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$300 for case and PSU

D

danger

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 16, 2016
Messages
99
When considering a limit of $300 for case and PSU (with support for a graphics card), it seems the smallest option is the Node 202 at 10.2L at a cost of only ~$150, is that correct?

Once we try to go smaller than the Node 202 with options like the Dancases A4 or the NFC S4, the price with PSU balloons to $350+. Am I missing something?

I just find it surprised none of of the major case manufacturers are considering this under-served market as that seems to be the only way we will see small ITX cases for reasonable price.
 
The Sentry will be a little smaller and will be below $300 even with a SFX-L PSU.
 
I just bought a Node 202 for a build for my daughter. It looks about perfect with the exception of cpu cooling looks limited on what you can use. For her build though that won't be an issue using an I5 6500. Not sure what graphics card yet, may just stick in a blower style R290 I have.
 
I have a Lian Li PC-05sx that I can sell you with a sx500-lg (tested no coil whine or any issues) for under $300 :D
 
That case is 26+ liters, but the discussion is for cases under 10 liters.
 
danger said:
That case is 26+ liters, but the discussion is for cases under 10 liters.
Click to expand...
your thread title and op don't say that. you say case and psu for $300 which is VERY easy to do. update your thread title to "~10L case and psu", something like that. you need to clarify as SFF case sizes vary a lot!
 
The reason it's "under-served" is because there's very small amounts of people who want to deal with the pain of playing Tetris every time you want to change anything in a case. There's also limits to how silent these things can be (small = limited airflow at quiet speeds and no noise baffling). See here where the Node 202 can't handle a 175w graphics card in a game test without maxing-out the fan:

Fractal Design Node 202 Compact Gaming Case | silentpcreview.com

The amount of extra desk space taken up by a 20L case is not that much, and the airflow, better sound baffling, free space improvements and other more flexible options make is a far better purchase for most small system builders. If you want something under 20L, you're going to have to be prepared to deal with the severe limitations - and the limited amount of customers that comes with that.
 
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defaultluser said:
The reason it's "under-served" is because there's very small amounts of people who want to deal with the pain of playing Tetris every time you want to change anything in a case. There's also limits to how silent these things can be (small = limited airflow at quiet speeds and no noise baffling). See here where the Node 202 can't handle a 175w graphics card in a game test without maxing-out the fan:

Fractal Design Node 202 Compact Gaming Case | silentpcreview.com

The amount of extra desk space taken up by a 20L case is not that much, and the airflow, better sound baffling, free space improvements and other more flexible options make is a far better purchase for most small system builders. If you want something under 20L, you're going to have to be prepared to deal with the severe limitations - and the limited amount of customers that comes with that.
Click to expand...
Those guys didn't have a clue in that Node 202 build. Putting in an oversize fanned cooled higher power GPU card is simply foolish. A blower style video card would not add anything to the temperature of the case, in fact the bigger the blower the cooler the case. I will first try a R9 290 blower style, a 250w card (TomsHardware had it around 220w gaming), it will not add anything temperature wise but if it is too noisy then the best card I see for this case would be a GTX 1060 - blower style card (I expect that will be the outcome but I will try first). The I5 6500 I am putting in is a 65w cpu if you are using the integrated GPU, it becomes more like 35w without it and one heck of a power miser chip. If you know what you are doing then you can have a rather powerful, low power and quiet small configuration.
 
noko said:
Those guys didn't have a clue in that Node 202 build. Putting in an oversize fanned cooled higher power GPU card is simply foolish. A blower style video card would not add anything to the temperature of the case, in fact the bigger the blower the cooler the case. I will first try a R9 290 blower style, a 250w card (TomsHardware had it around 220w gaming), it will not add anything temperature wise but if it is too noisy then the best card I see for this case would be a GTX 1060 - blower style card (I expect that will be the outcome but I will try first). The I5 6500 I am putting in is a 65w cpu if you are using the integrated GPU, it becomes more like 35w without it and one heck of a power miser chip. If you know what you are doing then you can have a rather powerful, low power and quiet small configuration.
Click to expand...

I'm not shitting on the case, it's good if you know the caveats going-in I'm shitting on his need to complain of "under-served" market, when the market for these console-sized cases is very small due to their very long list of compromises.

The Node 202 is simply one of the most widely-reviewed of these cases. And while a blower could handle the heat admirably, it would still be loud during games, and would never shut off. That's not viable for quiet PC builds in a case so small the noisy components are literally inches from you.

Ad yes, these cases beg to be seen, so you're not hiding them under a desk.
 
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defaultluser said:
I'm not shitting on the case, it's good if you know the caveats going-in I'm shitting on his need to complain of "under-served" market, when the market for these console-sized cases is very small due to their very long list of compromises.

The Node 202 is simply one of the most widely-reviewed of these cases.
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Those list of compromises and caveats is probably main reason they are not in high demand but there is a certain level of demand that is growing, since over time more powerful options are available at lower power ratings and sizes. Plus the smaller the configuration the more options one has in where it can be used which adds to the demand. A laptop is the ultimate type SFF configuration which some should look at first but a PC you get better options on changing stuff out which makes it rather enticing plus easier to fix and cheaper to make for a more powerful configuration. I say SFF systems demand have been going up over the years due to that they can now be virtually as powerful as a big desktop.
 
pendragon1 said:
your thread title and op don't say that. you say case and psu for $300 which is VERY easy to do. update your thread title to "~10L case and psu", something like that. you need to clarify as SFF case sizes vary a lot!
Click to expand...
I don't know how to edit the thread title, but I feel like the op post does explain that clearly.
 
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