New Case, need suggestions and opinions
 

In the next two weeks I will be buying a new case to replace my NZXT Phantom full tower. Which I should add I primarily bought to house my two 6950's which I no longer use.

My primary considerations for a case are that it fit within my budget of two hundred US dollars. It has to have good cable management options. I need to be able to get inside of it easily for cleaning and maintenance. I would prefer it to be a mid tower. I don't need a full tower, as much as I admire many of you for building your own custom liquid loops I just don't have the time or finances to undertake such a task. And last but not least I would like good airflow. I do not care very much about noise so long as it stays under 50 decibels.

I have two prime candidates right now which I have been weighing the pro's and con's of for weeks.

The first is the Corsair 600T. This case is awesome. I love the side panel window, I love the panels that come off cleanly with the latches, I love how easily I can take off the top and bottom fan grills for cleaning, and I like the color scheme. White exterior with black interior will really go with my white sleeved PSU cables and overall component color scheme.

My fears for this case are this - The case is rumored to only have a USB 3.0 pass-through. I hate using these as they are 1. a waste of a USB 3.0, and 2. my motherboard has a 20 pin header which is being wasted. Is there an updated version of 600T with a 20 pin motherboard header? And how would I know if the case I am ordering from newegg is the updated version?

The other choice is the Corsair C70. The case looks nice, (my ex US Marshall father is in love with it) I like the interior fan arrangement. Fans on the HDD trays are nice IMO because I can replace them with AF120's and point them at the video card. This is a very minor detail though and I won't cry too long if I go with the 600T and cannot do this. I also really like the handles on the C70. I don't do LAN parties..ever.. But I do frequently move my desktop and handles, while not a necessity would be a nice luxury.

As for the C70's con's there is the glaringly obvious complete lack of easy maintenance. The panel latches which are designed to look like the latches of an ammo box are kind of silly to me. I am not too fond of cases with a theme, or cases that try to look like anything other than a clean computer. Remember that Gigabyte motherboard with the magazine heat-sink on the South-bridge? I do, and I would never buy that motherboard because of that. It's a great motherboard to be sure, but that is so weird and out of place in my opinion..

So these are only two cases I have really looked at. A third would be the 650D which I like a lot but it's very close to my financial limit, and I prefer the aesthetics of the 600T. So as far as the 650D goes, its more of a personal preference then a slight on the case itself.

And that's all I got. Please refer me to any cases you think would fit the bill or you have had or currently use and love. A case is not generally something I would ever consider changing once I have an established build but I hate my phantom so much I just have to get rid of it.

I'm using the HAF X which is really nice. I think it does have the same pass through problem though. Nice design (military style again). I can't say much for the two other cases that you have there because I've never used them but I enjoy the HAF.

Based upon this single comment I would like to recommend you looking into a Fractal Design R4. It's sleek and clean simple design. It has sound dampening material. The build quality is right up there with Corsair possibly even better (I've owned 650d and Fractal Design Define). The fractal design define series has the beefiest heaviest sturdiest side panels I have ever felt. It can stop a shotgun actually! It has a windowed and non windowed version as well as comes with white fans which would go great with your white cables.

Here take a look. Linus just so happened to do an unboxing a couple days ago. Have a look!

Fractal Design Define R4 Case Unboxing - Silent & Elegant - Linus Tech Tips - YouTube

and the shotgun test

Define XL vs. 12ga Shotgun - YouTube

Cheers. Hope this helps.

That shotgun test is cool and all, but the whole time it had me thinking: "Why should I care if my sidepanel is bullet proof?"

Anyways I like the fractal case's. But the 600T appears to be the winner of this contest of value. I will be calling Corsair soon to inquire about whether or not they upgraded the USB 3.0 pass through to a model B header.

I'm getting the Fractal Design XL. Fell in love since I saw how clean it was :)

I have a HAF X which uses usb cables to feed the front panel. My new mother board has a 20 pin connector for the front usb 3 ports, so I got one of these and it works fine.

Newegg.com - Koutech IO-UU230 USB 3.0 20-Pin ICC to Dual Type-A Adapter

You shouldn't care that it is bullet proof. The video is just a demonstration to show the quality of the materials put into the build. The 600t definitely will be much thinner and probably a cheaper material. Not that it needs to stop bullets but it's just a testament to the build quality.

And to the people who suggested Haf X I don't know what in the world you are talking about. The OP specifically said he is not too fond of cases that look anything other then a 'clean computer'. Haf X definitely doesn't have a clean simple design.