Cougar equipped the MX330 with a mesh front panel, with enough room for two 120 mm intake fans. But what if youre shopping at an even lower price point? But it does apply to the build quality of these cheap cases. As 5.25-inch bays have vanished, the really large towers have fallen out of favor with many buyers who aren't doing elaborate modding or liquid cooling. Secondly, an AIO also blocks the two dedicated SSD mounts, requiring you to either use M.2 drives or stuff them into the 3.5 drive bays instead. Keep an eye on your inbox! (That is, unless you know you need a tower's wealth of drive bays, and you have the means to connect a heap of drives via that smaller board's Serial ATA ports or a controller card.). It offers other now-standard features like a tempered glass side panel, PSU shroud, and cable management holes. You might think you have to pay a significant premium to get a super-quiet PC case, but that's far from the truth. Expect two to four 3.5-inch bays for hard drives in most towers these days. In most tower chassis, you will get at least a couple of pre-installed fans; additional ones are cheap, so we wouldn't make the fan count a deal breaker. One hit-or-miss feature in the newest motherboards and PC cases is support for front-panel USB 3.1 Type-C ports. That said, be mindful of the sizes of fans that are included and supported. User reviews unanimously agree that temps arent the Cylons strong point. A few cases may have four USB 3.0 ports and thus require two USB 3.0 headers to connect them all; many boards have just one such header. Most offer adequate room for cable routing and long video cards, and they should have room for enough drives, given today's per-drive capacities, to satisfy most needs short of a server's. You should always be alert when unpacking a computer case, but doubly so if its a cheap one. Your house, according to the legendary advice of George Carlin, is the place where you put your stuff while you go get more stuff. Overall, the Aerocool Cylon is a reasonable, aesthetically-pleasing case for a budget build. So, while there are some things to like about the Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L, its also less suited as a long-term cheap gaming PC case than the Thermaltake Versa H18. With its 10-series "Pascal" video cards, Nvidia put the official kibosh on multiple-video-card configurations of more than two cards. While thats usually not a problem, you may find that these older cases dont have the cable management features that were used to on pricier cases. The best PC cases out there for those looking to build their ultimate dream rig come in all shapes and sizes to suit any need. (Or, if you prefer to skip the build process altogether, take a look at our top-performing prebuiltdesktop PCsorgaming PCs.). Its not necessarily a great-looking case (check out the Aerocool below if youre after aesthetics), but you cant have it all at this price range. It can be the look; the case defines the identity of your PC. Note that, as we mentioned above, most cases, even big ones, are doing away with 5.25-inch bays altogether, under the assumption that optical drives are now pass. It's a much more expensive case adjusted in small ways to meet the $100 market. Larger tower cases may support additional form factors that are bigger than ATX, such as XL-ATX or Extended ATX (EATX). So, if you are looking for a budget-friendly case that you can use to build a solid system with, or a case that you can grow into in the future, the H18 is a solid option that wont cost you an arm and a leg. It also has support for up to six 120mm fans in total or a pair of radiators up to 360mm, so whatever you build will always stay frosty. Survey: What is the biggest barrier to a potential Surface Duo 3's success. There are two aspects here: the radiator's thickness, and the overall radiator length, measured in millimeters. It comprises two key areas: cutaways in the motherboard tray for running cables behind the case's tray, and clearance behind the (usually) right-side panel. DEEPCOOL MACUBE 310 Full-size Magnetic Tempered Glass Built-in Fan Hub and Graphics Card holder, 2 fans included White ATX Mid Tower Case, Rosewill FBM-X2 Micro ATX Mini Tower Desktop Gaming PC Computer Case, 240mm AIO Support, USB 3.0, Rosewill FBM-X1 Black Steel / Plastic Mini Tower Case with Side Panel Window, SAMA Sama-Line3-ARGB Black Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, DIYPC Solo-T2-BK Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case with 2 x Blue Fans (1 x 120mm LED Fan x Front, 1 x 120mm Fan x Rear) Pre-installed, Rosewill SPECTRA D100 ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case With Tempered Glass Side Panel, DIYPC ARGB-Q8-W White USB 3.0 Steel / Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, 1x 120mm ARGB Fan x Rear (Pre-Installed), SAMA SAMA-M3-ARGB Black Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, DIYPC DIY-S08-G Green USB 3.0 Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, 1 x 120mm Fan x Rear (Pre-Installed), DIYPC DIY-S08-BK Black USB 3.0 Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, 1 x 120mm Fan x Rear (Pre-Installed), DIYPC DIY-S07 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, Cougar MX330 Mid Tower Case with Full Acrylic Transparent Window and USB 3.0, DIYPC DIY-BG01 Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case with Pre-installed 3 x 120mm Fans, DIYPC Solo-T2-R Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case with 2 x Red Fans (1x 120mm LED fan x front, 1x 120mm fan x rear) Pre-installed, Cougar MX330-X Mid Tower Case with USB 3.0, Fractal Design Core 1100, Black, Micro ATX, Mini Tower, Computer Case, SAMA SAMA-M2-ARGB Black Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ 3 x 120mm ARGB Fans (Pre-Installed), DIYPC MA08-BK Black SECC Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case, Rosewill SCM-01B Black Steel / Plastic Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case, Rosewill RANGER-M Dual-Fan Micro ATX Mini Tower Gaming Computer Case with Blue LED Lighting, Mid-Tower Computer Gaming Case with RGB LED Strip , No Cooling Fans , ATX, M-ATX, 7 PCI Slots, USB 2.0/3.0,White, SAMA Sama-S88-BK Black Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, COUGAR MG120 Black Micro ATX Mini Tower Elegant and Compact Case, Thermaltake Versa H17 Black SPCC Micro ATX Gaming Computer Case CA-1J1-00S1NN-00, COUGAR MG120-G Black Elegant and Compact Mini Tower Case with Tempered Glass Side Window, Thermaltake V100 Perforated ATX Mid-Tower Chassis with One Pre-installed 120mm Fan and a Perforated Side Panel, SilverStone Technology Precision (SST-PS15B) Micro-ATX, Mini-DTX - All Black Painted Interior, USB 3.0 Type-A x 2, DIYPC Zetta-ARGB Black Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ 120mm Halo ARGB LED Fan Pre-Installed, DeepCool MATREXX 40 with Full-size Tempered Glass Side Panel, High Airflow Cooling, and Removable Drive Cage Micro ATX/Mini ITX Tower Case, COUGAR MX410 Mesh Black Powerful and Compact Mid-Tower Case with Mesh Front Panel, Mini ITX Computer Case Aluminum PC Case Chassis HTPC With 2 USB 3.0 Ports, Mini-ITX Chassis HTPC Case USB2.0 3.5'' HDD SECC 0.8mm Mini ITX Case HTPC Desktop Computer Cases, ITX Computer Case M06 Mini Desktop Case HTPC Case Industrial Control Case, Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Case with Fan Cooling and 3 Heat-Sinks, 5V 2.5A Power Supply with On/Off Switch Cable for RPi 3 B+, 3B, 2b, ITX Computer Case TX02 Mini Desktop Case Industrial Control HTPC Case. Required fields are marked *. The Q300Ls modularity and versatility go hand-in-hand. These arent the most amazing temps, but more than fine for a cheap gaming PC case. The Core V1, like many of the best cube PC cases, has a dual-chamber internal design. Here's a brief rundown of the things to look for before we get deep into our favorites. The Cougar MX330 has a lot going for it: a mesh front panel, a reasonably roomy interior, a PSU shroud for easy cable management, and enough room for a front-mounted 240 mm AIO. Aerocool includes a magnetic dust filter for the top fan position, which is a nice touch that you dont often see on cheap cases. The Versa H18s biggest selling point is the front mesh panel and support for up to three 120 mm front intakes (or a 240/280 mm radiator). The Phanteks P400A is a stunning mid-tower, sporting ample room for even the largest GPUs, and has many features that make for a stunning PC build. And, it gives you all that for just slightly over $50. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you're using a monster video card, keep an eye on this spec. This one comes in at a little over $50 (as do a majority of the cases on this listthanks inflation), but it is still a solid option for anyone who is looking for an affordable option to house their components. That can be intangibles like cable-routing features, or the position of the power supply or the drive bays relative to the other parts. It's a compelling case for modders and DIY-minded PC gamers. While objective review data for the Versa H18 is hard to come by, user reviews on sites like PCPartPicker often praise the H18s good airflow. So while we cant guarantee good thermal performance, the positive user opinions combined with an airflow-friendly