Help in choosing mini-itx case!

[big.me]

Hello!
I'm very very intrigued by Asus's new ROG haswell itx board (the maximus vi impact) and and I'm planning to build a mini-itx machine with it and the 4570K.
I'm really confused between what size-psu I shuold be getting; mini-atx or atx. I'll be running a gtx770 (depends on money - if not then a 6850), 1hdd + 1ssd, no water cooling.
So i'd probably want the case to be as small as possible (footprint wise), yet look pretty (which is damn hard to find). What case would you guys recommend for each type of psu?
Cheers,
big.me

 

[trent]

That's my recommendation :
BitFenix Prodigy/

 

[remember300]

most cases like that, im sure standard psu's will fit, and if you find case you like you may have to "adjust" it to fit the larger cards like the 770 but im sure you will be fine, from what ive read and seen go for a case you like and tweak it.

i think a 600W psu will serve you fine, just go for a good make, but if you wanted to put more than a single 770 in there. maybe go for a 750 for a little future proofing. as for the drives with the tweaking ssds can be mounted any which way. so that can be cramped into place or even put on show, what ever you like

anyways, i hope to see your decision, ive only seen a few itx and m-atx cases and ive never seen one i liked

 

[Feronix]

The prodigy is a great case with a lot of features like watercooling support.

Seeing as the OP is looking for a a case that's as small as possible, yet still with decent cooling, I would recommend the Cooler Master Elite 120:
http://www.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/mini-itx/elite-120-advanced.html
You can fit a regular sized PSU in there.

 

[big.me]

The prodigy is a bit to big, to be fair I'd probably get the m-atx version that got released at E3 to switch out my sg-09.
And yes, I have been eyeing out the cooler master 120, as well as the n-power m1 case made in conjunction with Lian Li.
The only problem with the 2 cases recommended is the large footprint they seem to occupy, though the are short, they are stumpy.
do you think I can run a 450W sfx psu for my system? Since I'm running only 1 gpu, 1hdd + 1 ssd
If I can run an sfx psu it should open then doors for me in terms of what cases there are to choose?
Cheers

 

[JonnySuper]

I really enjoyed building in the Fractal Design Node 304. It has a very small footprint, good room for larger PSU's and Graphics cards. I even looped one up with a 140 single 60mil Rad. http://forum.overclock3d.net/picture.php?albumid=174&pictureid=998

 

[big.me]

Okay, maybe my standards are high coming from an SG-09, that case is quite small for what it can fit comfortably with very good airflow , and my cpu at stock + mobo runs around 4-5C higher than ambient with light use hahaha.

 

[JonnySuper]

Check out the oc3d review if you haven't already. With the right PSU and cable management, airflow is actually pretty good. There is a nice 140mm fan you can line up with a vertical CPU cooler. Also good ventilation on both sides of the case. http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/fractal_node_304_review/1

 

[big.me]

not saying its not good for airflow etc, etc. But doesn't it seem big?
the sg-09 is only 220 mm (W) x 295 mm (H) x 354 mm.
node 304 is (W x H x D): 250 x 210 x 374 mm

sorry if i come off offensive... I don't meant to!!

 

[JonnySuper]

So if you have seen the Prodigy this might help. Here is a side by side shot.
http://forum.overclock3d.net/picture.php?albumid=174&pictureid=999

 

[vorticalbox]

not saying its not good for airflow etc, etc. But doesn't it seem big?
the sg-09 is only 220 mm (W) x 295 mm (H) x 354 mm.
node 304 is (W x H x D): 250 x 210 x 374 mm

sorry if i come off offensive... I don't meant to!!

if you take these numbers

sg-09: 22 cm X 29.5 cm x 35.4 (cm)

and the

node 304: 25 X 21 X 37.4 (cm)

and work out the total area you'll find that the node is smaller.

sg-09: 22974.6 cm2
Node: 19635 cm2

making the node 14.5% smaller.

 

[ClassicGOD]

I did some research for my first mITX build some time ago and Node 304 was the best choice. It was at the time (and I don't think anything has changed) the smallest mITX case that fulfilled my needs:
-Full ATX PSU
-All air intakes filtered
-Single thick 120mm or thin dual 120mm closed loop cooler or tower air cooler compatibility
-more than 2 3.5" HDD bays
-can fit long GPU's

To be honest I was considering building a custom Acrylic case as I have some experience in building Acrylic PC cases (I built one for my fileserver) but when I sat down and designed one that would be most compact my design ended with the same layout of Node 304. You could sacrifice HDD space and airflow to design something smaller but Node 304 is optimal design for what it offers and if You don't want water cooling Node 304 is smallest mITX chassis to my knowledge that can fit large tower air coolers.