Awards: Best & Worst PC Cases of 2020

By admin | February 9, 2021 |

Awards: Best & Worst PC Cases of 2020

With 300+ rows of case testing data, we’re now recapping our gaming PC case benchmarks for 2020 to show the best cases for thermals, noise, design, and build quality.
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Article: Article will publish here in 1 hour after the video – https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3630-best-worst-pc-cases-2020
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Our 2020 computer case round-up recaps the best gaming PC cases (and cases in general) for their thermal, acoustic (noise), build, and accessibility designs. We’re looking at best noise-normalized thermal performance and cooling efficiency, the mechanical design of cases, the price-to-performance and value or budget PC cases, and more. Of course, we also have a Worst Case of 2020 to revisit, all in time for #BlackFriday. This round-up & comparison of the best PC cases for the year should help in PC building.

CASES FEATURED (in order of appearance)

NOTE: A lot of these cases are way overpriced and sold by third-party sellers right now. Please be careful of how much you’re spending on the cases.

Best Overall (Price-to-Performance, Design, Thermals): Lian Li Lancool 215
Lian Li Lancool 215 on Amazon – https://geni.us/BJIsU
GN Lancool 215 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un82B93xKOE

Best Mechanical Design: Fractal Meshify 2
Fractal Meshify 2 on Amazon – https://geni.us/gazYCfz
GN Fractal Meshify 2 case review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTW2KHGzbM0

Runner-Up (Mechanical Design): Lian Li O11 Mini
Lian Li O11 Mini on Amazon – https://geni.us/O6M8Im

Runner-Up (Mechanical Design): Corsair 4000D Airflow
Corsair 4000D Airflow on Amazon – https://geni.us/8BHHA5
GN Corsair 4000D Airflow review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYsOmJ9X7Ow

Best Budget Case: SilverStone FARA R1
SilverStone FARA R1 on Amazon – https://geni.us/g983
GN Silverstone Fara R1 review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaKMTdWd_sI

Best Out-of-the-Box Thermals: Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance
Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance on Amazon – https://geni.us/io9HA8
GN Lian Li Lancool II Mesh review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JSLWewcieY

Best Noise Levels: be quiet! Pure Base 500DX
be quiet! Pure Base 500DX on Amazon – https://geni.us/fIdH46k
GN be quiet! Pure Base 500DX review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCnagbKkVzE

Best Noise Levels: Corsair 4000D Airflow
Corsair 4000D Airflow on Amazon – https://geni.us/8BHHA5

In consideration (not yet tested): be quiet! Silent Base 802
be quiet! Silent Base 802 on Amazon – https://geni.us/2W9B4

Best Noise-Normalized Thermals: Phanteks P500A Digital
Phanteks P500A Digital on Amazon – https://geni.us/0qIz
GN Phanteks P500A review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G835LGHpeoI

Case Currently Being Tested: Cooler Master NR200P
Cooler Master NR200P on Amazon – https://geni.us/gqJqOZX

Worst Case: Abkoncore Ramesses 780 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OupiPZybyBE

00:00 – Recapping the Best Computer Cases of 2020
02:25 – Best Overall (Thermals & Design)
05:35 – Best Mechanical Design
07:11 – Mechanical Design Honorable Mentions
08:57 – Best Budget Case
10:41 – Best Out-of-the-Box Thermals
12:38 – Best Noise Levels
15:17 – Best Noise-Normalized Thermals
17:28 – Top Case We’re Currently In The Process Of Testing
19:25 – Best Worst Case
21:03 – Conclusion

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Host, Editorial: Steve Burke
Editorial: Patrick Lathan
Video: Keegan Gallick, Andrew Coleman

Posted in Desktops

50 Comments

  1. BeefBus on February 9, 2021 at 9:04 pm

    is MSI – MPG SEKIRA 100R a good case?



  2. Cosmic on February 9, 2021 at 9:04 pm

    If anyone is still watching this video today, I HIGHLY recommend the NR200. It is phenomenal! It is the perfect size for those who want the SFX but not sooo small that it is impossible to build in. I would check out Machines & More on YouTube as he does an entire series all about the case.



  3. G. G. Anderson on February 9, 2021 at 9:04 pm

    Every technic youtuber: look at this gpu
    The best youtuber: i show you the best case



  4. Ranjan Biswas on February 9, 2021 at 9:05 pm

    Yes, It can be metal box, But, Also aluminium box, also cheap crap like thin metal box, also full glass box, also full acrylic box.



  5. Doctor Shred on February 9, 2021 at 9:07 pm

    25K people gave it a thumbs up? Is that 25K people with no common sense? Or most people don’t need USB 3.1 ports, sound/mic ports on the front?

