Recommend smallish case for long card + tall CPU cooler under $100?

[msgohan]

Hi all. I'm trying to find the smallest possible case with "good" cooling that fits these requirements:

- 13.875" PCIe card
- 159mm CPU cooler (Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus)
- Micro ATX board
- USB 3.0 ports near the top

The length of the PCIe card is what's really screwing up my searches. If it matters, I would prefer to use the Corsair HX650W modular PSU that I already own.

 

[dma0991]

That is an extremely long card, much longer than a HD7990. What card is that? I'm afraid there are not many mATX(by definition of smallish)case that supports that length. CM N200 allows 14" maximum length GPU.

 

[SithSolo1]

I'd 2nd the CM N200. Its a hard case to beat in the functionality department under $50.

 

[lehtv]

Thirded the N200. Cheap, good looks, nice features and build quality is not bad even in cheap CM cases

 

[smitbret]

Don't wanna muddy up the works too much but the Fractal Design Define Mini would work with the middle drive tray removed.

 

[msgohan]

That is an extremely long card, much longer than a HD7990. What card is that? I'm afraid there are not many mATX(by definition of smallish)case that supports that length. CM N200 allows 14" maximum length GPU.

It's actually not a GPU. This ridiculous video editing card released many years ago called the Matrox RT.X2, though I'm reconsidering since I learned yesterday that there's a shorter "LE" version that captures analog to uncompressed formats.

Thanks for the recommendations everyone! I see that the N200 only has one USB 3.0 port; can't find the N200 Advanced for sale anywhere at this time.

 

[_Rick_]

Corsair Obsidian 350D should also fit the bill.

 

[jaedaliu]

All 3 recommended cases are going to be a really tight fit. CPU cooler clearance is 1 mm. It should fit, but barely.

Maybe consider a slightly smaller cooler? I got the Fractal Design Core 1000, and couldn't fit the evo, so I ended up getting a slightly shorter Zalman cooler.

 

[lehtv]

212 plus will fit fine in any of the three cases

 

[smitbret]

My 212+ fits just fine in my Define Mini. That's stock, with leaving all insulation and foam intact, too.

 

[aigomorla]

edit...

holy cow... that card is longer then a monster GPU..

+1 for the N200 ... i dont see u having ANY other options.

 

[IGemini]

Man, I thought my 11.7" HIS 7870 was long.

The Arc Mini is on my list for my new computer, but I'll see what other ideas pop up here.

 

[MontyAC]

N200 is on sale now at Newegg.

 

[supermag24]

Well, normally i would recommend the prodigy when people ask about smaller cases, but the card would not fit. 12.5 inches is the max length for a gpu on the bitfenix prodigy

 

[cbn]

Hi all. I'm trying to find the smallest possible case with "good" cooling that fits these requirements:

- 13.875" PCIe card
- 159mm CPU cooler (Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus)
- Micro ATX board
- USB 3.0 ports near the top

The length of the PCIe card is what's really screwing up my searches. If it matters, I would prefer to use the Corsair HX650W modular PSU that I already own.

I think the smallest case you could go with is the Fractal design Core 1000. (Dimensions 6.9" x 14" x 16.5")

According to the Anandtech review here, it will barely fit the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo (same size as the Hyper 212 Plus):

Finally, that low heatsink clearance did rear its ugly head when I went to close up. Our Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is by no means an extravagant cooler or even one of the largest ones on the market, but its 159mm height caused the tops of the heatpipes to press against the side panel, bowing it outward a little. I was still able to secure the panel, but end users are going to want to look into a smaller tower-style heatsink like the Xigmatek Loki to really maximize the Core 1000.

The side panel bowing (with Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo) doesn't look to bad from the Picture though:

Of course, having the Coolermaster Hyper 212 pushing against the side will preclude you from adding a 120mm fan to the panel, but then again (looking at the small heatsink on the Matrox) I doubt the card generates much heat.

As far as mounting a 14" (350mm) long card goes Fractal Core 1000 will do that, but it reduces HDD capacity on the removeable tray down to one. More info here.

Supports graphic card lengths up to 350mm when using only the top HDD slot in the removable HDD tray

This means your total 3.5" drive capacity will drop to two if also using the supplied 5.25" to 3.5" bay converter.

With that said, I am wondering if your 13.875" long card could still be used without sacrificing any space on the removeable tray if a 2.5" drive was selected in place of a 3.5" in the lower position. (The vertical mounting tray can hold 2 x 3.5", 1 x 3.5" and 1x 2.5", or 3 x 2.5") (see pictures below from techpowerup review here)

From those pictures I'd imagine there could be clearance for 14" (350mm) long standard width add-in-board (like your Matrox) if substituting a thinner 2.5" drive in place of the thick 3.5" drive shown. A big reason is that the power connector on the side of your Matrox board doesn't look like it would take up too much space:

I could be wrong, but I just can't imagine that low profile power connector (with flexible wires) interfering with the thinner profile of a mounted 2.5" drive.