Derrick
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- Nov 22, 2010
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The battle for the hearts and minds of entry level computer users seems to have taken a turn for the better with premium brands competing on something as simple as the chassis for custom built entry level or first time buyers. It has taken some time and presumably a long stint of recovering research and development moneys but the features of the high specification chassis of two or so years ago are now making their way into the lower end of the market in what seems to be a fight for the hearts of new custom computer buyers.
The custom computer buyer tends to be either somebody who knows what he wants and gets it or perhaps somebody who also knows that the best bang for your buck lies with the custom pc. If you are a big corporate who wants to save money on maintenance of a large armada of computers then you go to the big factory fitted brands. The man on the street however will find his value in the custom built computer which can outperform factory fitted computers at a smaller price.
ASUS put the ASUS TA-861 Vento A8 midi tower out there to do battle. A neat little case with rounded inside edges to avoid losing a limb during installation and more than enough room for venting upgrades should you put in a power house of a CPU in there with perhaps a nice graphics card. This is a case you can use to save money on in order to get some more juice.
In fact most of the big brand entry level chassis are good enough to house monster computers! The only drawback is their power supplies tend to be between 300 Watt (as is the case with the ASUS Vento) and 380 Watt. Putting in a monster computer might cost you a replacement power supply.
Coolermaster has a whole range of entry level cases out that are pretty to look at and functional. The “Elite” series features variations on the same basic chassis design with front panel buttons, side panel buttons and other options to choose from in the range. Some have power supplies and others don’t. The “Elite” series does sound cool, doesn’t it? Nice name, well chosen Coolermaster!
GIGABYTE has got the X series which is not as cheap as the ASUS or Coolermaster options but offers good looks worth the extra money.
What is so brilliant about this trickle down of technology into chassis for the entry level market is that now you can pay a low price for tool free or semi tool free designs that don’t leave you fingerless during installation (those rough case edges are now rounded), are easy to assemble with mostly clips (even if they are a little crude compared to the more expensive models) necessary to secure optical drives and hard drives. They present themselves better in home and office environments and are styled to impress. Ivory colors are out! Silver and black are in.
I am looking forward to seeing more such battles as it enriches the whole chain of computer chassis available. We are now seeing LCD displays built into some top level chassis, with pricing coming down nicely coupled with more features like liquid cooling ready cases now more affordable than ever despite the Rand versus the Dollar mess that seems to have stabilized now. The choice of chassis has improved vastly and we should not lose eye of a recent spurt in the design efforts of Lian-Li to make their cases more mainstream. They are doing wonderful design work but are largely focused on the higher end of the market by the looks of things, especially judging by what is available here in South Africa.
In short, keep an eye out for some cool cases. Shop around if you are in the entry level chassis market, there are some great options out right now.
The custom computer buyer tends to be either somebody who knows what he wants and gets it or perhaps somebody who also knows that the best bang for your buck lies with the custom pc. If you are a big corporate who wants to save money on maintenance of a large armada of computers then you go to the big factory fitted brands. The man on the street however will find his value in the custom built computer which can outperform factory fitted computers at a smaller price.
ASUS put the ASUS TA-861 Vento A8 midi tower out there to do battle. A neat little case with rounded inside edges to avoid losing a limb during installation and more than enough room for venting upgrades should you put in a power house of a CPU in there with perhaps a nice graphics card. This is a case you can use to save money on in order to get some more juice.
In fact most of the big brand entry level chassis are good enough to house monster computers! The only drawback is their power supplies tend to be between 300 Watt (as is the case with the ASUS Vento) and 380 Watt. Putting in a monster computer might cost you a replacement power supply.
Coolermaster has a whole range of entry level cases out that are pretty to look at and functional. The “Elite” series features variations on the same basic chassis design with front panel buttons, side panel buttons and other options to choose from in the range. Some have power supplies and others don’t. The “Elite” series does sound cool, doesn’t it? Nice name, well chosen Coolermaster!
GIGABYTE has got the X series which is not as cheap as the ASUS or Coolermaster options but offers good looks worth the extra money.
What is so brilliant about this trickle down of technology into chassis for the entry level market is that now you can pay a low price for tool free or semi tool free designs that don’t leave you fingerless during installation (those rough case edges are now rounded), are easy to assemble with mostly clips (even if they are a little crude compared to the more expensive models) necessary to secure optical drives and hard drives. They present themselves better in home and office environments and are styled to impress. Ivory colors are out! Silver and black are in.
I am looking forward to seeing more such battles as it enriches the whole chain of computer chassis available. We are now seeing LCD displays built into some top level chassis, with pricing coming down nicely coupled with more features like liquid cooling ready cases now more affordable than ever despite the Rand versus the Dollar mess that seems to have stabilized now. The choice of chassis has improved vastly and we should not lose eye of a recent spurt in the design efforts of Lian-Li to make their cases more mainstream. They are doing wonderful design work but are largely focused on the higher end of the market by the looks of things, especially judging by what is available here in South Africa.
In short, keep an eye out for some cool cases. Shop around if you are in the entry level chassis market, there are some great options out right now.