Anyone building a rig on a tight budget will want to dedicate as much as possible to important components like the CPU and GPU. Even $80 might be too much to spend on a PC case. If that’s the situation you find yourself in, it’s time to look for the best budget PC case for your new build.

“Budget PC case” will mean different things to different people, but we’ve defined it as cases regularly available for between $50 and $75 (with one exception). We feel that this provides the best range of options and allows us to avoid recommending ultra-cheap, ultra-budget cases that often aren’t worth the steel used in their construction.

Our Favorite Budget PC Cases

Before we start, note that case pricing is very inconsistent, and even budget PC cases can often sell for more than they should. So before you buy, we recommend using a service like Keepa to check out historical price data.

1. Phanteks G300A

Phanteks’ G300A is the company’s latest budget case, refreshing its well-loved P300A (which we called one of the best airflow cases) with an improved internal layout and some minor tweaks. Available for the same price as its predecessor and retaining all the excellent airflow, it’s a no-brainer for those seeking a mid-tower case on a budget.

The G300A will be familiar to anyone who’s checked out an airflow-focused Phanteks case in the past. There’s a fine mesh front panel with room for three 120-mm fans behind it, a minimalist interior layout for unrestricted airflow, and a tempered glass side panel for showing off your build. None of this is too uncommon by now, but Phanteks does this combination of features better than most.

One major difference between the G300A and the P300A is the top panel, which now supports two 120-mm fans and a 240-mm radiator. While two top 120 mm fans aren’t really all that beneficial, having room for a good 240 mm AIO here can make all the difference if you want to run a higher-end CPU.

You get a lot of room for your other parts, too, with support for 15.35-inch graphics cards (albeit without the lower front fans) and 6.3-inch CPU coolers. So there’s a lot of room to grow here, meaning you likely won’t need to replace the G300A any time soon.

Unfortunately, you will have to spend a bit extra to fully equip the G300A. Like many case manufacturers, Phanteks keeps the price low by only shipping it with a single exhaust fan. So expect similar temperatures to the old P300A in stock form; Gamers Nexus tested the P300A and recorded a 34.5-degree Celsius delta on the CPU and 56.4-degree Celsius delta on the GPU. Fine, but not spectacular.

While this will be enough for low-power budget builds, we recommend adding a couple of intake fans to help keep things cool. Phanteks’ SK120 fans will match the included fan, although you’ll be paying a premium for RGB at roughly $13/piece.

Phanteks’ G300A is the new budget mid-tower PC case to beat. Of course, you’ll want to have a few 120 mm fans on hand to get the best value out of this case, but it’s still a compelling option even if you end up needing to spend a bit more to get an ideal airflow setup going.

2. Aerocool Cylon

“Budget cases” and “RGB” don’t often go hand-in-hand. But there are always exceptions, and the Aerocool Cylon is a perfect example. If you’re after a good-looking PC case on a budget, then the Aerocool Cylon is the one for you.

The most eye-catching feature of Aerocool’s Cylon is the diagonal RGB slash on the solid front panel. It has 13 lighting modes: six RGB flow patterns and seven solid colors (including cyan, blue, red, and white). The LEDs aren’t addressable, though, so these 13 modes are what you’re stuck with.

Unsurprisingly, the solid front panel does have an impact on temperatures. User reviews unanimously agree that temps aren’t the Cylon’s strong point. While fan support is decent, including room for three 120 mm intakes, the mostly solid front panel means airflow will always be a problem for the Cylon. There’s a small vent at the bottom, but it’s not nearly large enough for high-quality cooling.

Aerocool includes a magnetic dust filter for the top fan position, a nice touch you rarely see on cheap cases. That said, the fan mount’s position towards the case’s rear means it’s only useful for an exhaust fan. So, the filter will be more of a hindrance in that situation.

