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Need smaller case, suggestions????

aggiestudd07

aggiestudd07

Gawd
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
528
I am commissioning in the USMC in a couple months and will be spending 6 months in a barracks with 3 other officers while I am at training. Obviously I will need something a little smaller than my Stacker 830. Any suggestions for a mid-tower or smaller case? I will be keeping all my current hardware, only changing the case.

  1. I am looking for something affordable as I will be reinstalling into my current case once I finish that training, preferably something under $120.
  2. Needs good cooling/ventilation, I have several 120 fans I can use
 
Lian-Li A05B is about as small as you can go for a ATX form factor. I believe it's under $120.
 
Another vote for the LianLi PC-A05B. If you need more cooling, just put a blow hole in the top and you are all set.
 
I'd get a PC-7B PlusII over the A05B myself, it has better stock airflow.

A05 a) has poor HD cooling and b) expansion area heat pocket. It's a great case if you mod it or add a slot cooler, but that only rectifies problem b; it still has poor HD cooling.
 
zero2dash said:
I'd get a PC-7B PlusII over the A05B myself, it has better stock airflow.

A05 a) has poor HD cooling and b) expansion area heat pocket. It's a great case if you mod it or add a slot cooler, but that only rectifies problem b; it still has poor HD cooling.
Click to expand...

How do you figure that the A05 has poor HD cooling? It has a 120mm fan right in front other hard drive bays. My drives stay just as cool as in my previous, much larger case. The only problem is Problem B, that that can be easily resolved with a Dremel or hole saw.
 
wow, i leave to 10 mins to help a guy with a problem and i get 6 replies, i freakin love this forum.

ok, so lian-li aside, any other suggestions?

no offense to you kind ladies/gentlemen that replied, but never been a huge fan of lian-li. but, i give you my word that i will take it into even consideration, esp if it is <$120.

i did just poke around newegg for a couple mins and found a couple coolermaster cases for about $70-80 or so, which is probably a more realistic price for a temp mid-tower case.
 
I just got a CoolerMaster RC-690 and I like it. Its about $70, good stock cooling, tooless and even has cable management. It's top and front are mesh. I'ts not beautiful, but it works for me.
 
heatlesssun said:
I just got a CoolerMaster RC-690 and I like it. Its about $70, good stock cooling, tooless and even has cable management. It's top and front are mesh. I'ts not beautiful, but it works for me.
Click to expand...

ya i was looking at that one and the centurion 590 on the egg

i must admit i am kinda partial towards coolermaster b/c i love the stacker 830 so much
 
aggiestudd07 said:
no offense to you kind ladies/gentlemen that replied, but never been a huge fan of lian-li.
Click to expand...

I am not a Lian-Li fan either, except for the A05B. It is actually my first Li-Li case. If you want to stay away from Lian-Li, I have also really liked my Silverstone cases. I use a couple of their desktop cases to house my servers. Solid cases with tons of cooling. They have tons of options and I don't have a specific case to recommend, but you should check out what they have to offer.
 
ya, i looked at the A05B briefly, but i just dont understand why lian-li cases are so dang expensive when they look so plain, maybe thats just what is holding me back. i have never heard anything bad about them, just dont know what is so great about them that isnt offered in a cheaper case by competition
 
You dont have many options really. Smallest ATX case is the Lian Li PC-A05. IMO, it is worth every penny.
 
Oh sry 'bout that. I read misread one of the posts above. The SG03 can be modified to fit an ATX motherboard.
 
You have to see one first hand and experience it. Go to http://lian-li.com and pick a case page and just look at the pictures. They have a lot of subtle features.. and also I guess you pay for the name brand too.
 
I know the OP is against it so far, but another vote for the PC-A05B.

I purchased this case for my wifes PC build and am now considering replacing my P180b with one. I picked it up on sale for 80 shipped, but now that i own one I think that it's worth neweggs asking price.

If size and weight are the concern, I don't think your going to find another case that matches it.
 
brom42 said:
How do you figure that the A05 has poor HD cooling? It has a 120mm fan right in front other hard drive bays. My drives stay just as cool as in my previous, much larger case. The only problem is Problem B, that that can be easily resolved with a Dremel or hole saw.
Click to expand...

Because the front is an exhaust meaning it sucks hot air from the case as opposed to being an intake that sucks in cool air from outside the case, that's why.

My HD temps in my 2x120 radgrill modded A05 were several c higher than my HD temps in my old Chieftec (w/80mm HD intake cooling) and now my V1000BW PlusII (w/120mm HD intake cooling).

aggiestudd07 said:
but what makes it worth every penny? thats what i dont really understand
Click to expand...

It's a good case for the money. It's aluminum/light + it's small yet fits SLi setups and aftermarket HSFs, that's why. Other than the aforementioned issues the A05 is a great case. I grew over the initial "size" love I had of mine and wanted something better myself, but I'm not saying the A05 is a bad case by any means. If the size weren't the main feature of the case I don't think it would be as popular as it is. (versus another smaller LL like the 7B PlusII)
 
zero2dash said:
It's a good case for the money. It's aluminum/light + it's small yet fits SLi setups and aftermarket HSFs, that's why. Other than the aforementioned issues the A05 is a great case.
Click to expand...

ok, i suppose that makes sense, thanks for the good breakdown

filthysanchez said:
You could always get a HTPC case or something.
Click to expand...

arent those typically quite expensive? how is cooling in them? are they limiting as to what hardware can be stuffed into them?
 
zero2dash said:
Because the front is an exhaust meaning it sucks hot air from the case as opposed to being an intake that sucks in cool air from outside the case, that's why.
Click to expand...

That doesn't mean that it is poor cooling. Look at all of the cases that have no hard drive cooling at all. Even if it is being cooled by your exhaust it is still getting more than enough cooling. Seagate's hard drives are rated to run in a 60 C ambient temperature environment with no active cooling. So the A05B running exhaust air that is dramatically cooler than that over the drives in my book represents good cooling.
 
Yes it cools better than no cooling, but is not better than active intake from outside the case blowing it over/past the hard drives. Whether drives are rated for higher temps than what the case supplies or not is irrelevant; that's like saying stock cooling is just as good on an overclocked processor as an aftermarket HSF since both can cool the cpu and the cpu is rated to 100c which the stock HSF will keep it under.
 
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