• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Best mATX mid-tower?

Y

YmkFX

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
288
Hi all, I've currently got an Antec Aria SFF with some modest hardware and I'm absolutely sick of it. I move parts out of my system ALOT so right now my Aria has no panels and my drives are sitting on my desk. I'm in dire need of a cheap mATX mid tower that's small but still has breathing room.

I still need it to be pretty small, I want it to be very quiet, and I need it to be a vertical tower. I just have no idea what's out there on the market that suits this, or what exactly to look for. I don't want an X-Qpack, I just want a clean simple mATX mid-tower that will be sufficiently quiet.

I've got one hard drive, and one optical drive, no floppy drive needed.

Any help?
 
 
Weiman said:
My first choice for a mATX-only tower would be the Coolermaster Centurion:
http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=RC-541&other_title=+RC-541+Centurion%20Micro%20ATX%20541
Available with or without PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=Go&DEPA=0&type=&description=rc-541
Click to expand...
Agreed. The price is very reasonable for a solid brand case and the cooling fan setup is kick ass. I would pass up their power supply though, it's fairly weak on the +12V rail. Go with the FSP AX450-PN for fifty bucks. Plenty of juice on those dual rails for almost any home system...if you need a psu that is.
 
I previously owned a Centurion 5 before I went with the Aria, it was a great case so I think I'll pick this one up. Thanks for the advice guys!
 
Here's a review for that case: http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=22&id=1665

I thought about it myself until I saw they mount it on the opposite side than it usually is, so the expansion cards up on top right beneath the PSU which forces you to cram cables over or around them. The CPU and HD get plenty of circulation but you may want to think about how a graphics card (which is the hottest thing in a PC) will get up there with rats nest.

Also, my other concern is how air flows up there, you have the PSU pulling air in and out and the graphics card fan trying to pull it the other way.

Here's what I'm looking at for my setup (as possible alternatives to X-Qpack and SG01):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811127069
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811190053
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811108336
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811163050
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144113
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811190022
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811190017

I'd be interested in what you guys have to recommend out of those. I know I'd have to replace the Aspire's PSU but I'm worried about my stuff not fitting so I'm not sure I'll get that one.
My setup is going to be:
*Biostar TForce6100-939
BenQ DW1640 Black face (178mm deep = 8mm longer than the liteon's you guys all recommend but this one seems to have better ratings)
*Patriot PDC2g32000LLK 2GB DDR400 kit
*Hitachi Deskstar T7k250 250GB SATA2 w/8mb buffer
*A64 X2 4400+ (Most likely Zalman 7000 cooler)
*XFX 7800GT for game bundle or possibly eVGA GeForce 7800GT CO for $30 more for the higher clocks
*Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtrememusic (when/if I get 5.1 Logi Z5500 that are always on sale for $200)

If I got the aspire I'd get either Enermax Liberty 400w, Antec Neopower 480w/Truepower 430w/Truepower2 480w, XClio 450w, Cooler Master extreme 430w or Thermaltake 420w. If no Aspire and there's more legroom I may just get an OCZ modstream to reduce cable clutter.

Any advice you guys can offer on the cases or PSUs I'd appreciate! Like, for instance, does acrylic insulate against sound well or is it louder than steel cases? Is the Silverstone going to be able to fit what I selected and will it overheat due to the tiny fans (and is it loud or not, reviews always have to contradict)! Do any of my selections just suck? :eek:

And if you suggest I get the Aspire (although I hate paying up for the supposed 420w PSU just to replace it), would that BenQ (178 mm deep) fit with a 140mm deep PSU (5.5")?
 
I've decided I'm going with the In Win (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811108336) or the Aspire since I'm going to have a X2 in there and I need to have decent airflow around the cpu (ruling out the SG due to PSU).

