Gaming evolved from being an entertainment means to a source of disposable income. Gaming PCs are the best way to play modern AAA games. PCs are the most versatile, upgradeable, and powerful drivers for graphics. As more and more gamers turn to gaming, there is one fundamental building block element: A Gaming PC Case. A high-quality PC case will ensure high airflow, low noise, decent space, and superior cable routing. The performance and aesthetics of your gaming PC are directly affected by the quality of your PC case and design.
The process of selecting the best gaming PC case can be overwhelming. Manufacturers categorize PC cases based on airflow, EATX, water cooling, noise reduction, and portability. This guide will help you select the best gaming PC case for your hardware and ensure all the equipment fits inside the case. Let's start by building some knowledge base!
Essential Information
Form Factor: Selecting your hardware's correct PC case dimensions is essential. The form factor represents the gaming PC case's ability to house a motherboard. There are EATX (Extended ATX), ATX (Full Tower), mATX (Mid Tower), and Mini-ITX (Small Form Factor). Users can select the case depending on the motherboard's form factor. The most popular motherboard size is mATX, which makes Mid Tower PC an ideal choice.
Front Panel: The front panel is crucial to any gaming PC case. It consists of USB ports and audio connections. Most users rarely plug and plug their daily use peripherals in the rare IO panel. The front port should contain the required USB ports like a USB-C, Thunderbolt, USB-A, and a headphone jack.
Air Flow: Gaming PC hardware creates a lot of heat when running high-end graphics. Proper airflow is essential to ensure that the heat properly dissipates. Graphics cards and even liquid cooling kits require airflow to remove heat from the hardware. Low temperatures provide the consistency in performance needed for gaming. High temperatures can directly degrade the performance of your SSDs, RAMs, GPU, CPU, and motherboard VRMs.
Clearances: The space required to install a graphics card, liquid cooling radiator, and CPU cooler is vital to avoid inconvenience. Before purchasing a gaming PC case, properly check the graphics card length, CPU cooler height, and radiator length.
Step to Finding the Best Gaming PC Case
After finalizing the graphics card, CPU cooler, motherboard, and liquid cooler for the PC build, move on to the steps to find which type of PC case is best for your build.
Check for the dimensions of your graphics card. The critical dimension is the length when installing a GFX card in the chassis.
If you opt for the air-based CPU cooler, then the height of the CPU cooler is vital as it can hinder the side panel. PC case manufacturers mention clearance in specifications.
Identify the motherboard form factor. It will help decide the PC case size.
After ensuring that the hardware fits inside a case, the type of case that is best for the build is next.
Select a high-flow rate PC case if noise is not a problem and performance is crucial to your build.
Pick a PC case with enough space to house water cooling if selected. Water cooling kits can be expensive but run better than air-based coolers.
If you want a silent gaming PC build, remember that a silent PC case may not have high-air flow. So, if you opt for a quiet gaming experience, ensure you have suitable cooling.
Want to carry around your build like a console? Then, select the case with maximum portability.
Overall, it depends on the user's requirements. Generally, high-air flow cases are best for mid-range PC build.
We have mentioned top-performing PC cases in each category for our reader's ease. Continue to the next section.
Top Performing PC Cases for Gaming in Each Category
Best Gaming PC Case For Airflow
Cooler Master MasterBox NR600
SPECS
Form Factor: Mid-Tower (ATX)
Fan Support: 4x140mm or 6x120mm
Radiator Support: 360mm
GFX Clearance: 410mm
CPU Clearance: 166mm
Dimension: 478 (L) x 209 (W) x 473 (H) mm
Mid-tower cases are the most popular among gamers. They provide sufficient space for high-end gaming hardware and distance between hardware for airflow. Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 is the best gaming PC case for airflow. The high airflow is mainly due to its perforations in the front, top, and back of the chassis. It even has an entrance at the bottom of the chassis to allow air passage in the case's PSU section.