Overall, the Aerocool Cylon is a reasonable, aesthetically pleasing case for a budget build. The poor airflow will hold you back if you upgrade components down the line, but it’s one of your best budget PC case options if you need a slick case with RGB lighting for the here and now. The Aerocool Cylon is available in black and white.

3. Montech X3 Mesh

Montech’s X3 Mesh is the case that put Montech on the map, and for a good reason: six 120 mm fans in a roughly $70 case was bound to catch anyone’s attention, and deservedly so. And it’s still worthy of your consideration now since it’s still the best-equipped budget case out there.

To be clear, the Montech X3 Mesh isn’t the only airflow case in this price range. Our top pick, the Phanteks G300A, is an excellent option for an unrestrictive front panel and free-flowing interior layout. However, like most budget PC cases, the G300A only includes a single fan. In contrast, the Montech X3 Mesh comes with six.

Therefore, the X3 Mesh is ready to go out of the box, without requiring you to buy and install extra fans to get the perfect airflow setup. And while the fans aren’t nearly as good as some of the best 120-mm case fans, the sheer quantity and airflow-friendly design result in above-average temperatures overall.

Maintaining a 47.2-degree Celsius delta on an Intel Core i7-6700K overclocked to 4.4 GHz is impressive and puts it in the upper echelons of Gamers Nexus’ case testing. GPU temperatures aren’t quite as great, but 52.4 degrees Celsius delta is more than fine.

Of course, you don’t get this much airflow at this low price without sacrifices, and the X3 Mesh has a few. For one, the fans have fixed lighting, only cycling between solid colors when you press the front panel button. You don’t get any color cycling or patterns here. While this isn’t a huge issue, it’s worth pointing out, as Montech’s thumbnails are somewhat misleading.

There’s also the issue of material quality. The X3 Mesh uses thin sheet metal all around, undoubtedly to save costs. It’s not ideal, but you likely won’t have any issues with this after your PC is up and running. It makes for a slightly uninspiring build experience, but that’s about it.

Montech’s X3 Mesh is far from perfect, but we could say that for all the cases on our list. You have to make concessions somewhere when shopping on a budget, and we think Montech made acceptable sacrifices in designing and equipping the X3 Mesh. Fixed-color fans and thin sheet metal aren’t great, but we’d take them over poor temperatures or dull aesthetics.

The Montech X3 Mesh is available in black and white.

4. Bitfenix Nova Mesh MATX

Bitfenix’s Nova Mesh mATX is one of the more impressive budget mATX cases on the market, with three ARGB fans, a mesh front panel, and a reasonably roomy interior. While it sits at the higher end of our price range, we think it’s well worth the extra expenditure over most other mATX options out there.

The Nova Mesh mATX ticks all the boxes you need for a gaming PC. You get an open interior layout, with enough clearance for a large graphics card and beefy CPU cooler. There’s also solid radiator support all around, with room for up to a 280 mm radiator in the front.

Bitfenix ships the Nova Mesh mATX with three of its Spectre SE ARGB fans, which provide acceptable airflow while giving the case some welcome visual flair. These fans connect to a built-in ARGB fan hub and are fully controllable via your motherboard’s 3-pin ARGB header, without needing any proprietary software.

While included fans may not feel like anything special, it’s rare to see a budget case ship with a complete assortment of fans. So Bitfenix deserves some praise here for selling a budget case that doesn’t require the buyer to fork out more money just to get a two-intake, one-exhaust fan setup.

Storage drive support is decent, too, with room for up to five drives in either a 4 + 1 or 3 + 2 setup of 2.5” and 3.5” drives, respectively. It’s a reasonable setup for a Micro-ATX case, and better than many other budget cases.

The Bitfenix Nova Mesh mATX is a solid budget Micro-ATX case that does what a budget case needs to do, but not much more. That’s fine in our book, especially if you can score it for a discounted price. While it’s a solid deal at its roughly $80 MSRP, it’s an even better case if you can snag it for the roughly $60 sale price we’ve seen it going for in the past.

