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uATX Cube Case Please !!! The smaller, the better... :-)

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F

Fun Guy

Golden Member
Oct 25, 1999
1,210
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Okay, going all out on this build, with a 4790K, 32GB RAM, decent video, etc.

This is my ideal:

  • Smallest uATX Cube Possible
  • Black aluminum "nice-to-have"
  • External Drive Bays not neccessary!! (1 x slim 5.25 okay)
  • The more USB 3.0 Ports in front, the better, 2.0 not so much
  • Will be using a 400W PS at minimum
  • Need 3 x internal bays (SSD Boot + 2 x HDD Mirror Storage)
Any ideas or experience??
 
fralexandr

fralexandr

Platinum Member
Apr 26, 2007
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not going to be getting anything really small in uATX, since uATX can get up to 9.6"x9.6" (244x244mm)
thereby making a cube case at least ~11" per side (~280mm per side)

from a quick search, the smallest cube uATX cases are (in order of increasing volume HxWxD):
Aerocool M40
14.96" x 11.61" x 9.17"

AeroCool DS
12.91" x 10.43" x 13.86"

Fractal Design 804
12.09" x 13.54" x 15.31"

Thermaltake Core V21
16.70" x 12.60" x 13.20"

of those, the Fractal Design is the only one in Black Aluminum, the others being Black Steel and maybe plastic (especially in the AeroCools). The core v21 doesn't have any ODD. They all have 2x USB 3.0 except the Aerocools, the m40 has 4x USB 2.0, and the DS has 2x USB 3.0 + 2x USB 2.0. The m40 requires a 140mm or shorter PSU.
As such, the Fractal Design is probably one of your better choices, unless you want something smaller than that.
 
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Blue_Max

Blue_Max

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2011
4,223
153
106
I'll chip in a bit more later... I've been researching mATX and ITX cases to death lately, trying to build a fun project that won't cost a ton and won't flop.

The Silverstone Sugo SG09/SG10 is a good mATX contender for a decent price:
220mm (W) x 295mm (H) x 354mm (D), 23 liters

sg10-34.jpg
 
SithSolo1

SithSolo1

Diamond Member
Mar 19, 2001
7,740
11
81
If you are only using 1 gpu and don't need additional PCI-E slots you might want to look at Mini-ITX instead of MicroATX

I believe Ncase M1 will hold everything you listed but its not cheap.
 
Blue_Max

Blue_Max

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2011
4,223
153
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If you can be very choosy about your video card, this thing's 300W is very solid and quiet. SFX power supplies are pricey, making this case a steal of a deal for BY FAR the smallest mATX option out there, short of going low-profile and hugely limiting your video card selections.

This with an i3 or i5 and a GTX 960 would be a super rig! This one fits in my carry bag for decent portability on the cheap (since I have existing mATX boards, etc.)

If I were buying everything new, I'd go ITX... but if you're playing with existing parts and want to go small - this is the smallest there is. Period.

In Win 623 & 644
11-108-191-11.jpg
 
taisingera

taisingera

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2005
1,141
35
91
Blue_Max said:
If you can be very choosy about your video card, this thing's 300W is very solid and quiet. SFX power supplies are pricey, making this case a steal of a deal for BY FAR the smallest mATX option out there, short of going low-profile and hugely limiting your video card selections.

This with an i3 or i5 and a GTX 960 would be a super rig! This one fits in my carry bag for decent portability on the cheap (since I have existing mATX boards, etc.)

If I were buying everything new, I'd go ITX... but if you're playing with existing parts and want to go small - this is the smallest there is. Period.

In Win 623 & 644
11-108-191-11.jpg
Click to expand...

I have the BK623. It is a nice case, the smallest mATX case that supports full height cards. I see you want to use 1 SSD and two 3.5" hard drives? You will need to buy a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter and put that in one of the 3.5" bays. Then put one hard drive in the other 3.5" bay and another drive in the optical bay, again another 5.25" to 3.5" adapter. I've seen those that do 5.25" to 3.5" + slim optical. With 3 drives, and maybe a slim ODD, you will need to either get SATA Y-adapters or 2 Molex to SATA adapters. The new version of this case has 2 USB 3.0 and 2 USB2.0 front ports.

It will be very tight between the hard drive plugs and power supply cables coming out, plus if the USB headers are on the bottom of the mobo, it gets worse, but I have managed to get it in there. The only place you might be able to squeeze a 80mm fan is attached to inside of case over the bays, using your imagination to mount the fan. At one point, I used velcro to mount but I found the fan didn't do much in the way of cooling the drives or system. If you put a graphics card in, there is some strange bar in the back you need to place the backplate under. I don't even use the Partition Plate Cooling plastic piece, because I can't get it adjusted to fit on my mobo layout.

