Price is certainly a big consideration when buying a new midi tower. But what do you really get for your money? How well built is the case? What hardware can you install and, most importantly, how do you install it? We tested 15 different cases to see how they measured up.
We also tested how safe the cases for hardware installation. We did this by using a cucumber to test the sharpness of all the edges and drive bays that you have to watch out for when installing hardware. So don't laugh - it's better to have a bowl full of cucumber salad than a pile of gauze and band-aids.

Black and silver are currently the hot colors in midi tower cases
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Summary
- Cucumber Salad Or Band-Aid?
- Ouch! The Pain Of Razor-Sharp Edges
- The Cases: Up Close And Personal
- Simple Motherboard Installation
- Hard-Drive Trays
- Fresh Air With 120 mm Fans
- Rails For 5.25" Drives
- Perfect Construction
- Casetek C1020: Enter The Dragon
- Easy Installation Of Motherboards, Graphic Boards And Hard Drives
- The Hazards Of Installing 5.25" Drives
- Pros
- Chieftec BX-01: Plenty Of Room For Hard Drives
- A Glimpse Inside The Case
- 90-Degree Carriage Rotation Simplifies Hard-Drive Installation
- Safe Installation Of 5.25" Drives
- Pros
- Coolermaster Wavemaster: All Metal With Sharp Edges
- Coolermaster Wavemaster, Continued
- Installing The Motherboard Outside
- Hard Drives Screwed Directly On The Case
- Pros
- Inter-Tech Sportcar Design: Typical Engine Sound With 6 Fans
- Roomy Interior
- Up To 11 Drives Fit In The Case
- Razor-Sharp Edges And Corners
- Pros
- InWin IW-J568G: With Fan Speed Controller And Card Reader
- Motherboard Installation A Hassle
- Old-Fashioned Card Holders
- Waste Of Space
- Pros
- Lian Li PC-V1000: Innovative Interior
- Ingenious Innards
- The PSU Down Under
- Room Enough For Six Hard Drives
- Screws Into Threads Not Into The Case
- Front Bevel Included
- Gotcha: Two Minor Weaknesses
- Pros
- NZXT Guardian: Zylon From Battlestar Galactica
- No Sharp Edges Inside
- Complicated Rail System For Drives
- No Dust Filters Inside The Case
- Revoltec Midi Tower: Chieftec With A New Design
- Traditional Hardware Installation
- Rails For 5.25" Drives
- Special Carriages For Hard Drives
- Pros
- Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ02: Struggle With Drive Rails
- Rails Secure Drives Firmly
- Pros
- Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ03S: Pricy XXL Format
- Spacious Interior
- Screws And Expansion Cards
- Complicated Front-Port Cabling
- Superflower X-Mask SF-462: Spider Design
- Roomy Interior For Many Hard Drives
- Card Installation With Brute Force
- Are These Designers Crazy?
- Thermaltake XaserV V5000A: Full Metal Jacket
- Problems With Graphics-Card Installation
- Pros
- Yeong Yang YY-5603: No Major Flaws
- Tidy Accessories
- Anti-Vibration Rails For Drives
- Break-Away Face Plates
- Jet-Computer Last Samurai: Shades Of Darth Vader
- Testing Procedure
- Ratings
- Features Chart
- Features, Continued
- Features, Continued
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