Gadgetory

the year was 2017 where a lot of things have happened it started with the pure bass 600 and some 30 cases in between many were surprised at how disappointing this year has been let's put some fans some shiny lights and call it a day but little did they realize that nobody would pay the bubble will soon burst of this glass box where proper air flow is a paradox year after year designs change but only one can win so let the case of words begin the new OC CTR 200 from Toshiba is a great value SSD if you're considering upgrading your hard drive and get a nice boost in performance with cutting-edge 3d flash memory and ultra reliable controller with built-in power management available in different capacities check it out below so guys welcome back to another annual case awards video we do this every year so this is gonna be our fourth time make sure to check out our previous ones to get an idea I'm like how the case industry has evolved unfortunately the disappointing category for this year is growing and you can check out our worst case trends video right over here to get the bigger picture as usual the selection process applies to cases that we've reviewed in 2017 so the categories are the wallet-friendly case the best micro TX option my personal favorite mid-tower the uniquely different in a good way case the most epic but probably not for 99% of users tower the WoW category highlighting individual fantastic features then the fan favorite fail compilation and finally case of the year let's go starting off with the first category of the wallet-friendly case this easily goes to the fantex p300 TG this case at only $59 surprised my expectations while still holding the core DNA of fantex design like built an ambient case lighting that you can add to we still have a lovely T G panel but the lower portion of the frame is actually the power supply shroud and thus the glass is a bit smaller to complement the price point the interior can accommodate a 280 million radiator up front and they even redesign the top IO cable to allow for that to happen storage is fine keel measurement is possible and for a basic system either with a radiator or a bee CPU cooler you'll be happy for the price my next wallet friendly option may be a surprise but I've picked the Cougar qbx this is a fantastic IT Xbox that remains compact it's affordable it's forgiving on larger Hardware so it's perfect to use on existing ATX power supplies for example so you don't have to buy an SFX power supply full sized graphics cards fit here too and we even have space for a 120mm or all-in-one cooler and a slim slot loading optical drive up top all in the pretty attractive sparkly grey body moving into the best micro TX option we have the define mini see from fractal design it's elegant it's not too bulky it accommodates radiators all over well with a nice shroud that you can open up at the front as well and fantastic cable management thanks to the recessed mountable tray seriously there's nothing bad to say about this one it's fantastic the runner-up is the fan --tx evolved micro ATX TG it's a slightly larger alternative with more height on the frame so you can install radiators up top and it looks like a mini version of the evolved ATX with beautiful aluminum exterior smart blackout section on the glass which is on the right side to only reveal the SSDs and a super convenient glass mount itself that swivels to open now if you commit to a micro ATX system it's awesome good for you but I would say compact mid towers are more flexible in case you decide to upgrade to a larger ATX motherboard down the line which brings us to my next category of the personal favorite mid tower and this has to be the fractal design mesh if I see I have my rise in workstation in there with good ol air cooling and the front mesh is a brilliant combination of design with that angular pattern and of course unrestrictive air flow and also acting as a dust filter I love the compact power supply shroud incredibly simple cable management and I know many don't like the super dark tint on that glass but it kind of turns it for me like an elegant work machine instead of this sort of gaming Tower moving into the uniquely different case we have the fan --tx of all shift and the shift X this is by far the coolest ITX enclosure that I've worked with the 2 size options are of course appreciated the tower design is fantastic with aluminum and glass and the actual footprint is not much bigger than this graphics card so that's awesome if you're in a compact space you just need that vertical real estate the interior segmentation is well done with the GPU chamber that has flexible mounting with fans either facing the glass or the interior you can mount a 120 or 140 ml radiator at the bottom cable management is challenging but we have that midsection that hides most of the cables entering towards the motherboard and a lot of velcro straps on the frame to help with that interior guidance we can also guide the top IO cables out of the bottom and not from the top so they're not randomly sticking out and I also have to give cougar Conqueror some credit for going outside the box with this totally open aluminum and glass frame for a showcase PC I love the shape of the glass that corresponds to the frame with individual armor like pieces the color scheme is pretty cool too the motherboard is slanted so you can explore fun directions for heart tubing if you're going with the water cooling setup which you should 360 rad the top is supported or a 240 ran to the front as well and the overall layout despite being so open encourages proper ko management that even I could achieve with some sleeping the next category of the most epic Tower goes to the fan techs and two elite I mean you could build a whole system for that much money so the target audience is quite small but it's really a bold move from frantic Stu release something that tries to justify its price the aluminum and glass integration is absolutely stunning especially with the built-in ventilation on the glass panel for that lower section the interior is gigantic and you'll probably spend more money on water cooling Hardware then on the case itself with radiators properly supported absolutely everywhere with the removable brackets and easy to access everything basically even with an option to have a side mounted interior radiator and the side panel to accommodate for air flow exhaust absolutely all the accessories are included with Drive brackets and a five the quarter inch drive bay and the vertical GPU mount storage options are awesome you can install dual power supplies and even a second ITX system underneath the main one and they've thought of absolutely everything from packaging to the i/o to all the possibilities with the elite the name certainly fits the key the Wow category is next highlighting individual fantastic features starting with the best cable