    Best Mechanical Design: Fractal Meshify 2? They designed only 2 USB ports and installed them on top of the case where dust falls right into the ports and put more stress on the USB cables if they’re hanging off the side.

    Best Overall (Price-to-Performance, Design, Thermals): Lian Li Lancool 215? I didn’t see any USB ports on the front or any ports at all. No air filter.

    How to do you do a review without actually using the case? Or is this all about looks and no function?
    That’s enough of watching this channel.



  6. Tefff dF on February 9, 2021 at 9:08 pm

    😎👌🏻🔥



  7. Felix Hamzah on February 9, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    Built in the NR200P myself and could not agree more. It is moderately easy to build in, almost like a typical ATX build. In terms of size, it sits in the middle between NCase M1 and NZXT H200. Overall very happy with my first ITX build.



  8. Surviver on February 9, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    Glad I purchased the meshify s2 without any research (I know. I was too excited to build my first pc already)



  9. Gerardo Ponce on February 9, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    What’s the difference between Lian Li LANCOOL 215 and Lancool 215X? or are they the same?



  10. mleise on February 9, 2021 at 9:13 pm

    I have a Pure Wings 2 as my only (top side) exhaust fan for Vega 56 (~250W) and 65W CPU. That’s about what it can handle in an air cooled system without becoming the bottleneck, I think. It’s cheap and pretty quiet, but lacks 0 rpm operation and obviously the quality bearings found in higher priced products.



  11. jason1656 on February 9, 2021 at 9:13 pm

    I love the panned shot they did with all the cases lined up together. Makes it incredibly easy for me to discern dimensions



  12. Sudhanshu Laha on February 9, 2021 at 9:15 pm

    The kind of effort required to make a video like this



  13. Rocket Christal on February 9, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    Here’s a list that helped me out.
    "whinyl.com/bpcs-guide/
    In the end, I went with #2.

    2:55



  14. Amante De Capaldi on February 9, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    Nzxt h1 isn’t a good. Option ?



  15. Krzysztof Trybowski on February 9, 2021 at 9:20 pm

    I miss a category of budget cases where you don’t get any RGB nor glass panels, but instead focus on usability and thermals. Are such cases even still made?

    Additional question: what am I supposed to do with my dvd drive? "Toss it away" is not an answer since I do have dvd which I’d like to be able to read sometimes…



  16. Steven on February 9, 2021 at 9:20 pm

    I’m planning on getting the Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Performance..
    Is it okay to move the 2 front 140mm fans to be exhaust fans on the top, and then add my own 3 rgb 120mm fans at the front as intake?



  17. Kab Loom on February 9, 2021 at 9:21 pm

    I think it would be great if you can also award the cases by their budget instead of category. Like best overall case at $100, best overall case at $200 etc.



  18. Chloe TV on February 9, 2021 at 9:25 pm

    Do a review on the Phanteks Eclipse P360A please!



  19. Constantin Shaman on February 9, 2021 at 9:27 pm

    Sadly a Corsair 4000d ( the best buget case) is around 150$ in east EU.



  20. Angel TL on February 9, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    I think I’m a bit late but what’s that on top of the CPU heatsink @ 17:19 you can clearly see another fan and some cables coming from the power supply.



  21. Dunky Gamer on February 9, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    I built in an awesome, spacious, mega USB and USB 3 ports, 7 fan Rosewill ATX Full Tower with plenty of room for water cooling. A hundred bucks, I love it👍



  22. Piero Lam on February 9, 2021 at 9:29 pm

    I love my lian li lancool 2 mesh



  23. Chases May on February 9, 2021 at 9:32 pm

    Thanks for putting this up, I’ve been looking at cases to replace my old lian li case for a while. The struggle I have is that I still prefer to have a blu ray drive, at all times and in all pc’s. It kind of sucks that none of the better performing new cases seem to care. I guess I’m in the minority or something now:/ I feel the same way about consoles having disk drives… I must be getting old



  24. Daniel H on February 9, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    Love my Fractal case, classy stuff



  25. Matthew Warren on February 9, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    Hey, can you please publish your Lian Li O11D Mini review. I’m torn right now debating this case with a 3090 and 5900X but fear it will be WAY too hot, let alone hope for more SFX 1000W PSU to be at CES



  26. Usman Khan on February 9, 2021 at 9:37 pm

    Any chance GN you guys will review the Phanteks Enthoo 719, formerly the Luxe 2? Been debating between the 719 and the Lian Li 011 XL.



  27. Gareth Davies on February 9, 2021 at 9:40 pm

    I have the cit dark star , the cable management is a joke but i only built a budget system ( 16gb ddr4 corsair vengeance @ 3200mhz , AMD Ryzen 5 3600 ( overclocked to 3.9ghz ) and the component that lets it all down is my Nvidia Geforce 1050ti 4gb and a 650w psu , currently trying to save up for a better graphics card but with two toddlers it’s almost impossible….



