Athena Power CA-GSB01DA Black 0.8mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - OEM

Pros: It's cheap. I wanted the least expensive ATX case Newegg had to offer, and that's what I got.
The box is much smaller than my huge case, which made traveling with my desktop much more convenient.

Cons: It's cheap. The metal on the back bent as I tried to remove the PCI slot protectors (and the "screwless" system for PCI cards doesn't work with a double-heighted graphics card). The hard drive slots are also terrible; there's only one "screwless" mounting tool, I couldn't use two of the slots because my GPU got in the way, and the bottom slots were impossibly close to my motherboard (I had to take off the back side just to plug in the SATA cables).

Other Thoughts: If you want something that doesn't cost much and works, this will do that.

Pros: It has led's.
It's a case.
It works.
It looks cool.

Cons: Side mesh broke on me as I was taking it out of the box.
It feels cheap.

Other Thoughts: It's what you pay for.
The case is flimsy so handle it with care.

Pros: Simple.
Looks good.
Cool multi-colored fan (pushes good amount of air).

Cons: No tooless screws for side panel.
Top mounted power supply.
No cable management.

Other Thoughts: This case is great if you're looking for something extremely basic. I used this to upgrade my dad's work PC from an old 2002 Compaq Presario (Pentium 4, 1 GB RAM). For $30, it's great. Not flashy, just what I need.

I find it strange that the case has absolutely no brand marked on it. The box it came in did not say Athena. I also would guess this case is quite old. The quality control stamps marked on various parts of the case say 2005. This makes sense as there are two floppy drive (at least, they look like floppy bays) bays on the front, and the power supply is top mounted (I don't believe anyone still makes cases with top mounts). Sure, I can understand some items are manufactured but not sold for 6 months to a year. But 2005? Seems a bit strange to me. It'd be nice if it could there could have been a disclaimer -- something to tell me that.

Nonetheless, it's a good case. Doesn't seem like it'll fall apart. Solid enough for his purposes.

If you're curious what's in it...

Bought on NewEgg:

MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Motherboard
CA-GSB01DA Case (the one I'm reviewing now)
54Mbps 802.11g PCI Wireless LAN Card (still in transit; Item #: 9SIA1PK0K70118 as it's generic)

Bought "new" online elsewhere:

AMD A4-5300 Dual Core (Stock)

Existing parts:

80 GB SATA II 7,200 RPM Black Caviar HDD
COOLMAX CA-300 300W Power Supply
4 GB Patriot DDR3 1600 Memory (Stock)

Runs Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.

Understandably this particular power supply doesn't look reliable or good. However, I had gotten it while cleaning out an old campus. It fired up an existing computer and seemed fine. This computer probably won't use even half of the capacity (and won't be stressed often as its just for light tasks like Office, web, and e-mail).

Pros: Awesome basic, no-frills case for the price. The build is surprisingly solid for a case at this price point. Even with much of the metal removed for the rear fan, there is little flex in the steel unless you really push on it. The front bezel has a nice matte finish on it and the power and reset buttons have good movement and the buttons will not jam like some other lower priced cases I've owned. Plenty of room to work with inside. I'm not sure why other reviewers have complained of sharp edges as I found none. The front bezel comes off easier than I expected. When I need another basic case I'm definitely going for this one again.

Cons: These aren't really cons, I don't have any really as I'd purchase this case again regardless. For the price you can't beat it but these may turn some folks away. I did not run the fan mounted in the rear but I did mount it up front to see how it was and it is LOUD. Needless to say the fan is no longer in the case. It did move a decent amount of air though. If you do use the fan in the rear, you have to use the included bracket and you can only use a 120mm fan in the back as it does not allow for an 80mm. You can use either an 80mm or 120mm for the front though. The tool-less mounting brackets aren't solid at all. I used them for my optical drive and floppy (Yes, floppy) but I didn't trust them for the hard drive. You can just remove the tool-less holders and use screws. The mounting bracket for the expansion slots is interesting, there are no instructions at all but it didn't take long to figure it out. I believe it can be removed as well but I left it in. Just fyi, it doesn't have anywhere near the security of a regular screw. I have an insert with some USB ports and diagnostic LEDs that runs off a pin header on my mainboard so it's supported only by said bracket and it wiggles around easily. You can see right through the left side of the case, the mesh is quite solid though. Feet are this cheesy chrome plastic. I'd rather have rubber feet and no tool-less drives.

Other Thoughts: This is an excellent basic case, like I said I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. Shipping was quite fast, I ordered Sunday and received on Tuesday via UPS. On a side note I ordered the power supply at the same time but opted for the free shipping via fedex and it didn't arrive until the following Saturday, lol.

Pros: It is cheap and the fan has pretty colors

Cons: Ok I took 2 eggs of because One this thing is full of very sharp edges and I cut myself a few times and now the inside of this case has a poke-a-dot blood spatter pattern going in all over the inside of it and 2 you have to "Modify" the back slots to accept some graphics cards because the plastic tool-less design gets in the way of the heat sink on some cards but for the price I guess I should of known their was a catch but once you get done building it and bandaging your wounds and wiping the blood out of the case....I gotta say it looks pretty good.

Other Thoughts: note to self wear gloves next time

Manufacturer Response:

We at Athena Power apologize for the inconvenience and the injury. We will contact our manufacturer to make the case safer to use and install, so no one else will injure themselves. Please feel free to contact us at service@athenapower.us or call us at (626) 810-5008 if you ever need assistance, concerns and issues with our products.

Pros: Has plenty of room for high end video cards.
Comes with a 120mm multi-color rear fan.

Cons: None really for what I need.

Other Thoughts: This is a nice simple and nicely built case for the price. I'm happy with it. This case can handle two AMD Radeon 5870's. It looks like it can also handle 7970's as well.

Pros: Great price, lots of room,tool less bays

Cons: Like many here complaint no instruction manual, not really good for newbies but I already knew that,took me some time to figure out where the fan suppose to go and to put it was kind of hard i was afraid to break it if I push it too hard but I was in in a budget, so one egg deducted for not even a simple manual

Other Thoughts: if you want something simple and don't want to spend lots of money and are not picky this is the case for you.

Pros: Cheap, convenient ports on the front. Pretty happy with the amount of space inside for getting everything wired up.

Cons: Only comes with one fan? The feet feel cheap?

Other Thoughts: It's hard to not like a nondescript case for this price. Feels good and solid, buttons all work. Would definitely consider getting more if I was building more computers at the office.

Pros: Cheap and large

Cons: Has these useless bracket for mounting PCI things that I nearly broke my video card on trying to install it before I noticed I could remove them and throw away the weird brackets.

Also has weird multicolored back lights.

Manufacturer Response:

We at Athena Power apologize for the inconvenience. We will raise this issue of the PCI brackets to our manufcaturer, so this problem will not happen again. Please feel free to contact us at service@athenapower.us or call us at (626) 810-5008 if you ever need assistance, concerns and issues with our products.

Pros: Straightforward install, twist brackets for 3.5 and 5.35 drives are convenient. Allows you to mount a 140mm fan on the front for intake.

Cons: Rear bracket for mounting PCI devices is useless if your GPU's PCB extends up a bit, but it's easily removed.

Rear 120mm fan is noisy and has LEDs.

Other Thoughts: Did not notice any sharp edges, but I've been doing this for years and haven't had cut myself more than once or twice, even on the cheapest of cases.

For the price you can't ask much more. It's not super sturdy or anything, but it does not feel like it will fall apart.