recommend SMALL cases

[zCypher]

Hello,

I have a small motherboard (MSI G31M3-L V2)
Currently I'm using a Cooler Master CM 690 II, which is very nice. However, I want to make this system as small and quiet as possible. I don't have a huge video card, though I'd like to get a small case that does still support a reasonable size video card just in case.

There are a few Thermaltake cases that caught my eye:

VF1000BWS - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133035 , seems to be discontinued though, I can't find it available anywhere

VF6000BWS - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811133044 , this one is pretty nice too.

Know of any similar cases that I should consider? What has been your experience with these?

 

[llee]

TBH, if you want to go small you should be looking at parts one tier smaller- Mini ITX. I think that you'll regret buying one of the Thermaltake cases because they feel flimsy and are made with cheap plastic. Here's another option if you want a great case but still retain the 'tower' feel.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112218

 

[zCypher]

Hi leonlee, thank you for your response. I actually do not want to retain the tower feel. I want the smallest possible size and noise without having any cooling issues.

I was under the impression that Thermaltake was of a reasonably good quality.

 

[Zap]

I think the OP wanted to reuse the micro ATX motherboard.

Forget about the Lian Li PC-A05. The PC-A04 is coming out soon (see other thread here) and is a better case for micro ATX.

zCypher, those cube cases are really not all that small. They are short, but really wide and long so they take up less visual space (not as tall) but can actually take up more desk space than a typical tower.

My standard recommendation for a micro ATX gaming tower is the Cooler Master Elite 341. Other options are the Silverstone TJ08 and the Antec NSK3480 (if your PSU is 5.5" deep or less)

 

[llee]

yes, but the a05 is out of stock.

 

[jesh462]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112299

Comes in black too. I'll be getting one for my new rig. My only hesitation is clearance for the HSF. I'm not sure if a cooler master 212 will fit over the PS or will crush up against it. There's a pic with a TX3 installed here.

http://www.vortez.co.uk/articles_pages/lian_li_pc_v354_case_review,7.html

The tx3 is 138mm so you can compare that to your current HSF.

 

[SmCaudata]

The inwin dragon slayer looks cool. Will fit full size vid card. It is seller than mid tower cases but bigger than most really tiny cases.

 

[gaban]

I have used the thermaltake lanbox lite casing for half a year before moving to a tower casing because i didnt have space at that time. It worked well for me and i thought the quality was fine, I was using phenom 2 925 and ati 5770. If you are going to overclock or using high powered cpu i wouldnt recommend it because the space for heatsink is small, tower heatsink will not fit. I have tried scythe mini ninja but it was just a little bit tall and so i ended up using zalman cnps7000 but any heatsinks with the same dimensions should fit as well. You can fit a very lengthy videocard if you remove the hdd cage but you can only use 1 hdd then but with the 5770 i didnt have to. Any card within the length of the motherboard will fit without removing the cage.
I felt my system was quiet then but not silent as there are no dampenings with the casing, I used all the fan mounts with low noise fans. The loudest part of the pc was the psu when the pc was idle .... i used ocz modxtream and with my new casing i am using cooler master silent pro m and now my hdd is the loudest part of my pc ... I really recommend cooler master silent pro m if you really concern about noise and it is also a modular psu, will work really well for small casings.

 

[Spikesoldier]

using this for htpc. houses an i3 530 and radeon hd4550 (half height).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129046

 

[combust3r]

Silverstone Sugo or even some of the Grandia's (04, 05), u have a very nice review of SS Grandia 04 here on Anandtech.

 

[GAM3RIG]

How's about SG02 case?