Get the new Explosion & Repair poster! store.gamersnexus.net/products/tear-down-logo-poster-18-x-24 Or the Video Card Anatomy educational poster: store.gamersnexus.net/products/video-card-components-poster-18-x-24 If you want to see some of our reviews on other small ATX cases, check out Fractal Design’s Meshify 2 Compact: th-cam.com/video/94l1c5dMRX8/w-d-xo.html Or our review of the Phanteks P400A Digital: th-cam.com/video/ZfXQQZtD_SI/w-d-xo.html Or you can see Lian Li’s Lancool 215: th-cam.com/video/un82B93xKOE/w-d-xo.html
Question has GN ever considered testing the cheapest zip ties on over heating PSU cables. There are a couple really bad configurations that seem really hot.
Why does this case remind me of the Focus G from fractal??? It's ATX standoffs definitely don't line up in the front of my focus G, so my ATX motherboard sits like half inch from even resting on the standoffs, let alone lined up with the holes on the front panel side of the case. I hope this cheap thing is better than that...
Btw steve the reason this case has those side airflow slots is because there's a glass front version. :P all around really great company. You should reach out to them and check out some of their other offerings!
Here's something weird. That metal wobble side panel noise was used to emulate thunder in 15th-16th century London playhouses. The technique was "borrowed" from its inventor by a rival prop master, giving us the phrase "stole my thunder."
@@GamersNexus Unfortunately theatres were not able to afford metal PC case side panels in the era, however the rest is true. We still sometimes use this technique in theatre today.
@@GamersNexus The story appears in Edward Rutherfurd's novel "London." It may or may not be true, but he's known for his exhaustive research, often taking 5 years or more to produce a single novel.
The only person who gushes more is lockpicking lawyer: "I haven't found any intolerable critical flaws in this high-security lock that would enable me to open it in under 20 seconds yet."
23:06 "but if you're looking for affordable airflow, and... good for performance uhhh... gets the job done. Then this is one of the better ones we've looked at lately and we're fine with recommending it for that type of user." Another absolutely glowing review from Gamers Nexus.
It's an accurate description of it TBH. $70 for a decently-designed, airflow-centric case that has six RGB fans preinstalled is great for RGB-on-a-budget people. For parents that want to build a computer for their kids to play with that is pretty to look at but does not break the bank, this makes a ton of sense if they can source a GPU. A 3060, i5-11400, 16GB of RAM, M.2 SSD and a 500W PSU would all fit in well here.
So you are pretty weak and pretty loud with some turbulences and fixed personality, but at least you are cheap and come bundled with 5 of the same as you?
Great example of how decision making in parts picking is about tradeoffs. This case seems good enough in most ways and most of the shortcomings are acceptable tradeoffs to keep costs down for users who are not interested in dedicating more of their budget to a premium case.
Indeed, you see so many products where they cut corners in the wrong places to save costs, in a way it renders the product almost unusable or at least not that worth it. This case I feel hits all the fundamentals at good performance for the price.
Now imagine one for the same budget but without 6 RGB fans, build quality and features would go through the roof. Maybe throw in a pair of no-frills 120mm fans just to be safe and it can be a good choice.
I do think that fixed speed fans in a mesh case are a wrong decision. They could have removed one fan (front bottom, useless) and made the rest controlled by a fan header instead.
I purchased a somewhat similar case from Montech about a year ago: Montech Air X ARGB. I paid a similar price $70 (Newegg still at $70) I believe it is more a solid build than X3 and it came with functional fan controller. I’m happy with the purchase.
Picked this up recently for a little over $50 for the first Pc I've built since 2008. Considering my entire budget for the pc minus the GPU was $400, it helped out a lot.
I was about to say the same thing.. and it’s literally about to get worse. Reports say most retailers are 4-6 months out on inventory backlog. August is going to be a blood bath in pricing and availability for shipping, and I’m genuinely confused how I still see products selling for a discount. Buy your Christmas gifts now!!
Also I love that Steve talks about logistics and seems to understand more about it than the average Techtuber. As a freight salesman… he strikes me as an ideal client. Smart and realistic
A case only having a single USB 3.0 port is a real pet peeve of mine. The header supports two ports, and it's not like they use a less chunky cable when they only provide one port.
@@bikemike1945 why not complain about a thing that's like 10 cents and it would've made the case more killer with minimal effort on the manufacturing side?
@@XxXnonameAsDXxX For truly budget cases, corners need to be cut in order to meet a certain price and clearly the fan count couldn't be cut at that's the entire gimmick. I'd have personally opted to skip the glass panel, LED lights, or a 2.5" drive sled before the front IO instead though.
@@XxXnonameAsDXxX I'd wish they'd keep the case a bit deeper to have less space issues with the PSU/drive bay/front fan area. Adding just an inch would already help with all of that.
Bought this case for $60 from MicroCenter last month for my first build and it’s great. I usually don’t have the rgb fan lights on since the other components provide my multicolored goodness. Installed the NZXT Kraken X53 AIO at the top and it stays cool and quiet. mATX is definitely the way to go for space to work in for future repairs/upgrades. Overall a great budget case and looks *crispy* once finished with that side panel display. Montech has gained an extra fan!
yep a positive review here generally means about a bajillion people are going to head to amazon and newegg and buy em out. same thing happened with those case fans Jay looked at a couple of years ago. bam, all gone.
Which is a shame. I bought sub 5€ fans that come with molex and 3-pin fan header. They aren't the best fans out there, but run at 7v noise levels are acceptable and cooling is still decent. Sure there are better fans out there, but when I have the choice of a single Noctua or 5 of those....
Montech's cases have been great (especially here in Malaysia). I personally got the Sky One for about 70-ish USD, 4 pwm fans (one being argb), an argb hub, great airflow and usb type-c. Even their Air 100 is super popular rn. Hope you guys can bring a review on those cases!
The designer of this case needs more credit. No liquid cooling, no problem. What is the % of gamers that use liquid cooling? The smaller dimensions are great.
How to make a great budget case: -Cheap out on the materials and build quality -Basic fans -Tons of airflow with sufficient dust proof -Reasonable designs that make it easy to work with
@@JoelHernandez-tz3vk Sounds like the AH T600 case. I have one, it's $300 of glass and steel and your PC is mostly exposed. Looks super cool but it weighs like 60 friggin pounds.
I got a Silverstone PS15B for 50 bucks and added a 5x set of Arctic P12 for $25, and I really like it as a budget airflow case. With how good the price/performance is of the P12s I feel there are a lot of these cases that are barely talked about that can definitely pull their weight in the budget category. As long as they have mesh and enough sensible mounting spaces for fans at least :)
I do a little PC building on the side. And I’ve built in this case and it’s actually not bad for the price. It does feel cheap but wheat can you expect with all them fans the one problem I had is that when trying to plug in the motherboard in the top left the fan was in the way so I had to remove the fan then reinstall it later.