  28. Mark Sulloway on February 9, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    I do hope you complete your review of the C-M NR200. I would like to see your perspective on
    this case.



  29. Joh W on February 9, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    @19:56 lmfao



  30. repoman on February 9, 2021 at 9:44 pm

    so if you are planning on buying "the best worst case" you would suggest running it open air right?



  31. Ben Wickham on February 9, 2021 at 9:45 pm

    Would have appreciated a ‘best case with a ye-olde 5.25" drive baye’. Some of us cavefolks still use optical drives.



  32. Firefox Metzger on February 9, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    Thank you for the video! This channel is a gold mine and exactly what I was looking for.
    I’ve been incrementally upgrading my pc for the past 14 years, and never changed the initial case. The old case is from my early stages of puberty … now it’s finally time to get rid of some of the excessive RGB xD



  33. MaxPower211983 on February 9, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    I think CoolerMaster need to make a new H500 but don’t call it H500, call it something else and don’t restrict the 200mm fans in the front. Make the case wider if they have to, to do this. I would also like to see Lian Li make a high end version of the 215 case as well with big front fans. I also hope CoolerMaster are working on a new version of their Cosmos range. Just my two cents for improvements. Also CoolerMaster, you can buy 230mm fans from BitFenix. I would like to see cases with 230mm or 250mm case fans again.



  34. Drew's Studio on February 9, 2021 at 9:48 pm

    Dude I just got to this channel for the first time and you force two 16 second ads that are unskippable, Are you serious? This HAS to stop… Dislike



  35. Knightospr on February 9, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    I still have my old Cooler Master HAF case, as long as it can cool down my pc parts so they don’t overheat. I think I will reuse it. Replace fans if they break or make to much noise. If any cable get broken, I will fix it, have an soldering iron lying around somewhere!



  36. TOPS SKUG on February 9, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    Why is not fractal design 7 here?



  37. S81BO on February 9, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    What is the aperture of the Meshify dust filters? Do they use 0,4 or 0,6 filter?



  38. Petr Kisselev on February 9, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    Personally, I’m disappointed that Fractal hasn’t released a compact version of the Meshify 2 (Meshify 2C ? C2 ?). Hope it does come out in 2021.



  39. Edward Grady on February 9, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    I came back to re-watch this particular video/series some 2 months later specifically because I’m about spend money to upgrade my case and cooling solutions. I wasn’t reminded of it existing by youtube, I searched for it (best airflow etc…) knowing it would be a top result. So…for real thank you for the good work. I hope your advertisers realize that this channel caters to people specifically in their customer moment. It’s like a niche consumer reports operation that actually allows advertising, they should be salivating at the opportunity to corrupt your perspective (not that it would) and firehose you with ad money and product.



  40. ajith mohan on February 9, 2021 at 9:53 pm

    Lianli lancool 215



  41. gscurd75 on February 9, 2021 at 9:54 pm

    Thank you for your hard work. You helped me decide on a P500A for my next build.



  42. Weta on February 9, 2021 at 9:54 pm

    Review the Coolermaster CM694 please.
    We need a 5,25" bay category I think. There is a lot more use for this format than obsolete DVD or CD players (usb, sd card, thunderbolt, vr link, 2,5" or 3,5" drive, fan speed controller…)



  43. Samuel Arnold on February 9, 2021 at 9:54 pm

    I started watching this, but couldn’t understand why you started talking about a web VPN instead of the best cases of 2020. I have given up, seeing as the video clearly was a clickbait of the title.
    Dislike.



  44. Gamers Nexus on February 9, 2021 at 9:58 pm

    Review links & retailer links in the description. Most cases are priced where they should be, but some are still missing from Amazon or are overpriced by third-party sellers. Just be mindful of where you buy your PC cases.
    Our round-up of the Best CPUs of 2020 is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43pa3Y4Nqa8
    You might like our review of the Lancool 215 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un82B93xKOE



  45. Crisp on February 9, 2021 at 9:58 pm

    I hate the voice over



  46. Random Game Ads For Roblox on February 9, 2021 at 9:58 pm

    *poor gang*



  47. Jorem Jay Banaag on February 9, 2021 at 10:00 pm

    Please add small cases.



  48. dark2smile on February 9, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    The best of the worst. A convection oven!



  49. Dave Williams on February 9, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    i came to see what was the best and immediately bought the Lian Li as it was well under £100. Thanks Tech Jesus and team 😁



  50. Egon Print on February 9, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    Cat 🥰