Fractal Design Arc Midi ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 1x USB 3.0 + 3x 140mm Case Fans $69.99 with free shipping

Awesome case. love how much space they leave behind the motherboard plate for cables. That and the general aesthetics. 6th computer I've build, but the best case I've used(compared to antec, lian li, cougar) They all have their good points, but for flexibility, cooling and space, this one is definitely in there.

Quote from Maced : I'm going to call bullshit. Unless you're a complete snob, you don't need a 'premium' (priced) tower to look elegant and get the job done. Hell, even a lot of those high dollar lian li cases don't have a lot of the nice little features this case does.

Keep using cheap cases and never know the difference. I've gone through 2 lian-li's and currently am using a silverstone ft02. For the price, the fractal is a good case, but would you like to put $2k worth of components in a ford escort or a bentley?

Quote from Evo-IC : You two aren't making this easier. Tell me what I'll hate about it instead, so that I can back away from the ledge.

It is not as elegant and aluminum, I don't like the cheap metal HDD caddies. Go get a Lian Li for roughly the same money.

how is the noise profile for this? I have an antec p80 which has served me well - how does this new case fare in the sound department? does it let a lot of leak? are the fans super loud? etc

Oh look another car analogy.

And, a $70 case is not "cheap" by any standard.

Quote from Evo-IC : You two aren't making this easier. Tell me what I'll hate about it instead, so that I can back away from the ledge.

To be honest, just take out everything and clean your case. Blow off the dust first then use wet facial tissue then dry it clean paper towel (both in and outside). Will look like new

Quote from nikets01 : To be honest, just take out everything and clean your case. Blow off the dust first then use wet facial tissue then dry it clean paper towel (both in and outside). Will look like new

While I still love my current case, you missed the part where I said that the front USB ports broke loose and the entire assembly completely came out and now does not work properly.
That, coupled with sort of being over the whole idea of moving this 60lb behemoth around when I need to do the simplest thing inside have me looking for something suitable for a replacement.

My days of wanting to spend 22 hours inside my case perfectly running every cable and heat-shrinking every piece of everything in the case to finish off with another 2 hours of cable management because I don't like a fan wire that's visible.....are over.

I just want a relatively decent case, with a decent layout, with decent airflow, with a decent sound profile, at a decent price.

This seems to check all those boxes.
This thread prompted me to take the time to start looking once again and I've narrowed to the Fractal, NZXT Source 210, and Cougar Solution. The 2nd two mainly for budget.

Quote from Evo-IC : I really want this. I only sort of need this. Decisions, decisions. My beloved Antec P180 is coming to the end of a wonderful run as my primary tower, but it has some issues including the USB ports completely coming out of the front and broken. I might have to do this. Damn it.

Wait! You can buy new front ports for your Antec P180 through Antec's parts website [antec.com].

Mine broke too. And my replacement broke too... but after all these years I still love my P180 as my daily desktop. I really wish Antec would put out a front port replacement with usb 3.0.

I met some of Fractal's employees earlier this year. Their company is awesome and their cases are fantastic, quiet, and solid. I recommend their cases, and can't wait until my new htpc case gets here Node 605. So pretty.

Have this case with a pair of Bitfenix Spectre 140 white LEDs in the front. Very little noise and everything seems to stay pretty damn cool. I did buy a DemciFlex filter to cover the side fan opening though.

Quote from synexsy : Wait! You can buy new front ports for your Antec P180 through Antec's parts website [antec.com]. Mine broke too. And my replacement broke too... but after all these years I still love my P180 as my daily desktop. I really wish Antec would put out a front port replacement with usb 3.0. I met some of Fractal's employees earlier this year. Their company is awesome and their cases are fantastic, quiet, and solid. I recommend their cases, and can't wait until my new htpc case gets here Node 605. So pretty.

+4 Rep points, coming your way.

Doh. I spoke too fast.
I repped you anyways, but found this:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php...ostcount=4

Looks like there's no hope on that one.
I think I'm just going to use something like this in an open bay: http://www.directron.com/cr500bk.html?gsear=1

.....or go back to shopping for cases.

Quote from Evo-IC : +4 Rep points, coming your way. Doh. I spoke too fast. I repped you anyways, but found this: http://hardforum.com/showpost.php...ostcount=4 Looks like there's no hope on that one. I think I'm just going to use something like this in an open bay: http://www.directron.com/cr500bk.html?gsear=1 .....or go back to shopping for cases.

I would search ebay and/or google shopping. little parts like this seem to always be on sale.

These good cases deals are like a gateway drug. You buy a case and then you suddenly need hundreds of dollars in hardware.

Now we need a deal on an Ivy Bridge CPU. I have not seen one since those $280/$182 CompUSA deals on 3770K/3570K.

Quote from synexsy : Wait! You can buy new front ports for your Antec P180 through Antec's parts website [antec.com]. Mine broke too. And my replacement broke too... but after all these years I still love my P180 as my daily desktop. I really wish Antec would put out a front port replacement with usb 3.0. I met some of Fractal's employees earlier this year. Their company is awesome and their cases are fantastic, quiet, and solid. I recommend their cases, and can't wait until my new htpc case gets here Node 605. So pretty.

Quote from Evo-IC : +4 Rep points, coming your way. Doh. I spoke too fast. I repped you anyways, but found this: http://hardforum.com/showpost.php...ostcount=4 Looks like there's no hope on that one. I think I'm just going to use something like this in an open bay: http://www.directron.com/cr500bk.html?gsear=1 .....or go back to shopping for cases.

I don't know about the specific parts you need, but when I was going to replace some parts for my Nine Hundred from Antec's site recently I had them all in my cart, went to check out and they were all out of stock. It didn't tell me which ones were out of stock, so I had to go through and check each one individually and they were all not available. That's when I ordered this case.

The reason I bought was because this is the least expensive case which will take a Corsair H100 in a push-pull configuration without having to mod anything. Its wide and the radiator mounts at the top of the case are not in the middle, but over to the opposite side from the motherboard, which makes for a ton of room at the top for a radiator without worrying too much about it interfering with motherboard heatsinks. Still have to think about RAM though if going this route.