Mini Tower recommendations

[Fliegende]

Hi guys,

The case I intended to get is too small to cool efficiently, and is supposed to be rather frustrating putting together, so I'm thinking of looking at other cases.

I want a small case because I have to lug this baby across town, country and even the Atlantic. It has to fit an ATX board, has some room to breathe and look good at the same time.

Any one has any recommendations? I would like to cap the cost at $200 (can be stretched if required), so no Vapochill-ish boxes.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Fliegende]

Any thoughts at all?

 

[KH85]

The Antec Lan Boy is SMALL and LIGHT and can be found HERE allthough it has a window a PSU that lights up which most people think is pointless but hey it is what you are looking for o and you get a free carry case strap

 

[RedWolf]

The lanboy is a nice case. I've been looking for a good deal on it myself. Chenming has several variations of the same case (actually, the lanboy is a rebadged chenming). They sell the 301. It can be found in an aluminum and steel version in black or silver (and I've heard there is a blue version but never seen it). You can find it with/without a window and with/without a power supply. The windowed version is called the x-sonic. It sells for about $65 US. The plain jane steel version can be found for as little as $30 us. Antec also sells a steel version of the Lanboy which goes by SLK2600 and a beige version in the SLK1600. I have looked at the lanboy extensively (both online and instore) and it is an excellent buy, imo. Very nice window, excellent power supply, and the strap is just a nice bonus. It is a very small, light case. It has 4 5 1/4 drive bays for plenty of storage.

Another option is the Lian-Li PC-50 or PC-52. The LL is shorter than the lanboy but longer. 15" H and about 18" D for the LL vs the 16.5H and 16.5D for the lanboy/chenming 301.

A friend of mine has the PC50 and it is a very nice case. The only problem is there isn't much room between the heat sink fan and the power supply. He's got about 1/2 to 3/4 inch. He is running a Thermalright SLK800 and 25mm fan so the space isn't super cramped, though. His cpu stays cool enough (about 45C under load) and there is room up front for 2 80mm fans and one 80mm in the back. The PC52 is the same case with a slide-out motherboard.

There are a few other choices available. Skyhawk (Jupiter and Matrix) and Raidmax have several aluminum cases with windows and other fancy doo-dads. The height is only 16.2 inches and the depth is about 18 (slightly less than the PC50). You'll either like the look of them or not. I, personally, dont (skyhawk does make a case I like but it is 17.25" high and 18.5 deep so it's just a bit too big.

My personal preference is for the Lanboy or the LL PC50/52.