Top-Rated Gaming Rigs Revealed: The Ultimate PC Case Picks

Building a PC involves so much decision-making that it can be exhausting. After deciding on the components you need to make your dream build, it’s time to find a PC case that will house everything and keep your technology from overheating.

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  Corsair

Corsair 5000D Airflow

Best Overall PC Case
$135 at Amazon

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  Corsair

Corsair 3000D Airflow

Best Budget PC Case
$75 at Amazon

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  Cooler Master

Cooler Master HAF 700

Best Gaming PC Case
$270 at Amazon

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  Cooler Master

Cooler Master NR200P

Best Compact PC Case
$93 at Amazon

Cooler Master MasterBox 520 Mesh Blackout Edition

Best PC Case for Airflow
$132 at Amazon

• See More

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  NZXT

NZXT H7 Elite

Best White PC Case
$200 at Amazon

Apevia Predator-PK

Best Pink PC Case
See at Amazon

What to Look For in a PC Case in 2024

Various aspects of cases can inform your purchasing decision, but there is one factor that you need to consider before anything else—size. The best case in the world isn’t doing you much good if your motherboard or other components don’t fit inside.

A full tower is the largest case and will fit as large a motherboard as you need, but mid-tower cases often offer decent space inside while taking up less room. With smaller motherboards like mini-ITX or micro-ATX, you can get away with a smaller case, but the motherboard isn’t the only consideration here.

You need to think about internal space, especially clearance. Graphics cards are getting larger, so if you plan on using a high-end graphics card, make sure your case has enough clearance to fit the GPU.

Cooling is another major issue, especially if you rely on air cooling. This requires sufficient internal space for the air to move and mounting points for fans to help keep air moving through the case.

Cable management is another feature to consider, as keeping the cables tidy and out of the way helps air move through the PC. If you’re planning on using liquid-cooling , you’ll want a case with plenty of room for the radiator and water block and easy routing for the cooling loop.

Finally, there are other aspects to consider that are more personalized. For example: how many ports do you want on the front panel? Do you need drive bays for hard drives, or are you using a NVMe SSD for your storage?

These options aren’t as critical as airflow or overall size, but you should consider every way you use your PC when shopping for a case.

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Best PC Case Overall: Corsair 5000D

Corsair

PC cases are so varied that trying to define what the “best” PC case is overall is a real challenge. People build and use PCs for endless purposes, not just for gaming as is commonly assumed. So for the best case for most people, we want a case that’s not expensive, but not cheap. We want something that could be turned into a shiny gaming PC, or do just as well in a professional setting. It needs to be fairly future-proof but at the same time be easy to work with. The Corsair 5000D ticks all those boxes and more.

Corsair’s case is an attractive, clean mid-tower with exceptional airflow and plenty of features to make life easier for you. It has a great cable management system to assist in keeping those airways clear, and the styling hits that balance sweet spot.

The 5000D comes with two black 120mm fans—for most builds, that will be enough. However, if you have high-performance components or want to go for that RGB aesthetic, you can have three fans on the front panel and mount a massive 360mm liquid cooling radiator at the top. There’s even a triple fan mount on the side of the case, which canbe used to mount a radiator as well.

This compact mid-tower could have anything from an office email computer to a fire-breathing gaming monster on the inside and do an equally good job of cooling it down. It even has two 3.5-inch and four 2.5-inch drive bays—although most people will be fine with M.2 SSDs mounted flush to their motherboards.

Overall, we think the 5000D is the right case for most people, most of the time. For more specialized needs, we have more options below for you to look at!

Best Overall PC Case

Corsair 5000D Airflow

$135 $175 Save $40

Corsair’s 5000D is a masterful all-rounder that can be shaped into any sort of PC you’d like, from office workstation to gaming monster.

$135 at Amazon

Best Budget PC Case: Corsair 3000D

Corsair

The Corsair 3000D is the 5000D’s little sibling, offering most of what we love about the 5000D at about half the price. While there are PC cases closer to the $50 mark, we found that the compromises hitting that price point requires is a bridge too far. The 3000D is comfortable under $100 and doesn’t compromise on the fundamentals.

Part of this reasoning is that if you buy a $50 case now, you’ll likely have to buy a new case at some point in the future as you hit the limits of the budget model you’ve chosen. Paradoxically, this makes your “cheap” case more expensive in the long run.

However, the 3000D has enough space to accommodate even the most space-hungry components, future-proofing the case. It has room for a quad-slot GPU and even offers mounting points for dedicated additional GPU cooling. There’s even enough room for multiple liquid cooling radiators.

If you start your PC-building journey with this case, you could theoretically use it indefinitely. It’s well worth the small premium over other budget-class cases.

Best Budget PC Case

Corsair 3000D Airflow

$75 $85 Save $10

The Corsair 3000D is a budget PC case with little to no compromise, that will serve almost any PC build for years to come.

$75 at Amazon

Best Gaming PC Case: Cooler Master HAF 700

Cooler Master

The HAF series of cases from Cooler Master has always been rather legendary, and the HAF 700 does nothing to tarnish that reputation. This absolute juggernaut of a case is designed for the largest E-ATX motherboards . The HAF exists to contain the highest-performance components on the market and then let them exceed their potential by providing more cooling options and capacity than anyone could reasonably need.

This case will take gargantuan 420mm radiators. You can throw any size GPU in there in a vertical or horizontal orientation. Installing this stuff is a breeze with panels that can be removed, swung out, and manipulated as you build, modify, and maintain your rig. No tools are needed, endless cooling configurations are possible, and we can’t imagine having to buy another case unless you somehow become sick of looking at this colossal beauty.

Best Gaming PC Case

Cooler Master HAF 700

$270 $300 Save $30

Don’t mess with the HAF, because this might quite possibly be the ultimate performance-oriented PC case money can buy.

