36 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC|JAN 2011|www.maximumpc.com
BY NATHAN EDWARDSAre mid-towers the future of PC chassis design? Used to be that a
mid-tower case was a compromise—an admission that you were
willing to sacrifi ce a few features for a rig that could fi t under your
desk (or on top of it) without making drastic changes to your decor or
furniture. Based on the products we’ve seen in the Lab over the last
few months, those days are all but over.
The fi ve chassis you see here are all gorgeous on the outside—in
red, white, black, and blue—and packed with luxurious amenities on
the inside. From a half-dozen (or more) hard drive bays to room for
the longest videocards on the market to multispeed fan controllers,
USB 3.0, and fans aplenty, these mid-towers can accommodate a full
gaming build with aplomb.
As always, we evaluate cases based on build quality, aesthetics,
ease of installation, and features. In this roundup, we’re also intro-
ducing quantitative thermal testing to the mix in order to determine
whether slapping a half-dozen fans into a chassis makes a difference
compared to, say, two fans.
Read on to learn more about fi ve of the hottest (or coolest) cases around.