It's currently 2024 - This is my go-to case for budget builds I've done for the kids in the family, four so far as of today. I love the magnet catches and removable hinges on the side panel, the case actually feels solid once you've got your PSU and mobo in... although I suppose one could argue against needing to use your PC parts as structural support! Great review, great case for the money ($60 on a amazon right now).
Hey how can I tell what is ground vs positive on the power/reset switch wires? I just did a build tonight and I can’t get power to anything, I hear the psu click, and nothing else happens. No lights or anything. I have a cpu cable to the top left power, I have the 24 pin in, the only thing I can think is it either doesn’t like where I have the single stick ram, or the ground/pos is backwards. Help =(
@@nicholaswight6296 Power/reset switches are a 'normally open, dry contact' which means polarity shouldn't matter, it's literally just letting power flow when you hold it down and breaks the circuit when you let up. My nephew just brought a new build he was working on over, couldn't get a video signal. In that case he was just afraid of pressing the RAM down too hard to seat it. Make sure both sides are clipping in solid! Maybe move the stick to a new slot and make sure it's in there solid. Unplug everything from the case IO header on the mobo, make sure you're confident what pins start the PC and short it with a screwdriver, if you're not comfortable with that use the power switch and only the power switch. Remove any NVMe or SATA devices or PCIe devices that aren't critical to boot, maybe even the video card and plug it back in once you start seeing LEDs and fans. If you've got a CMOS jumper, short it once to reset your BIOS and then make sure it's open, that can halt booting. Make sure your PSU is set to 120V (240V in EU) if it has a switch for that, and check to see if it has an integrated breaker. Wish I could be there to help, you just gotta go down the list of stuff it could be and do the troubleshooting dance, we all have to :) Lemme know how it went!
never even considered this. i have the meshify C from fractal. the one this case ripped off. it is kinda loud since its right next to me on the desk, i'll try that pad thing
@@aresisis5427 Remember that noise isolation always also does thermal isolation. So while there might be less noise coming through the side panel, the fans might need to run faster to keep the same temps.
Just picked this up for $40 brand new for a mid-range build for the wife. At that price, really cant complain as it includes 6 fans. 6 cheap fans, true, but it helps.
Ok I ordered this case and 2 of them came with problems One had a broken side panel and the other had cables were cut Then I bought the nx 410 great case
Might be just me but i think this case very well delivered considering how much it costs, and how much airflow it has..it put to shame much more expensive cases where some have almost 0 airflow. in a way, imagine getting this case with most prebuilts u guys tested recently. gets + for me tbh! thanks for this review
I just helped my room mate buddy build a new PC in a Modtech AIR 100 ARGB case. I was very impressed with his choice. 4x120mm addressable fans with a fan hub, Nice compact MATX, just what he needs. He's not PC building savvy at all, I just told him to avoid glass front for best airflow. The ONLY con was, there's not enough clearance to break out the PCI slot covers with out scraping the motherboard. Make sure you break out the PCI slot covers FIRST before you put the motherboard in. We tried bending them out of the case, but it ended up bending the dividers. We had to take the whole motherboard out and bend them in and back.
Nice to see this one perform well as a budget case. Sure, it lacks some quality of life features from more expensive cases, and the lack of controllable fan speed is a pity, but the case hits all the fundamentals (even RGB for those who think it's fundamental) at a low cost and with good performance.
Installed a PC a while ago with this case. R5 3600 and a 5600XT w/ 16GB and 2TB SSD. The experience was nice, I've had more trouble with other cases, found no sharp edges (I get cut a lot). Can't say about thermals because it's being used in an Air Conditioned environment. Client is happy, case looks decent.
Placing a fan in one of those PSU shroud mounts blowing upwards could have a very big improvement in GPU temps even if it's just "redirecting" air from the lower front intake fan to go more upwards. GPUs generally struggle with air recirculation which can be solved by forcing airflow upwards past the GPU.
The fans alone make it worth the $70. I have a friend that doesn't game, but wants to build a budget PC. We picked up this case at Microcenter, and it's perfect for a Ryzen 5 build.
Steve: "These cases and fans are not good water cooling support." Me: with a drill spare aluminum, rivet gun a knockout punch and Chinese radiators: "What??"
I think he means why pay for such a cheaply built case and replace the fans with radiator. Just spend 70 bucks on a 3 fan case and use top or front 240mm aio.
Major props for putting error bars on those bar plots! (I do realize that they are only meant to give a rough feeling for the measurement error, but +/-1 std would be more informative/interpretable than a constant +/-0.75 degC - even if visually indistinguishable.)
I built my PC in this case and have noticed three things: - The top fans can be 140mm, there are mounting holes for it. - The front fans can be mounted on the inside. - You can fit a 322mm GPU in this case with the front fans mounted on the outside (the default mount) even though it is specced to 305mm. I did this yesterday and it's a bit snug to get in, but it definitely fits. And a final note: getting rid of the original fans free up quite a bit of space for cables on the back since you can remove the Molex centipede that's thriving in there. I removed the button for the LED on/off button as well, which allowed me to also remove the white part of the Molex centipede.
I thought about this, i remember seeing this case for a lot cheaper than 70 dollars it was like 50 dollars i think, but after the whole pandemic prices have gone up so much.
And in my country (Indonesia) there is has another good case from montech and that just 50$~ it's called "air x white Argb" (has sighnificantly better build & desain)
I use the very similar $55 CAD Cougar MX410 Mesh-G RGB with 4 addressable RGB fans, 2 addressable RGB strips flanking the front fans, 2x 3.5" and 3x 2.5" mounts, 2x USB 2.0 and 2x USB 3.0 on top, but no hinge. All fans and RGB run off an included PCB with some preset RGB programs on SATA 12V power. By default, the 2nd button controls RGB but can be connected as a standard reset button. Same single speed fans but I think they're quieter than the one reviewed. Tempered glass panel is fine but some metal parts are a little thin. Overall very happy with it.
@@strathadam1 Still one of the best features on my NZXT H440. The fact that it illuminates the rear IO as well is a blessing when plugging things in. Anything I replace it with will have this modded in.
You guys really need to review the Darkflash DLX21. I pitched one 6 months ago for $80 on Newegg. They are now priced $211. eBay still has them for $100. It’s a great game with dual hinges, glass, tons of airflow
Are you going to review the Silverstone Alta F1 which is releasing next month? I'm really excited to see the RV02 style top-to-bottom fan + rotated mainboard layout coming back.
