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Smallest ITX case without bloat

C

cowsgomoo

Gawd
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
547
Is there a very small ITX case with enough space for the following components?
PSU, mobo, 1-2 2.5", half-height single-slot card.
Preferably the PSU is inside, but that looks impossible.
I'm looking at a few cases: the M350 is really compact without the bloat of a dvd-drive space but has no space for a PCI-e card. The Antec ISK-310 has allocated space for a dvd-drive.
 
I built two tiny computers on the ITX platform. Do not plan on any add in cards with these two cases though, I can't imagine being able to fit them in there.

Habey 800 is pretty small as well as Antek ISK. I think the Antek is a bit nicer as I feel like it gets better airflow, but it is such a tight fight.

The Habey build was straightforward for the most part, the Antek required more time trying to keep wires away from fans and the SSD drive is just thrown in there pinned between the side cover and CPU fan.

Habey EMC-800BL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811321018

Antek ISK
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-ISK110-...UTF8&qid=1366073473&sr=8-2&keywords=antek+isk
 
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The M350's close cousin, the M300 can fit a half-height single slot card on a riser :)
 
I wasn't looking closely enough,but it seems that the Antek 310 has an internal PSU, which is a plus for me. I can throw away the cage for the dvd/HDD mount and leave more room for cooler and cable routing.
 
Wesena HTPC ITX4

I've been looking at one of these for a while. The ITX6 has a slot-load drive.
 
Antec ISK 300-150 or 310-150. The difference is the front face. The 300 will "hide" the optical bay so if you aren't using it, the blank drive bay won't be visible to torment you forever (seeing as 62.9% of online forum populations are obsessive/compulsive). The 150 = 150W internal PSU, which is enough for an Intel quad core and a Radeon 7750 if you don't overclock and don't run synthetic power viruses. There is also a 65W version, but that uses an external power brick. PSU is decent quality (HWS reviewed it) though the efficiency is lower than expected at around 75%. Case is decent enough quality. The optical drive doesn't really make the case any bigger, because it has to be that thick to support a half height card, and has to be that long to support the PSU in front of the motherboard. I suppose if the ODD wasn't supported, it may be possible to make the case support one 3.5" drive along the two 2.5". Speaking of drives, you can shoehorn a third 2.5" drive in there, between existing drive bays and the PSU. I had stuck an SSD in there, unsupported. The cabling held it in place fine, though it rattled during transportation. I would highly recommend another fan in there. It supports two 80mm fans above the motherboard but only comes with one. IMO having two fans running at 1500RPM (or less) cools the system better while being quieter than having only one fan at a higher RPM. Included Antec Tri Cool has L/M/H switch on the back of the case putting it at 1500RPM-2600RPM. Some people have modded this case to take higher wattage PSUs, or to make more room for a bigger CPU cooler.
 
Zap said:
Antec ISK 300-150 or 310-150. The difference is the front face. The 300 will "hide" the optical bay so if you aren't using it, the blank drive bay won't be visible to torment you forever (seeing as 62.9% of online forum populations are obsessive/compulsive). The 150 = 150W internal PSU, which is enough for an Intel quad core and a Radeon 7750 if you don't overclock and don't run synthetic power viruses. There is also a 65W version, but that uses an external power brick. PSU is decent quality (HWS reviewed it) though the efficiency is lower than expected at around 75%. Case is decent enough quality. The optical drive doesn't really make the case any bigger, because it has to be that thick to support a half height card, and has to be that long to support the PSU in front of the motherboard. I suppose if the ODD wasn't supported, it may be possible to make the case support one 3.5" drive along the two 2.5". Speaking of drives, you can shoehorn a third 2.5" drive in there, between existing drive bays and the PSU. I had stuck an SSD in there, unsupported. The cabling held it in place fine, though it rattled during transportation. I would highly recommend another fan in there. It supports two 80mm fans above the motherboard but only comes with one. IMO having two fans running at 1500RPM (or less) cools the system better while being quieter than having only one fan at a higher RPM. Included Antec Tri Cool has L/M/H switch on the back of the case putting it at 1500RPM-2600RPM. Some people have modded this case to take higher wattage PSUs, or to make more room for a bigger CPU cooler.
Click to expand...

I have a question:
Does the PSU provide 2x4pin power for the motherboard?
 
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