It's an OK case for the money. People usually buy it for the look and the large side window.

I would get a Coolermaster Haf 932 or 922 if it were me but then you're spending ~$150

GOOD cases:
Coolermaster Haf 932/922 ~$150
Antec nine hundred ~$120
CM 690 $80
Antec three hundred $60
NZXT Beta $60

I could justify reasons to get any of the above, the haf being my favourite and the antec 300 being the best budget one imo.

I always recommend the Antec P180/182/183 its a little pricey but has excellent sound dampening and thermal management only if your willing to take an hours to route cables properly.

your going to neeed to add 2-3 more 120mm fans in the optional mounting places. yate loons ftw.

I love my p180. I have 4 case fans plus 120mm hsf and it's still pretty quiet and I get great cooling my overclocked i7. I built a friend's setup with a haf 922 though and I gotta say it's really quite nice. I would likely get the haf over the p180 if I were putting together a new build today.

thing is the haf series is ugly ('xtreme gamer look lol') and very open, where as the p182 series is very clean looking with great sound insulation. the latter qualities are something I look for in a case.

True. The determining factor for case choice is generally personal choice. Better cases tend to offer better airflow, cable management and convenience but all that maxes out pretty quickly and the decision comes down to what you think looks better. Part of me likes the sleek black look of the p180 and part of me likes extreme look of the Haf.

To the OP: decide how much you wanna spend on a case then pick one that matches your taste.

Antec 300 actually has 1 exhaust at the back, and 1 exhaust at the top
Just get yourself 2 120mm intake fans and you're set with that case

That's a heck of a system to play The Sims with.
For what you use your system for, a C2D will do fine, but if you want something newer, I say go with an i5 setup.

4 years is a heck of a long time in computer years, and you're only kidding yourself if you think you can buy the best there is now to make it last 4 years. It just doesn't work that way....its like buying the most expensive car you can afford because it will last longer. In 2 years, you'll probably be handing this system to your grandmother to check her emails.
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Change the case and video card.
At least go for 5850 so you can take advantage of DX11

5770 does support directx 11

but the 4870 he currently has in his build doesn't.

Directx 11 should not be a concern for the OP as only the newest games on the highest setting will require a dx11 card. By the time dx11 is a requirement for games the card will be too slow to run it anyway.