@@LatitudeSky But the volume would be smaller, so they'd be significantly cheaper to ship. That goes back to Steve's point about dimensional weight. It's more expensive to ship a container full of air than one full of freight.
Honestly, the thought of shipping the case IKEA-DIY style sounds interesting. Have the metal panes, L profiles for the corners, and a bunch of screws and let the user put it together themselves. Also allows for some customization during assembly.
Just built my new gaming rig in a montech x1 and basically you said it best, it gets the job done and that's pretty much it. Great air flow and everything else is cheap.
The best English professor I ever had - used a rule when we reviewed each others work... Don't say anything positive; the writer already thinks it's good - your job is to point out where it is not. That is how Gamers Nexus approaches reviews... Ok, you think your (insert hardware type here) is good; let us explain how it could be better, and show you how we arrived at that conclusion. I love it!
If you want an even cheaper case that very similar to the Montech X3 Mesh. You can get a Rakk Haliya. You can get it as low as 32USD. It only has one exhaust fan but that's a good thing, if you plan to populate it with your own choice of case fans. I bought the MATX version myself and I'm satisfied with it. I don't how much it would cost to ship it in other countries though since it's a local Philippine brand.
Given the amount of data you all collect on various testing, I would love it if you were able to do top 5 for buyers. Forgive me if you already have done this. Thx for the detailed content and keep up the great work!! 👍😁
@@AndreiBarsan thx. I was thinking top five based on ddr4, fan, coolers, mobo, psu, etc. A brand list for each category as I am sure specs will vary based on main build components.
I watch all your case reviews paused while listening to Undertale - Megalovania and skipping in rhythm with 5sec increments and then just watching the summary at the end. Great experience, would recommend.
I wish some of these manufacturers would have a 'no bling' option for some of these uselessly ugly lightshow cases, the fractal design meshify 2/C is still my go to case just because I can get it with a proper side panel.
The regular new Corsair cases are nice and bling free. They're basically just solid (as in sturdy lol) metal boxes with screw holes for parts. That's one of the reasons I got the 5000D Airflow. Really well built and designed with no gaudy bits.
@@MaxLan-o4l If you aren't using the rbg why bother with this case? For a little more money you can get cases that cool better that come with better fans or some less expensive cases that you can put your own (better) fans into.
Just bought this case at Micro Center and it works great. Ryzen 7 with a 1660 GPU (6 or 8 gigs?) It was in an ASUS case that sucked bad for cooling. This case brought the temp down significantly! Running at a nice 40-45 C idle.Compared to 65 - 70 before!
Top filters are good for keeping random shit from falling into your case though. Again, Steve’s narrowly focused view that “ONLY airflow matters” has caused him to overlook any other potential utility for things he doesn’t understand. Dust will also have a harder time settling inside the case when it’s off, and for people that turn their PC’s off, that’s a point of entry that dust could enter the system if it stays off long enough. Sure, if you don’t have any chance of random crumbs and or particles dropping into the top, and don’t ever turn it off, then sure-airflow could be improved by removing the top filter. Hell, depending on the size of the holes I’d imagine that a 3.5mm TRS connector from a set of headphones could easily find their way in there and REALLY fuck up your day. If you have cats, stuff that’s on your desk can easily find it’s way into places it should be, and my little fur ball would probably enjoy the noises made by the fans when he drops shit into it, along with the sounds that daddy makes when he catches him doing it. Someone with actual children might have similar issues, and a little extra mesh couldn’t hurt.
And now you know why I can't be bothered to get a pet. Nothing could ever prepare me for a pet. I don't have children either but that's more due to my forever alone nature.
Used your Amazon link to the Lian Li 215 to check the price. The link had a like new (used) for $51. We'll see what I get :) Thanks as always for a great review! Always like to hear what you found.
Honestly, I think being able to unscrew the case into a bunch of flat panels would help a lot, with the space on the container. You could fit 2, maybe 3, such cases, in the space you would only fit one without disassembly.
Whilst that case is not for me I can see use cases for it as case cheap case ready to go no additions needed. Great review as usual well explained where this case fit in the world of cases. Thanks Steve & team at GN
I’m glad to see montech do well as a budget choice being they’re a brand new company. Currently running an 850W PSU from then with no issues in a friends build for about 6 months now. He even has a basic OC on his CPU. I hope to see them do good once the PSU testing is published. We might have a good new company
I just finished a rebuild with this case. I was a bit concerned about quality, but at the end of the day my main reason for purchasing this case was its size, so I really kinda had to gamble. There aren't a ton of options locally for shallower cases that are still standard ATX, and I really needed to shave some width (2 1/2" narrower) due to a reorganizing of my gaming space. My system moved out of an NZXT S340 I used to build back in 2017. The trade-offs in my scenario were similarly "balanced" as the video alludes to. Steel is thinner than my old case, so it feels slightly less rigid when completely disassembled. It lacks a few features like easily removable dust screens for both main and PS intakes. But on the plus side the window is glass instead of plastic so it looks higher quality and being on a hinge with magnetized closure makes it super convenient for regular cleanings. Because it's just a transfer I moved over all of my good fans over as well. I only needed the case. At the end of the day I'm really happy with it. All of my components just fit (Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 tower cooler, Asus 3070) and it looks better than the case I spent more on 6 years ago (likely better airflow as well TBH S340 didn't have a good rep). Overall, I think this is a fantastic case for the price.
You guys should review the montech x1, it's only about $50ish, but still has 4 of the same fans as the x3. I think it would be better price/performance. I built a PC for a buddy of mine literally just before the video card apocalypse hit. He chose this case, which surprisingly is alot better than I thought it was gonna be, put a Ryzen 2700, b450 steel legend, 16gb xpg ram, rtx 2060, 600 watt psu and a 1 tb SSD for under $700. A month later this build was nowhere near possible, he got his stuff just in time
Interesting case. I'm still extremely happy with the Lian Li Lancool 215 X case I was able to get for only $80 earlier this year. It's been an excellent case for my needs, it runs everything cool and quiet. Syncing the RGB on the built in fans with the RGB on my MSI board was easy once I plugged all the stock fans directly into the MB and bypassed the case fan controller.
The fan screws on the inside of the case problem is one of several reasons I use M4 bolts, washers and nuts to secure all of my case fans instead of using the crude fan screws they want you to use. c: I can use the same bolts to secure those fans to radiators, using the washers to prevent scratching or unexpected vibrations.
You need to do more Montech case reviews: they have the Air X, Air 100 mATX, and the high-end Sky One, which I think are all competitive. They're all high airflow cases, and their prices are truly a steal here in Vietnam, respectively at $55, $60, and $80.
