Looking for a small, light tower case

[Spike]

I'm looking for a small, lightweight tower case similar to the old Antec Lanboy cases. It's for a pc intended to be moved around a lot but we are looking for an alternative to the X Qpack variety. We may go that route anyway but I wanted to see if anyone here knew of any options out there. I really liked the lanboy due to it's weight and the 120mm fans even though it was so small.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[ahenkel]

I picked one of these up a month ago for a client a Lian Lin Atx Mini Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112218

They wanted to migrate their current desktop to something lighter/ smaller without switching to an Matx board. It handled all their current components with ease.

 

[frostedflakes]

NSK-3480 is pretty compact, probably about as small as you're going to find without making a lot of sacrifices (proprietary power supply, half height PCI/video cards, stuff like that). It's mATX, though, not sure if you were wanting to stick with ATX. Also, it isn't really that light.

PC-A05NB is great as well, I recently moved my system over to one. You might want to consider buying the top panel w/140mm fan mount or cutting some fan holes yourself if you plan to stick some power hungry video cards in the case, though. With the stock top panel the PCI slot area doesn't get a lot of airflow and video card temps can get kind of high.

 

[Spike]

Both of those cases look good. I have an Antec Solo at home which looks just like that NSK case but a little bigger and I really like it. The Lian-li also seems like it would fit without limiting mobo choice. I'm not too worried about additional exhaust as the system will likey have a GTX 460 and Phenom X4 in it so heat production will be moderate but not high.

Thanks!

 

[Zap]

OP, more details plz! What's the budget? ATX or mATX or doesn't matter? Mini ITX? Tower, slim or box style? (looks like no box style based on your X-Qpack comment)

NSK-3480 is pretty compact... Also, it isn't really that light.

It is downright heavy! Really small, great quality and can make a really quiet build in it, but heavy.

 

[frostedflakes]

Yeah, Antec cases are built like tanks. Very sturdy, but not so portable. Although I added a handle to my old NSK-3300 and it worked pretty well, just had to make sure it was well supported. Wasn't too difficult to lug around with that.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

For a mid tower, I am absolutely stunned by the quality of my Xigmatek Asguard. Its really cheap yet has great quality, color, and accessories. Loved working with it, its reasonably small, and pretty light. Black inside and out is a plus too.

 

[crucibelle]

If you don't mind mATX: http://www.directron.com/vulc001bk.html

If you scroll down, there's a video.

 

[Zap]

I forgot to add in my previous post that my usual recommendation these days for "small," "light," and "tower" is the Cooler Master Elite 341.

 

[Spike]

OP, more details plz! What's the budget? ATX or mATX or doesn't matter? Mini ITX? Tower, slim or box style? (looks like no box style based on your X-Qpack comment)



It is downright heavy! Really small, great quality and can make a really quiet build in it, but heavy.

Sorry for the lack of details, the person who this is for is undecided on what he wants. It needs to be either mATX or ATX, no ITX this time. As for style... no idea. I know, can't make recommendations without that which is why I'm trying to get him to elaborate. Originally he wanted to follow my x qpack lead but I have shown him the limitations of that case and he is thinking about other styles now. He still wants small and portable but not necessarily light as I have that lanboy carrying strap I'll give him.

Keep the recommendations coming. I have forwarded all of those listed so far and he is thinking... I'll let you guys know what he decides on.

 

[Massive Overkill]

Sorry for the lack of details, the person who this is for is undecided on what he wants. It needs to be either mATX or ATX, no ITX this time. As for style... no idea. I know, can't make recommendations without that which is why I'm trying to get him to elaborate. Originally he wanted to follow my x qpack lead but I have shown him the limitations of that case and he is thinking about other styles now. He still wants small and portable but not necessarily light as I have that lanboy carrying strap I'll give him.

Keep the recommendations coming. I have forwarded all of those listed so far and he is thinking... I'll let you guys know what he decides on.

Micro Fly clones use to be the staple of my mATX builds. That has been replaced by the Lan Gear Da Box. If you want maximum power in minimum space, there's no better alternative than Da Box. If there were, I'd be using it.

If you don't need SLI/Crossfire, more than 8 gigs of RAM, and only 1 or 2 hard drives, and OC'd dual core, or stock quad core, then SG07 or Lan Gar Da MOM will make for a very portable, but still powerful rig. There is also the Lian Li mini-ITX case, but Lian Li, like Antec typically abuse the size of SFF cases, making them larger than they need be.

Both rigs are solidly-built with thick aluminum. Da Box is going to be released in revision 2, which will have improvements suggested by the [H]ardForum SFF community and Da MOM will be released very soon (It's still in beta).

My Da Box and Da MOM rigs:

(I call it MOM, but it's officially Da Box case...........I hate that name)

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1508581

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1523957

Da MOM mini-ITX

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1535164

 

[Massive Overkill]

I also don't recommend carrying straps. I've had a Gear Grip strap break on me and believe me, it's no fun when it does. Plus they offer zero protection for your equipment. I would suggest a Sugo carrying bag or Lan Gear also makes one as well. You have to carry a keyboard/mouse and cables so putting them in a carrying bag makes sense

 

[ehume]

These days there are features you can have:

1. Enough space between the MB and the primary (usually left) panel for a full height tower cooler.
2. Enough space between the MB tray and the back (usually right) panel to comfortably run thick cables behind the mb tray.
3. A cpu window in the mb tray to allow you to mount the backplates of modern cpu heatsinks without removing the mb.

Other items like bottom mounted psu's and toolless installation are optional.

The above concerns and one other led me to an NZXT Beta Evo: it is short enough to fit under the shelf where I must place my computer. Its siblings - the Gamma and the M59 - are about a cm narrower, with a little more trouble fitting stuff. They're about the minimum width of any case you should consider: 190mm. Mine is 200mm.

There are Cooler Master cases that are wider. I have seen wide Thermaltake cases but users tell me there is not much room behind the mb tray, and a reviewer measured the Element G for me and found the behind-the-mbTray space to be 11mm.

Of course, I modded my case - cut a 120mm fan hole in the bottom, removed all the grills, etc. But that's just fun . . .