Looking for a real small case(matx)

swatbat

swatbat

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Apr 25, 2001
Messages
13,052
Hey guys I'm messing around with the idea of a unix firewall box for a customer but I want a real small box to build it in. I'm pretty much wanting something with a single drive bay right above the board. Slim line prefered. I'm thinking like the dell gx270 size or the size of that hp unit that uses a pentium m. A short 1u case would also work(one that is like 10 or 12 inches deep. Any ideas? On the cheap would be nice but really anything within reason. Trying not but custom make this because if it works we may want to spread this to some other clients. Also mini-itx may work with a board with a celeron or p4 or something but the price of the board has to be within reason. I'm going to have this box doing spam scanning, proxy etc so the via boards are pretty much out(not powerful enough for everything I want to run, already tried it).
 
synaps3 said:
I don't think that was what he was looking for... Maybe these instead, I don't think he wants a tower: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2010090007+1054808293&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=7

From the sound of it, you need really small. For the price of going as tiny as you want to go, mITX is the best option. Though it will be more expensive, you can get some nice systems the size of a Mac Mini.

Have you looked at any HTPC cases? Some may work.
Click to expand...

Yea I'm looking for a nice small desktop case. Less on the front the better as I'm planning on using this without an optical drive. One thing I do need is a pci slot so I can add another nic. Other then that I want it to be pretty much a ps, hd, and thats it. I was looking at logic supply and they seemed to have some that kinda fit the bill but if I could go matx that would be great. Really a 1u case or something would be the best bet but I want a short one and the few I've seen are real expensive.
 
I recently built a system for my niece in this In-Win case. It comes with covers for the external optical and floppy drive bays, so you have a pretty much bare front except for the USB and audio ports. The build quality was good, I was more than satisfied with the power supply, and cooling is just fine. Just make sure your NIC is less than full-height.

You'll pay a ridiculous premium for a rackmount case. Say the word "server" and the price doubles at least.
 
Mohonri said:
I recently built a system for my niece in this In-Win case. It comes with covers for the external optical and floppy drive bays, so you have a pretty much bare front except for the USB and audio ports. The build quality was good, I was more than satisfied with the power supply, and cooling is just fine. Just make sure your NIC is less than full-height.

You'll pay a ridiculous premium for a rackmount case. Say the word "server" and the price doubles at least.
Click to expand...

That doesn't look too bad. I'd have to make a new front(don't want the connectors and stuff on the front) but it doesn't look that bad.
 
Making a new front for it wouldn't be a problem at all--you'll just have to pop off the front, drill out the rivets that hold the USB/audio port module thingy onto the case, and put a flat piece of metal on the front. Once the plastic front and ports are off, the rest is all flat.
 
Yea I'll need to make a call to a friend that has some nice metal cutting gear. See if he still has it and if I can use it. That way I don't need to worry about cutting in a straight line.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top