5. Thermaltake Versa H18

Thermaltake’s Versa H18 punches well above its price class, offering a mesh front panel, solid cooling options, and a cable management-friendly PSU shroud for not much more than $50.

The Versa H18’s biggest selling point is the front mesh panel and support for up to three 120 mm front intakes (or a 240/280 mm radiator). It’s great for cooling and airflow, but it also helps make the H18 a case that can grow with your rig as your cooling needs increase. Upgrade to a hotter, more powerful CPU? Install an extra couple of intakes or swap to one of the best 280 mm AIOs, and you’ll be good to go.

Cooling isn’t the only thing the Versa H18 gets right. It offers other now-standard features like a tempered glass side panel, PSU shroud, and cable management holes. Admittedly, these aren’t anything to shout about, but it’s still good to see all of them present on such a cheap PC case.

While objective review data for the Versa H18 is hard to come by, user reviews on sites like PCPartPicker often praise the H18’s “good airflow.” So while we can’t guarantee good thermal performance, the positive user opinions combined with an airflow-friendly design on paper should help keep temperatures at acceptable levels.

Overall, there’s a lot to like about the Thermaltake Versa H18. We think it looks better than many budget cases, and the mesh panel and open interior should mean it performs well, too. If there’s a downside, it’s that it only comes with a single exhaust fan from the factory. But as you can get a decent three-pack of fans for around $10, that’s not necessarily a huge issue in our books.

6. Fractal Design Pop XL Air

Builders seeking a full-tower on a budget are in for a rough time, as the sheer size of full towers usually means they’re rarely available for budget prices. And while the Fractal Pop XL Air’s roughly $100 MSRP isn’t necessarily “budget,” it’s certainly much more affordable than the average full tower.

Of course, affordable prices don’t come for free, and that’s the case with the Pop XL Air too. While it’s certainly a large case at roughly 20.5 inches tall and deep, it’s not quite as large as the 22-inch heights common to most full-tower cases. However, we don’t think budget-minded builders will miss those two inches that much, as the Pop XL Air has enough room for a ton of hardware.

With space for 17.9-inch graphics cards, 7.28-inch CPU coolers, and a 360-mm radiator in the front, we can’t imagine any budget builder running out of space in this case. And you’re not giving up drive support, either, with room for a total of six storage drives and a couple of 5.25” drives hidden under the PSU shroud.

Fractal ships the Pop XL Air with four Aspect 12 RGB 120 mm fans, which should be enough to cool any hardware you can stuff into the case. And if they’re not enough, you can always take advantage of the aforementioned 360-mm front radiator and 280-mm top radiator support for some heavy-duty water cooling.

Yes, the Fractal Pop XL Air is pricey by budget case standards, but that’s the sad reality for PC builders who want large, roomy cases. This much metal and glass don’t come cheap, and that’s reflected in the prices of the average full tower. But Fractal has found a good compromise, delivering a case that splits the difference between mid- and full-towers at a reasonable price.

7. Thermaltake Core V1

Thermaltake’s Core V1 won’t win any awards for style; it’s an old PC case and it shows, especially in its somewhat dated front panel design. But don’t let that fool you; it’s still a case worth considering for those building a Mini-ITX rig on a budget.

The Core V1, like many of the best cube PC cases, has a dual-chamber internal design. The top half, which receives the most airflow, is for heat-generating components like the CPU and GPU. The lower half is for the PSU and storage drives and has extra room for storing cable slack. The latter will come in handy for cable management, minimizing the change of stray cables impeding the airflow in the top half.

Speaking of airflow, the Core V1 comes from the factory with a 200 mm fan pre-installed. Stock temperatures are fine, with Gamers Nexus recording a 25.7-degree delta on an AMD Ryzen 5 2400G and a 54.1-degree delta on a GeForce GTX 1070 while running 3DMark.

