can you run a gaming system out of a micro atx case?

[nageov3t]

I was looking at newegg the other day, and there's a lot of really cool looking micro-atx cases out there, but anyone have any experience with running a gaming rig out of one? I was curious if long video cards or cooling were significant problems versus a standard mid-tower case.

 

[faxon]

well you would want to look into a low profile cooler which has a fan blowing in the same direction as stock coolers normally face, thermalright has a good one i hear. as for the length of cards, that really would depend on the case. i have seen micro ATX cases which only had space enough for 2 hard drives and then they just had a fan on the front, leaving enough space for a 4850X2 or some other stupidly long card lol

 

[Eureka]

Get a good cooling system in there, make sure you have proper airflow, make sure the case actually helps, and get good coolers for your primary components.

You could also watercool, but then you'd have to find a place to put the parts (probably on top of the case).

 

[Zepper]

Cooling is often an issue with mATX cases in general. Silverstone has several that are long enough for some decent vid cards. Some shoe-box style mATX cases (Aspire X-QPack and similar) also have adequate card space. NZXT, Aerocool, and a few others have come out with shoe-box designs of their own.

.bh.

 

[starams5]

+1 for everyone who said cooling should be the main concern.

 

[Massive Overkill]

Originally posted by: loki8481
I was looking at newegg the other day, and there's a lot of really cool looking micro-atx cases out there, but anyone have any experience with running a gaming rig out of one? I was curious if long video cards or cooling were significant problems versus a standard mid-tower case.

If you're willing to some minor cutting: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1407916

 

[AsianriceX]

I crammed a TRUE in an Antec Mini P180, but then again I wouldn't consider a Mini P180 one of your run of the mill mATX cases.

 

[Zap]

I currently use an Antec NSK3480 for my LAN party rig with a Core 2 Duo and GTX 285. Cooling was not a problem whatsoever. The biggest problem was getting enough power, as you can't really use a PSU that is longer than around 5.5" or you won't be able to use an optical drive. The best bets for PSU are the now discontinued Antec TruePower Trio 550W/650W and the Rosewill 630W that was a Shellshocker at Newegg this morning.

I have an X-Qpack2 that I used to use which will fit just about anything, except you will lose the use of the lower 5¼" drive and you will have to cut that bay a bit to allow the PCIe power cables through. See the HardForum link that Massive Overkill provided.

The Aspire X-Qboii and Cooler Master Centurion 541 are the same chassis internally. I've done a build in the Cooler Master and it worked just fine with a 750W PSU and a 9800 GTX (10.5" long card). I did have to remove the FDD bays to fit the video card, but the dual HDD bays are intact.

I've also done a build using the Silverstone TJ08. It is made by YCC and is the same chassis (with different face and minor changes) as the Athenatech A301 series. The Athenatech was available with 80mm and 120mm fans while the Silverstone only came with 120mm fans. Yes, 120mm intake and 120mm exhaust. Zero cooling problems. Case is also wide enough to fit pretty much any CPU cooler.

EDIT: I just saw this SuperMicro mATX case (listed with server chassis, so never saw it before).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811152123
http://www.supermicro.com/prod...wer/731/SC731i-300.cfm

A bit large for depth at 16.75", but pretty narrow and short. This takes normal micro ATX boards with two 5¼" and one 3½" external bays, but here's the interesting parts: FOUR internal HDD mounts and all four motherboard expansion slots can take full-length cards!!!

It also comes with a 300W PSU. Now, before anyone disses an included PSU, this unit is not meant to run a graphics card, just a bunch of HDDs and integrated graphics. That being said, the PSU has PFC and is 80+ Bronze!!! This is probably not a crappy unit (just low wattage).

 

[SeanFL]

After searching newegg, a top rated micro-atx seems to be Thermaltake Lanbox. The APEVIA X-QPACK also gets good reviews. Anyone compare the two? The Apevia has 120mm fan which would seem to be quieter, and I want a quiet box.


Thermaltake VF1000BWS Black Aluminum Front Panel/ SECC Chassis MicroATX Desktop Computer Case - Retail [Thermaltake Lanbox]
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811133035


APEVIA X-QPACK-BL/420 Black/Blue Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 420W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811144110


Thanks for any help between the two. Sean

 

[Zap]

Never used a Lanbox, but the X-Qpack2 is not that great for noise. If you want quiet, then you need to look into one of the better mini-towers that has great ventilation and (preferably) thicker metal construction with HDD grommets. A rare combo.

I've seen people mention the Cooler Master 341 micro ATX case and I took a look at it today. It actually seems pretty decent!

 

[hans007]

you can easily game in a micro ATX case. they even make core i7 boards for it.

Most microATX cases have plenty of cooling as well.

Hell you can game in a mini-itx case now if you get a zotac 9300 with a silverstone sg-05/06.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: hans007
you can easily game in a micro ATX case. they even make core i7 boards for it.

Yup, there are THREE core i7 micro ATX boards (MSI, DFI, Asus) and potentially a fourth on the way (EVGA). All of them even support SLI and Crossfire, overclocking, six memory slots, etc.

Originally posted by: hans007
Hell you can game in a mini-itx case now if you get a zotac 9300 with a silverstone sg-05/06.

There is the limitation of a 9" graphics card, so on the NVIDIA side the most you can do is a GTS 250 - which will of course work fine with the included 300W PSU.

