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mATX Case

O

overlord20

Gawd
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
623
I am looking for a small form case for a LAN pc I am working on. I like the Antec mini 183 i think its called but I also like small boxes like those of Shuttle and the NW-Falcon Fragbox. Does anyone know where I can pick up a decent looking box or case for mATX that can fit SLI 460?
 
450 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...er+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-Silverstone-_-11163116

Have you looked into the Silverstone SG01?
Click to expand...

difficult as piss-hell to keep cool. Ask archercrombie or me on our SG02 (SG01 with a different faceplate)


Lan Gear's Da Box comes to mind for being
"easy to cool" - accepts large tower HSF, too!
fits Crossfire HD5970 GPU.

Only one gripe - 100usd price.

Personally, I use a P180 mini, since the SG02 frustrated me to no end (i7 930 + ASUS R2G + HD5870 [later to become crossfire] is no dream inside a case this small), and the Da Box was not yet out, at the time.
 
I like Da Lanbox. I plan on using a Corsair H50 as i hear it cools great and would be better for a smaller case. I seen the lian li.. and both of these seem moddable to an extent. Does anyone have personal experience with the Lian Li or Da Lanbox posted? (I don't like the silverstone)

Good god the Da Box is spendy.. $160-180?! But it might be worth in the end..
 
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I am a cheap bastard and yes, the Lan Box is worth the money. I used to use the Ultra Micro Fly for my builds (now available as a Chiefmax through 3B Tech), and I now longer scoff at ponying up for better cases, especially the Lan Gear because they actually take input from this community and try to implement enhancements into their cases.

The new Da MOM mini-ITX case is a perfect example of that. I asked Mattinv to make all riveted parts removeable via screws and guess what, EVERYTHING but the hard drive cage on Da MOM is screw-mountable. Installing stuff in such a tiny case was more effortless because you could remove all the panels.

I would not use the Corsair H50 in anything but a m-ITX case. It sure looks cool, and it will cool OK, but my Cogage Arrow cools much better than my H50 and is very silent in comparison. You could go with a cheaper Scythe Mugen or Noctua HS, but any of the ones I mentioned will outperform the H50, and will probably even outperform the H70, especially when you take noise into consideration.

I don't like Lian Li or Antec SFF cases, because they abuse the term SFF. That being said, many people love em and don't actually transport their rigs alot so they want something smaller, but don't need it portability-small. Silverstone has been more true to SFF like Lan Gear has.
 
So i take it you have used "Da Box"? Would you say you were able to OC in it well? With the xigmetak dark knight on a 920 in a HAF 932 I am able to jump right to 3.5 and go to 4.0 pretty easily. Will these overclocks be in reach with a full size HS?
 
Does the outer panels secure enough to attach handles and lift by?

I have a custom handle idea I want add.
 
Da Box gets a pretty good review from owners, albeit most say it's not quite perfect and IIRC (not positive, I don't own one, just going off memory here), I think few owners have complained of a random sharp edge. There's another mATX case I can't remember the name of (Quincara or something similar) that is on the larger side, and features a pair of frontal 120mm intakes with room for taller CPU coolers. Similarly, you could try to get your hands on an NZXT Rogue (discontinued with a pretty large footprint for an SFF case).

Other options:

Silverstone has the upcoming ft03 sff tower which is rather unusual. Don't hold your breath though, that case might not be here till 2011.

Try contacting Spotswood and see if he's still willing to make these wooden SFF cases.
 
I have decided to go with Lan-Gears Da Box as its everything I was looking for. Thanks for the input. Might be a few months or early 2011 until I get it all put together but I am going to try and pick this up within the next couple weeks.
 
overlord20 said:
Does the outer panels secure enough to attach handles and lift by?

I have a custom handle idea I want add.
Click to expand...

I The front panel is secured by 5 screws in the back and 1 lip in the front running the width of the case. The lip is tack-welded on and I don't see a problem with it being able to support the load of the case.

That being said, I personally don't get handles on cases. For one thing, they're ugly as sin. You need to at least bring a keyboard, mouse, power cord, and possibly a CAT5 cable or wireless adapter, (and maybe even a monitor) so packing those in a bag with your rig is typical. Lan Gear does make a bag as well.

I've tried using a Gear Grip once and never again. Your rig gets scratched up and dinged around and if you ever plan on traveling on a plane, you'll curse yourself for going with it when you have to catch a connecting flight at Georgia or Philly. You'll wish that you had a padded shoulder strap.
 
Qmicra v2 or Lian Li V354 (when it is released later this month) would both accommodate a multi-GPU setup.

The Qmicra is $239 and the Lian Li is $180-200 depending on the color.
 
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