Dust collection can cause havoc on the gaming hardware, and the case has a dust filter on top and bottom of the PC case. Suppose you are playing Fortnite and about to get the best shot of your season, and suddenly, your computer starts lagging. There could be many reasons, but the most significant change is that your hardware is thermally throttling. It's compensating for the high heat by reducing performance. A high-flow chassis will ensure that heat does not ruin your high-intensity gaming moments. There is enough space to house a 360mm radiator for a liquid cooling system. There are also
Best Gaming PC Case For Water Cooling
Corsair iCUE 5000X
SPECS
Form Factor: Mid-Tower (ATX)
Fan Support: 4x140mm or 10x120mm
Radiator Support: 360mm
GFX Clearance: 400mm
CPU Clearance: 170mm
Dimension: 520 (L) x 245 (W) x 520 (H) mm
Corsair has an excellent ecosystem of products that are highly compatible with each other. The Corsair iCUE 5000X is a two-tone black and white chassis that is aesthetically and technically pleasing. It features ample space to house liquid cooling kits and radiators, making it the best gaming PC case For water cooling. If you aim to install a custom cooling loop, the case has enough space to simultaneously house a 360mm radiator, liquid reservoir, and 7x120mm fans.
Whether you are casual gaming, competitive gaming, or playing to sell your game account in marketplaces like Eldorado, a liquid cooling chassis will ensure long-lasting hardware performance. The chassis, alongside excellent liquid cooling capability, has a convenient front panel. It features two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a USB 3.1 Type-C port, and a headphone/mic combo jack. We need these minimal ports to connect and charge our peripheral needs.
Best Gaming PC Case For Portability
Alamengda HB-I98
SPECS
Form Factor: Small Form Factor (Mini-ITX)
Fan Support: Nil
Radiator Support: 60mm
GFX Clearance: 300mm
CPU Clearance: 60mm
Dimension: 310 (L) x 130 (W) x 190 (H) mm
As a gamer, what could be more wonderful than having the ability to carry around your gaming PC like a laptop? Alamengda HB-I98 makes carrying your hardware around for gaming sessions or watching movies easy. It features a carrying handle and lightweight chassis, making it the best gaming PC case for portability. In a small 310mm dimension, it can house a 300mm graphics card. You only need a 180mm GPU to rise to fix the graphics card on the side of the case.
Selecting a portable case requires careful evaluation of all the dimensions. There are limitations due to the design. It supports only a mini-ITX motherboard with only one USB 3.0 port and a power button. A gaming PC built with HB-I98 would turn heads.
Best Gaming PC Case for Noise Reduction
bequiet! Silent Base 802
SPECS
Form Factor: Full Tower (EATX)
Fan Support: 8x140mm or 7x120mm
Radiator Support: 420mm
GFX Clearance: 432mm
CPU Clearance: 185mm
Dimension: 539 (L) x 281 (W) x 553 (H) mm
Bequiet! It is a German brand that produces high-quality and low-noise products with an excellent price/performance ratio. One of their best silent gaming PC cases is bequiet! Silent Base 802. It can house an EATX motherboard for superior gaming performance. The ability to accommodate a 432mm graphics card and 8x140mm fans makes it a quiet and performance-driven design. It efficiently moves air over the most heated parts from front to back by stopping airflow from the top. The user can change the top between a liquid and air cooling setup.
When using a liquid cooling kit, the top is replaceable with a perforated sheet to pass air from the radiator. The PC case features noise-damping material and a filter to ensure silent performance. The I/O panel on the front features the latest USB 3.2 Gen. 2 Type C connector, two Type-A connectors, and fan speed control. Overall, it's the best gaming PC case for noiseless operation.
Conclusion
Whether you are building a portable gaming PC or professional gaming setups to improve your skills, having a high-quality case is essential. Engineers design gaming PC cases with airflow, supports, dimensions, sturdiness, and aesthetics in mind when working on their drawing board. A gamer who makes money through selling and buying game accounts on marketplaces like Eldorado needs an efficient rig that works and performs consistently. Any hiccup can directly affect their gaming experience and, more importantly, disposable income.
So select the best gaming PC case from the category relevant to your requirements and start gaming!
