Shallow case sugestions

lifeblood

Senior member
Oct 17, 2001
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I am looking for a new PC case for my mothers computer. Her current case is a mid-tower case with a depth of 16". She has it in a cabinet in her desk but she can't close the door because it sticks out about 1-2". Does anyone know of a case that is 1. not too expensive, and 2. is 14" or less deep? Her motherboard is a MicroATX.

 

Zepper

Elite Member
May 1, 2001
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Would something like the Athenatech S100 series (Newegg et al carry that) work? A bit of effort should be made in improving the cooling as it's pretty tight inside and your optical drive should be a short one.

.bh.
.
 

hans007

Lifer
Feb 1, 2000
20,212
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you are going to want something that has the cdrom "on top" of the motherboard, and not in front of it and the power supply. the nsk3480 (which i've had) might work, but its not really as small as possible.

If you want to be sure you could get something like an inwin BT series.
http://www.in-win.us/products_...series_id=4&model_id=6

Its a little cramped, but if your moms computer doesn't have a lot of stuff in it (like say just a single cdrom and 1 hard drive) it should be fine. That only has low profile slots.

http://www.in-win.us/products_...?cat_id=1&series_id=42

that would work if you need full height (i think its 12.something inches deep)
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
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Originally posted by: hans007
you are going to want something that has the cdrom "on top" of the motherboard, and not in front of it and the power supply. the nsk3480 (which i've had) might work, but its not really as small as possible.

I know the Antec isn't as small as possible, but it fits the criteria. Also, while most optical drives work just find on their sides, some people don't find them as easy to use.

That InWin BT566 slim case is actually 15.7" deep. The 12.2" is the width.

The Athenatech S100 doesn't have that great stock ventilation or noise floor.

The Antec actually also needs a short optical drive. While in the Athenatech longer drives tend to hit the CPU fan, in the Antec they will hit the power supply. Good news is that pretty much all optical drives sold within the past couple years are short.

Besides fitting (literally) the criteria, compared to the InWins and Athenatechs the Antec has the best PSU, best ventilation and most quiet design thanks to the 120mm fan and soft HDD grommets.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,579
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This case is approx 2" less deep than a Codegen micro-atx case that I have next to it. I don't know if it meets your 14" criterion though.