Time to build a new PC.
This time I am looking for a miditower case. But possibly a really good one - mostly in terms of expandability and cooling.
What are your favorites/recommended?

Thanks!

Replying to myself, it seems to me that Lian Li still makes some great ones. New PC-A06F looks good, and while they call it a "mini", it seems to be quite expandable...
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/pro...amp;ss_index=63

I can't argue with Lian-Li. I still have my HUGE tower (6 external 5.25" bays, 3 external 3.5" bays, 6 internal 3.5" bays, and enough room for two power supplies). I think it's going on 7 years old now and has survived about 5 moves and it's still in such great condition due to high build quality.

We're still using a trio of vintage beige coloured mid-tower cases from the 1990s. The PSUs have long since been swapped out for quiet ones, and the motherboards and such have been cycled a few times.

There are also a couple of modern-ish cases in the farm: one Antec P180(?), which is a large, very quiet case. And a Coolermaster 330(?) that was very cheap (CDN$35) and has screw-free drive/expansion slots and the like.

Lian-Li is available over here, but rather pricey.

"Duke", our MythTV butler, lives in a first generation Antec Fusion case, with silver front and VFD. At $200, that case cost as much as all of the others here put together. Worth it, too!

Cheers

Definitely can't go wrong with a Lian-Li. I just replaced by PC-60 Plus II case with an new PC-9. Both have pros and cons. The PC-60 case was much louder, and had more fans in it, but it won't fit full length video cards. That was the main reason I replaced it with the PC-9 when I built a new system a couple months ago. The PC-9 only has 2 fans in it. One blowing across the hard drives side to side, and the other at the back blowing out. My system does seem to run in acceptable temps though when doing the most demanding processing.

Mark, actually Lian-li products are pretty expensive here too.
On the other end, I don't mind spending a bit more considering their quality. My gf has a Lina-li minitower, 5 years old, and it is indeed a very good one.

Currently these are my top choices:

Lian-li Armorsuite PC-P50 (here in some non-standard blueish version)
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/...amp;ss_index=62

Coolermaster HAF 922
http://www.coolermaster-europe.com/product.php?product_id=6606

I particularly lile the Lian-li's many front 5" bays. But, I'd like less colorful versions...


Yes, I like it as compact as possible, but still I want to be able to expand my pc as I wish. That's why I am afraid minitower is not an option.

My wholesale distributor lists the HAF-922 at CDN$97.
The Coolermaster 330 we have here is similar, though less flashy, for $40 (no PSU), or $51 (w/350W PSU).

Pity shipping is so expensive from here to there !

Yes, with current exchange rate, virtually everything is significantly cheaper in Canada or in the US. But customs will get in the way and make it less convenient due to taxes/shipping costs, and paperwork should a shipment get stopped for some reason...

Anyway, here the Lian-li is 170/200 Euros (depending on which version you pick of the PC-P50), while the Coolermaster only 100 Euros. I wonder if the price difference is actually worth spending. Lian-li seems more flexible in how and where you place/use the 5" bays.

Aren't 5" drives pretty rare now? I mean, maybe two DVD-RW drives max (for disc to disc copying), and that's it. Or is it?

Yes, I guess you're right.

You see, this is going to be my main PC. So, there are few things I am trying to consider.

I have some HDD removable tray I'd like to install - I have two, but one is enough -, and I have a memory card readers / port replicator panel I'd like to use mostly for the mem cards. It's true that with eSata the HDD tray is getting obsolete as a concept, probably, but still...

And, I hate to say, I may even want to install an old floppy reader, just in case. I found out there's no floppy reader actually working in my home anymore, but unfortunately I had a couple of occasions when I needed to read old flopplies friends gave me - crazy; they're hard to die. So, rather than having to dig our an old usb-based floppy reader, I'd probably prefer to have one installed in the case.

Also, should I want to use this as a secondary htpc, i may like a VFD display or something, in there.

Finally, I am considering connecting my Yamaha keyboard to this, which means I may be getting a good soundcard with inputs on a 5" front panel.

So, all considered, I would not mind having some 5" bay available, just in case.

One thing this PC is surely not doing, is storage. I have been running a server devoted to that for more than 10 years now, and so music, pictures, videos, docs, are somewhere else.

This PC will mostly be used to run software of all sorts, possibly play videogames, certainly a lot of web browsing, some personal office-style work, and finally a lot of music grabbing from CD to MP3 or else. And, I am planning to take it with me to some LAN parties, so while it can't be as small as I'd ideally like, it shouldn't even be bigger than needed.

Lian-li is slightly smaller than the Coolermaster, but not that much... Mmm...