Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3 - Mini Tower Computer Case - mATX - High Airflow And Cooling - 1x 120mm Silent Fan Included - Brushed Aluminium - Black

This case is truly excellent, for £30 you can't really go wrong. I used this case for a budget build and it didn't disappoint.Pros:+Looks great, it has a nice brushed aluminum finish on the front which actually looks quite premium and flashy despite being a cheap case.+Has an adequate front panel i/o. The power button and HDD activity light are white, and there is one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port, as well as the usual headphone and microphone jacks. I liked the fact that the i/o was actually on the front face of the case, and not on the top or the side like some other case.+The case has two front 5.25" bays, which was exactly what I wanted. The PC this case was for was going to be using Photoshop, and therefore I needed to have an optical drive, as well as an internal card reader, and these bays are quite adequate.+For a mATX case, it is relatively roomy, and saves some space by having an upright bracket for mounting drives on. This can be removed while building for easier access.+The case has nice feet to keep it from slipping and sliding everywhere, as well as to keep the case a little bit cooler.+Supports 3 case fans, one 120mm in the front (which is preinstalled, and is a quality Fractal Design fan), one 120mm on the side panel, and one 92mm fan on the rear.+The expansion slot covers on the rear of the case are painted white, and are actually resuable and quite sturdy, which is unlike other cheap cases I've bought in the past.Cons:-The vertical drive bracket could pose as a problem to people who have lengthier graphics cards. I have two GTX 750Ti cards, one of which from ASUS, and the other being the smaller EVGA 750Ti Superclocked, which is much smaller and doesn't require dedicated power. When using the ASUS card, it became a real squeeze, especially considering I had an SSD and a standard 5.25" HDD. I managed to get it in, but it was with great difficulty. Since then, I swapped that card out for the EGVA card and have had no problems since, as the card is smaller and doesn't require a power connector.-Clearance for an aftermarket CPU cooler is an issue, the case just isn't that wide. Popular coolers like the Hyper 212 will not fit in this case, and I wouldn't really reccommend an AIO liquid cooler, as mounting the radiator on the side panel just wouldn't be a viable or sensible option. Instead, I bought a low-profile Noctua cooler after using the stock Intel cooler for a couple of weeks, just because I wanted to overclock my Pentium g3258 higher than 4.0gHz. As this is a budget case and will probably be used mostly in budget builds, either an Intel or AMD stock cooler would suffice, and may even be a better option especially now that AMD Wraith coolers are available. If your heart is set on an aftermarket cooler, make sure to check compatability, and ensure that the case will house it, you could check this easily on a site like PC Part Picker.-The power supply is mounted in the top of the case. This isn't a problem for the vast majority of people but it does increase the temperature inside the case, as the power supply fan would be blowing warm air into the case.-In a similar vein to the previous point, a modular power supply would be preferable for this case. I used a non-modular Corsair CX500 that I was reusing from a previous build, and while it is possible to use a non-modular PSU, the wires do make it tricky, especially as there is very little opportunity for cable management in this case, which is to be expected in a case this cheap.However, if you are willing to overlook and/or compensate for some of the shortcomings of this case, you could make an excellent system. For £30, it is easy to overlook the negative things about this case, and a decent rig can be housed in this cheap, but remarkable chassis.

Can't say I have a great deal of experience with cases, this being the third one I've purchased in my life after a Coolermaster something-or-other in 2009 and a Fractal Design Define S earlier this year (to replace the 2009 case after it had finally given up the ghost). Being impressed with the Define S I opted to go for this model for a mini build I intended on making with old bits and pieces I had lying around. So do bear this in mind as I write this review - I'm comparing it to a case that's about twice the price and one that's so old that I don't remember what it cost (probably was at the lower end of the market like at the time).The case isn't badly made. No sharp edges of note. The power supply mount area doesn't feel like it'd hold anything exceptionally heavy, although was okay for the Corsair VS600 I was using. There are very very few options for cable routing, aside from just stuffing them in the 5 inch drive bays and tying them up. Who uses CD drives these days anyway, let alone two? You're going to have one of these bays free regardless. I imagine this is typical for this price point though.The buttons are mounted on the front panel rather than being separate. Means if you take the panel off, the cables for power and power/HDD LEDs come with it. Not a problem as such, although once you've plugged the cables in and managed them you'll need to leave a bit of slack. There's only a single fan which is okay. I felt the need to add an extra in fan, using a CPU with a 125W TDP and a garden strimmer motor powering its stock cooler, and out fan but imagine most people probably won't have to. There's only three fan mounts (2 x 120mm, one of which has a fan already on it, 1 x 92mm), but again, probably typical for this price point. I noticed the rear fan is a weird size 92mm, so watch out for that if your plan was to use an existing 120mm fan as an exhaust (mine was, should have read the instructions/realised that a small case might struggle to fit both the IO and a 120mm fan on). Only the front panel is dust filtered and this isn't particularly strong - the filters are on the plastic front panel and there's a gap at the bottom so imagine dust penetration could still be a problem. I bought a little filter to put in front of the fan (and on the side fan).The case is quite narrow. Wouldn't want to try and put a tower cooler in it, just something to bear in mind. Manual says 148mm.My own fault this is, but I had a little accident with one of the side panels and it bent/deformed quite easily. Just something to bear in mind if you're a person who has the tendency to trip over your own computer. Both side panels are now dented. It's not a big deal, but might want to bear in mind if you're going to be transporting it around or if you're just clumsy. It is quite light on the other hand (and small being an mATX case), so if you're after portability I'd say it's good.The drive mount is odd, and similar to what was on my other Fractal Case - rather than being in a horizontal tray, they're mounted sidewards vertically with space for 3 2.5 inch drives or 2 3.5 inch drives. It comes with little rubberised things to stop vibrations. You can't fit a 2.5mm drive on with these rubber bits on (they pop off), or at least not without stressing the panel or drive itself, so the benefit of them won't really be felt if you plan on using 2.5mm mechanical drives (but who uses those in a desktop build anyway - other than me because I'm recycling?). You can remove the panel you strap the disks to for easier installation (or if you want to fit a bigger graphics card in with side power mounts).Overall it's a nice case, good aesthetics - it looks more premium/stylish than it is. Not the best to build in with the cable management not being fantastic, but it's what it is and cable management isn't really that important from a functionality perspective (or aesthetic when there's no transparent side panel). Would recommend if you're looking for something affordable, relatively small and somewhat portable. I feel like I might have been slightly better off buying some different (a little more expensive which came with more cooling options and better dust filters), but for a secondary/living room/general productivity PC with modern bits and pieces (which have a lower TDP than what I put in mine) it's probably pretty fine.