The mid-tower ATX case is one of those PC parts that has been around forever dutifully holding our gear, and yet rarely gets the respect it deserves. Sure it’s not as flamboyant as a massive full tower, or as charming as a small Mini-ITX case, but that’s why we like it. The best gaming PC chassis doesn’t take up a lot of space, can be as unassuming as you wish, and yet can hold a ton of hardware while allowing for semi-radical cooling and high-end builds. And since mid towers accept full-sized ATX motherboards, the world is your oyster when shopping for parts.With this in mind, we have rounded up a few of the best mid-tower ATX cases for you to consider for your next build. These selections are based on our many years of PC building expertise, so without further ado here are the top mid-tower PC cases for you to ogle, and consider when you get around to building that Intel Core X or Ryzen Threadipper 3rd Generation box.TL;DR These are the Best Mid Tower PC Cases:
1. Lian Li Lancool II Mesh
Best Mid Tower PC Case
Motherboard Size: E-ATX, ATX (max width: 280mm), mATX, ITX CPU Cooler Clearance: 176mm GPU Clearance: 384mm Fan Mounts: 3 x 120mm / 2 x 140mm front; 2 x 120/140mm top; 1 x 120mm rear; 2 x 120mm above PSU PSU Clearance: 210mm Front I/O: 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x TRRS audio, Power button, Reset button Size: 18.8″ x 9″ x 19.4″ Weight: 24.9 pounds
If you don’t want to fuss around looking at all the different cases available, you can take comfort knowing you’re getting a case that will almost assuredly work for you by picking the Lian Li Lancool II Mesh case. This case is so customizable, it’s almost hard to imagine a realistic configuration that it can’t support. It can fit as many as eight 120mm fans in various points on the case, supports larger fans and radiators as well, and features plenty of mesh to let all the fans get tons of airflow. It even comes with three 120mm fans pre-installed on the front of the case, and they’re lit with RGB lights.It’s not just fans you can load this case up with. You can slot in a wide range of different motherboard form factors, large CPU coolers, lengthy graphics cards, and an incredible amount of storage. There are three bays for 3.5- or 2.5-inch drives and an additional six mounting points for 2.5-inch drives. You’d be lucky to have enough SATA ports to support all the drives this case can hold. Plus, there are a variety of adjustable panels to let you wire everything up with clean cable management.
2. MetallicGear Neo Air
Best Budget Mid Tower PC Case
Motherboard Size: E-ATX (up to 280mm width), ATX, mATX, ITX CPU Cooler Clearance: 170mm GPU Clearance: 400mm Fan Mounts: 2 x 120mm/140mm front; 2 x 120/140mm top; 1 x 120mm rear PSU Clearance: 250mm Front I/O: 2 x USB 3.0, Headphone, Microphone, RGB button, Power button, Reset button Size: 18.3″ x 7.8″ x 17.7″ Weight: 16.41 pounds
You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a perfectly servicable case. You do want to be careful to make sure the budget case you find has good airflow though, and the affordable MetallicGear Neo Air can give you just that. This case has a mesh front panel that will easily let air in, and that air intake is aided along by two pre-installed Skiron RGB 120mm fans each capable of a max 50CFM of airflow. The included fans also feature RGB lighting that can be controlled on compatible motherboards.This may be a mid tower case, but it has enough room to even fit some E-ATX motherboards. It can house a sizable power supply, has room for long graphics cards, and has mounts for a total of three 2.5-inch drives and two 3.5-inch drives. If you want to go hard on the cooling, there’s room for up to four 140mm fans if you replace the included ones, or four 120mm fans, plus an extra rear exhaust port for a 120mm fan. If you prefer water cooling, you can put 240mm radiators on the top and front plus a 120mm radiator on the rear. This is a lot of capability for a case in this price ballpark, and you still get nice considerations like a tempered glass side panel and a dust filter for the power supply.