Just got this case open-box from Amazon for 30 bucks. Hopefully should be great for my budget build. Last time I bought a case was 13 years ago with a $25 NZXT case from Newegg and since then, every pc case I have owned has been super heavy. Constantly rearranging my office and eyeing the weight limit on my motorized desk, I miss the light and thin aspect of that case.
A Brazilian hardware store probably sources cases from the same place as Montech for their in store brand. They sell them without any fans and at sale they are dirt cheap. Bought one and 4 Deepcool PWM fans for around the same price as this and it is a little chilly inside. Here in Brazil there is a extremely steep price hike between low end 10 year old designs and budget cases from the big brands, so these are pretty good for the price (especially because they don't have to account for 6 garbage fans in the package).
When Steve said the 4000D and Lian Li 215 were close competitors I looked them up and they were double the price of a similar looking mesh case and 4 fans.
It was fun seeing the same terrible psu filter and pcie lock. I bought covers so I didn't have to do precision steel cutting to install my graphics card and boy it was an odyssey to tap those 7 fucking screw holes.
I used the " Apevia Crusader-F-BK Mid Tower Gaming Case with 1 x Full-Size Tempered Glass Panel, Top USB3.0/USB2.0/Audio Ports, 4 x RGB Fans " from Amazon @ $75. Was an easy case to build in, has rgb control if that's your thing, enough room in the bay for wiring and HDDs and plenty of clearance for a 3 fan GPU and tower air cooler. Down side is the old school 4 corner rubber mounts for the glass panel, the white triangle power button led and spacing of the holes at the bottom of the mobo are very tight. I did replace the fans after a year because I wanted hub glow and decided to go with a completly red and black theme to match my 5700xt Red Devil but the original case fans worked fine. You guys should check it out for a budget case. Comes in this nice brushed look in either black, white or pink.
Wow I have the Montech X2 case I believe with 2 140mm fans in front and 1 120mm fan on back installed, it's super nice case and I dropped so many degrees and my system was had a lot better airflow and cooling
Montech's best case is the AIR 100 ARGB MICRO-ATX. Excellent value, very nice fans with either push button or motherboard ARGB control. For a simple build, I enjoyed it.
It warms my heart in an odd way that the Molex Centipede is a thing that exists. Even though there's a possibility it could warm someone's entire house a little too much.
Wow a new case manufacturer finaly got a hesitant recommendation in the budget space thats high praise from steve! what is that three points less then "horrendous waste of space?"
Get the new Explosion & Repair poster! store.gamersnexus.net/products/tear-down-logo-poster-18-x-24
Or the Video Card Anatomy educational poster: store.gamersnexus.net/products/video-card-components-poster-18-x-24
If you want to see some of our reviews on other small ATX cases, check out Fractal Design’s Meshify 2 Compact: th-cam.com/video/94l1c5dMRX8/w-d-xo.html
Or our review of the Phanteks P400A Digital: th-cam.com/video/ZfXQQZtD_SI/w-d-xo.html
Or you can see Lian Li’s Lancool 215: th-cam.com/video/un82B93xKOE/w-d-xo.html
Question has GN ever considered testing the cheapest zip ties on over heating PSU cables. There are a couple really bad configurations that seem really hot.
So this or the thermal take c31 commander for the same price now?
I found that there is a button that can control color on top of the plastic or where the usb front panel is... Sometimes.
Why does this case remind me of the Focus G from fractal??? It's ATX standoffs definitely don't line up in the front of my focus G, so my ATX motherboard sits like half inch from even resting on the standoffs, let alone lined up with the holes on the front panel side of the case. I hope this cheap thing is better than that...
Btw steve the reason this case has those side airflow slots is because there's a glass front version. :P all around really great company. You should reach out to them and check out some of their other offerings!
Here's something weird. That metal wobble side panel noise was used to emulate thunder in 15th-16th century London playhouses. The technique was "borrowed" from its inventor by a rival prop master, giving us the phrase "stole my thunder."
Is that actually true? I don't know what to believe on the internet anymore, and I don't want to ruin it by looking it up!
@@GamersNexus Unfortunately theatres were not able to afford metal PC case side panels in the era, however the rest is true. We still sometimes use this technique in theatre today.
I love this so much that, incase it's false, I'm not going to look it up to maintain the idea.
@@GamersNexus The story appears in Edward Rutherfurd's novel "London." It may or may not be true, but he's known for his exhaustive research, often taking 5 years or more to produce a single novel.
@@Horcerer Bravo!!!
Steve: Decent overall performer… not intolerably loud.
Me: I’ve never seen Steve gush over a case like this.
Steve would be "mildly pleased" with God if he ever comes face to face with the ultimate deity, I'm sure of it. 😁
@@liviubita4238 a review of different gods by Steve B, based on objective measuring and criteria? Sounds like an amazing idea for a side channel :D
The only person who gushes more is lockpicking lawyer: "I haven't found any intolerable critical flaws in this high-security lock that would enable me to open it in under 20 seconds yet."
23:06 "but if you're looking for affordable airflow, and... good for performance uhhh... gets the job done. Then this is one of the better ones we've looked at lately and we're fine with recommending it for that type of user."
Another absolutely glowing review from Gamers Nexus.
I bursted out in laughter at this.
It's an accurate description of it TBH. $70 for a decently-designed, airflow-centric case that has six RGB fans preinstalled is great for RGB-on-a-budget people. For parents that want to build a computer for their kids to play with that is pretty to look at but does not break the bank, this makes a ton of sense if they can source a GPU. A 3060, i5-11400, 16GB of RAM, M.2 SSD and a 500W PSU would all fit in well here.
it's almost like he has to force himself to say something nice and it feels unnatural for him xD
I just bought this case last week and I don’t blame Steve for recommending it. It is a very solid case for its price.
@@CFI963 I have Always been a fan of montech cases recommended another model to both my mother and my cousin when I helped build their PC's.
I'm fan of this case
Take your upvote!
Loooool
So you are pretty weak and pretty loud with some turbulences and fixed personality, but at least you are cheap and come bundled with 5 of the same as you?
This pun blows.
But the case is a fan of you
G'Damn kids nowadays..... I remember when we had to plug in molex cables uphill both ways.
And in the snow too! Now get off my lawn!
4:23 ahh yes, the "Molex Centipede"... It was quite the horrorshow. The sequel, "Molex Centipede 2: Additional Current" was off the rails.
Get out, lol
Stop
I'm laughing way harder at this than I should be
You mean off the power rails of your PSU?!?
