Page 99 - PCWorld (September 2019)

many of the features you’ll find in modern PC
cases, starting with practical extras before
delving into nice-to-haves.
Drive bays and SSD mounting
points: As we’ve mentioned a
couple of times before, make
sure a PC case has enough
2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drive
bays to house your storage drives.
Some cases include mounting points for
SSD on the rear of the motherboard tray,
too. And if you need a 5.25-inch bay in the
front of your PC to house an optical drive,
fan controller, or whatever, confirm your
case includes that. A number of cases have
been ditching 5.25-inch bays to improve
airflow from the front-side fan(s)—most
notably several Corsair cases.
Tool-less design: In ye olden days,
practically everything in a PC case
required a Phillips screwdriver. No more.
Tool-less design is nearly universal in
mid-range and high-end cases, with
thumb screws for internal fastening and
twist-on, snap-on, or otherwise tool-free
mechanisms in drive bays.
Cable management: Look for a case
with cut-outs in the motherboard tray, which
allow you to route your cabling through the
rear of your case. Out of sight, out of mind.
Budget PC cases tend to have simple giant
holes punched in the motherboard tray, while
mid-range options frequently include rubber
grommets in the holes to tidy things up even
Some
cases come
with tool-less
brackets that make
mounting hard drives
easy.
more. Some cases include tie-off points or
even wire covers behind the motherboard
tray to keep your cabling clean.
CPU cooler cut-away: Speaking of the
motherboard tray, some nicer PC cases
include large cut-outs in the section behind
your processor, which let you replace your
PC’s CPU or CPU cooler without ripping out
your entire motherboard. It’s not a feature
you’re likely to need often, but if you do, it’s
a godsend.
Front-panel connectivity: If you’ve got a
lot of external devices, check out the front-
panel connectivity of the PC case. Even
cheap cases have a couple of USB-A Type
2.0 ports in the front. Some will include
USB-A Type 3, USB-C, and even fan or RGB
lighting controllers. You’ll often find front-
panel audio jacks as well, though we’d
always recommend plugging your headset
directly into the audio jack on your
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