Rugged Micro-ATX Cases?

[Viper GTS]

I'm looking for a small and well built micro-atx case that can take a few years of non-stop travelling. Everything out there seems to be gamer oriented with the ability to support full sized graphics cards, multiple external 5.25 bays, flashy BS, etc.

All I need is one 5.25 bay, no need for long cards, half-height cards are fine too, and it needs to be very well built (probably steel, no plastic, doors/hinges, etc.).

Does such a thing exist? I don't need a fully ruggedized case since this will never see anything more harsh than a hotel conference room but it does need to be able to handle getting banged around a little.

Viper GTS

 

[tcsenter]

I have no personal experience with any of these, but they look sturdy enough:

Antec NSK1300/1380

Silverstone Sugo SG01 Series

Silverstone Sugo SG02 Series

APEVIA X-QPACK2

 

[Zap]

My Antec NSK3480 is built like a tank and still fairly small. It uses 0.8mm SECC and I can probably stand on it without making it dent.

I also have an Aspire/Apevia X-Qpack2 still (not being used) and have had various other, similar cases such as the MicroFly. Those are all universally flimsy.

Someone I know has the Silverstone SG02 (that's the aluminum mini tower, right?). It seemed pretty darn sturdy.

 

[IlllI]

the old ibm thinkcentre cases were pretty well made. there was a sff line of them too. not sure if lenovo continued the tradition

 

[Viper GTS]

Most of these are bigger than I want. The closest thing I've found thus far is the Antec Minuet 350. I think that will do what I want, but I'd still love to go smaller. I don't even need any internal hard drive bays or external 3.5" (I'll be using a 4x2.5" hot-swap enclosure in the CD-ROM bay).

Viper GTS

 

[Knavish]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Most of these are bigger than I want. The closest thing I've found thus far is the Antec Minuet 350. I think that will do what I want, but I'd still love to go smaller. I don't even need any internal hard drive bays or external 3.5" (I'll be using a 4x2.5" hot-swap enclosure in the CD-ROM bay).
Viper GTS

I'm confused...you need room to put that 4x2.5 enclosure IN the small case??

Have you considered miniITX? You can get some really tiny and sturdy (industrial) mini ITX boxes.

 

[Brainonska511]

I built a computer about 4 years ago with the Q-Pack. It's an okay case, but cable management can be a nightmare. If I did it all over again, I'd probably stay away from it and get some other mATX case, such as a small tower or a different cube/rectangle case.

 

[Aarondeep]

Have you checked over at logic supply?
I have been building some mini-ITX systems for a while now and the stuff they got over there is sweet.
http://www.logicsupply.com/

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Knavish

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Most of these are bigger than I want. The closest thing I've found thus far is the Antec Minuet 350. I think that will do what I want, but I'd still love to go smaller. I don't even need any internal hard drive bays or external 3.5" (I'll be using a 4x2.5" hot-swap enclosure in the CD-ROM bay).
Viper GTS

I'm confused...you need room to put that 4x2.5 enclosure IN the small case??

Have you considered miniITX? You can get some really tiny and sturdy (industrial) mini ITX boxes.

Yep that's the idea, 4x2.5" hard drives (maybe velociraptors, maybe just 7200 RPM laptop drives). I need a quad core, 8 GB of RAM, and ICH9 or ICH10, I wasn't aware Mini-ITX boards could do that.

Viper GTS

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS



Yep that's the idea, 4x2.5" hard drives (maybe velociraptors, maybe just 7200 RPM laptop drives). I need a quad core, 8 GB of RAM, and ICH9 or ICH10, I wasn't aware Mini-ITX boards could do that.

Viper GTS

why do you need all that power, and heat in a tiny case?

 

[Aarondeep]

yeah with those specs mini-ITX isnt going to work for you

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe build one yourself out of plywood. It would be tough, and cheap. You could scavenge drive cages and stuff from an old desktop.

Edit:
If you want style, go with the vintage military look. You could make something that looked like it was from WWII very cheaply.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Yep that's the idea, 4x2.5" hard drives (maybe velociraptors, maybe just 7200 RPM laptop drives). I need a quad core, 8 GB of RAM, and ICH9 or ICH10, I wasn't aware Mini-ITX boards could do that.

You're not going to get all of this into Mini-ITX chassis without really challenging thermal management issues. Its going to cost you for these kinds of features in that small of a footprint, and I mean not in a small way. Think MOD industrial boards; $150+ for a motherboard, $400+ for a mobile or low-power processor, you might as well just get a notebook.

 

[ther00kie16]

shuttle has a i7 system with liquid cooling so it's definitely doable in sff, especially with core 2 instead of i7. there's a cheap $45 mini-itx rosewill case at newegg that's even smaller than the newest sugo though i have to wonder how you'd fit a hard drive cage in there. the newest sugo looks darn good sg05 i think. it's pretty well proportioned and the front is pretty much completely taken up by slim optical and a 120mm fan to give u an idea of the size. someone was able to fit 4 3.5" hdd in a scythe 4 in 3 cage (fitted up to the edge in every possible position and it seemed like he even had to use low profile ram). i believe the thread is over at vr-zone.

 

[Knavish]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Knavish

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Most of these are bigger than I want. The closest thing I've found thus far is the Antec Minuet 350. I think that will do what I want, but I'd still love to go smaller. I don't even need any internal hard drive bays or external 3.5" (I'll be using a 4x2.5" hot-swap enclosure in the CD-ROM bay).
Viper GTS

I'm confused...you need room to put that 4x2.5 enclosure IN the small case??

Have you considered miniITX? You can get some really tiny and sturdy (industrial) mini ITX boxes.

Yep that's the idea, 4x2.5" hard drives (maybe velociraptors, maybe just 7200 RPM laptop drives). I need a quad core, 8 GB of RAM, and ICH9 or ICH10, I wasn't aware Mini-ITX boards could do that.

Viper GTS

Sorry I wasn't trying to imply that you can easily stuff a bunch of high-end guts into a miniITX chassis. I was just confused that you wanted both a microATX box *and* space for a 4x2.5 hot swap bay.

Another Random Idea... could you buy some external eSATA Raid enclosure and a small microATX computer case rather than putting them both in the same box?

 

[boomhower]

For quality and small the top two that come to mind are the Lian LI V351B and the Silverstone SG02

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

This would be a great place to ask, they are all about the mATX and mITX stuff.