@@HyunMoKoo You got it! :D
Great example of how decision making in parts picking is about tradeoffs. This case seems good enough in most ways and most of the shortcomings are acceptable tradeoffs to keep costs down for users who are not interested in dedicating more of their budget to a premium case.
Indeed, you see so many products where they cut corners in the wrong places to save costs, in a way it renders the product almost unusable or at least not that worth it. This case I feel hits all the fundamentals at good performance for the price.
Now imagine one for the same budget but without 6 RGB fans, build quality and features would go through the roof. Maybe throw in a pair of no-frills 120mm fans just to be safe and it can be a good choice.
I do think that fixed speed fans in a mesh case are a wrong decision. They could have removed one fan (front bottom, useless) and made the rest controlled by a fan header instead.
In denmark it’s just shy of 40 $ so that is a steal considering the “price to performance”
Good buy there. I never get anything over around that price point.. had my case 10+ years.
it's 50 in Taiwan, so yeah it's a steal especially on the other side of the world
In Italy is 75 euro so something like 60 USD
That's like buying the fans and getting the rest of the case for free
I purchased a somewhat similar case from Montech about a year ago: Montech Air X ARGB. I paid a similar price $70 (Newegg still at $70) I believe it is more a solid build than X3 and it came with functional fan controller. I’m happy with the purchase.
MONTECH AIR X is such an underrated case.
Picked this up recently for a little over $50 for the first Pc I've built since 2008. Considering my entire budget for the pc minus the GPU was $400, it helped out a lot.
Global logistics are a nightmare atm, containers go fro 4 to 10x their normal rate and take 2x the time and that is IF you can get a slot on a ship.
I was about to say the same thing.. and it’s literally about to get worse. Reports say most retailers are 4-6 months out on inventory backlog. August is going to be a blood bath in pricing and availability for shipping, and I’m genuinely confused how I still see products selling for a discount. Buy your Christmas gifts now!!
Also I love that Steve talks about logistics and seems to understand more about it than the average Techtuber. As a freight salesman… he strikes me as an ideal client. Smart and realistic
@@r.i.pete55 I think that's due to them running their own store and sourcing their own products. Definitely good experience to call from!
Peter G luckily I make all my Christmas gifts… trouble is it’s even hard to get the materials now!
It is a horrible time to be a shipping worker right now. Many of them have gone 10x as long as they're supposed to without time off.
A case only having a single USB 3.0 port is a real pet peeve of mine. The header supports two ports, and it's not like they use a less chunky cable when they only provide one port.
They save themselves a *couple feet of narrow wiring by only supporting half the header's wires. So maybe $0.10
@@bikemike1945 why not complain about a thing that's like 10 cents and it would've made the case more killer with minimal effort on the manufacturing side?
@@XxXnonameAsDXxX For truly budget cases, corners need to be cut in order to meet a certain price and clearly the fan count couldn't be cut at that's the entire gimmick. I'd have personally opted to skip the glass panel, LED lights, or a 2.5" drive sled before the front IO instead though.
@@vikmanphotography7984 same, but I think we are a part of a crowd who doesn't really care about rgb that much
@@XxXnonameAsDXxX I'd wish they'd keep the case a bit deeper to have less space issues with the PSU/drive bay/front fan area. Adding just an inch would already help with all of that.
Bought this case for $60 from MicroCenter last month for my first build and it’s great. I usually don’t have the rgb fan lights on since the other components provide my multicolored goodness. Installed the NZXT Kraken X53 AIO at the top and it stays cool and quiet. mATX is definitely the way to go for space to work in for future repairs/upgrades. Overall a great budget case and looks *crispy* once finished with that side panel display. Montech has gained an extra fan!
This case is gonna raise in price
yep a positive review here generally means about a bajillion people are going to head to amazon and newegg and buy em out. same thing happened with those case fans Jay looked at a couple of years ago. bam, all gone.
@@ghomerhust still in stock at amazon
Which will take away its only reason to exist.
Wrong. It decreased
This statement likely is false as I had buy one for 64$ recently lol
But what are the OUT-OF-THE-BOX thermals?
Wait a minute! The out-of-the-box thermals are THE SAME AS ROOM TEMPERATURE! WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
@@GamersNexus so you're saying that it doesn't cool at all?!
@@GamersNexus Gotta think outside the box
@@GamersNexus METAL BAWKSES?!?!?! Firaeveus Carron is incensed.
@@GamersNexus THE NUMBERS MASON
"...powered by a 4-pin molex connector."
"Oh."
"*Only*"
"Ooooooh."
Which is a shame. I bought sub 5€ fans that come with molex and 3-pin fan header. They aren't the best fans out there, but run at 7v noise levels are acceptable and cooling is still decent. Sure there are better fans out there, but when I have the choice of a single Noctua or 5 of those....
Wassup Big Perm!!!! ….I mean Big Worm.
Montech's cases have been great (especially here in Malaysia). I personally got the Sky One for about 70-ish USD, 4 pwm fans (one being argb), an argb hub, great airflow and usb type-c. Even their Air 100 is super popular rn. Hope you guys can bring a review on those cases!
The designer of this case needs more credit. No liquid cooling, no problem. What is the % of gamers that use liquid cooling? The smaller dimensions are great.
How to make a great budget case:
-Cheap out on the materials and build quality
-Basic fans
-Tons of airflow with sufficient dust proof
-Reasonable designs that make it easy to work with
Less material = MOAR airflow = Profit!
I sometimes wonder if a case that's nothing but a skeleton filled with dust filters work.
@@JoelHernandez-tz3vk Sounds like the AH T600 case. I have one, it's $300 of glass and steel and your PC is mostly exposed. Looks super cool but it weighs like 60 friggin pounds.
Did molex sponsor this case lmao
Nobody tell him that Molex makes almost all of the connectors in our computers
@@notstorm208 yea dont tell him
Molex no longer manufacturers those. They do manufacture the Mini Fit Jr. Connections still, like the ones used in ATX power connectors.
Yeah, the 24 pin and the 6/8 pin for graphics cards are also molex plugs :D
I got a Silverstone PS15B for 50 bucks and added a 5x set of Arctic P12 for $25, and I really like it as a budget airflow case. With how good the price/performance is of the P12s I feel there are a lot of these cases that are barely talked about that can definitely pull their weight in the budget category. As long as they have mesh and enough sensible mounting spaces for fans at least :)
I just bought this. Amazon Germany 70 euros was the cheapest option for me in Netherlands. Thanks guys.
I do a little PC building on the side. And I’ve built in this case and it’s actually not bad for the price. It does feel cheap but wheat can you expect with all them fans the one problem I had is that when trying to plug in the motherboard in the top left the fan was in the way so I had to remove the fan then reinstall it later.
