When you’re building a PC, it’s easy to get carried away with things like CPUs and GPUs. They’re important and are the stars of the show as far as PC performance is concerned, but it’s vital not to forget the thing that holds everything together: the case.
Your PC case is hugely important. Not only does it dictate what size your motherboard can be, which in turn imposes restrictions on GPU card length and rear-panel connectivity, but it also houses a lot of the fans and radiators that will keep your PC cooled. And a well-cooled PC is a well-functioning PC. Nothing can stop a gaming PC in its tracks like overheating, as it causes components to throttle their top speeds.
Elsewhere, a good PC case is accessible, so you can easily remove the side panels and get to both sides of the motherboard to insert plugs, route cables and press switches if needed. It has space for additional storage drives - though M.2 slots on the motherboard itself can probably contain all you need - and PCIe devices such as video capture cards and additional networking. Cases often also have a transparent panel so you can see the internal workings of your PC, and if you want to festoon your rig with extra RGB lighting, you’ll want a case that can accommodate that too.
The front panel of a PC case is also worth thinking about. Nobody wants to reach around to the back of a desktop PC every time they want to plug a new USB device or a pair of headphones in, so having these connections on the front of a PC case makes things so much more convenient. Two USB ports and a 3.5mm audio connector are common, but you may find other connectors too.
Here are some of the best PC cases you can build into today.
Best PC cases at a glance:
- Best for a good all-rounder: Phanteks XT Pro Ultra - £93, Amazon
- Best for a DIY approach: Cooler Master Qube 500 Flatpack - £70, Amazon
- Best for looking good: Fractal Design Terra - £185, Amazon
- Best for keeping the noise down: Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 901 - £302, Amazon
- Best for big, colourful builds: In Win Airforce - €199, In Win
- Best for panoramic views of your PC: Hyte Y60 - £200, Amazon
- Best for a really small PC: Phanteks Evolv Shift 2 - £97, Amazon
- Best for the most stunning build: AZZA Pyramid 804 Mid - £513, CCL Online
Phanteks XT Pro Ultra
Best for: a good all-rounder
This ATX mid-tower gets called a budget case, but you get a lot for your money. It comes with four 140mm ARGB fans, can fit a GPU 400mm long (that’s easily enough for an RTX 4090), and has space for loads of extra storage drives.
You also get a tempered glass side panel and support for the new rear-connector motherboards which shunt all the ports to the back and keep the interior neater as there are fewer cables snaking about.
Buy now £93.00, Amazon
Cooler Master Qube 500 Flatpack
Best for: a DIY approach
It’s not that often that you come across a mid-tower ATX PC case that’s quite so customisable, but this one from Cooler Master comes as a flatpack, as if Ikea now made PC cases. There are optional panels to change the colour of your build, and it’s just great fun piecing it together, as most other cases come pre-assembled - there are instructions on YouTube if you get lost.
You get some nice internal features too, such as a bracket for mounting a graphics card vertically, and a 120mm exhaust fan.
Buy now £70.00, Amazon
Fractal Design Terra
Best for: looking good
With an aesthetic that’s more high-end hi-fi than gaming PC, this metal and wood case comes in a few different colour options and is ITX-sized, so you can use it for a more compact desktop PC build than the standard tower.
This has the knock-on effect of reducing the amount of space that’s available for components and cooling, but the Terra has some clever ideas inside. These include the velcro straps for holding a SATA SSD to keep it out of the way and make the installation a tool-less process, and some cable ties included in the box to help route cables neatly. Overall, it’s a great-looking case with the potential to be part of an exciting PC build.
Buy now £185.00, Amazon
Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 901
Best for: keeping the noise down
One of the big issues a tower PC can have is the noise it makes - with a lot of fans whirring away (PSU, CPU, GPU, add case fans and something like a 360mm water-cooling radiator and you have even more), you’ll certainly notice when it’s switched on. While there are very few passively cooled computers available - the MacBook Air for one - they tend to be on the smaller side and less suitable for gaming or other rendering tasks.
That’s where cases like this come in, which include noise-damping foam, an internal fan controller and acoustic inserts in their construction to try to keep it down. The Dark Base Pro 901 is also convenient, with five USB ports on the front panel and a wireless phone charging pad on top.
Buy now £302.00, Amazon
Hyte Y60
Best for: panoramic views of your PC
Three glass panels turn this PC case into a sort of component aquarium, and you’ll need to be very confident in your build skills to pull it off without it looking like you keep power cables as pets. This ATX mid-tower features a dedicated area at the bottom of the case for cooling, plus the ability to fit a 360mm radiator on top, as well as three case fans and a PCIe riser that allows you to mount your graphics card vertically, all the better to show it off.
Buy now £200.00, Amazon
Phanteks Evolv Shift 2
Best for: a really small PC
This tall but comparatively tiny Mini-ITX case packs a lot into a small space, but you’ll need to be picky about the components you choose. Looking more like a games console than a PC, it’s all very nicely designed, with all the glass, ridges, and RGB lighting controllers you could want.
It can fit a 335mm graphics card, but CPU cooling is likely to be limited to a 120mm AIO water-cooling loop, and the radiator fits at the bottom of the case, which isn’t ideal positioning. Still, if you’re putting together a PC that’s going to be on display, this case makes for a sleek and futuristic build.
Buy now £97.00, Amazon
AZZA Pyramid 804 Mid
Best for: the most stunning build
It’s expensive, but if you want a PC with the wow factor this pyramid case is well worth considering. The case weighs around 14kg on its own, before you start filling it up, so be warned that you might not want to be moving it around too much. Find somewhere you can see it, and pick carefully from compatible components (SSI-CEB motherboard, graphics card up to 300mm and space for a bottom-mounted 360mm AIO radiator) and you’ll get a PC like no other.
Buy now £513.00, CCL Online
In Win Airforce
Best for: big, colourful builds
This tower case will take a full-size E-ATX motherboard and has an eight-slot rear panel so you can really fill it up with PCIe cards. It’s a flat-pack design, so you’ll need to build it from scratch, and there are multiple parts for colour customisation (an all-black version is also available).
You also get four ARGB fans in the package, for even more colour, and both side panels are made from tempered glass, so you’ll either need to be very neat with your cable routing or accept that everyone can see the mess you’ve made. There's loads of space inside for a big GPU and some extra drives, and the only thing keeping it down is that it’s kind of expensive compared to some pre-assembled cases.
Buy now £199.00, In Win
Verdict
Building a PC is lots of fun, and when choosing a case there are a lot of things to bear in mind. The Phanteks XT Pro Ultra case at the top of this list ticks a lot of boxes, being roomy and easy to build into, as well as reasonably priced. It’s not the best-looking case out there, though this may not matter if you’re keeping it under a desk.
If aesthetics are important to your PC dreams, there are other options on this list that will up the awesomeness for a PC you can show off.
