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Small SFF Gaming Cases???

W

WintersFury

Gawd
Joined
May 19, 2007
Messages
555
So I've been using Full Tower ATX cases for about a decade now and I think it's time to downsize since I don't run custom water loops or more than one graphics card or anything crazy these days.

Now I took a look at cases on newegg in the uATX and mATX flavors and everything I saw that looked like it would be able to fit a full size graphics card in it turns out to be almost as big as a standard ATX Mid tower... :confused:

So I figure I must be missing something as I can't see most people going SFF just to save 3-4 inches off the case height and depth. So can anyone help me with what I'm missing???

Thanks!
 
Check out the Silverstone TJ08-E and the Antec NSK3480. I like the latter of the two a lot, but I did mod mine.
 
HaX, I had intended to put mITX but put uATX instead >.< The only one I saw that looked like I could shove a real graphics card in it was the BitFenix Prodigy which is huge with those handles.

Jamai, I'll check those out. Thanks for the suggestions!
 
I took a look at the TJ08-E and it looks cool but is still almost as big as a ATX Mid size. While the Antec is a bit smaller, it would need some modding and painting to look good!

It still seems like small + gaming just doesn't happen and I should just transfer my current rig into a mid tower. It just seems like things don't get quite small enough to worry about going with SFF? Know what I mean?

Pre, I can't see the SG05 fitting a decent graphics card or having the power to run it with that 300w psu. But that FT03 while not being too much smaller is pretty awesome looking! I'll have to look into that a bit more.
 
WintersFury said:
I took a look at the TJ08-E and it looks cool but is still almost as big as a ATX Mid size. While the Antec is a bit smaller, it would need some modding and painting to look good!

It still seems like small + gaming just doesn't happen and I should just transfer my current rig into a mid tower. It just seems like things don't get quite small enough to worry about going with SFF? Know what I mean?

Pre, I can't see the SG05 fitting a decent graphics card or having the power to run it with that 300w psu. But that FT03 while not being too much smaller is pretty awesome looking! I'll have to look into that a bit more.
Click to expand...

I have both cases. I have a GTX 680 in the FT03-mini and I tested a fit of the same GTX 680 in the SG03. It fit (but VERY tightly)
 
WintersFury said:
Pre, I can't see the SG05 fitting a decent graphics card or having the power to run it with that 300w psu. But that FT03 while not being too much smaller is pretty awesome looking! I'll have to look into that a bit more.
Click to expand...

There's a 450w version of the SG05, and it'll fit up to 10" graphics cards... GTX 680 good enough?
 
WintersFury said:
It still seems like small + gaming just doesn't happen
...
Pre, I can't see the SG05 fitting a decent graphics card or having the power to run it with that 300w psu.
Click to expand...

As pointed out, it comes in a 450W version sufficient for a GTX 680.

source of images

sg05.jpg


sg052.jpg
 
Wow, it fits with like a millimeter to spare! If a 450w will run that, I've seriously been buying way more wattage than I need for years it seems!

Just for reference, how long is that card? I currently have a 5870 I plan on re-using and have my fingers crossed that it's shorter and would fit in there a bit easier.
 
Thanks WiSK, I'll have to measure mine up but I seem to remember it being about 12". Guess I'll have to look into getting a new card, which isn't the worst thing in the world. I'm sure a new one would be faster.
 
WintersFury said:
I took a look at the TJ08-E and it looks cool but is still almost as big as a ATX Mid size. While the Antec is a bit smaller, it would need some modding and painting to look good!

It still seems like small + gaming just doesn't happen and I should just transfer my current rig into a mid tower. It just seems like things don't get quite small enough to worry about going with SFF? Know what I mean?

Pre, I can't see the SG05 fitting a decent graphics card or having the power to run it with that 300w psu. But that FT03 while not being too much smaller is pretty awesome looking! I'll have to look into that a bit more.
Click to expand...

The TJ08-E is as small as it gets for a mATX case without any compromise: full heatsink for cpu, enough HDD space, enough space for 2 x high-end gpu, enough space for drives, etc.

It just doesn't get any smaller... and no, the size is super small compared to any small ATX case.
 
The SG-09 doesn't give any kind of limitation, except for the slim dvd drive.

Allows:
- Big CPU tower cooler
- 2 HDD
- 4 SSD
- Big ATX PSU
- Cable routing
- 2 Large graphic cards
- Good airflow

The bad:
- Is ugly like hell!

The TJ-08 is 30% bigger!!!

Smaller the case, bigger the limitations, but I think the SG-09 gives you the best compromise between size and features. I'm gonna buy one.
 