It's currently 2024 - This is my go-to case for budget builds I've done for the kids in the family, four so far as of today. I love the magnet catches and removable hinges on the side panel, the case actually feels solid once you've got your PSU and mobo in... although I suppose one could argue against needing to use your PC parts as structural support! Great review, great case for the money ($60 on a amazon right now).
Hey how can I tell what is ground vs positive on the power/reset switch wires? I just did a build tonight and I can’t get power to anything, I hear the psu click, and nothing else happens. No lights or anything. I have a cpu cable to the top left power, I have the 24 pin in, the only thing I can think is it either doesn’t like where I have the single stick ram, or the ground/pos is backwards. Help =(
@@nicholaswight6296 Power/reset switches are a 'normally open, dry contact' which means polarity shouldn't matter, it's literally just letting power flow when you hold it down and breaks the circuit when you let up.
My nephew just brought a new build he was working on over, couldn't get a video signal. In that case he was just afraid of pressing the RAM down too hard to seat it. Make sure both sides are clipping in solid! Maybe move the stick to a new slot and make sure it's in there solid.
Unplug everything from the case IO header on the mobo, make sure you're confident what pins start the PC and short it with a screwdriver, if you're not comfortable with that use the power switch and only the power switch. Remove any NVMe or SATA devices or PCIe devices that aren't critical to boot, maybe even the video card and plug it back in once you start seeing LEDs and fans. If you've got a CMOS jumper, short it once to reset your BIOS and then make sure it's open, that can halt booting. Make sure your PSU is set to 120V (240V in EU) if it has a switch for that, and check to see if it has an integrated breaker.
Wish I could be there to help, you just gotta go down the list of stuff it could be and do the troubleshooting dance, we all have to :) Lemme know how it went!
side panel fix: just buy couple of sound isolating pad in your local auto/car part store
Yep stick them on and good to go. You can also get 100% silcone and fill inside of the side panel with it.
never even considered this. i have the meshify C from fractal. the one this case ripped off. it is kinda loud since its right next to me on the desk, i'll try that pad thing
@@aresisis5427 Remember that noise isolation always also does thermal isolation. So while there might be less noise coming through the side panel, the fans might need to run faster to keep the same temps.
Just picked this up for $40 brand new for a mid-range build for the wife. At that price, really cant complain as it includes 6 fans. 6 cheap fans, true, but it helps.
The Antec NX410 is another beauty that's currently being slept on.
Ok I ordered this case and 2 of them came with problems
One had a broken side panel and the other had cables were cut
Then I bought the nx 410 great case
I ordered one of these cases for a friend's budget build. Back to you Steve.
Edit: After some friends saw this case and liked it, I ordered 3 more.
Might be just me but i think this case very well delivered considering how much it costs, and how much airflow it has..it put to shame much more expensive cases where some have almost 0 airflow. in a way, imagine getting this case with most prebuilts u guys tested recently. gets + for me tbh! thanks for this review
"We're fine with recommending it" this has gotta be the headline of their marketing campaign
cheap materials are good if it doesnt affect performance/ durability
Thank you.
Yup, it's merely just a box for our hardware, not a vehicle or heavy duty tool. As long as it's not made of bad plastic then it's fine really.
@@johnhighway9397 Acrylic case
@@Ikxi Takes me back to the mid 2000's.
Yeah you're barely going to touch it after building the pc
I just helped my room mate buddy build a new PC in a Modtech AIR 100 ARGB case. I was very impressed with his choice. 4x120mm addressable fans with a fan hub, Nice compact MATX, just what he needs. He's not PC building savvy at all, I just told him to avoid glass front for best airflow.
The ONLY con was, there's not enough clearance to break out the PCI slot covers with out scraping the motherboard. Make sure you break out the PCI slot covers FIRST before you put the motherboard in. We tried bending them out of the case, but it ended up bending the dividers. We had to take the whole motherboard out and bend them in and back.
Nice to see this one perform well as a budget case. Sure, it lacks some quality of life features from more expensive cases, and the lack of controllable fan speed is a pity, but the case hits all the fundamentals (even RGB for those who think it's fundamental) at a low cost and with good performance.
Installed a PC a while ago with this case. R5 3600 and a 5600XT w/ 16GB and 2TB SSD. The experience was nice, I've had more trouble with other cases, found no sharp edges (I get cut a lot). Can't say about thermals because it's being used in an Air Conditioned environment. Client is happy, case looks decent.
Placing a fan in one of those PSU shroud mounts blowing upwards could have a very big improvement in GPU temps even if it's just "redirecting" air from the lower front intake fan to go more upwards. GPUs generally struggle with air recirculation which can be solved by forcing airflow upwards past the GPU.
The fans alone make it worth the $70. I have a friend that doesn't game, but wants to build a budget PC. We picked up this case at Microcenter, and it's perfect for a Ryzen 5 build.
Steve: "These cases and fans are not good water cooling support." Me: with a drill spare aluminum, rivet gun a knockout punch and Chinese radiators: "What??"
I think he means why pay for such a cheaply built case and replace the fans with radiator.
Just spend 70 bucks on a 3 fan case and use top or front 240mm aio.
Major props for putting error bars on those bar plots! (I do realize that they are only meant to give a rough feeling for the measurement error, but +/-1 std would be more informative/interpretable than a constant +/-0.75 degC - even if visually indistinguishable.)
I built my PC in this case and have noticed three things:
- The top fans can be 140mm, there are mounting holes for it.
- The front fans can be mounted on the inside.
- You can fit a 322mm GPU in this case with the front fans mounted on the outside (the default mount) even though it is specced to 305mm. I did this yesterday and it's a bit snug to get in, but it definitely fits.
And a final note: getting rid of the original fans free up quite a bit of space for cables on the back since you can remove the Molex centipede that's thriving in there. I removed the button for the LED on/off button as well, which allowed me to also remove the white part of the Molex centipede.
Hmm its 48 dollars with free delivery here in Thailand, pretty good value!
I thought about this, i remember seeing this case for a lot cheaper than 70 dollars it was like 50 dollars i think, but after the whole pandemic prices have gone up so much.
And in my country (Indonesia) there is has another good case from montech and that just 50$~ it's called "air x white Argb" (has sighnificantly better build & desain)
Glad to see the Molex Centipede back, we need another appearance from Beve Sturk sometime!
"there is a centipede inside of it"
LOL
I use the very similar $55 CAD Cougar MX410 Mesh-G RGB with 4 addressable RGB fans, 2 addressable RGB strips flanking the front fans, 2x 3.5" and 3x 2.5" mounts, 2x USB 2.0 and 2x USB 3.0 on top, but no hinge. All fans and RGB run off an included PCB with some preset RGB programs on SATA 12V power. By default, the 2nd button controls RGB but can be connected as a standard reset button. Same single speed fans but I think they're quieter than the one reviewed. Tempered glass panel is fine but some metal parts are a little thin. Overall very happy with it.