I have an i3 Haswell in my case and it runs cool enough. I just put a 3.5" drive in and it is running at 44C maximum in a 27C room.
 
M

melloyellow

Member
May 30, 2014
59
0
16
I managed to fit my msi h81m matx mobo in a cm elite 110 mitx case. It required cutting a slit in an internal hd/fan bracket but nothing visible from the outside. I suspect many other pairings would work since many matx mobos are less than full matx size and many mitx cases have a bit extra space beyond mitx spec. But it's a bit of guesswork if you try.

That inwin matx case is impressively compact. Less volume than the mitx case i used even.
 
Blue_Max

Blue_Max

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2011
4,223
153
106
melloyellow said:
I managed to fit my msi h81m matx mobo in a cm elite 110 mitx case. It required cutting a slit in an internal hd/fan bracket but nothing visible from the outside. I suspect many other pairings would work since many matx mobos are less than full matx size and many mitx cases have a bit extra space beyond mitx spec. But it's a bit of guesswork if you try.

That inwin matx case is impressively compact. Less volume than the mitx case i used even.
Click to expand...

WELL now... I really didn't expect that! That changes things... I may be able to use some of the parts I have in fun new ways!

Thanks for sharing that important detail!
 
M

melloyellow

Member
May 30, 2014
59
0
16
yeah, mainly, it's all about that 2nd expansion slot. mitx spec only goes to the first expansion slot, but many gpus are 2-slot for the extra cooling, so many mitx cases actually include space for that second expansion slot. Then looking at matx mobos, the smallest, and often cheapest, ones only go just past that second expansion slot even though matx spec can go up to like 4 slots or so, I believe. In my case, it was only off by like 1mm. The headers on at the bottom of the board actually clear the hd/fan bracket, but there's like an extra 1mm of pcb beyond that, and you can actually see some traces there so I couldn't just shave off the pcb there. So I had to cut a slit in the fan/hd bracket and the pcb basically slides just into that slit and doesn't even really pop out the other side.

So basically stuffing that matx mobo in there saves like $30 or so over getting a more expensive mitx mobo. I mainly did it because I already bought the mobo for my old atx case, and only later decided to go SFF, so that saved me from having to get a whole new mobo.
 
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Blue_Max

Blue_Max

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2011
4,223
153
106
I grabbed one of those In-Win BK623 cases... it's good and small, but I find myself pining for smaller still.

I wish I could've snagged an Alienware Alpha when it was only $400 Canadian! :(
 
taisingera

taisingera

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2005
1,141
35
91
The Antec ISK300/310 is a nice small miniITX case, but they messed it up with that proprietary power supply. Although I've seen people put picoPSU in there.
 
Blue_Max

Blue_Max

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2011
4,223
153
106
I returned the InWin... too big.

Tempted by the gorgeous Silverstone SG06, but will either hold out for the new SG13 or an Alienware Alpha.
 
B

badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
4,015
30
91
Any other alternatives? The Parvum case is perfect but it costs 200$ stateside. Air 240 is just a tad too small and the Node 804 is too wide.
 
P

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
I saw this case coming out. I think it just hit the US Market. It looks good, but it is Apevia Qpak3 MATX. It is deigned with the Power supply going under the horizontal motherboard mount. It might be a little large for MITX. However, it will fit a large CPU cooler and video card I suppose, while it has some room for extra drives.

http://www.directron.com/xqpack3wht.html

I used a link to Directron because they have good pictures of it. I like that you can see through the case if you take the doors off. It is similar to Bit Fenix without the strange handles. They sell this at Newegg for a little less.

15.2"(D) x 10.3"(W) x 13.75"(H)

Fractal Node 804 is a nice one also. It is a little large but it is designed well enough that multiple video cards will fit.

http://www.directron.com/fdcanode804blw.html

It is hard to tell what this looks like sometimes from the pictures. Has lots of fans. I don't think it is designed for a standard size DVD. Many people don't use them. Looks like it has room for slot loading DVD on the side.

344 x 307 x 389 mm (Not very good with mm conversions)
13.5433 X 12.0866 X 15.315 inches
 
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F

Fun Guy

Golden Member
Oct 25, 1999
1,210
5
81
Thanks for all the input, especially the guys recommending Mini ITX cases, but I'm looking for a MicroATX (uATX) case. ;)

I've decided that if the case does not have 2 x USB 2.0 and 2 x USB 3.0 jacks on the front of the case, it's out of the running. :)

Still on the prowl....
 
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