and heavy. Something that is upright, nothing fancy, cheap. wont vibrate. doesnt have any retarded side holes or top holes.

A large front intake is the most wanted part.

Having trouble finding one to fit this bill.

the antec slk3000 series was cheapish and did this but seems to be not around anymore.

I do not need/want a psu but dont mind one as I will replace it anyways.

Antec 300. Huge front air intake, around $50 new. Only thing is you have to swap the right and left panels to rid of the side fan hole, and block the top hole with foam of some sort.

Try Antec NSK4400 or NSK6500-series. They're new SLk3000B, except somewhat Solonized ( i.e. 2x 92mm intakes instead single 120mm intake. ) Pretty much similar to SLK3000B... S silent modders dream. I still miss my old modded SLK3000B a lot. Luckily it will server my big brother well now.

But removable HDD rack with thumb screws, 120mm exhaust etc are there.

Nice thanks both of you. have to decide between them now

Sadly, the NSK4400 is light/flimsy and has buzzy plastic attachments compared to the (sadly discontinued) SLK3000B. Also, the 4400 HDD cage is mounted far from the front fan so no air flows from this over the cage plus the cage cannot be as easily suspended as with the SLK3000B.

I was quite disappointed with the NSK4480 (same case but with a PSU) that I bought for my dad vs my SLK3000B.

I'd have a look at the CoolerMaster 330/331/340 cases as well as the NSK4400.

yeah, I want weight. no flimsy.

thanks for warning.

Well the 300 sure ain't heavy...

It takes a lot of work to make it dampened enough for me (especially the top fan and top panel). Of course, so did the SLK3000B.

The 300 makes suspension tough unless you only have two drives and don't mind suspending them sideways (on their side). The whole HDD area is 3.5" wide and would have to be de-riveted to do anything in there.

However, I still feel it's a more favorable layout than the NSK4400. Especially given the fan sizes.

Antec 300 is very good case, after you put some mass on it. Bitumen mat or similar heavy duty rubber / led mat. But so did SLK3000B. After you've done that, you have a case that will serve you faithfully, quietly for years.

If 300 would have similar HDD rack that SLK300B did had, the case would have been nearly perfect...

im thinking about that idea of weighing down the case.

im going to try that on my 3000slk first as that would quiet things a lot. the real heavy stuff ill go for.

the other one that pertains to this question is going to be a low wattage second comp