Rosewill R218-P-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Great value. Good supply of screws. Front panel and chassis fan wires are of excellent length and can reach just about anywhere logical in the case your plugs are. (Big plus!) I personally liked the raised metal bumps on the motherboard mounting panel (my first time encountering these), which reduced the number of bolts I needed to install the motherboard. Airflow seems good. This computer is running about 8-10C cooler than when I had it in my old case (whose airflow consisted of removing the side panel, <cough>). Chassis fan is reasonably quiet.

Cons: Somewhat soft shell material, but typical of this price range. My main gripes (which I might stress are actually gentle ones) are of design layout: I had to remove the chassis fan in order to install the I/O shield. Also buyer be aware, the PCI-slot shields are not screw-in plates, but are metal brackets with a couple of welded joints holding them in place. They are cheap, but so is the cost of this case. The expansion cards themselves are held in by a screw-in plate, which you must unscrew in order to install your PCI boards and then screw back in to secure them. Rosewill provided me with one extra PCI-slot shield of the common type.

Overall Review: All-in-all, for the amount I paid for it, this is a sweet little case. I don't have kids or anything so I'm not worried about the case taking a severe beating. Get something thicker if that is a concern. And as long as you don't mind the lack of snap-in features and are willing to take a few extra minutes to install components into this box (I didn't mind really), it's a good buy. Oh and in case you wondered, the Power LED is blue and the HDD LED is amber. Both are soft lights and shouldn't prove distracting. Tell you the truth, despite my little criticisms, I was impressed with the quality of this case for the price. I work as a tech and believe me, I have seen much worse. It may be too early to say yet, but I think I would buy Rosewill again someday.

Pros: Best possible value for a case in today's market. It will fit a lot of different hardware configs. I just got one to piece together a C2Q system which is now a workstation running CPU intensive programs. If you're on a budget, do NOT hesitate to get this case. I searched, believe me, and this is the best possible value.

Cons: Lack of 120mm fan in the front. You should get yourself one, to improve cooling. Quality of construction is horrendous, but it is still more than adequate for the price. Hence the 4 egg review. USB ports in the front are very flimsy and will push into the case. Power LED is very bright. HD Audio cables are too short for many motherboards (i.e. the P5QL purchased at newegg). But I don't really need the audio connectors so it's not a big deal.

Overall Review: Make sure you get yourself that 120mm fan for the front. Newegg sells some cheap ones, no problem, pretty easy to install.

Pros: Inexpensive. Great for an office build or basic machine, not something that creates heat.

Cons: Serious air flow problems and overheating. My asus board was showing 65C. The rear fan doesn't move adequate air and uses a bracket. The hole for the bracket are proprietary and don't line up to the standard design of a 120mm fan. If your fan is oversized you can't get it to fit in the bracket or secure directly to the case. I tried blocking the side vents to force air flow from front to rear but the MB still ran hot. I cut the mesh guards to reduce backpressure but it still ran high. I had to buy a better case with more airflow for ~$50. Lesson learned.

Overall Review: Ordered the case and other components Thursday at lunch, UPS arrived Friday at lunch, love newegg!. Other system specs Asus ASUS M2A-VM AM2 AMD 690G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard Rosewill Stallion Series RD450-2-DB ATX V2.2 450W PS EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit PCIx 16 Put my 110CFM fan in the rear. 4GB DDR2 800 AM2 4100+ 2.1 OC'd to 2.6 (after new case)

Pros: Cheap, everything but the case fan on the back panel works well.

Cons: Two cons: 1. As many other reviews mention, the motherboard IO shield cannot be installed on a standard ATX motherboard without physically unscrewing the case fan on the back panel. Furthermore, once you screw the case fan back on, it may (as it did on my case) bend the metal keeping the IO shield in place. 2. Be very careful with the metal edges in the case-- some are sharp, and you could easily cut yourself.

Overall Review: I would not buy this case again. The issue with the motherboard IO panel is very significant, and we should not have to deal with poor case construction at this point, even in a cheap case.

Pros: Decent ventilation and place for more fans than probably necessary for most owners. USB ports in the front and audio is nice for a case this cheap.

Cons: There is a major design flaw in this case and it has to do with the positioning of the power button and the pressed steel that is pushed forward for a front fan placement. The wiring for the power button makes a very strong 90 degree bend to head upward where it enters the case. At this bend, it makes contact with the perforated metal where a fan might be placed in the front. Here is the problem with this. I built this case for my GF and when should put a flash drive in the computer shut down. Then she realized that if she pressed anywhere near those usb ports she could shut the computer down or even turn it back on. This is because the pressure caused the cheap wiring at the power button to press on the perforated metal where the fan is located and short the button, turning the computer on or off. The solution is simple if you didn't install a front fan. Remove the front plastic face. No screws, just pull. Press the metal and dent it inward where it might contact the switch. Fix

Pros: BIG case. I wasn't expecting it to be that big, but I know that all my components will fit beautifully. Shipped double-boxed with Styrofoam inserts. Came with no damage at all. Hooked up an old PSU to it (see other thoughts for reason). The exhaust fan pushes quite a bit of air. It isn't quiet, but it's not too loud either. I'm usually gaming with a headset on anyways, so I'm not worried about it. Rear fan clip, regardless of what people are saying, is a pretty nice feature. Makes it quick and painless to swap out fans if necessary. Very easy to use.

Cons: Rear I/O panel was a bit of a pain. You have to either find something to cut it out or rock it until it snaps. Just don't push too hard on it, because it will bend the back panel. Lightweight. This is not something you want to be moving around quite a bit. But I won't be, so it's no problem. Side panels WILL flex, so be careful putting it back on. Only one side has thumb screws, but it's no big deal. Front I/O cover is hard to open for those with a lack of thumbnails and chubby fingers (such as myself). It does not open completely (which may cause issues with the bottom USB port, I will have to flex it a bit and see if it loosens up and opens a bit more). The panel also seems to flex a bit when pushed on, so be gentle with it.

Overall Review: I'm building a system from the ground up. Unfortunately all of my other components did not arrive today. The case was ground, everything else was 3day. So I have to wait until Monday to test everything. But I am glad I was surprised at the size. Now I know I won't have any issues with my vid card fitting. If you are looking for an inexpensive kit that will hold everything you need with decent airflow, this is for you. Remember, you get what you pay for. Don't expect this thing to be built like a tank.

Pros: This case is inexpensive, vents well, and has lots of room to work with.

Cons: It lacks strength, the side panels rarely align properly, and the whole thing is flimsy. Be very careful when removing any tear away panels, I have cut my hand every single time Ihave opened the case. The metal, for some crazy reason, is very sharp. It's big, but can be a tight fir for multiple hard drives.

Pros: It holds everything together as intended. Came with required screws and standoffs. Black is stylish. With shipping and taxes factored in, was the least expensive case on the 'egg at time of purchase. Case is to hold a Home Server.

Cons: I'll say first that I did run my fingers along most of the metal edges in the case, looking for sharp edges. Didn't find any that concerned me initially. However when I removed the top drive bay cover I hit the metal plate covering the front of the next drive bay down with my thumb, causing a deep cut. I bled all over the interior of the case, including the motherboard. Despite being covered with a thick red fluid, all components function properly when I powered the unit on.

Overall Review: Beware! There are razor sharp edges in this thing!!! Next time I may spend a few extra bucks on a case with a little better workmanship. I really hate bleeding all over my gear. -1 egg for that.