all it was, I wasn't trying to nitpick you.

 

Regardless of any of these comments, I just broke down and found one on my own. The PC is already built

[Jtalk4456]

30 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Just because you linked specific cases doesn't mean you picked them for any particular reason. At any rate, I ended up just finding a better case myself. Thanks anyway, I guess.

Generally, when someone is looking for specific parameters, you try to meet those. It just didn't seem like you were trying to meet all my parameters with your specific links. You linked cheap cases, but I wanted more than that. That's all it was, I wasn't trying to nitpick you.

Regardless of any of these comments, I just broke down and found one on my own. The PC is already built

wow. wasn't trying to nitpick?

On 7/6/2018 at 1:49 PM, redsquirrel0249 said:

I'd say it's more like buying a 4 bedroom house when you only have two kids, enabling yourself to comfortably have more kids. Yes, it's overkill now, but it saves you having to buy a whole new one.

 

And a lot of those cases don't have good airflow, which was something I was looking for. If you're just going to mass link me to stuff, I can find them myself, I was just looking for any outstanding models in my criteria. That's all. Though, the DeepCool Tesseract isn't too bad with the side vents.

 

On 7/6/2018 at 1:15 PM, redsquirrel0249 said:

It wasn't an insult, it was a joke, calm down. You're now leaving Seriousville, population you.

The comment didn't help at all, actually, that's why I joked about it to make the person feel less useless. What did you want me to say? "Oh, thanks for nothing" would have been legitimately mean, and an "informative" reaction would've been patronizing. Ignoring would've been ok I guess, but that's not my style. And just shrugging the comment off with a "thanks anyway" would literally be lying. It's just like when someone at dinner says something awkward. You either help the whole group get past it with a joke and expect the person to take a joke, or you swallow the awkwardness like an extra large horse pill.

I don't know how you think these comments would be perceived, but you were flat out rude to someone who just tried to help. And we're here to offer help, not do your research for you. The cases linked were fine for what you asked, if you needed amazing airflow, you shouldn't be looking for cheap and you probably already know what you want, you just don't like the price. You had to go into a rant on how your rude comments was the only way to truthfully respond to someone, but it's a load of BS. If you don't like someone's answer all you have to say is "Thanks for the help, but that's not exactly what I was hoping for" That would be polite and telling the truth. You need an attitude readjustment