Gaming Computer Cases Guide - How to Choose the Best Case

This is a guide to choosing the right gaming computer cases for custom gaming PC builds. The computer case houses and protects all your expensive, high-performance components so it's a good idea to get a case known for quality and reliability.
This article explains what to look for when choosing a case for your new gaming build. You may have all the best components in your build, but without a good case to house them you may run into problems.

What Size?
The first thing you need to know about gaming computer cases, is that they differ in size. You will need a case that is large enough to store all your components, with room for future upgrades. The most common size is ATX Mid-Tower which contains more than enough space for the typical gaming build. If you need even more room or have special needs for your gaming PC you may need an ATX Full-Tower case instead.

Motherboard Compatibility
Most of you will already know this, but your case must be able to fit your motherboard. All motherboards have what is known as a ‘form factor’, which is a size standard that the manufacturers follow. The most common form factor is ATX. So if you have an ATX motherboard, which is more than likely, then you must choose a case that supports an ATX motherboard.

Cooling
A decent gaming PC case will have at least one quality fan for proper airflow to cool down your system and also fan ports for additional fans if you need to add more. You don’t want your precious components to overheat and risk getting damaged, so getting a case that is known for good cooling is a good idea especially for a high performance build.

Design
The appearance of your gaming PC case may be important to some of you, and if so choose one that you like the look of because you will generally keep your case for a long time. Some cases also come with cool extra features such as LED lighting, and many come with a clear side panel which looks awesome when the build is up and running.

Drive Bays
An important thing to look out for is the number and size of bays. Computer cases come with a differing number of bays, and you will need 3.5” bays for floppy drives and hard drives, and 5” bays are required for your CD and DVD drives. Most cases on the market these days are packed full of features and usually contain enough bays anyway, but check to make sure if you have certain needs.

Cable Management
Cable management is another factor to take into account when choosing gaming computer cases. Some cases are easier to work with and provide better cable management than others, so if this is important to you then choose a case that is known for effective cable management.