.....that you have, or haven't, owned. I was thinking about this the other day, because although I do really like the Arc Midi, it'll never be my favourite ever case. Technically its perfect, allows for two massive rads etc, but its just missing something special. The case I've always lusted after, but will never be able to afford, is the Cosmos II Ultra. I know its fairly new but its just so goddamn gorgeous, and the handles give it a unique look. What about you guys?
TJ11 for me. I love it and I think its perfect, but again, very costly. Also the FT02-RW, as that case was pure sex...
Got no favorite case whatsoever. The 800D I have at moment is the one of those that I dislike the least. The problem is that the case with the perfect blend of features, looks and size simply does not exist for me right now. I need "enough" room for my watercooling equipment, but most cases simply overdo this stupidly. I need room for couple of rads of sensible size, preferably below motherboard, but I sure as hell don't need x^n drivebays and room for 87 bazillion hard drives. TJ07 is very close what I would like, but it looks balls unless you mod it heavily (think murdermod, which is out of reach for most people, cost or skillz wise). If I weren't into watercooling, FT-02 would be pretty much purrfect. Some day, I'll build my own.
for me Cooler Master stacker 810 as was just huge with loads of room and have to agree with Bloody_Pete on the TJ11
I've been using a JeanTech Phong 2 for around 5 years on CPC's recommendation up until around 6 months ago when I purchased a 690II. It was still coping really well even with modern hardware in it (2500k and a 560ti). I had 3 in the house at one point but I recently gave one away in a budget build I did, my wife uses one and my daughter is having the other as her CM Elite 330 just isn't coping with a 955be. My CM690II with 3 140mm and 1 120mm fans is now my favourite case, the thing is soooo quiet.
I have a soft spot for the Antec 300, believe it or not -- even for a budget case its so easy to put together a tidy mid range build in one and the build quality is pretty decent. I like my TJ07, don't get me wrong but I think they're overrated -- maybe just mine but some of the panels don't fit together particularly well and the stock cooling is outdated for a modern rig. I wouldn't recommend it for high end air cooling at all. I really like the look of the chieftec dragon, I'd love to get my hands on one for modding in the future but again I doubt it has the cooling ability for a modern high powered rig.
Best I have had is the had x because mainly the room in the case to work with. My dream case is the TJ11
I have yet to find one that completely blew me away but I have had plenty that looked good on paper even looked good out of the box then you notice all the design flaws which really should not have got past the drawing board. Unfortunately Pete* I had the FT-02 Red Edition and that was a beautiful case but it was really poorly designed. To get to the three fan controllers you needed to remove the top of the case which for some inexplicable reason was not hinged. You needed to remove the top and both sides to remove a HDD and there was very little clearance behind the motherboard tray for cabling/molex connectors and god was it heavy. At the moment I have a Carbide 300r which is fair, a Fractal Core 100 which is a very nice compact case and have just bought a Bitfenix Prodigy which I have yet to fully explore as I am waiting parts. But what I have already noticed is there is a SSD holder screwed on one side panel which you can also fit to the other side panel as the screw holes are there, except you cannot as because of it's shape revising the holder means it clashes with the PSU position and would require removing a bit of the holder. Why on earth did the designer not spot this? Apart from that a very nice little case.
I love my FT-02 I built my pc to be quiet and have no plans to watercool it. Using it with a noctura (the big one) an asus 670 and an ssd system drive. With the CPU at 4.3 ghz I can't hear it from the other side of the room and my temps are all lovely and low, which is exactly what I was hoping for when I bought it. Edit: psu is a corsair ax850 It is very heavy, but I only move it once a month to give it a clean. It's only other disadvantage is the price (~£185)
My all time favourite is the Chieftec Dragon, real big soft spot it. Every case since then has been a painful experience, Lian Li V1000b is a hot running case with out modification, real pain to route cables. Looks great if you fancy a Mac G5 look-a-like. Lian li PC-70 utter crap front panel, had to re-make one to make it usable. The up side is the case can take massive radiators for decent water cooling silence. Next case will mostly be mATX I think or maybe a desk build....
Lian Li PC6077, Loved that case, can't remember why i wanted to upgrade to the Lian Li G70 from it. Sam
Ive had a host of awesome cases over the years, the case I regret selling the most is the Cosmos S, it was great! sold it for the FT02 (red interior) and i have to agree with everything KRONOS has said about it lovely to look at but just a terrible case for day to day use. Ive currently got a PC-777 which i wanted ever since they were first available years ago, so when one came up for sale here i just had to have it! Its much bigger than I'd imagined and the use of space isn't great because of the shape. It is my all time favourite case and a great conversation piece, but as an everyday case it falls short so I'm currently looking for a new/smaller case to downgrade to. On the shortlist so far Bitfenix Survivor,Corsair 600T and PC-A05, Im leaning toward the PC-A05 because of the simplicity of it.
