Labs

Aplus's CS-188AF has a matt-black door with a rubbery finish, so it should be scratch-resistant. The door opens to just 90°, and you'll have to open it whenever you want to get at the power button or optical drives. The case's ports are more conveniently placed on the front right-hand side, although there's no FireWire port.

A speed control dial on the left controls the huge 220mm fan that dominates the side panel. This blows air directly on to the motherboard and other components. There are no other fans to draw air through the case, though. The large fan is also rather noisy, especially at full speed, and there's no filter to stop it blowing dust into your case.

Inside, the layout is identical to those of the three other budget cases, although it lacks the Gigabyte GZ-X1's tool-free drive bays. Like the other budget cases, the steel has been folded over at the edges to stop you cutting yourself. This case is good value, but we prefer the GZ-X1's tool-free drive bays and twin-fan layout.