Gadgetory

this video is brought to you by NCI XCOM great technology selection and service hello everyone i'm dmitri with Huracan axe and welcome to another video so another year has passed we've seen so many awesome introductions into the chasis market and now it's time to do or to pick our top favorite cases of the year but instead of choosing the top 5 cases you know isolating a certain product to towards a certain spot because you know everybody has their different needs for different builds I've decided to do this differently and instead doing top 5 cases I've decided to do top 5 cases within each category so we're gonna break it down and to top our best budget case best mini ITX case best silent case best cube case and the last category is your most common the most versatile category so you know you can you can pick this up for water cooling storage gaming anything type of case so the umbrella that covers pretty much everything and that chassis would be the most versatile for any type of build but Before we jump into our top 5 cases within those categories I also want to do some honorable mentions as we did in our previous 2013 video because those cases didn't exactly make it to our top list but they still should be considered because they are entering a very risky category but being different and being very sort of niche towards a specific type of Builder that you are and those my cases I think should be still be praised and still be considered now I'm sure there are many worthy considerations out there that do not make it on our list but this is because I want to be as objective as possible with our top 5 picks and so we only include cases that we've reviewed on the channel I'm sure there's plenty of cases that we haven't reviewed yet but feel free to chime in in the comments below of what you think would be worthy of consideration for both us and the viewers that are watching for to expand the horizon of what is available there in this chasis market and starting with the first honorable mention this would be the in win 901 this is one of those niche cases that's built for the high class with tempered side panels full aluminum frame and a much better internal layout then it's bigger brother the 904 if you get the cash to explore this micro-atx direction I'm sure you'll have no choice but to feel pleased BitFenix pandora deserves a shout out they have some interesting design choices both in the good and the bad direction but one thing is for sure they're ready to listen to community's feedback and make changes accordingly in short the Pandora sacrifices on user-friendly design and cable management to be thin but despite that we're very eager to see the final consumer release Corsair 380 T is one of those portable cases that stands out with the help of the hub bumblebee yellow plus that convenient handle and despite its larger size for just a mini ITX system I'm sure there are many users who would take advantage of its limitations for a kickass mini ITX machine and the last case on the honorable mentions list would be the m2 evolve this is how you do aluminum for the first time there are so many positive features but it's not perfect and fantex needs to redesign the internal layout to be more accommodating for extra drives but it's still a really awesome attempt alright and with that out of the way let's move on to the highlights of the year first category the best budget case goes to NZXT s340 at 69 bucks with sales as low as $50 so there's black and white options available if you can look past the orange peel paint job you'd be surprised at how well this case is built it's pretty much full metal it's got a window to showcase the interior capable air flow for intake and exhaust and innovative cable management bracket to hide your cables and no compromises for neither the GPU nor the power supply and 60 should have included drive caddies for three-and-a-half inch drives and also be careful not to touch the side panel window as it scratches so easily but the NZXT s340 is my choice for a budget build the next category would be cubed cases which particularly focus on chamber separation I have actually two cases for this one the first is coarser air 2 it's a solid choice with much better chamber separation than the original air 540 with direct airflow delivery at the front and exhaust potential through the top support for pretty much any enthusiast GPU and outstanding cable management that makes assembly a total breeze it complements a 120 and 240 millimeter all-in-one coolers at the front with enough storage capacity and my only negative point would be the fairly thin frame design but other than that if you are looking for a cube style case you still should consider the air 240 I would also highly recommend the note 8 or 4 from fractal design now this chassis is wider and is more water cooling friendly and that would be the main advantage of the air for over-the-air 240 plus you gain all that extra storage in the passive chamber cable management is absolutely wonderful given the large cutouts now also there's a slim optical drive slot integrated into the front panel so for those who want that it is there you will have no problem fitting in the most modern and to z/os GPUs and either cube case will satisfy your dual chamber cube build but a nice category we're talking about the best silent case now this one is a little bit tricky because hands-down the most silent case on the market right now given you full proper procedures to make it silent is fractal design defined r5 as long as you keep those top margins covered you'll be fine and dandy it's built very well and that front panel design is outstanding to allow appropriate front intake but keep the noise out the interior drive cage is modular and cable management is definitely one of the easiest for a chassis of this caliber rivaling the definer 5 however is the h4 40 from n 60 that actually allows utilization of the top fan slots without adding much noise to the system because of that top cover however it has more crammed internal structure but without standing chamber separation for managing in cable clutter and also it has more color options so the age of 40 and the define of 5 are the two silent cases to buy the second last category on the list is a small form-factor PC for Mini ITX builds and this with the previous category there are also two contenders here as well first the Silverstone rvz or one this is an awesome little case with long GPU support thanks to that dedicated bracket that can also actually house a slim optical drive everything from excellent air flow and enough storage potential inside the chassis would make for one rewarding build you have to follow a specific build process to get everything set up but if you love to look and have the use for such a machine for either portable gaming or editing the RB zero one is one of my favorite mini ATX cases at the moment now following suit within this category is corsair 250d the main advantage here is it utilized a larger size to accommodate for a 240 millimeter all-in-one liquid cooler on the side with also an optical drive support there are no limitations for the power supply and long GPU support as well and being part of the Obsidian family you do get that conventional square and elegant look with the brushed aluminum bits at the front and finally onto the last category for the most versatile the best price to features ratio case that will satisfy any type of build welcome the fan talks and two pro not only does this case bring most of the competition at this price point to its knees but it really has set a new benchmark of what we can expect to see at 89 and $99 price point the enter pro may not suit everyone's taste with the external frame but it's what on the inside that counts anyone right but I love the open format that's separated into chambers with the removable power supply bracket that you may use if you desire exclusive rear access to the drives with plenty of airflow options at the front and the top and the bottom even if you can sacrifice wanna drive cages and can also be within the limits of power supply clearance we've got a PWM fan hub at the back along with a single SSD bracket to stash away that one boot drive and everything about the case just screams quality with a solid frame extremely modular interior that you can actually even disassemble so huge props for that implementation for modding or repainting or etc the side panel is probably one the only weaknesses in the quality department as it scratches way too easily but one thing is for sure ever since the release of the end to pro it really has kept the spot of the chassis of the year and we would highly recommend this to anyone looking to upgrade or begin with a new build in the new year so thank you so much for checking out our top cases of 2014 video we hope this was helpful to direct you towards a chassis of your needs and your interests but do you agree or disagree with our top spot for the case of the year for the fantex and to pro if you don't please provide alternatives for what you think could replace the m2 Pro as the case of the year with the comment below now 2015 is going to be an awesome year I can feel it I'm super stoked to begin our productions as we have some awesome stuff lined up so make sure to subscribe if you have any other ideas for content or product directions please let us know in the comment below we always take that feedback seriously and from the entire hierarchy Knox team we want to give you a huge thank you to our awesome hardrock Knox community both here on YouTube and on the website because you know without you guys we wouldn't be where we are right now so we really hope we will see you in 2015 so thank you for watching and we'll see you in the next year