The Core V1 has room for two extra 80 mm exhaust fans, and we think it’s probably a good idea to take advantage if you want to try and reduce temperatures further. Two of Arctic’s 80 mm PST fans will set you back less than $20, with the extra benefit of only needing one fan header.

Thermaltake’s Core V1 is quite large for a Mini-ITX case, but that means you have room for standard GPUs and CPU tower coolers. This isn’t just convenient; it also saves you money since you can opt for common desktop parts. No need to spend extra on relatively niche PC components like low-profile CPU coolers and SFX PSU here, thankfully.

Overall, the Thermaltake Core V1 is a great Mini-ITX case that’s one of the most affordable compact options out there (especially if you get it on sale). It’s not the best-looking case, but we think performance trumps looks at this price point. The Core V1 has got it where it counts. The Thermaltake Core V1 is available in black (linked above) and white.

Before You Buy

Generally, the same core points you should pay attention to when choosing a PC case apply when shopping for cheap PC cases as well. However, there are some topics worth going into more detail about when you’re buying a cheap PC case.

Airflow and Fans

While some cheap PC cases have adopted mesh front panels for airflow, manufacturers sometimes skimp on fans to keep prices low. Let’s use the Thermaltake Versa H18 as an example. Even though it seems set up perfectly for solid airflow with its mesh panel and unobstructed interior, the single exhaust fan isn’t ideal for optimized case airflow.

Even the most airflow-friendly PC case will struggle without actual airflow, after all. So pay attention to the default fan setup when you’re shopping around for a cheap gaming PC case. If the case you’re interested in only has a single fan, try to find some room in your budget for at least an extra fan to help with cooling.

On the plus side, fans are straightforward to install, so there’s no harm in running with the stock setup first and adding fans later when your budget allows. And when you’re shopping around for fans, look for multi-fan packs like these if you need to keep the cost low:

Uphere’s fans aren’t the most amazing fans on the market, but it’s hard to argue with the price. Just over $10 for three fans is a steal in our book.

Cable Management

Budget PC cases often reuse older internal layouts to save money. While that’s usually not a problem, you may find that these older cases don’t have the cable management features that we’re used to on pricier cases. Features like motherboard tray cutouts, a PSU shroud, and convenient cable tie points might not always be present in cheaper cases.

None of this is disastrous, of course. And, with some basic cable management know-how, you’ll be able to get a clean-looking rig going even without all those modern amenities. Sure, it might take a bit more effort and creativity, but why not treat it as a challenge?

Build Quality

The old saying “you get what you pay for” doesn’t always apply to tech. But it does apply to the build quality of these cheap cases. The sheet metal panels will be flimsier, the edges rougher (sometimes sharp enough to cut, if you’re not careful), and the build quality definitely won’t impress.

However, those failings generally won’t stop you from using the case itself. While some issues can be troublesome, more basic failings such as thin side panels and unimpressive build quality aren’t that bad in the grand scheme of things. After all, they don’t matter much (if at all) when you’re sitting at your desk playing games.

However, one aspect that can be a bigger issue is the general lack of quality control with cheaper cases. We’ve read reports of cheap cases like the Cougar MX330 arriving damaged from the factory, so that’s something to look out for too.

You should always be alert when unpacking a computer case, but doubly so if it’s a cheap one. Try to buy from a retailer with a good return policy, too, so you can get a replacement or refund if your PC case arrives damaged.

Closing Thoughts

While we’ve tried to choose cases that offer a good combination of price and performance, the best budget PC case for you will depend entirely on how much you can afford to spend. If you don’t mind spending a bit extra on fans, the Phanteks G300A is our favorite of the bunch here. It’s a modern, high-quality case that should serve you well for a long time.

But what if you’re shopping at an even lower price point? In that case, just keep our buying guide in mind, and you should be able to find something that’ll work for you. And if you’ve decided to stretch the budget a bit more, check out our list of the best sub-$100 cases for some great reasonably-priced options. All the best!