Oh. My. God. An LED that I can easily turn off. Thank you Montech.
Gotta agree. Sometimes a plain, hardwired, physical switch really is the best option.
This is a very good feature, specially no other manufacturer give a shit about this for budget case.
@@strathadam1 Still one of the best features on my NZXT H440. The fact that it illuminates the rear IO as well is a blessing when plugging things in. Anything I replace it with will have this modded in.
@@MrGrimsmith Built in rear IO lighting? That's a feature I'd like to see included on virtually every case. What an elegant solution.
You guys really need to review the Darkflash DLX21. I pitched one 6 months ago for $80 on Newegg. They are now priced $211. eBay still has them for $100. It’s a great game with dual hinges, glass, tons of airflow
Are you going to review the Silverstone Alta F1 which is releasing next month? I'm really excited to see the RV02 style top-to-bottom fan + rotated mainboard layout coming back.
Oooh... that might be super duper!
we need more cases that prevent GPU sagging!
a glowing review on par with the p500a, this case is a huge success
When will we see a flat pack case? aka an "IKEA" case to save on shipping.
Core P1/3/5/7/90 by thermal take are flat packed when purchased
The weight is pretty much the same either way.
@@LatitudeSky But the volume would be smaller, so they'd be significantly cheaper to ship. That goes back to Steve's point about dimensional weight. It's more expensive to ship a container full of air than one full of freight.
Honestly, the thought of shipping the case IKEA-DIY style sounds interesting. Have the metal panes, L profiles for the corners, and a bunch of screws and let the user put it together themselves. Also allows for some customization during assembly.
save on shipping pay cs
Just built my new gaming rig in a montech x1 and basically you said it best, it gets the job done and that's pretty much it. Great air flow and everything else is cheap.
Great review, I love Montech’s strategy to provide lots of values.
The best English professor I ever had - used a rule when we reviewed each others work...
Don't say anything positive; the writer already thinks it's good - your job is to point out where it is not.
That is how Gamers Nexus approaches reviews... Ok, you think your (insert hardware type here) is good; let us explain how it could be better, and show you how we arrived at that conclusion.
I love it!
If I sell the fans from this case and put a corsair sticker on them how much will I make
craigslist be like
10k oboe I know what I got
14 million dollars
If you want an even cheaper case that very similar to the Montech X3 Mesh. You can get a Rakk Haliya. You can get it as low as 32USD. It only has one exhaust fan but that's a good thing, if you plan to populate it with your own choice of case fans. I bought the MATX version myself and I'm satisfied with it. I don't how much it would cost to ship it in other countries though since it's a local Philippine brand.
Given the amount of data you all collect on various testing, I would love it if you were able to do top 5 for buyers. Forgive me if you already have done this. Thx for the detailed content and keep up the great work!! 👍😁
For what it's worth, I got myself a Lian Li Lancool 2 Mesh based on GN's reviews and it's been a joy to build in and has great thermal performance.
@@AndreiBarsan thx. I was thinking top five based on ddr4, fan, coolers, mobo, psu, etc. A brand list for each category as I am sure specs will vary based on main build components.
I watch all your case reviews paused while listening to Undertale - Megalovania and skipping in rhythm with 5sec increments and then just watching the summary at the end.
Great experience, would recommend.
When in doubt, cram more fans in it!
Indeed
Not bad at all; the fans look nice, and the case's style overall is quite pleasing. Y'all should do a "$70 case, $700 (or $7000) build!" in it.
test the Montech Air X with fans 2 Fans 200mm
I've used the Montech x1 for over a year now and I couldn't be happier as I got it for $50 at the time.
I wish some of these manufacturers would have a 'no bling' option for some of these uselessly ugly lightshow cases, the fractal design meshify 2/C is still my go to case just because I can get it with a proper side panel.
side panels aren't even that bad if you don't get RGB at all and/or all black components
The regular new Corsair cases are nice and bling free. They're basically just solid (as in sturdy lol) metal boxes with screw holes for parts. That's one of the reasons I got the 5000D Airflow. Really well built and designed with no gaudy bits.
Corsairs 275r Airflow is actually pretty good as well if you like the unusual front panel design.
Oh the light can be turned off for this case
@@MaxLan-o4l If you aren't using the rbg why bother with this case? For a little more money you can get cases that cool better that come with better fans or some less expensive cases that you can put your own (better) fans into.
i enjoy my Meshify 2, i almost got the XL, but i watched your videos and this barely fits on my desk. so. Thanks Steve, back to you.
damn that case looks like when I forget my clothes in the drier
Just bought this case at Micro Center and it works great. Ryzen 7 with a 1660 GPU (6 or 8 gigs?) It was in an ASUS case that sucked bad for cooling. This case brought the temp down significantly! Running at a nice 40-45 C idle.Compared to 65 - 70 before!
Top filters are good for keeping random shit from falling into your case though. Again, Steve’s narrowly focused view that “ONLY airflow matters” has caused him to overlook any other potential utility for things he doesn’t understand.
Dust will also have a harder time settling inside the case when it’s off, and for people that turn their PC’s off, that’s a point of entry that dust could enter the system if it stays off long enough. Sure, if you don’t have any chance of random crumbs and or particles dropping into the top, and don’t ever turn it off, then sure-airflow could be improved by removing the top filter.
Hell, depending on the size of the holes I’d imagine that a 3.5mm TRS connector from a set of headphones could easily find their way in there and REALLY fuck up your day. If you have cats, stuff that’s on your desk can easily find it’s way into places it should be, and my little fur ball would probably enjoy the noises made by the fans when he drops shit into it, along with the sounds that daddy makes when he catches him doing it. Someone with actual children might have similar issues, and a little extra mesh couldn’t hurt.
And now you know why I can't be bothered to get a pet. Nothing could ever prepare me for a pet. I don't have children either but that's more due to my forever alone nature.
when steve has a smile in the opening, its a golden case GG
I'm still trying to decide if i like how it looks.
looks like a slightly cheaper meshefy c
Let us know when you figure it out! Always curious what you all think of subjective stuff like looks. We don't comment too much on looks.
@@GamersNexus @Charles Balliet hit the nail on the head.
A decent case for a good price. Thanks for the review!
Shouldn't fan NN testing for this case be considered _DNQ_ instead of DNF? To finish implies it qualified in the first place!
Used your Amazon link to the Lian Li 215 to check the price. The link had a like new (used) for $51. We'll see what I get :) Thanks as always for a great review! Always like to hear what you found.
