I don’t like the weight or fragility of huge tempered glass side panels which seems to be the default for any case that is over $100… plexiglass/acrylic and some RGB are acceptable although honestly the aesthetics are pretty much irrelevant and I don’t need them. I don’t want a “cheap” case either. I’ve cut enough fingers on poorly finished steel rattle-trap boxes and I really can’t stand them.
Enough about what I don’t want though. What I DO want is a case that’s focused on practical features, good airflow, quiet, well-made, easy to build in, roomy without being absurdly enormous, not too unconventionally laid out so that wires will reach while allowing good cable management – basically, something that was designed thoughtfully.
My current case is a Corsair 900D and other than the fact that it’s way bigger than I’d like, I’m generally pretty happy with it, but I’m not sure what else is out there that would even be comparable, Corsair seems to have gone to tempered glass in all their larger cases and I’m not very familiar with all the other manufacturers out there nowadays.
Probably not what you’re after, but if you want serviceability and convenience without the frills and lights, you might want to look into the server market.
I for one like supermicro. They make both towers and rack mounted stuff. I’m mostly into their 6U rack mounted form factor, but I have a few towers as well, and I really like them.
Not sure if you can mount a regular ATX mainboard in them, though. Maybe?
EDIT: Google tells me that some people combine a supermicro chassis with non-supermicro mainboard without any issues. Having said that, the X11 mainboards from SM are pretty good if you feel like going Xeon.
Yeah that’s an interesting possibility too, appreciate the suggestion! Maybe not really what I’m looking for but I’ll definitely do some more research in that direction. At least it’s pretty safe to assume it won’t have the tempered glass!