 

[biostud]

I've been looking at the thermal take lanbox lite. It takes a standard ATX PSU, and the modular design seems nice.
pair it up with the Asus Rampage II X58 matx it should be a good combo. (onboard x-fi soundchip)

X58
Lanbox Lite

 

[Massive Overkill]

Originally posted by: biostud
I've been looking at the thermal take lanbox lite. It takes a standard ATX PSU, and the modular design seems nice.
pair it up with the Asus Rampage II X58 matx it should be a good combo. (onboard x-fi soundchip)

X58
Lanbox Lite

If you don't plan on OCing, then it should be fine. To OC the i7, you'll need H20 or a tower heat sink. The latter eliminates the Lanbox (any version) unless you plan on relocating the power supply to the 5-1/4" bays.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: hans007
you can easily game in a micro ATX case. they even make core i7 boards for it.

Yup, there are THREE core i7 micro ATX boards (MSI, DFI, Asus) and potentially a fourth on the way (EVGA). All of them even support SLI and Crossfire, overclocking, six memory slots, etc.

Originally posted by: hans007
Hell you can game in a mini-itx case now if you get a zotac 9300 with a silverstone sg-05/06.

There is the limitation of a 9" graphics card, so on the NVIDIA side the most you can do is a GTS 250 - which will of course work fine with the included 300W PSU.

One review site put a 4870 in there and it seemed to work.

I mean its not the greatest gaming setup on earth, but it is definitely gameable.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Massive Overkill

Originally posted by: biostud
I've been looking at the thermal take lanbox lite. It takes a standard ATX PSU, and the modular design seems nice.
pair it up with the Asus Rampage II X58 matx it should be a good combo. (onboard x-fi soundchip)

X58
Lanbox Lite

If you don't plan on OCing, then it should be fine. To OC the i7, you'll need H20 or a tower heat sink. The latter eliminates the Lanbox (any version) unless you plan on relocating the power supply to the 5-1/4" bays.

depending on how much you want to o/c. A 3.6-3.8 Ghz should be possible

 

[Massive Overkill]

Originally posted by: biostud

depending on how much you want to o/c. A 3.6-3.8 Ghz should be possible

Maaaaybeee if you have a D0. I'm running 3.8 Ghz with 1.28V and my LinX temps can hit 85C, with HT off. This is with a TR HR01+ heatsink, BOTH my side panels replaced with mesh and a better 120mm fan out back. I don't see a low-profile HS dissipating enough heat or enough airflow through the Lanbox to exhaust the heat coming off of the HS.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

I wanted to buy one of those ThermalTake cases but they are so expensive.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Massive Overkill

Originally posted by: biostud

depending on how much you want to o/c. A 3.6-3.8 Ghz should be possible

Maaaaybeee if you have a D0. I'm running 3.8 Ghz with 1.28V and my LinX temps can hit 85C, with HT off. This is with a TR HR01+ heatsink, BOTH my side panels replaced with mesh and a better 120mm fan out back. I don't see a low-profile HS dissipating enough heat or enough airflow through the Lanbox to exhaust the heat coming off of the HS.

There's room for a quite big heatsink, but I don't have any experience myself with the i7, so I can't say I'm an expert. But a more modest o/c to 3.2-3.4, is still a good oc running in a matx box.

mboard with heatsink

 

[Massive Overkill]

Originally posted by: biostud

There's room for a quite big heatsink, but I don't have any experience myself with the i7, so I can't say I'm an expert. But a more modest o/c to 3.2-3.4, is still a good oc running in a matx box.

mboard with heatsink

I'll buy 3.2-3.4 on an i7.

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: Massive Overkill

Originally posted by: biostud

There's room for a quite big heatsink, but I don't have any experience myself with the i7, so I can't say I'm an expert. But a more modest o/c to 3.2-3.4, is still a good oc running in a matx box.

mboard with heatsink

I'll buy 3.2-3.4 on an i7.

Something like a cooler master geminII should have no height problems, and still have plenty of cooling power for an OC'd i7. Sure you wouldn't be running 4.2gHz+ and you'd have to deal with temps being a bit higher than most, but it would be very doable

 

[Massive Overkill]

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: Massive Overkill

Originally posted by: biostud

There's room for a quite big heatsink, but I don't have any experience myself with the i7, so I can't say I'm an expert. But a more modest o/c to 3.2-3.4, is still a good oc running in a matx box.

mboard with heatsink

I'll buy 3.2-3.4 on an i7.

Something like a cooler master geminII should have no height problems, and still have plenty of cooling power for an OC'd i7. Sure you wouldn't be running 4.2gHz+ and you'd have to deal with temps being a bit higher than most, but it would be very doable

You're still only going to get a stock-voltage type OC. It can barely keep up with C2D:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...r-geminii_7.html#sect0

http://www.anandtech.com/casec...howdoc.aspx?i=2978&p=6

 

[ravsimvan]

Yes sure and use it to bake bread as well.

 

[Fox5]

MAtx boards are fine for gaming, though depending on the size of the case you might be limited to mid range video cards.

 

[Bullmecha]

A few notes I found browsing around on THW. Just thought I'd drop them in for anyone to glance at.

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...-2-overclock,2310.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/re.../core-i7-sff,2312.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...icro-atx-sff,2311.html