Best Budget PC Case in 2021
The best budget PC case picks for gaming, storage, and cooling
- Last Updated May 26, 2021
Building a custom PC is a delicate balancing act. Saving some money here and there on things like the case and the fans can lead to more room in your budget for a better GPU or CPU. On the other hand, if your case doesn’t provide you with proper airflow then you could damage your parts and a lackluster I/O can make using your rig a pain.
Don’t worry, though, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t good, cheap computer cases. In fact, we’ve done the research and have come up with 5 cases that can help you reach equilibrium in this balancing act. If you’re interested in finding the best budget case out there then take a look at our budget PC case reviews below.
Products at a Glance
How We Picked
When looking for the best budget PC case, we focused on areas such as cooling, aesthetics, and the internal layout as these are the main factors in deciding how the PC case will look in your setup and if your internals are going to fit in nicely. Of course, with this being the best budget PC cases, price is another key issue so we’ve tried our best to give ourselves a limit to keep costs down as much as possible. PCs are as expensive as it is so if you can get a solid PC case at a low cost, why not?
Best Budget PC Case in 2021
Admittedly, looks are subjective, but it’s hard to find a case that looks better than the InWin 101 at this price point. It comes in a couple of colors– black or white– and has integrated LED accents that can be blue, pink, or red. This minimalist case actually has a pretty premium feel thanks to the toolless tempered glass panel on the side, which is pretty much unheard of in a budget case like this.
The internal layout of the case is interesting and makes it stand out, even among much pricier cases. For starters, there is a GPU bracket to help prevent your graphics card from sagging which can help extend the life of the card and your motherboard.
Additionally, the power supply is designed to be top mounted in this case, which is unusual these days but actually allows for better airflow to your power supply. This also helps keep the heat of your PSU away from more temperature sensitive components.
Perhaps the most surprising thing is just how water cooling friendly this case is. It can fit a 120mm radiator in the rear, a 240mm radiator on the side opposite the tempered glass, or a massive 360mm radiator in the bottom. This thoughtful design and cooling capacity make this easily the best budget ATX case on the market.
The Fractal Focus G is probably the king of airflow since the entire front, top, and bottom of this case are made from a breathable mesh that lets air flow freely into and out of your case. Good airflow is important for keeping your parts cool and running their best, especially in builds that have dedicated graphics cards that throw off a ton of heat.
Don’t worry about dust though, because the massive breathable surfaces are protected by air filters that prevent dust from making its way into your case. While the Focus G comes with two 120mm fans included, it can accommodate up to six fans and a variety of radiators. Fractal has designed this case to be capable of accommodating high profile CPU coolers as well, which nicely compliments the overall high airflow design of this case.
The side panel features a plastic window; tempered glass would’ve been nice, but this is a budget case. The front of the case has two 5.25” drive bays, which dates this case somewhat since disks have largely become obsolete.
The top and front hosts the I/O, with the latter being a weak point as it only includes a single USB 2.0 and a single USB 3.0. Unfortunately, the header cable in the case for this anemic I/O are also very short causing this case to be a bit of a hassle to set up with some motherboards.
If you often find yourself running out of storage space on your computer due to an ever-expanding library of games, movies, and music then the Corsair Carbide 200R is probably the best cheap pc case for you. This case has an incredible amount of storage space for its price and size with a total of 11 drive bays.
The drive bays include four 2.5” bays, four 3.5” bays, and three 5.25” bays. This should allow most people to store their Steam library, plenty of movies, or enough music to last a lifetime. The case is also very easy to build in with an almost entirely toolless design. Corsair claims that the only time you’ll need a screwdriver during the building process is to put the motherboard in.
If you don’t plan to take full advantage of the various drive bays, then you still have plenty of viable configuration options. Depending on the number of drives, you can outfit the 200R with as many as eight fans, as well as a number of different radiator configurations. While you can obviously get a lot of airflow in this case, it’s not nearly as breathable as the something like the Focus G.
This case, like others on this list, really falls apart once you look at the lackluster front I/O with only two USB ports, a microphone jack, and a headphone jack. That being said, the variety of drive bays and customizable layouts makes this the best budget mid-tower case for those looking for maximum storage capacity.
For those who are small form factor enthusiasts on the hunt for a cheap computer case, we suggest the Thermaltake Suppressor F1. At this price, It’s hard to beat the features and capabilities of this powerful, yet tiny case.
The F1 is a simple cube-shaped mITX case that boasts large grills on each of the magnetic side panels and a plastic window on the top that lets you see your hardware.
Cooling can be a major issue for small cases since with so many hot parts being stuffed into a small space. To combat this, there are several places where you can use large fans. Moreover, remember that both side panels have large grills for airflow, and conveniently around the GPU and CPU coolers at that.
The front can take a large fan or radiator. In fact, the case comes with a 200mm fan included pre-installed into the front.
So when you are paying less than $50, even in a budget round-up there are going to need to be corners cut with your build.
One that you won’t have to contend with with this offering from Cooler Master is you can somehow still fit a full-size ATX PSU within it’s svelte form factor.
It’s wider and taller than a regular mATX case, the side panel is acrylic rather than glass and can scratch easily if you aren’t careful, but we reiterate – it costs less than 50 bucks so corners will be cut.
Another novelty is that you can position the IO ports in any of six places. Just be aware to to use some of the options you will need an unsupplied USB extension cable.
Airflow isn’t fantastic but if you are in the market for something like this it’s unlikely you will be filling it full of GTX 2080Tis running in SLI. Not that you could – but it does still take a decent sized GPU.
Overall this is a good option if cash is king and you keep your expectations well balanced.
Things To Consider
Our Verdict
All in all, if we were to put a stamp on the absolute best budget PC case, we’d opt for the In Win 101 PC Case. It looks very aesthetically pleasing, not just due to the stealth black look and transparent side panel but because of the integrated LED lights. Usually, this lighting is reserved for the higher-priced PC cases so you’re pretty great value for money too. When looking at the internals, you can’t be disappointed either with its solid layout, GPU bracket, and the ability to top mount your PSU. Moreover, with the ability to fit a water cooled 120mm radiator in the rear, a 240mm radiator on the side opposite the tempered glass, and a massive 360mm radiator in the bottom, there’s a plethora of cooling options that is a surprising and welcomed feature.