mATX Cases

[Ragnar_Mike]

Heyo,

So my lovely sister is starting art school and part of her chosen path includes doing a lot of Photoshop, Illustrator and some 3D modelling (a chip off the old block, =P)

She has room for a standard sized case but I want to build something small for her that she can tuck under her desk and not have to worry about. I've already started piecing together the parts I think she could use, but I haven't really had the opportunity to look at smaller cases.

I really dig how small the Lanbox lite is, but the PSU is right over the CPU and that leaves no space for a cooler. I guess it would help if I gave some general ideas about what I plan on chucking in there and what size I'm hoping to get away with.

Parts:

i5 2500K

1 optical drive minimum

Asus P8Z68-M Pro

Corsair 650 HX Modular PSU

GTX 560ti (Still considering options, but I would at least like to be able to fit something this size.)

Nothing crazy as far as overclocking probably just to like 3.8-4ghz. I could probably get away with the stock cooler for that but I was thinking of getting a cooler master 212+ since it's pretty small for a cooler and would do the job at a fraction of the price of a noctua. She's not one for gaming and will more than likely use this almost exclusively as a school/work rig.

I'd like something small, but I realize I'm probably going to need to do an mATX tower. If you know of a roomy gamer box or desktop style case lemme. Or ust any cool small cases, really It's up for debate at this point.

Cheers.

 

[JesseLactin]

I dunno if you'll be able to fit the 212+ (158.5mm, or 6.32") in an mATX / HTPC case. The Corsair H50 / H70 may be a good alternative, if you like the Lanbox.

 

[I Hunta x]

How about this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112299 i personally really like the looks of this little thing.

And the 560 Ti might be a little overkill tbh, mabey consider dropping it down to a 430 (great little card)/460 and putting the difference towards some better/more memory if you were going to put 4gb in, or even towards an upgrade to a 2600k as the hyperthreading can make a noticeable difference in 3d modeling rendering tho not so much in photoshop as that can still only use 4 cores max iirc.

 

[Ragnar_Mike]

shyguy094: My heart's not set on anything really. Hmm, that is something to think about, didn't realize the 212+ was that tall.

I hunta x: Good call about the GPU. I keep thinking about it from my perspective and what I would want at the pricerange I have to work with.

 

[rishisen]

try the silverstone fortress 3 that thing looks great, and can fit large coolers. 212 doesnt fit in most matx cases i tried and ended up stupidly using a matx motherboard in a full size case

 

[o0bananaman0o]

silverstone tj08e

courtesy of [H]

 

[Ragnar_Mike]

try the silverstone fortress 3 that thing looks great, and can fit large coolers. 212 doesnt fit in most matx cases i tried and ended up stupidly using a matx motherboard in a full size case

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Fortress. I'll swing that by her, but I showed her Hunta's suggestion and then found out it comes in a red version and she fell hard for that. His comment also has me thinking about what she really needs.

bananaman: Oooooh, neat.

I'm actually now checking out the options of mini-itx to see if that has what she needs. The P8P67-I is a pretty damn neat little board.

 

[o0bananaman0o]

bananaman: Oooooh, neat.

I'm actually now checking out the options of mini-itx to see if that has what she needs. The P8P67-I is a pretty damn neat little board.

the picture doesnt show it cos theres no point of reference but the tj08e is tiny. its smaller than the cubitek tank (mITX) in volume but still fits an NH-D14 and the 6990 (in crossfire if your that keen)

 

[I Hunta x]

His comment also has me thinking about what she really needs.

If you post up a thread in the new build advice section with a budget and what its going to be used for you may get some useful advice as to what components to lean towards for what she is going to be using it for.

 

[Ragnar_Mike]

If you post up a thread in the new build advice section with a budget and what its going to be used for you may get some useful advice as to what components to lean towards for what she is going to be using it for.

Sounds like a plan. And damn you for recommending that case. The thing is sweet, and she loves the red, but the mini itx version is easier to find. I guess I will just have to find it somewhere. Good, mini itx boards are slim pickins.

 

[sheroo]

Sounds like a plan. And damn you for recommending that case. The thing is sweet, and she loves the red, but the mini itx version is easier to find. I guess I will just have to find it somewhere. Good, mini itx boards are slim pickins.

Gigabyte are set to bring out a Z68 mitx board in the not too distant future - buy I don't know what the timescale is.

 

[I Hunta x]

Good, mini itx boards are slim pickins.

*COUGH* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500069 *COUGH*

Drop a H50/H70 (best your going to get on it realy as limited room for coolers) and away you go, may want to replace the fan if you do go down that route tho.

The ONLY downside to that board is the slightly limiting overclocking settings in the bios, but you can still get great similar results to most matx/atx boards only using the basic settings, just you would struggle to squeeze every last drop out of the chip.

Oh and also this is pretty lulz:

 

[sheroo]

*COUGH* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500069 *COUGH*

Drop a H50/H70 (best your going to get on it realy as limited room for coolers) and away you go, may want to replace the fan if you do go down that route tho.

The ONLY downside to that board is the slightly limiting overclocking settings in the bios, but you can still get great similar results to most matx/atx boards only using the basic settings, just you would struggle to squeeze every last drop out of the chip.

Oh and also this is pretty lulz:

That looks like the motherboard is mounted to the gpu rather than the other way around - if you see what I mean. If you don't want to overclock though I would go for the H67 ITX Asus or Gigabyte boards - I personally wouldn't buy a Zotac motherboard - but that's just me.

 

[I Hunta x]

I personally wouldn't buy a Zotac motherboard - but that's just me.

Zotacs 775/1156 mini atx offerings were solid little boards for what they were and im assuming its the same deal with there 1155 version now.

Well hopefully it is, from the reviews ive seen it def keeps up the standards with its older siblings.