5 great budget PC cases

Gaming on a budget is tough. You need to pour whatever you can into important components such as the CPU and graphics card to ensure you have as smooth a gaming experience as possible. Nailing your motherboard to a block of wood with some chicken wire draped over the components to prevent the cat’s tail from being caught in the CPU cooler is one way to cut the cost of your chassis and free up funds, or you could consider one of the following cases available for under R750 locally:

Silverstone Kublai series 02

This ATX mid-tower chassis is fairly feature-rich for its budget tag. Sporting a side window that stretches across the entire left side of the chassis, a hot swappable 3.5-inch drive bay for SATA hard drives and space for 30cm graphics cards, gamers will get bang for their buck with the Kublai 02. There may only be space for two 120mm cooling fans, but this should be adequate for a mid range system if things don’t get too cluttered inside.

The Kublai series 02 chassis is available from Rebetech.co.za for R718.

Silverstone Kublai 02

Zalman Z9

One of the do-it-all PC companies, Zalman has various offerings in the gaming case market including the Z9 chassis. Beyond the standard hard drive/optical drive bay features and ATX size, the Z9 has a side window with unique Z designs to match the front of the case. It also has space for up to seven 120mm fans, great for those obsessed with good airflow. Removable dust filters and a tool-less instillation for just over R600 also sweetens the deal.

The Zalman Z9 is available from Landmark PC for R612.18.

Zalman Z9

Antec 100

The cheapest case on our list is also one of the most feature rich, and while the Antec 100’s styling won’t blow you away, it’s the perfect example of “what’s on the inside counts”. Less than R550 gets you 6 3.5-inch hard drive bays, as well as a bottom mounted 2.5-inch drive bay for SSDs. There are also 8 expansion slots on offer, washable air filters and a cable management system to keep things neat and tidy. A CPU mounting cut-out for easy cooler installation and a bottom mounted power supply end off the feature list while making a strong argument for the Antec 100.

The Antec 100 is available from Landmark PC for R541.50.

ANTEC 100

Fractal Design Core 3000

Fractal Design may not be well know among local gamers, but internationally they’re know for their clean, neat and sophisticated cases priced competitively against other manufacturers. For your money you get 6 white on black hard drive mounting points with silicon vibration dampeners, space for 7 cooling fans, bottom mounted PSU, 27cm graphics card length clearance, and 7 rear expansion slots. But beyond all of that – just look at it.

The Fractal Core 3000 is available from Landmark PC for R726.18.

Fractal Design Core 3000

Cooler Master USP100

The most prolific case manufacturer in South Africa also has a budget option on this list in the form of the USP100. Distinct Cooler Master design comes standard, along with support for four cooling fans, seven expansion slots, a windowed side panel and six 3.5-inch drive bays. The steel body construction means the USP100 tips the scales at 7.2kgs when empty; one of the heavier cases on this list. But in the words of Boris the blade, “Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn’t work you can always hit them with it.”

The Cooler Master USP 100 is available from Landmark PC for R711.36.