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there's also the SG08 with a 600w psu, supports graphic cards up to 12.2 in
 
I just want to be able to buy the case used for the Dell Alienware X-51 system with a higher than 330w PSU. Those cases are near perfection, IMO.
 
that'd be a huge power brick since it's external, those cases have an interesting layout but i think it does have some flaws
 
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If you're handy with a dremel, some 1/2" aluminum angle, and a rivit gun, you can mount a water cooler in the upper optical drive bay of a SG01 and a slimline optical drive on the bottom bay (I cut the back off of an external Pioneer slim bluray drive to access the sata ports once I velcro'd it onto the lower optical drive support). I have three ssd's mounted under the optical bays to the floor of the case, they never seem to get warm. Depending on which version you get, and which mATX board you use, you may have to cut into the front support if you have, say, a 14 inch card or something like that, but most cards will fit. The SG01 has two exhaust/intake fan grills above the video card PCI-E slot areas, and silverstone also makes a squirrel cage exhaust fan to go near the cpu area. If you're really nuts, you can mount a Delta fan to a water cooler like the Antec 620 and exhaust the case at the same time, but wear your ear protection (you can get a rheostat for high speed fans at electrical vendors, it's about 2.5 inches in diameter and takes a big knob on the external shaft, but with that fan you'll never have to worry about heat). I'm using a Asus Maximius Gene IV MB, Antec 620 Kuhler, Galaxy GTX680 w/4 gb video, Corsair ram, Crucial SSDs of 120 for system, 240 for data, and a Imation 16 gb for swap file. So far, it's been working fine. Other than the video card, the rest has been together since July 2011. Oh, and a Silverstone 750 watt power supply with the short cable set.
 
GBqlo.jpg


FT03 MicroATX version fits the 5870 with some room to spare.

Silverstone FT03T, i7 960, MSI X58M, ATI 5870, 12GB (6x2GB) Crucial Tracer RAM, 3x3.5" HD, 1xSSD, Slim Optical BluRay, Corsair TX650M, and some Silverstone noise reduction padding ....Still waiting on an Antec 620 to show up.

Wanted to go with the FT03-MiniITX, but didn't want to buy a whole new platform just to pretty up my case. I'm also quite tempted to jump to the Socket 2011 i7-3930K in 3-6 months and I know of no viable mini ITX motherboards for socket 2011.

Not dictating what you should do... just adding some more ideas and options to the pile.
 
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The FT03 is an awesome case, takes up very little footroom and has plenty of space to work with. Although I don't find it very portable, it's heavy and the side panels come off very easily.




 
NickJames said:
Although I don't find it very portable, it's heavy and the side panels come off very easily.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Tossing it in one of the Silverstone Sugo bags when I transport it. Fits perfectly. But it's no featherwieght.
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Carrying-Other-Cases-SUGO-PACK/dp/B001NPEBLA

It's certainly not as "get up and go" at a moment's notice like the previous case's built in handle:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154094

But after years of LANs the thing has taken a beating. And I'd finally had it with the noisy 80mm fans needed to keep the rig cool. I missed the elegant Shuttle and mATX cube cases I'd used previously. I needed something that looks good on the desk again.
 
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WintersFury said:
Wow, it fits with like a millimeter to spare! If a 450w will run that, I've seriously been buying way more wattage than I need for years it seems!
Click to expand...

Indeed, you have. As have most enthusiasts.

HaX said:
that'd be a huge power brick since it's external, those cases have an interesting layout but i think it does have some flaws
Click to expand...

I agree. I would rather the system be a bit larger and hold the PSU internally, than to have a separate box to take with me to LANs.

Heck, what's to stop someone from taking it to extremes and proclaiming the system is smaller? I remember years ago (think 1990s) when IBM came out with a desktop computer that had a CDROM and floppy drive separate from the actual computer. So this separate piece sat on your desk underneath your CRT and it had the power button and everything hooked up to it. The actual computer could hide behind your desk connected by an umbilical cord of cabling. What's to stop a company from making a "tiny" computer that's basically an external slim CDROM with a power button and some USB ports and an HDMI port in back, and having it all go back to a larger "power brick" that hides somewhere?

My Google-Fu is weak this morning. Couldn't find pics of said IBM computer. :(

VooDooAddict said:
I missed the elegant Shuttle and mATX cube cases I'd used previously. I needed something that looks good on the desk again.
Click to expand...

Silverstone SG06

It is just like the SG05 internally, but has a nice aluminum face.
 
VooDooAddict said:
Yeah. Tossing it in one of the Silverstone Sugo bags when I transport it. Fits perfectly. But it's no featherwieght.
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Carrying-Other-Cases-SUGO-PACK/dp/B001NPEBLA

It's certainly not as "get up and go" at a moment's notice like the previous case's built in handle:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154094

But after years of LANs the thing has taken a beating. And I'd finally had it with the noisy 80mm fans needed to keep the rig cool. I missed the elegant Shuttle and mATX cube cases I'd used previously. I needed something that looks good on the desk again.
Click to expand...

Nice bag, I need to remember to get one of those for my next LAN party.

I ended up buying this for my guest PC to take with my to LANs.
http://www.amazon.com/Vulcan-Enthus...F8&qid=1354202526&sr=1-1&keywords=NZXT+Vulcan

Althought it's not very light either, about 25lbs fully loaded but it's almost half my FT03's weight and has a handle that I had to reinforce with bigger screws/bolts/washers out of fear that those skinny little screws it comes with would strip out of the plastic.
 
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