I bought my first ATX case about five years ago. It came with poor ventilation, a low-quality power supply, and a $29 price tag.

   About three months ago, I bought my sixth ATX case. It had poor ventilation, no power supply, and a $20 price tag.

   After five years of technological advancement inside the box, we've only seen superficial changes since to the box itself. The real problems with affordable cases have remained.

   First to note is the concept of poor ventilation. That first ATX case, the "purple button" medium tower very common at the time, had no rear exhaust at all. At the time, 60 or 80mm fans were the best you'd find there. It took almost the entire five year gap before the 120mm fan became the size of choice, and even now, it's far from universal.

   Even with larger fans, cooling capacity is often lost because of stamped fan grilles. I would be happy to listen to a manufacturer's explanation of why it's better to have a highly restrictive grille than one with bigger openings (reducing the weight and metal used in the case), a wire grille, or none at all.

   Admittedly, the cases cannot be blamed completely for ventilation issues. We've loaded a lot more stuff on ATX than the passively cooled Pentium 133 it was designed for. However, why can't anyone develop a way to defeat the heat buildup under a modern video card?

   No, side blowholes and fans are not an option - they're dead the moment you install the case in a desk cubby. I'm thinking a shroud that ensured the exhaust fan drew some air from below the card might work.

   Sure, the 5-year-old case's DR-A250ATX may have only been rated for 250 watts, and the Tchang Zu Super Bling ATX500 in today's generic case may be rated 500w, but I'll bet both deliver about the same real performance.

   There were moments of hope when the first K7 systems rolled in, as their finicky-ness towards power stood to shake the trash out of the market.

   Of course, months later, better boards appeared, the words "Total Combined +3.3 and 5v output" lost their meaning, and the trash endured. The market got even more confusing in recent months, as manufacturers aimed to de-commoditize the PSU market with clear cases, modular cables, extra fans, and voltage knobs, all of which take the focus out from wattage, stability, and durability.

   The person buying a case with included PSU is likely filling it with other iffy components, so let's not give him more troubles by offering him gimmicks instead of substance.

   The one true change in the low-end market is definitely the introduction of style. When I bought that first case, I had the choice between two beige medium-towers which could have had any of 20 different maker's labels on them. Sadly, they didn't add GOOD style, just style. You see a heavy reliance on poorly thought out features, like front ports which get hidden behind flimsy doors or break easily, paint colors which match no other hardware off-the-shelf, and over-the-top styling cues.

   The cases targeted towards gamers tend to feature "free bonuses" of ugly lighting and distracting front panels or side windows. Since these cases often have attractive features like tool-less mounts and better ventilation, it's a shame that people who just want these features have to deal with a Las Vegas reject of lighting and design.

   Just ask yourself, please, manufacturers: "Would a mainstream OEM be embarrassed to ship out your case with a front panel carved into a three-dimensional relief of Goku's head?"

   The sub-$40 price tag is perhaps the only thing I'm glad hasn't changed in the low end of the case market. In a world of only $200 Lian Li's and CoolerMasters, nobody would dare mod it to avoid the risk to their investment.

   Still, many vast improvements to a stock case could be had with $10, $5 or even $1 increase in retail price. I am not willing to believe that people won't pay an extra dollar or two for the benefits of a factory supplied wire fan grille, a better built front USB port, or an upgrade to a 120mm exhaust fan.