Two questions: do any of you know of any quiet 90mm fans that are 3 pin/temp sensitive or would it also be possible to attach a 92mm fan into a 90mm case fitting (by brute force screwdriving or drilling holes)? I'd like to throw in a Zalman 92mm if possible (if I get the In Win) since it can do 38CFM at 20BA with the included resistor to slow it down (better than a Vantec stealth!) Otherwise I'll have to use the newegg evercool 9225 which is 26dBA (92mm but it looks like it has holes for 90mm too).

Also, how much PSU do I need for my components? I believe the Power Man is a rebranded Fotron which is supposedly reliable but I doubt 300w or the X's sad 420 PSU could handle a 4400+ X2 combined with a GT card even though only 1hd and dvdrw, correct?

Thanks!
 
Looks like you are basically putting an awesome system in a horribly shitty case. If you even got everything in there, you would have issues with cooling, and undoubtedly power. I wouldnt even start with the stock PSU.

Id go with the Qpack.
 
I was planning on replacing both PSUs.

Why do you think the In Win would have cooling issues? It seems like it has decent venting on the side panel (flow channel to cpu and venting for expansion cards) and a 90mm fan in the back that I could throw an evercool or zalman on. I may even be able to get one for the front too.

If you really think there'd be an issue I'd like to know why, I'm not averse to getting the Aspire but I don't want to get it to realise my PSU and dvdrw don't fit :mad: (plus it's more $ that I can put into going from the xfx gt to the evga gt co which has higher clocks and is basically a gtx).

Seriously though, I'd like to hear your thoughts before I do this.
 
Inwin V523t has my vote.

You can toss a 120mm (after a little dremeling) in the front if you need airflow. 92mm in the rear, and side intake ports as well.

Chassis is solid, rather than the flimsy POS that I've seen for so many other cases around $50.



I've build over 2 dozen systems with this case (including 4 for myself at one time or another). They've made several changes over the years...going from an 80mm w/ solid side panel, to 80 w/ intake, to 92 w/ intake + PCI cover vent, to 92 w/ intake + PCI cover vent + 24 pin PSU w/ SATA power. Only gripe I have is that I'd have liked front audio as well for my customers.
 
i'm thinking about the following setup:

centurion 540
asus a8n-vm csm
amd 64 x2 3800
wd raptor
dvd-r
floppy

no graphics card beyond the built in.

will the centurion allow for enough cooling? i'll put in the 120 in front and 2x 80s in the rear. i'm concerned about keeping the x2 cool.

thanks,

philo
 
I vote for the classy black InWin V523T. I've stuffed mine to the gills with 2x 250GB Hitachi SATA II hard drives, a SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum and Pioneer retail A09XL DVD-/+RW burner. It's running as a class mini-tower that's quiet with a 92mm exhaust Nexus fan in the back.

With the Audigy Platinum i/o bay and a 3.5" black card reader it's pretty much a do-anything/everything dynamo.
 
InWin makes a nice 3.5" bay all-in-one floppy/card-reader/audio/usb/firewire device that fits in the front to remedy the lack of audio connectors.
Case comes with 2 USB 2.0 on the side.
 
I decided with the InWin 523t and an Arctic Cooling Silencer rev.3 for my 9600 pro.

I'm going for the quietest computer possible with the smallest profile. The 300w PSU should be plenty seeing as it's got good amperage on the rails compared to most included power supplies.

I appreciate all the help guys, especially since no one reccomended anything outlandish. I'm just toning down my PC alot and getting away from gaming. I'll let you all know how the case fares.
 
I got the IN WIN Z Series IW-Z720T.I300BFU2AD, very nice case.

Sturdy and well put together. Only problem I saw was the PCI clip couldn't be used with my XFX 7800gt since it's higher than the normal card, but that isn't their fault.

Very good cooling, full throttle my vid card never goes above low 50 celcius and my CPU (X2 4400+) never goes above 40 celcius with a Zalman 7000alcu on the lowest speed setting (AS5 thermal paste of course).

Good stuff. In Win gets my vote! No problem fitting in my 500w neopower and benq dvdrw drive either, didn't have to cram it in like I probably would have had to with a QPack.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top