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Micro atx Case

A

adqttr

Member
hey i was wondering if anyone knows of a good micro atx case. I am trying not to spend too much money but i want it to be aluminum, be able to keep the noise and heat down and come with a 400+ watt power supply. thanks for anyones help.
 
I don't think its what you are after but I have just done a build with an Antec NSK2400.

It's certainly very well built, however it is steel and the power supply is 'only' 380W but I think its well worth considering especially if you want a desktop case.

 
In most case/PSU bundles, the PSU is generally crap (often both are crap) - especilly in the low priced ones. All else being equal, aluminum cases will be noisier than steel cases. Want to reassess your approach to a case purchase?

I can recommend the Arctic Cooling Silentium case/PSU systems. They are compact (but not as small as a true mATX case could be) and include a very nice Seasonic PSU (rated at 350W continuous, but makes lots of other 450W units look sick). The included fans should be nearly silent when you get them but are fairly easily damaged in shipping - if any are noisy, RMA them. I know SVC carries them and I think the Egg recently picked them up but use Froogle and other price search engines for best bottom line price w/shipping included.

And the CoolerMaster 541 is pretty nice - add your own PSU.

But if you really want quality Aluminum, Lian Li (50 series are ATX cases, but very compact) or Silverstone (SST-TJ08) have them. The Ultra MicroFly is very similar to the Chenming 118 or the Aspire X-QPack. The Aspire X-Sonic (nearly identical to the original Antec LanBoy) and the Chenming 301 (which is also available in black) are some lower cost options. Very careful selection of components and fans plus some isolation techniques can help keep the noise down.

Even though the Aspire X-QPack includes a 420W PSU it is not very good. Almost always better to buy a case w/o PSU and get a quality PSU to meet your needs. Or blow the PSU out on ebay and get a decent one.

.bh.
 
Some find the metal to be a bit flimsy on those (of which I mentioned all three known variants in my earlier post) and the cooling may need a bit of work but can be made to do the job. I don't think there is any vibe isolation for the HDDs, but some can be rigged. Careful selection of your components and fans and tweaks to vibe isolation for fans/HDDs/etc. will make a lot of difference in the noise level of your system.

I normally don't recommend Ultra products, but I'm holding my nose and recommending the MicroFly variant as it is an inch or so deeper than the others so a standard sized ATX PSU can be used without conflicting too much with the optical drives. Selecting a PSU where the power wires exit the PSU case near the top as mounted will help clearances. Using short-chassis optical drives will also help with clearances - but most are shorter than standard now. Modular PSUs should be avoided (on general principle) bit it's more important for clearances on this type of case.

AOpen recently came out with their G325 (similar shape to the above) - see my thread here on it for links. It's made of steel, so it will probably feel more substantial and seem quieter. There are quite a few reviews of it out there but all I've found are in languages other than english. You can run them thru Babelfish or some other Internet translator.

.bh.
 
Second Zepper's suggestion for the Microfly. It's AWESOMELY compact, and you can fit an awful lot of stuff into it (some reviews even say there's space for a watercooling unit for the enterprising types - just to the left of the drive bays where there's open space).

Two case fans, two 5.25" and three 3.5" bays are pretty impressive, along with the usual front panel ports, etc. I was eyeing the Q-Pack, but the 1" extension won me over.

I do like the CoolerMaster case, but it's a bit big for a MATX application.

BUT, it's a bear to cool this thing, since there's only a limited amount of "fannage" you can put in this thing. Make sure you get a GPU cooling solution that exhausts the back - it gets really warm inside the case with that little airspace.

Good luck.

PM
 
does anyone know if i can fit a video card that takes 2 slots because it doesnt have a fan in this computer case? thanks
 
Width-wise, dual slot coolers will fit fine in a MicroFly/Q-Pack. Anything higher than a normal, standard height PCI card will have issues, though - I had to tip my 7800GT with an AC NV5 R3 (yep, it FITS!) forward to slide the mobo back into the case. Once the fan assembly was past the rear wall/PSU, you seat it in fully. A HIS X1900XT IceQ fits in fine with no problems, however.

PM
 
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