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Need some help selecting a microATX case and cooling solution

A

adlsrf

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Jul 12, 2008
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63
I'd like it to be small and lightweight. Weight isn't an issue so much as size/physical dimensions.

I need it to support a full size GTX 680 (zotac amp edition) and a Sound Blaster Z pcie card. I need it to fit two hard drives, a 3.5" and a 2.5". No optical drive necessary.

I already have a Silverstone TJ08E from a few years back and while it's small and useful, it's a pain to assemble. Plastic "snap-on" drive trays would be helpful.

As for cooling, what's a good heatsink/fan for a Core i5 that can also handle being transported? I need to ship this computer once or twice a year because I move often back and forth overseas. I guess at the end of the day I can remove the CPU if it's safer but being able to ship the whole thing fully assembled would be very convenient. I don't plan on overclocking the CPU, but I'd like something better than the stock HSF.

Basically portability is paramount for me. Any suggestions?
 
How about the Aerocool DS for the case and the Corsair H80 or 110 or similar for the CPU cooler? When you're transporting it, fill it with packing chips.
 
When I go overseas, I take the computer in its box as checked in luggage. I'm concerned liquid cooling might set off alarm bells when going through airport security or something.
 
I use the Silverstone Sugo 03 it fit my Tri-cool 4870x2 (had to change the bottom front fan to a slim) and fits my reference 680 with spare room. I also have my Asus STX. I take it with me when I go back to the states for a visit, fits just fine in my carry on.

I cut a blowhole in the top and have a corsair h50 mounted. Don't need to do a thing to move it, the AIO coolers don't put much weight on the CPU so I don't worry about and damage occurring. Thats the best tip for constant transportation of a computer.
 
I am just throwing this out there but if you have to move so much would you consider dropping down to a smaller form factor? I know you also want to use your soundblaster but the Shuttle SZ87R6 is a pretty nifty barebone that you could drop your 1150 chip, ddr3 and video card into and it has a pretty decent CPU cooler to boot. Then you have a lot smaller cube to deal with. :)
 
That sounds very interesting. I assume from your post my video card would fit but would make use of the PCIE x1 slot impossible? A 500w power supply would be enough the GTX 680?
 
I'd be using 2x4GB DDR3-1600 from G.Skill (ECO line) that use 1.35v, a Core i5-4590 (3.3-3.7GHz), the Zotac AMP! GTX 680, a 1TB WD Black 7200rpm hard drive and an old 20GB SLC Intel SSD for caching.

I have a USB Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1 in case I can't plug in my SBZ, plus I often use other USB peripherals (mostly external drives).

Would 500W suffice?
 
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Ah, turns out my GTX 680 takes up three slots inside the case even though it only has two going to the outside. It won't fit in the Shuttle. That's too bad, I really liked that one.
 
Ahh darn, sorry I did not look to close at your gpu. I do think that the 500w would be plenty for the rest of the stuff, and yes you would forgo the internal sound card. I actually ran a similar setup (and would not do this with a new purchase), but the pciexpress slot on the AMD AM2 shuttle was only one slot so I cut a hole in the side of the case and the mount bracket to run an AMD 4850 at the time. But that Zotac Amp is a beast :cool:

The only itx case that I know of that would hold a triple video card is the Ncase M1 (http://www.ncases.com/v2/m1.php) but not sure how much they are.
 
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