management system this one goes to the NZXT age 700 I I absolutely love these new plastic pieces to guide your cables behind the motherboard tray it's brilliant velcro straps are here if you need them and many puck to wrap cables around and more cases just need to do something like it I will also add this is my favorite power supply shroud design with flexible mounting of the SSD caddies on this perforation and appropriate spacing on the front for a radiator the best modular interior goes to the be quite dark base 700 I love how easy it has become to invert your motherboard tray their approach is just fantastic the power supply route follows in that same footsteps of paneling that can be removed when needed and obviously accommodates the whole inversion factor in this case also wins the best IO that includes a type C port plus dual USB 3 and an awesome fan controller the best paint job goes to the fan techs and to proem special edition in white this is how you introduce a color accent with enough black elements to hide cables with appropriate colored paneling and the inclusion of lux RGB frames on the fans is such a fresh take on illumination the cooler master maker 5 t is another awesome example with beautiful red interior frame surrounded by enough black to blend in with the rest of hardware plus an awesome ambient red LED strip is included and lastly the NZXT is 440 hyper beast is a truly unique piece of art on the case it is cs:go specific so if you don't play it wouldn't really matter to you but it's a special reminder that case companies have the capacity and the know-how to expand into unconventional paint job territory and now for the fan favorite fail compilation salman stick to cooling you're drunk as the x7 absolutely worst hour of the year it's totally backwards crappy gigantic interior layout do OTG but very little thought into cable management plus a red molex connector and the worst case lighting with the worst case branding two of the year absolutely terrible EVGA you better send us a cheaper case first as the DG 77 is way too expensive because it's a $59 frame with Aran's TG panels that don't make sense like non see-through non reflective front and side glass totally blocked front airflow the fully white interior is not attractive cable management at this price point is poor and this dust filter is absolutely insulting Lindley go back to aluminum cases please you need a new design there just like you needed a new logo the Alpha 330 and 550 feel like a go-with-the-flow type of release just more TG with no focus on airflow crappy RGB integration with more expensive model Mullis connection and fans like what and it just feels generic they're older but more unique double chamber tower the PCO 11 also needs a lot of refinement like flexibility for fan mounts up top better spacing and rubber grommets for standard ATX motherboards proper storage compartments without so much wasted space and please no ridiculous interior SSD mounts and cooler master Wow they've been quite sloppy this year they should rebrand to a hot apprentice not cool master because first the 25th anniversary edition of the cosmos - nothing changed but they've added Kirti G panels without any price incentive it's a five year old case brought into 2017 and then when the new cosmos came out the whole thing felt rushed with dual fire the quarter inch drive base where only one is available the interior divisions felt claustrophobic with those giant panels actually hiding more than it needs to it seems like more thought was given to the lighting features and the overall exterior look and feel versus putting more effort into cable management then the highly anticipated H 500 P was full of disappointment from terrible front air flow to the weirdly designed 2-piece power supply shroud that if moved back will interfere with the SSD caddy I love the concept of the paneling to hide all this cable mess in the back but it was poorly executed and not easy to work with hey silverstone you have the perfect opportunity to impress with your budget airflow focused our lo6 pro but why do you gotta ruin it with this terrible dust filter ketchup mustard cables all over the place a molex powered fan hub no clearance on the shroud for radiator to slide through if needed hey in wind get your case designers to build a system first before launching a case I absolutely love the structure of the 301 with unique ventilation pattern nice eg but the interior is just a complete mess the cable management space is also your airflow area and who thought it was a good idea to use plastic pieces that you have to break in order to pass your cables yes a lot of disappointment this year right but we gotta close that off strong so finally case of the year word goes to the fractal design define r6 I personally prefer the smaller mesh spicy but this introduction that really seals the deal for many with an O so familiar frame that is available in various colors the aluminum front plate is a staple but the glass mount is new so we have no thumb screws sticking out from the side instead it's a two-step mount for security and better visuals front airflow with the door closed and my testing is not significantly affected only three degree difference so that's refreshing the interior is modular for either this old-school look with the closed off front section or moving that entire piece back to open it up for more water cooling options but in either configuration we have flexibility with a front radiator without impacting that hidden storage compartment the metal trays are slim and can be stacked on top of each other for SSDs and not taking up much work of room the fan controller is SATA powered and has a pwm connector for your motherboard the top module and can either be fully closed or opened for airflow with the top bracket accommodating a 360 rad easy there's even a fill port up top so in terms of cooling options a visual variety ease of assembly and wiring the definer six is our highly recommended case of the year for 2017 experience every pixel with the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and enjoy these awesome new games and full 4k resolution at over 60 frames per second and get destiny 2 for free for a limited time full details in the description below and so that concludes our case awards for 2017 let me know if you agree with my picks and what do you think of the categories I've added the new WoW section because you know certain cases don't have particular something standing out but I really want to highlight certain best features of those particular cases and the fail compilation why did it grow so much this year I started at last because there were a lot of disappointments but man if 2018 is gonna be moving like that then we're gonna have a lot more to complain about so guys I'm Dimitri with I reckon extinct so much for watching Happy Holidays we'll see you in next year