Recommend a mATX case?

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DarkDubzs

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
354
So I am looking for a new case. I have a mATX build right now and not much in the case, I feel like it is just taking up so much space, I want to downsize a bit. My full build is in my signature, for reference. I'm looking through mATX cases on Newegg and there are not really any that I like in particular, those few that I do like are too big, almost the size of my current case, or too expensive. The few I like are the Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0, SilverStone TJ08B-E, Fractal Design Define Mini, Cooler Master N200, Rosewill LINE-M, and the Rosewill RANGER-M. Although, like I said, none of them are exactly what I am looking for.

Must have:
Fan filters
Smaller than current case (NZXT Source 210)
Fit a normal, ATX PSU
At least one 5.25 external drive bay
USB 3.0
Cable Management

I know I probably will not get exactly what I want, but I am hoping I can find something as close to it (as close to all the must haves above)
I do not plan to do SLI with this build, but it would be great to have that available.

Any suggestions, recommendations, feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
With the exception of the RANGER-M, the mATX cases you listed are pretty much the few mATX cases that I would recommend in general. Though the Fractal Design Core 1000 only gets a pass from me if the buyer is planning on adding a rear 120mm fan right away. There's also the Arc Mini case that might be worth checking out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352034


Though honestly, you're going to have to start ranking which features you want more. In addition, do note that the NZXT Source 210 is a pretty small case to begin with.
 
I completed a build recently in the Cooler Master N200. For what it's worth, I really liked it, especially for the price. I'd definitely buy it again.
 
Thanks to both you guys.

I think I will go with the Rosewill Line-M. I love how small it is, it is the smallest of the lot and size is what I am really going after. I also really like how it has two USB 2.0 ports and two 3.0 ports. Its really inexpensive too. It just sucks that it doesnt have fan filters, but none really do anyways, and I can always use these or something.

In any case, I will be using the Hyper 212 Evo. Its really cheap, works great, and is near silent. Itll be so much better than the stock AMD cooler that literally sounds like a jet engine half the time, and the rest of the time it is annoyingly audible. I found that a couple owners said the 212 Evo does fit in this case, but barely, and the two side fans will obviously not fit (really sucks).
 
DarkDubzs said:
Thanks to both you guys.

I think I will go with the Rosewill Line-M. I love how small it is, it is the smallest of the lot and size is what I am really going after. I also really like how it has two USB 2.0 ports and two 3.0 ports. Its really inexpensive too. It just sucks that it doesnt have fan filters, but none really do anyways, and I can always use these or something.
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Honestly, not real huge fan of the Rosewill Line-M since it's of lower quality than the NZXT Source 210 Elite. A dead give-away of that fact is the Rosewill's tear-away expansion slots. I've never seen any case with those type of expansion slots that's equal in quality to the NZXT Source 210 Elite at the least. It also has a lot less space behind the motherboard tray to hide cables. Before you say it, the Define Mini and TJ08B-E has just as much as space behind the motherboard tray as the NZXT Source 210 Elite.
 
Dangman said:
Honestly, not real huge fan of the Rosewill Line-M since it's of lower quality than the NZXT Source 210 Elite. A dead give-away of that fact is the Rosewill's tear-away expansion slots. I've never seen any case with those type of expansion slots that's equal in quality to the NZXT Source 210 Elite at the least. It also has a lot less space behind the motherboard tray to hide cables. Before you say it, the Define Mini and TJ08B-E has just as much as space behind the motherboard tray as the NZXT Source 210 Elite.
Click to expand...

