Replace my case! (poll for chasis replacement)

[MadmanRB]

Okay so my birthday is coming this September and well after replacing my motherboard and processor (a month ago my older MOBO died after a cap on one of the transistors popped) i think its time for a new case as my old one is sadly falling apart, my front face plate barely latches on now with pieces snapped off due to long term wear and tear.
My old case is a In Win griffon, its served me well but its time to retire it due to how much I beat it up over its lifetime, I clean my computer a lot and most of the damage was my fault.
So new mothertboard, new processor, might as well do new case so I can have a near fresh build.
But what to choose?
Well in the end its my choice but i do like some feedback, there are at least 6 competitors to choose from and I want to keep this within a 50 to 70 American dollar budget.
If I go a little over $70 its fine such as a $75 as some good cases are in that range however $80 is out, I am not spending over $80 on a case and I dont care how good the stupid fractal design R5 is, its a $100 and I will not spend that much on something that will mainly sit under my desk.
However that also doesnt mean i want a boring old black box, I do want the case to have some personality of its own and stand out against the trend of boring black boxes.
So something with form, features and nice cooling options are at play.
I will not be using water cooling, as its a waste for my non overclocking CPU or motherboard, I have a H97 ATX motherboard so keep that in mind when using the "other" category. But I will be probably be replacing my Intel stock cooler with a cooler master 212 EVO so keep in mind side panel clearance with your suggestions.
So without further adieu here are the forerunners for this poll:
1: The Corsair Carbide Spec-03 "Bane" case:

2: The Corsair Graphite Series 230T Orange:

3: The Zallman Z3 plus

4: The In Win GT1 (would be a spiritual successor to my current case due to its price point)
GT1_Mid Tower_Corporation IN WIN Retail Website

*note no good direct pics of this one so linked inwins website instead

5 The Enermax Ostrog GT:

6: Other

Yes you get to choose one, again please keep to my $50-70 range (though $75 is acceptable so yeah the last generation Fractal design define R4 would fit in, though I dont like its panel only swinging to the left as I keep my PC to my right)
Also USB3 ports are in my sights as my motherboard supports it, so stuff without USB3 would be accepted but I feel I could use USB3 ports on my front
Also please consider my motherboard size, no MATX cases!
Also USB3 ports are in my sights as my motherboard supports it, so stuff without USB3 would be accepted but I feel I could use USB3 ports on my front
Also please consider my motherboard size, no MATX cases!

 

[PP Mguire]

I don't really get the logic behind people wanting to really cheap out on a chassis. 100 bucks for a good case is actually really cheap. My Enthoo Pro was 90 bucks with a promo code and if I didn't have other plans for it I could easily keep this case the better part of a decade or longer. Quality parts, quality fan setup, top end cable management. I could agree if say we were talking about cases in the 300 dollar range, that's just ridiculous.

Anyways, if it was me since I'm not a fan of big plastic designs I'd probably go for the 230T.

 

[MadmanRB]

I don't really get the logic behind people wanting to really cheap out on a chassis. 100 bucks for a good case is actually really cheap. My Enthoo Pro was 90 bucks with a promo code and if I didn't have other plans for it I could easily keep this case the better part of a decade or longer. Quality parts, quality fan setup, top end cable management. I could agree if say we were talking about cases in the 300 dollar range, that's just ridiculous.

Anyways, if it was me since I'm not a fan of big plastic designs I'd probably go for the 230T.

But my logic is that I actually don't have a whole lot of money especially after having to replace both my motherboard and processor fairly recently if I can save at least 20 to 30 dollars then I'll be okay but I have things like bills to pay I'm not a rich person I do not have a silver spoon in my mouth sure you may enjoy sipping on champagne served in a golden chalice me I can drink a small can of beer if it suits me.
That's why I actually have a broad range of cases to choose from it doesn't mean I'm going to go buy the cheapest piece of **** I can buy but that doesn't mean I have a whole lot of money to throw around I like to keep it into a medium of my budget which I did not have a whole lot of $80 is my max no questions asked or any excuse to spend more than that as honestly I really don't have more then 80 dollars to spend when the time comes.
Now if I can find something like the enthoo pro for under $80 I will buy it but I am on a budget honestly what is more important a computer case or electric bill? After all you can't run a computer without electricity. And by the way I can actually buy something like the enthoo under the price of $80 like the Corsair 200R which actually has a lot of similar looks and features. Both in the end still have a front plastic cover offered the same form factor that costs at least $50 less the only advantage I see to the enthoo case were usb3 ports, four of them but I don't need that many has at least two will be fine.

 

[PP Mguire]

But my logic is that I actually don't have a whole lot of money especially after having to replace both my motherboard and processor fairly recently if I can save at least 20 to 30 dollars then I'll be okay but I have things like bills to pay I'm not a rich person I do not have a silver spoon in my mouth sure you may enjoy sipping on champagne served in a golden chalice me I can drink a small can of beer if it suits me.
That's why I actually have a broad range of cases to choose from it doesn't mean I'm going to go buy the cheapest piece of **** I can buy but that doesn't mean I have a whole lot of money to throw around I like to keep it into a medium of my budget which I did not have a whole lot of $80 is my max no questions asked or any excuse to spend more than that as honestly I really don't have more then 80 dollars to spend when the time comes.
Now if I can find something like the enthoo pro for under $80 I will buy it but I am on a budget honestly what is more important a computer case or electric bill? After all you can't run a computer without electricity. And by the way I can actually buy something like the enthoo under the price of $80 like the Corsair 200R which actually has a lot of similar looks and features. Both in the end still have a front plastic cover offered the same form factor that costs at least $50 less the only advantage I see to the enthoo case were usb3 ports, four of them but I don't need that many has at least two will be fine.