$270 at Amazon

Best Compact PC Case: Cooler Master NR200P

Cooler Master

There’s a definite allure to a small and compact PC, and with PC parts shrinking on average, you might be looking at lots of wasted space if you buy a regular tower. That’s where mITX and other small form factor computer cases come into the picture. This Cooler Master NR200P provides room for a high-performance computer with a triple-slot GPU, liquid cooling, and ample fans.

With your system all put together, you’d easily put a gaming console or oversized workstation to shame, but that’s not the most important thing when it comes to compact builds like these. Rather, the main frustration comes from trying to build these systems since there’s so little clearance between components.

That’s why we think the NR200P is the best overall compact PC chassis on the market. This case is designed to completely come apart for building or maintenance. There’s not a single corner of your computer you can’t access with relative ease.

You can choose from a tempered glass side panel or a vented steel one. Basically, you can make the system a showpiece or hide it away. The only real negative here is that you’re limited to special small form factor power supply models, so you may not have access to the upper end of the wattage range to power some components.

However, this likely won’t be a major issue even for modern high-performance builds. If it is, you’d be better off looking for an mITX case that supports full-size ATX power supplies.

Best Compact PC Case

Cooler Master NR200P

A fantastic all-round compact chassis that lets you put the performance of a full tower into a compact space.

$93 at Amazon

Best PC Case for Airflow: Cooler Master MasterBox 520 Mesh Blackout Edition

Cooler Master

Most PC cases are designed with airflow in mind, but this doesn’t mean they’re created equally. If you’re building a gaming PC or workstation for heavy use and planning on using air cooling instead of liquid cooling, you’ll need a case optimized for airflow, like the Cooler Master MasterBox 520 Mesh Blackout Edition .

Starting with the front, this case uses Cooler Master’s FineMesh Performance Front Panel for unrestricted airflow, powered by three included 120mm SickleFlow fans. While three fans are included, there is space for up to seven 120mm fans, as well as dual 360mm radiators on the top and front panel.

Unlike many PC cases, the top panel is fully removable. This helps with cleaning, of course, but also with installing cooling fans or radiators. And if you’re planning on a build with a massive GPU, this is the case for you, as it supports graphics cards up to 410mm in terms of clearance.

While we featured the Blackout Edition of this case, not everyone is a fan of black PC cases. If you prefer something brighter, this model is also available in white .

Best PC Case for Airflow

Cooler Master MasterBox 520 Mesh Blackout Edition

The Cooler Master MasterBox 520 Mesh Blackout Edition offers three included 120mm fans, with space for four more, as well as room for dual 360mm radiators on the top and front, so you’re guaranteed to stay cool.

$132 at Amazon

Best White PC Case: NZXT H7 Elite

NZXT

White cases have made a clear mark on the PC building world as a gutsy choice that needs special upkeep, but with huge aesthetic rewards for diligent owners. The NZXT H7 Elite is the epitome of what a white case should be. With a laser focus on keeping things clean, this case will drop jaws if you choose your components and manage your cables carefully.

The good news is that the H7 Elite has an exceptional cable management system, so you should have no trouble keeping those wires out of sight. A bigger worry is finding white components to go well with this type of chassis, but that’s a problem with all white PC cases. You also have the option of getting color-matched wraps for cables. Then again, white cases can also be awesome starting points for multicolor builds with some sort of theme.

The Elite offers plenty of space for fans and liquid cooling solutions. Out of the box you get three pre-installed 140mm front fans, and a rear quiet airflow fan. The front panel is made of tempered glass, so you can enjoy those RGB fans in their full glory. An RGB and fan controller is included.

Best White PC Case

NZXT H7 Elite

The H7 Elite is what a white case should be. This is an amazing start to the ultimate white PC build.

$200 at Amazon

Best Pink PC Case: Apevia Predator-PK

Apevia

Are you tired of the endless parade of mostly black PC cases but still looking for RGB lighting to show off your rig? The Apevia Predator-PK comes in a bold pink finish, but it’s not just about the look.

To start, this case has plenty of room inside, with support for up to standard ATX motherboards and clearance for GPUs up to 350mm in length. It also offers plenty of cooling, with four fully RGB fans preinstalled in the case. These offer up 16 different lighting modes using the buttons on top.

While the case ships with four fans, it offers space for up to six, and support for 240mm radiators in both the back and front. The mesh front panel is attached via magnets, meaning it’s easy to remove for cleaning or maintaining your PC.

In terms of front panel connectivity, you get three top-mounted USB ports, with one of them being USB 3.0. You’ll also find mic and headphone jacks and a power button.

Like this case but want a more traditional colorway? The Predator is also available in black and white options.

Best Pink PC Case

Apevia Predator-PK

The Apevia Predator-PK may offer up a unique look, but that’s only a minor part of what makes this case great, with four included ARGB fans and a magnetic front panel for easy access.

See at Amazon See at Newegg

FAQ

Do PC cases come with fans?

Some cases include fans, while others don’t. If a case we recommend includes fans, we’ll mention it.

How do I open my PC case?

First, power off and unplug your PC. The side panels of the case are typically secured with thumbscrews on the back. Remove these, then slide off the side panels.

Can I paint my PC case? How would I do that?

With the right paint to resist high temperatures, you can paint your PC case. Make sure to fully remove all components and make sure to let the paint fully dry before reassembling your PC.

Do PC cases come with motherboard screws?

Most PC cases include a bag with the mounting hardware you’ll need. This typically includes motherboard screws and standoffs.

How do I clean my PC case?

You can clean the outside of the case with an anti-static cloth. For the vents, you can use a can of compressed air. For more information, see our guide to cleaning your desktop PC.

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