3. Cooler Master H500
Best High-Airflow Mid Tower PC Case
Motherboard Size: ATX, mATX, ITX CPU Cooler Clearance: 167mm GPU Clearance: 410mm Fan Mounts: 3 x 120mm / 2 x 140/200mm front; 2 x 120/140mm / 1 x 200mm top; 1 x 120mm rear PSU Clearance: 224mm Front I/O: 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, 3.5mm Audio in, 3.5mm Audio Out, Power buttonm, Reset button Size: 19.76″ x 8.98″ x 20.67″ Weight: 23.2 pounds
If youre into overclocking and want lots of airflow to keep things chilly, the Cooler Master H500 should be on your wish list. The Cooler Master H500 is all about letting you install as many 200mm fans as you can. This way you can move a lot of air over the stuff that needs to be cooled on the other (mobo, GPU, etc), keeping them nice and frosty without making a lot of noise in the process. Cooler Master’s 200mm intake fans are nice and quiet, and there’s even room for a liquid CPU cooler setup too, or a home-brew kit if you’re ready for it.4. NZXT H510 Elite
Best Looking Mid Tower PC Case
Motherboard Size: ATX, mATX, ITX CPU Cooler Clearance: 165mm GPU Clearance: 381mm Fan Mounts: 2 x 120/140mm front; 1 x 120/140mm top; 1 x 120mm rear PSU Clearance: 180mm Front I/O: 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x Headset, Power button Size: 18.11″ x 8.27″ x 16.85″ Weight: 16.53 pounds
If youre spending a few bills on water-cooling and LED-covered performance PC parts, why would you stick it all in a tiny opaque box under your desk? The NZXT H510 Elite lets you show everyone exactly how much of your budget you devote to your gaming PC, while simultaneously allowing you to show off your PC craftsmanship skills. The H510 Elite comes equipped with plenty of mounting points for all your hardware and it’s easy to build in too.5. Corsair Obsidian Series 500D RGB SE
Best High-End Mid Tower PC Case
Motherboard Size: ATX, mATX, ITX CPU Cooler Clearance: 170mm GPU Clearance: 370mm Fan Mounts: 3 x 120mm front / 2 x 140mm; 2 x 120/140mm top; 1 x 120mm rear PSU Clearance: 225mm Front I/O: 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x 3.5mm Audio in, 1 x Headphones, 1 x Mic, Power button, Reset button Size: 19.69″ x 9.17″ x 20″ Weight: 25.9 pounds
The Corsair Obsidian Series 500D RGB SE is a premium mid-tower case that’s arguably made of more tempered glass than actual metal. You get smoked windows on the front and sides to easily see all the high-end hardware you’ve installed inside. You can have two large AIO liquid coolers for maximum cooling and installation is made easy with the removable trays in front and on top. It’s far from what we would call reasonably priced, but it’s one of the cleanest, sleekest PC cases on the market right now.6. Fractal Design Define 7
Best Minimalist PC Case
Motherboard Size: E-ATX, ATX, mATX, ITX CPU Cooler Clearance: 185mm GPU Clearance: 491mm Fan Mounts: 3 x 120/140mm front; 3 x 120/140mm top; 1 x 120/140mm rear; 2 x 120/140mm bottom PSU Clearance: 250mm Front I/O: 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x Headphone, 1 x Mic, Power button Size: 18.70″ x 9.45″ x 21.54″ Weight: 29.65 pounds
When it comes to subtlety, Fractal Design has a strong offering in the Define 7. The case doesn’t go all out with wild, RGB fans, rather sticking to a simple but refined design. It’s also built to stay quiet with sound-damped panels on the front, top, and sides. Three panels on the case can pop off to offer easy access while building or modding your PC, and there’s loads of room. It can fit up to nine fans for extreme cooling and up to 14 hard drives and 4 SATA SSDs for ample storage. There’s even plenty of port variety on the top of the case.7. Phanteks Eclipse P500A
Best Modular Mid-Tower Case
Motherboard Size: E-ATX, ATX, mATX, ITX CPU Cooler Clearance: 190mm GPU Clearance: 435mm Fan Mounts: 3 x 120/140mm front; 3 x 120 / 2 x 140mm top; 1 x 120/140mm rear PSU Clearance: 250mm Front I/O: 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x TRRS audio, Power button, Reset button Size: 20.1″ x 9.45″ x 20″ Weight: 17.6 pounds
So, desktops already have a fair bit of modularity going for them. Mid-tower cases tend to let you fit a wide range of motherboards, drives, cooling systems, and components into them. You could be using the same case for years even after multiple platform upgrades. But, with the Phanteks Exlipse P500A, you can go even further. This case has all that customization we mentioned. A quick look at the specs above should make it clear just how much hardware you can cram inside, but that’s only part of the picture.This case actually has enough wiggle room that it’ll let you build a second PC inside it. Yes, you heard that right. With an extra mounting bracket, you can build an ITX system into this case in addition to the main system. That’ll let you set up a gaming and streaming system or a gaming system and server all in one chassis.
Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