The IO is in the wrong place. Nice looking case though.
5:19 holy heck that's a throw back for me... I remember having that exact setup except the graphics card...
Steve is just a handsome fella
Honestly, I think being able to unscrew the case into a bunch of flat panels would help a lot, with the space on the container. You could fit 2, maybe 3, such cases, in the space you would only fit one without disassembly.
I don't know what hurts more. The cheapness of those fans or the sagging gpu lol
Whilst that case is not for me I can see use cases for it as case cheap case ready to go no additions needed. Great review as usual well explained where this case fit in the world of cases.
Thanks Steve & team at GN
I think you are the only one that can pull off that hair :) keep up the good videos! i like the 60fps linus needs to get up on that
I’m glad to see montech do well as a budget choice being they’re a brand new company. Currently running an 850W PSU from then with no issues in a friends build for about 6 months now. He even has a basic OC on his CPU. I hope to see them do good once the PSU testing is published. We might have a good new company
I just finished a rebuild with this case. I was a bit concerned about quality, but at the end of the day my main reason for purchasing this case was its size, so I really kinda had to gamble. There aren't a ton of options locally for shallower cases that are still standard ATX, and I really needed to shave some width (2 1/2" narrower) due to a reorganizing of my gaming space. My system moved out of an NZXT S340 I used to build back in 2017. The trade-offs in my scenario were similarly "balanced" as the video alludes to. Steel is thinner than my old case, so it feels slightly less rigid when completely disassembled. It lacks a few features like easily removable dust screens for both main and PS intakes. But on the plus side the window is glass instead of plastic so it looks higher quality and being on a hinge with magnetized closure makes it super convenient for regular cleanings. Because it's just a transfer I moved over all of my good fans over as well. I only needed the case. At the end of the day I'm really happy with it. All of my components just fit (Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 tower cooler, Asus 3070) and it looks better than the case I spent more on 6 years ago (likely better airflow as well TBH S340 didn't have a good rep). Overall, I think this is a fantastic case for the price.
i have the Fractal design focus G. I have never had an issue with thermals with the 5 case fans. It is fairly budget on the financial scale.
You guys should review the montech x1, it's only about $50ish, but still has 4 of the same fans as the x3. I think it would be better price/performance. I built a PC for a buddy of mine literally just before the video card apocalypse hit. He chose this case, which surprisingly is alot better than I thought it was gonna be, put a Ryzen 2700, b450 steel legend, 16gb xpg ram, rtx 2060, 600 watt psu and a 1 tb SSD for under $700. A month later this build was nowhere near possible, he got his stuff just in time
I have a Fractal Node 804 and I’ve put 8 fans in it just for fun. Also never had to worry a bit about thermals
Interesting case. I'm still extremely happy with the Lian Li Lancool 215 X case I was able to get for only $80 earlier this year. It's been an excellent case for my needs, it runs everything cool and quiet. Syncing the RGB on the built in fans with the RGB on my MSI board was easy once I plugged all the stock fans directly into the MB and bypassed the case fan controller.
I just did a build in this case. Yes molex is a bit outdated, but it really simplified the build.
The fan screws on the inside of the case problem is one of several reasons I use M4 bolts, washers and nuts to secure all of my case fans instead of using the crude fan screws they want you to use. c:
I can use the same bolts to secure those fans to radiators, using the washers to prevent scratching or unexpected vibrations.
Love this guy. Saved me time and money 😁
Just ordered one and I hope it’s worth it meanwhile i wait for a better build somewhere near the future .
You need to do more Montech case reviews: they have the Air X, Air 100 mATX, and the high-end Sky One, which I think are all competitive. They're all high airflow cases, and their prices are truly a steal here in Vietnam, respectively at $55, $60, and $80.
Just got this case open-box from Amazon for 30 bucks. Hopefully should be great for my budget build. Last time I bought a case was 13 years ago with a $25 NZXT case from Newegg and since then, every pc case I have owned has been super heavy. Constantly rearranging my office and eyeing the weight limit on my motorized desk, I miss the light and thin aspect of that case.
A Brazilian hardware store probably sources cases from the same place as Montech for their in store brand. They sell them without any fans and at sale they are dirt cheap. Bought one and 4 Deepcool PWM fans for around the same price as this and it is a little chilly inside.
Here in Brazil there is a extremely steep price hike between low end 10 year old designs and budget cases from the big brands, so these are pretty good for the price (especially because they don't have to account for 6 garbage fans in the package).
When Steve said the 4000D and Lian Li 215 were close competitors I looked them up and they were double the price of a similar looking mesh case and 4 fans.
It was fun seeing the same terrible psu filter and pcie lock.
I bought covers so I didn't have to do precision steel cutting to install my graphics card and boy it was an odyssey to tap those 7 fucking screw holes.
I used the " Apevia Crusader-F-BK Mid Tower Gaming Case with 1 x Full-Size Tempered Glass Panel, Top USB3.0/USB2.0/Audio Ports, 4 x RGB Fans " from Amazon @ $75. Was an easy case to build in, has rgb control if that's your thing, enough room in the bay for wiring and HDDs and plenty of clearance for a 3 fan GPU and tower air cooler. Down side is the old school 4 corner rubber mounts for the glass panel, the white triangle power button led and spacing of the holes at the bottom of the mobo are very tight. I did replace the fans after a year because I wanted hub glow and decided to go with a completly red and black theme to match my 5700xt Red Devil but the original case fans worked fine. You guys should check it out for a budget case. Comes in this nice brushed look in either black, white or pink.
Wow I have the Montech X2 case I believe with 2 140mm fans in front and 1 120mm fan on back installed, it's super nice case and I dropped so many degrees and my system was had a lot better airflow and cooling
Montech's best case is the AIR 100 ARGB MICRO-ATX. Excellent value, very nice fans with either push button or motherboard ARGB control. For a simple build, I enjoyed it.
It warms my heart in an odd way that the Molex Centipede is a thing that exists. Even though there's a possibility it could warm someone's entire house a little too much.
I picked this case up for less than $40 last year! It’s been treating me well but I must say the steel is definitely what you pay for
I am always glad to see a cheap case with fans. I mean, I can't see spending $100+ just for the fans.
That graph at 15:08 is good, but if it had case prices on the left, it would have been amazing.
This case reminds me a lot of Aerocool Aero One's. Not the exterior design, but the shortened interior and the amount of fan support.
Wow a new case manufacturer finaly got a hesitant recommendation in the budget space thats high praise from steve! what is that three points less then "horrendous waste of space?"
Cant wait for the Corsair Hydro X Series XD7 review!!!