I need a cheap and beefy case

[ookabooka]

Currently I have a good antec case, with slideable 3" bays and rack (little plastic sliding doohickeys) 5" bays. Unfortunately my 3" drives hang out a bit and block part of the motherboard, I have 4 3" currently so I need the space.

My main concern is getting one thats cheap (I'm a college student) and has enough space to fit all my hd's without blocking the motherboard. Any ideas? I'd look at the cases myself but I can't tell if the 3" drives would fit flush against the case or would poke out the back a bit and block the mobo

P.S. I may be migrating to watercooling in the future, so if it had space for that too that'd be awesome.

edit: my mobo is asus l1n64, the 2x athlon fx mobo.

 

[JamesXP]

maybe the chemning cases? they're pretty cheap and large.

 

[dipspit]

This case can be had for very cheap. All of my folding machines use it, and I was supremely impressed by its quality/price ratio. Tooless install, sturdy (and heavy), two quiet 120mm fans with air filters, it's very quiet overall and is a killer deal for $40.00.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147033

 

[ookabooka]

This case can be had for very cheap. All of my folding machines use it, and I was supremely impressed by its quality/price ratio. Tooless install, sturdy (and heavy), two quiet 120mm fans with air filters, it's very quiet overall and is a killer deal for $40.00.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147033

I like that one, only problem is I do have a UV cold cathode in there with uv cables. . .would be nice if it had a window on the side It appears though that the 3" drives won't protrude into the mobo area though, which I definitely like, huge nuisance on my current case.

edit: This case is almost identical to my current one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811223001

 

[dipspit]

Well, it certainly does not get any style points, it's very plain. But you could always make your own window.

Most of the cheaper cases with windows I've used to build for friends on budgets definitely don't meet the "beefy" criteria. They're usually flimsy pieces of scrap metal. I have to say though, that was the first sub $100 case that impressed me.

 

[ookabooka]

Maybe I'm just positioning the drives wrong in the bays, I only use 2 out of the 3 screw holes. . .at the time it was the onyl way I could get it to fit I think. . .anyone have any pictures of similar cases and how the 3" drives are positioned?

 

[grndragon57]

It doesn't have a window, but you can get the Cooler Master 690 for $29.99 after MIR on Newegg.

 

[gigabit]

It doesn't have a window, but you can get the Cooler Master 690 for $29.99 after MIR on Newegg.

thats 2 votes