Short mATX tower

X

XTF

Gawd
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
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Does anyone know of a short (30cm) mATX tower? With PSU and HDD below and ODD above the board this should be achievable. Height isn't a concern.
Note I said mATX, not ITX. ;)
 
Well, doing a cursory run through all the microATX mid & mini tower cases at NewEgg.com, I don't see any other candidates.

So - the InWin if you don't need tons of cooling, the SIlverstone if you need more (and then you need to spend more!)

There may be more elsewhere - or I may have missed one, but it sure seems that most are typically 37.5cm deep.
 
FT03 is a bit expensive.
I was thinking 3570K and GTX 670.

Am I the only one that doesn't need tons of drive bays?
 
XTF said:
FT03 is a bit expensive.
I was thinking 3570K and GTX 670.

Am I the only one that doesn't need tons of drive bays?
Click to expand...

Nope - I only need one 5.25", 2x3.5", and have one 2.5" SSD that I can put almost anywhere i want in a case.

I'm personally looking at ATX cases to move my system to - and I'll remove all the HDD cages for better airflow and just use adaptors to install my HDDs in all those extra 5.25" bays that they insist on putting in ATX Towers these days!

In the future I'll probably get a nice slimline external Blu-Ray and I won't need any 5.25" bays.

At that point I'll want a custom case with a 90deg rotated mobo and bottom to top airflow - and just put all my HDDs & SSDs behind the mobo tray. It could have a really small footprint with that layout... no drive cages of any sort whatsoever.

That's my dream, anyway.

As far as your situation goes - I'm hoping someone else will chime in with another recommendation. Otherwise, to meet your specs the Fortress is what you'll need - should be able to handle those components and it really isn't all that expensive at all when you think about how fancy it is.
 
It's nice, but it too wastes a lot of space on drive bays.
 
Any new compact cases that fit the requirements?
D < 30cm, W < 20cm, H < 40cm, mATX, ATX PSU, < $60
 
Zalman showed off some mATX towers at CES 2013. Tallish at 420mm odd but very short depth. You should check them out.
 
Tony Ou said:
If you are ok with 1.2cm of additional depth, the SG03 is also another candidate:
Click to expand...

Interesting. Though it's twice as expensive as I'd like. PSU at bottom would be better too.
edawooda said:
Zalman showed off some mATX towers at CES 2013. Tallish at 420mm odd but very short depth. You should check them out.
Click to expand...

Got a link or some names?

My requirements aren't that weird, are they? It's just a basic small footprint internet/office PC.
 
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XTF said:
My requirements aren't that weird, are they? It's just a basic small footprint internet/office PC.
Click to expand...

Not really, I guess it just depends on what components you intend to use and whether M-ITX might also be able to serve the same purpose (unless you already have the parts vs new build).
 
I've had a few of the FT03's and that's what I would recommend. When it comes to mATX cases there are few that offer good CPU and GPU cooling and the FT03 is one of the best, especially in the dimensions your looking for. It's also one of the best looking cases you'll find.

Amazon has the cheapest price at $166.80 shipped for the black or you can pay a little more for the Titanium version.

http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-A...1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359655323&sr=8-1&keywords=ft03
 
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I'm not a fan of an open top, it allows too much dust to enter the case. And the two included fans are just 92mm, that's a no-go in 2013...
 
That's an oddly specific niche of a case to be honest. I would be surprised if you found something more fitting than the Zalman T2 or Silverstone FT03. If you want small, go mini-ITX ;)

Zalman T2 is really cheap though and if you cover the top and use a topdown cpu cooler that brings fresh air from the outside I don't think cooling would be a problem whatsoever. Just make sure your graphics card fits.

There is actually a T2 Plus version with dual 120mm fans in the door and a closed top already but it's a bit deeper. http://www.zalman.com/global/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=865
 
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tejpis said:
If you want small, go mini-ITX ;)
Click to expand...
I like having the ability to use a sound card or a WiFi card. But ok, let's try mITX.

What cases match these: D < 30cm, W < 18cm, H < 40cm, ATX PSU, < $60 ?
Or even better: D < 25cm, W < 17cm, H < 35cm, ATX PSU, < $60 ?
 
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