Youre right with all of that, but I am not too concerned with this build being very higher end. Soon it will just become the family pc once I build my own gaming pc (pcpartpicker build in sig). I just need something that works and is inexpensive right now. All I really want is it to be as small as possible (not an ugly tiny cube though) All the nicer ones are around $100, and I am trying to spend that much on the case, Hyper 212 Evo, and some case fans possibly. The Define Mini is $100 and nearly the size of my current case, no point in that one. The SilverStone is just the right size and it has fan filters, I would love that one, but I do not see why I should spend an extra $60 for what I can basically get with the Rosewill. Breakdown of some of the cases... Note their sizes. My main size concern is depth, I would like it as shallow as possible (not long from front to back).
Then there are some beautiful ones, but they come at a price and larger size :(
 
DarkDubzs said:
Youre right with all of that, but I am not too concerned with this build being very higher end. Soon it will just become the family pc once I build my own gaming pc (pcpartpicker build in sig). I just need something that works and is inexpensive right now. All I really want is it to be as small as possible (not an ugly tiny cube though) All the nicer ones are around $100, and I am trying to spend that much on the case, Hyper 212 Evo, and some case fans possibly. The Define Mini is $100 and nearly the size of my current case, no point in that one. The SilverStone is just the right size and it has fan filters, I would love that one, but I do not see why I should spend an extra $60 for what I can basically get with the Rosewill. Breakdown of some of the cases... Note their sizes. My main size concern is depth, I would like it as shallow as possible (not long from front to back).
Then there are some beautiful ones, but they come at a price and larger size :(
Click to expand...

Well that begs the question: Do you really need to spend $50 for a 4" decrease in depth? I mean, is the decrease in depth needed that badly to justify $50 and lower overall quality? For a PC that may get abused by family members, I'd want the higher quality of the NZXT Source 210 Elite.

As for your planned build, that setup doesn't look that good. Also, how long until you'll be able to afford it?

EDIT: oh and the extra $60 for the Silverstone gets you:
- Significantly better case quality,
- Far far more room behind the motherboard tray for better cable management
- Better layout and cut-outs for cable management
- Better system cooling on account of the larger fan and the placement of said fan covering both the GPU area and most of the motherboard area
- Better HDD cooling on account of the HDD bays being in front of the fan.
- Better compatibility with air cooling HSF such as the Hyper 21E Evo.
- Capable of holding of one SSD
 
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Dangman said:
Well that begs the question: Do you really need to spend $50 for a 4" decrease in depth? I mean, is the decrease in depth needed that badly to justify $50 and lower overall quality? For a PC that may get abused by family members, I'd want the higher quality of the NZXT Source 210 Elite.

As for your planned build, that setup doesn't look that good. Also, how long until you'll be able to afford it?
Click to expand...

The case itself is already breaking, one of the front usb ports is dead, wont work even if I reseat the connector, try different positions, etc. The headphone jack is on the fritz. I would have to get a new pcb for the audio and usb ports. The case is also too long for the desk it is in, and overall too big IMO. For $50, i would rather just get a new case and forget about it. My family is too afraid of computer (hardware?) to probably even touch the computer, lol, I dont believe they would do much to it besides turn it on and off, plug in headphones, and maybe the occasional use of the optical drive. The source 210 isnt even really that high quality IMO, when I was building in it, I even thought to myself that the aluminum was really thin and I had this cheap feeling of the case, but it can get the job done I suppose.

Did you look at the pcpartpicker list or the spelled out list in my signature? The first list of parts is my current budget rig, the pcpartpicker link underneath is the planned build. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Xmm7yc
Im quite happy with it. I honestly think I have got it near perfect (for me?) and ive gotten help with it along the way numerous times here and on another forum. IIRC, you even helped me a couple months ago with it. I should be able to afford it in a few months, saving conservatively, and I want to hold out until W10 comes out. No real rush, but I definitely would like to build it now, of course. Along the way, however much longer down the road, I will update it as time passes if need be.

I had forgotten about the Node 804. Like the 304, I really love it (aesthetically at least, but its build and capability seems excellent as well). The price is a perfect middle road, as are its features, if not exceedingly well features. I really think I might get this one after all.
 
