Why are PC cases so ugly?

[pekbro]

Some nice wooden cases available on Etsy. I would probably make my own if I were going to make another pc any time soon. I do like that fractal North case as well.


This guy for example. https://www.etsy.com/shop/Cubeor

Those wooden cases on Etsy are awesome. I like the light wood color the best. However, I don't see anywhere on the back of the case where the motherboard ports (or graphics card connectors) would go.

Looks like they go out the top and exit through the back on that particular case. Dunno how familiar
you are with building a pc, but the built in ports are part of the motherboard. The case is just going to have a rectangular port cut into it where you can fasten the plate that comes with the mother board. Same with graphics cards, the ports will stick out of the slot in the case, you can see them in this pic.

[GaryG]

Some nice wooden cases available on Etsy. I would probably make my own if I were going to make another pc any time soon. I do like that fractal North case as well.


This guy for example. https://www.etsy.com/shop/Cubeor

Some of those are gorgeous, especially if you wanted a living room or TV PC.

[egbert]

The main set of ports on the back of the case is just the back end of the motherboard protruding through a hole in the case. The ports on front, top etc are case fixtures which are typicaly connected by cable to the motherboard. If you have an old ATX case with a couple of USB 2 ports on the front you will not get USB 3 or 4 performance out of them under any circumstances whereas a new case will likely have more up to date ports and better ventilation to deal with the current power guzzling CPUs and graphics cards.

[soulata]

I'm on my third setup using the same Fractal R6.

It's fine.

[zerocrossing]

Fractal Design make a version of their Meshify 2 case with a solid metal side (rather than glass). But then they had to go and ruin it with that ugly front panel.

https://tinyurl.com/2hxha7p6

That’s the case I bought for my last build. I also found the whole trend of ugly cases filled with unicorn puke to be ridiculous and unnecessary.

That said, I knew it was going under my desk, so I decided that it wasn’t too bad. The truth is, under the shade of my desk, it just looks like a dark gray box, and I generally don’t see the front pattern at all. Not even on a bright day, and my studio is in a loft where the adjacent room has floor to ceiling windows. So, when I reach under to put in a USB device, I’ll notice it, but even then it’s not that noticeable.

[Ex Machina]

I've built one-off/ground-up custom computers/workstations for over two decades, and chose the Meshify C model a couple of years ago for a new build for my son, and it is without doubt one of the best built (quality abounds), most accessible cases I've ever used. He has since turned three of his online gamer friends on to it for their builds, and they all love it.

I use two Fractal Design R5's as my main workstations, and again, the quality/workmanship and ease of access/flexibility is astounding. I can not recommend them enough.

i do like the all white version of the Design R5 case. It sort of has that classic Apple white plastic vibe to it (think the original iPods).



However, because I'm a total sucker for all things design-related, I think I will choose form over function and select the Fractal Design "North" case in white with the wooden slots on the front panel.

[FranklyFlawless]

You may want to check out System76. They are well known in the Linux community for Pop!_OS, but their desktops have user-serviceable/swappable front accents, and there is an option for a wooden side panel, among others. If you are feeling particularly DIY savvy, the case designs are on Github.

[Constructed Identity]

I had a brushed aluminum case that I loved for over a decade, but the desire for top mount USB3 and built-in noise suppression made me get the basic black case I have now.
DIY cases are great to look at, I especially like the steampunk ones.

[chk071]

They're not just ugly, they also get more and more impractical. The desktop I bought in early 2022 has some fancy and expensive tower, which is supposedly super quiet and all that, and, I never had so many issues with expanding it. New case fans, new HDD, new SSD, another sound card, another graphics card, I had issues with the installation of all of them, due to the little space in the case, or some really dumb design related problems. I also noticed that the CPU is running a tad hot, and so I removed some of those fancy, completely redundant dust catchers and insulating materials.

And it was all so easy and straight forwards with my last case.