First of all, you need to calm down man. Your replies are extremely forthcoming for a new user where we haven't had a lot of time to gauge a personality.

My reply was simply geared towards your attitude "sitting under a desk", when cases that cost more do have extra advantages than simply aesthetics. The biggest difference between say the 200r/230t/Carbide and the Enthoo is build quality. I have a couple cheaper Corsair cases around my place that with nothing in them I can literally bend and flex the chassis because it's made of thin metals. You can't do that with the Enthoo. Another prime difference is actual cable management opportunity. I have almost 2" of clearance behind my panel so I don't have to squish things together to get the panel on, including 2 options for SSD mounts and a PWM fan controller that came from the factory.
The third and most important difference will be air flow and fan mount options (additionally rad mount options). After it's all said and done the end product coming to your door does make a large difference besides sitting there and being pretty. That was my point all along. I get that your budget is 70 bucks, I never deterred from that and I actually answered your question with my opinion and selected that on the poll you put up.

As for the rest, it goes along with what I first said. Nobody on these boards are made of money and I'm only here to make sure people make the best decisions in their hardware purchases and to make sure they have an educated opinion when they buy. Hence my reply towards cases in the hundred dollar range. I'm a single parent with my own bills/debt to pay too, nobody here is beyond the struggle man.

 

[Nukem]

My choice?

NZXT Source 530 CA-SO530-M1 Matte Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com

edit:
Found a refirb cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=nzxt_source_530-_-11-146-165-_-Product

 

[MadmanRB]

First of all, you need to calm down man. Your replies are extremely forthcoming for a new user where we haven't had a lot of time to gauge a personality.

My reply was simply geared towards your attitude "sitting under a desk", when cases that cost more do have extra advantages than simply aesthetics. The biggest difference between say the 200r/230t/Carbide and the Enthoo is build quality. I have a couple cheaper Corsair cases around my place that with nothing in them I can literally bend and flex the chassis because it's made of thin metals. You can't do that with the Enthoo. Another prime difference is actual cable management opportunity. I have almost 2" of clearance behind my panel so I don't have to squish things together to get the panel on, including 2 options for SSD mounts and a PWM fan controller that came from the factory.
The third and most important difference will be air flow and fan mount options (additionally rad mount options). After it's all said and done the end product coming to your door does make a large difference besides sitting there and being pretty. That was my point all along. I get that your budget is 70 bucks, I never deterred from that and I actually answered your question with my opinion and selected that on the poll you put up.

As for the rest, it goes along with what I first said. Nobody on these boards are made of money and I'm only here to make sure people make the best decisions in their hardware purchases and to make sure they have an educated opinion when they buy. Hence my reply towards cases in the hundred dollar range. I'm a single parent with my own bills/debt to pay too, nobody here is beyond the struggle man.

Well panel flex I can ignore, hell I argue panel flex is a good thing if you do a lot of maintenance as it allows the panels to come off more easily and if i get a dent I am not going to cry about it.
Hell with my current case the only thing that went was the front bezel and the hard drive bay cover mesh, the side metal and motherboard tray metal are mostly intact.
As for airflow I know it has to be there in lower end builds, I have seen some good scores online come from lower end cases.
I really dont mind if my motherboard has rubber grommets or not, its is a budget build so seeing some of my cabling is no big fuss.
Yes cable management is a concern of mine but you be surprised what i did with this machine before I had to replace its motherboard, and this is a case with no cable management whatsoever I had to get inventive for it.
This is in the end a mid range build, on one hand its not the most fancy setup in the universe nor the highest end I dont even have overclocking on my CPU.
But on the other hand my hardware is just good enough to keep up with most modern games with some minor flexibility considering i went with a intel 1155 socket setup, a non overclocking mobo or CPU.
I just know that after nearly five years I beat the crap out of the case, and there were times the more flexible metals came in handy.
Again this cases big issue is its front panel and bezel due to the wear and tear, the other is some paint scratched off but again thats after years of wear and tear.

My choice?

NZXT Source 530 CA-SO530-M1 Matte Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com

edit:
Found a refirb cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=nzxt_source_530-_-11-146-165-_-Product

How are Neweggs refirbs? I never got anything refirb from them before.
At full price that case is just out of range (plus shipping) so I do have to ask if you have experience with it

 

[Dauntae]

I haven't dealt with any refurb cases before but I DO love the NZXT cases, Have a older model I got on close out and love it and it's got good airflow and cable management, I however could only find the version without the side window so it's a mute point.

 

[MadmanRB]

I haven't dealt with any refurb cases before but I DO love the NZXT cases, Have a older model I got on close out and love it and it's got good airflow and cable management, I however could only find the version without the side window so it's a mute point.

Well this list almost included the NZXT Phantom 240 and H230 but I heard the hard drive caddies are flimsy and seen it in videos.
Its the main reason why NZXT didnt make this list, I am aware they make some good cases but internals I saw had mixed results.
As a NZXT user how do you feel about the hard drive caddies?
Did you have to deal with replacing them?

 

[Dauntae]

On the one I have, The front fans of the case have push button removal and the HD trays come out the front, no issues for me, A lot of people are super critical because the tray gets a HD put on and slid in and that's it, No movement no wear and won't break unless your a gorilla putting it together.

 

[MadmanRB]

Well I could reconsider the Phantom 240, but i heard it has issues with my desired cooler.
I heard the cooler master 212 doesnt fit but I heard the Hyper T4 does, I see many vidoes praise the 212 but I know very little about the T4.
Is it a good cooler?
Again water cooling is not really in my goal, just a better cooler in general then my intel stock cooler.
I dont need the corsair H100i as I have no overclocking capibility, so an air cooler will do