DarkDubzs said:
The case itself is already breaking, one of the front usb ports is dead, wont work even if I reseat the connector, try different positions, etc. The headphone jack is on the fritz. I would have to get a new pcb for the audio and usb ports. The case is also too long for the desk it is in, and overall too big IMO. For $50, i would rather just get a new case and forget about it. My family is too afraid of computer (hardware?) to probably even touch the computer, lol, I dont believe they would do much to it besides turn it on and off, plug in headphones, and maybe the occasional use of the optical drive. The source 210 isnt even really that high quality IMO, when I was building in it, I even thought to myself that the aluminum was really thin and I had this cheap feeling of the case, but it can get the job done I suppose.
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It's not Aluminium: It's steel. It's not a high quality case but it's a good enough quality case that's still better than the majority of cheap cases that I've personally worked with over the years, especailly compared to Rosewill and Coolermaster.
DarkDubzs said:
Did you look at the pcpartpicker list or the spelled out list in my signature? The first list of parts is my current budget rig, the pcpartpicker link underneath is the planned build. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Xmm7yc
Im quite happy with it. I honestly think I have got it near perfect (for me?) and ive gotten help with it along the way numerous times here and on another forum. IIRC, you even helped me a couple months ago with it. I should be able to afford it in a few months, saving conservatively, and I want to hold out until W10 comes out. No real rush, but I definitely would like to build it now, of course. Along the way, however much longer down the road, I will update it as time passes if need be.
Click to expand...
I looked at the PCPartPicker link. Yes I helped you with some of that setup but I did so assuming that you were buying the parts within a month. If I had known you were going to build several months from then, I would not have made the effort to help. I don't like helping people plan out builds so far in advance since they can quickly become outdated/overpriced/out of stock quick. In other words, if you're just going to change the list months afterwards to accommodate conditions and it doesn't help at all to plan a build list in advance, why bother doing the build list several months in advance?

For example the PSU: I recommended that Seasonic SSR-650RM based on the pricing of the Seasonic SSR-550RM at that time. Right now, I would not recommend the SSR-650RM since the SSR-550RM can be found for $75 shipped. That may change in the future but that's precisely my point: Things change.

Also the RAM's heatsinks are too tall. You have a mITX setup. Aim for RAM with lower profile heatsinks. There are other issues but since you're not planning on buying for awhile, not spending time listing the other issues.
 
I may be able to build it in a month, it maybe a few, just depends how I want to spend/save my money. I agree, as time goes on, things need to be updated. I just started so early because I thought I would be able to afford it that early on, then things changed, but I kept keeping up with the build, even if I thought I would not be able to afford it at that time, but I am a weird person:p

Even the really tall Trident X's fit with the cooler/mobo combination I have.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...-asus-z97i-plus-itx-motherboard-review-5.html
Also, I believe the one fan it comes with is supposed to even go on the other side, but it can go on either I suppose, just shows even two fans can fit on the cooler and not be totally incompatible.

I feel we are going another route, can we just stick to the mATX case? I can open another thread or we can continue on the older ITX build thread if you would like to continue with the ITX build, if you would really like to.
 
Fine: If you thought the Source's steel was thin, the Rosewill is thinner. Again, the fact that that it has tear-off expansions slots is solid proof of that. Have you tried seeing how much 4" in depth savings is in reality?

Also note that the Source 210 has a two year warranty. See if your Source 210 still falls under that warranty. Also note that the Rosewill only has a one year warranty.
 
I agree, the Rosewill will be cheaper, as it costs less and is not the highest quality brand, you get what you pay for.
What do you think of the Corsair Air 240? Its about $10 less (not significant), sure to have the quality of corsair, looks nicer IMO and i like the dual chamber build for a clutter free appearance and cable management.
The Node 804 i was thinking of is too big to fit in our desk, shame, i thought it was perfect.

I have measured and thought about the few inches difference and i believe it is well worth it. It is just a case of which... case to get.
 
DarkDubzs said:
I agree, the Rosewill will be cheaper, as it costs less and is not the highest quality brand, you get what you pay for.
What do you think of the Corsair Air 240? Its about $10 less (not significant), sure to have the quality of corsair, looks nicer IMO and i like the dual chamber build for a clutter free appearance and cable management.
The Node 804 i was thinking of is too big to fit in our desk, shame, i thought it was perfect.

I have measured and thought about the few inches difference and i believe it is well worth it. It is just a case of which... case to get.
Click to expand...

It's fugly to me. But besides that, it seems to function well.
 
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