design on paper should help keep temperatures at acceptable levels. (Also, for a primer on PC-case lingo, check outBuying a PC Case: 20 Terms You Need to Know. How so? Corsairs big, pricey iCue 7000D Airflow full-tower PC case is eye-catching and cavernous. If your budget can accommodate it, the Thermaltake Versa H18 is possibly our favorite of the bunch here. You may need an adapter to hook up the second set to a USB 2.0 headerbe warned. And the full-length tempered glass side panel will show off your handiwork to all who gaze upon it. Despite being compact, there's plenty of space for an ATX or E-ATX build, with hidden drive cages in the base and at the back of the motherboard tray. Thermaltakes H18 micro-ATX case and the AeroCool AeroOne are our picks for the best airflow options among cases under $50. Three included 140mm fans, plus room for plenty more, Five USB ports on front (actually, top) I/O panel, Quite heavy and cumbersome to move around. And, for the most part, you can get adequate cooling and airflow out of a cheaper case. If you buy products from links on our site, we may earn a commission. Razers Tomahawk ATX is a spendy computer chassis that offers an easy building experience, pleasing aesthetics, and some rare cable-hiding advantages for builders of full-size desktops. There's no tempered glass here, but the front door can be reversed to open whichever way you desire, the top can be removed for added ventilation, and it comes with a couple of 120mm silent fans to get your build going. (More on liquid-cooling in a moment.). I was Computer Shopper's editor in chief for its final nine years, after which much of its digital content was folded into PCMag.com. Tech Guided is supported by readers. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, CORSAIR iCUE - Performance & Lighting, United, Corsair QL Series, Ql120 RGB, 120mm RGB LED Fan, Single Pack - Black, Cooler Master N200 - Mini Tower Computer Case with Fully Meshed Front Panel and mATX/Mini-ITX Support, Zalman T6 ATX Mid Tower Computer PC Case, Pre-Installed 120mm Fan, 5.25 ODD, USB 3.0, Patterned Mesh Design, mATX ITX for Gaming Workstation, Black. But dont let that fool you; its still a case worth considering for those building a Mini-ITX rig on a budget. However, like the AeroOne, the Cylon is another solid option in the under $50 price range. *To read our overviews on each of the four cases listed above, simply click on the Read Review link to jump to our rundown on that specific case. Firstly, youll have to choose between a 240 mm AIO and an optical drive, as the case isnt tall enough for both. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Subscribe for an occasional dose of PC hardware inspiration and guides. Weve made our picks for the best value option, the best airflow option, the best budget case with a tempered glass side panel, and the best mini-ITX option. That's usually not a problem, though some really old motherboards may not have the 20-pin connector for USB 3.0 front-panel ports. Speaking of airflow, the Core V1 comes from the factory with a 200 mm fan pre-installed. Heres why you can trust us. The Core V1 has got it where it counts. Ultimately, for right about $50, the Thermaltake Versa H18 comes with the room, clearance, and airflow necessary to house a high-end gaming computer. No problem. Your email address will not be published. In that case, just keep our buying guide in mind, and you should be able to find something thatll work for you. Fan and radiator support is also solid for a PC case of this size in this price range. So, if youre looking to save some money, it wouldnt be the worst route to go. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Picking the right tower PC case for your build or upgrade is a complex interplay of the parts you have, the parts you may install someday, and the space you have available to stash the chassis itself. Pre-installed RGB LED "ground effects" lighting runs on Razer's Chroma ecosystem, Three USB ports on front I/O panel, including USB Type-C, "Neatening" panels behind right-side glass, Heavy steel, as opposed to aluminum, construction, Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. During that time, I've built and torn down enough desktop PCs to equip a city block's worth of internet cafes. Also, most big cases now favor large liquid coolers over the big banks of 3.5-inch hard drive bays cases of the past often featured. If youre building a budget PC and you need an affordable case to put it inside, in this guide, weve rated and reviewed seven of the best cheap PC cases under $50 to help you find the right case for your build.