Which smallest ATX Fractal, Fractal-like case?

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Sep 3, 2011
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I have a Fractal R5 case and it's great except it's too big!

Which smallest Fractal, Fractal-like quality case would you recommend to comfortably fit an ATX mobo?

I would optionally want 2 bays so I could fit in my Blu-Ray drives (I could put them in external enclosures).

Since a bunch of mobo's have RGB's ... tempered glass would be cool too.

Front panel USB's, audio, USB-C would be great.

Thoughts, ideas? ... thanks!
 
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If you're wanting a full ATX board to be supported, they don't get too terribly much smaller. I just made the switch from an R5 to a Lian Li PC-011D which is a bit shorter and possibly a bit shallower but wider; it's a two compartment case with the PSU and drives on the back. So it's basically as tall as an ATX board plus the thickness of a couple rad's (water cooling case).

In either case, you're not going to find a case that, in my opinion, is smaller enough to warrant the changeover. Just my two cents.
 
Thanks jimbob200521 ... I am looking to just shrink the overall size, it's OK if it's a bit wider, but R5 seems huge for a mid tower and I only currently have 1 DVD/BD bay filled up.

I'll check out the Lian Li you suggest.
 
If you're wanting a full ATX board to be supported, they don't get too terribly much smaller. I just made the switch from an R5 to a Lian Li PC-011D which is a bit shorter and possibly a bit shallower but wider; it's a two compartment case with the PSU and drives on the back. So it's basically as tall as an ATX board plus the thickness of a couple rad's (water cooling case).

In either case, you're not going to find a case that, in my opinion, is smaller enough to warrant the changeover. Just my two cents.

Yeah I agree with this, especially with the requirement for 2 optical bays, even my m-atx case from NZXT was barely smaller then my define R6.

Next time I want to go small I'm going m-itx
 
Yeah I agree with this, especially with the requirement for 2 optical bays, even my m-atx case from NZXT was barely smaller then my define R6.

Next time I want to go small I'm going m-itx
Thanks Denpepe ... I'm with you on going m-itx :)

Unfortunately not a lot of mini ITX boards have enough options. I can't find any mini motherboard with the ability to run a 9900K. USB-C connectivity is also lacking in addition to just 2 memory bays.

Not a lot of options trying to futureproof with a mini ITX form factor.
 
The only way you're going to get smaller is to ditch the optical bays. I had a Meshify C and it was definitely a smallish ATX case. I have the O11 also, and the Meshify was much smaller overall. The O11 isn't a small case at all.
 
The smallest I am aware of is the Sliger Cerberus X. But you'll pay through the nose for it. It's not massively more expensive than high end ITX cases, but with a bit of kit, it's nearing $290 for the case. That being said, it is small. Footprint is barely larger than the Ncase M1 (about the smallest a traditionally laid out mITX case could be, while maintaining fullsize GPU compatibility) and it's ~40% taller. It's a small case, with a big price. Also, no USB-c or audio front panel, though if I were to get one, I'd buy their side-mount front I/O board with those features, and see if I could design and print a bracket to attach inside of the front panel of that case. That's another $20 plus time and a small amount of PLA.

Sliger does make a lot of sandwich mITX cases, too, if that's what you are looking for.
 
My Black Friday build will be in a Lian Li O11. I’m seeing a lot of votes for that case in this thread, you should check it out OP.
 
Be Quiet! Pure Base 500 is a nice case, and is smaller than the R5. It has some internal drive storage, but does support DVD / Blu-ray drives internally. Is similar to the Define C, but with better airflow.

The Fractal Design Focus G supports removable media drives. But I don't think it's the same quality as the Define series.
 
Be Quiet! Pure Base 500 is a nice case, and is smaller than the R5. It has some internal drive storage, but does support DVD / Blu-ray drives internally. Is similar to the Define C, but with better airflow.

The Fractal Design Focus G supports removable media drives. But I don't think it's the same quality as the Define series.

That Be Quiet case is garbage. Bit Tech does some of the best case reviews IMO.

https://bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/cases/be-quiet-pure-base-500-review/4/
 
That Be Quiet case is garbage. Bit Tech does some of the best case reviews IMO.

https://bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/cases/be-quiet-pure-base-500-review/4/

I have the case and like it. For cooling, I am using a quality CPU cooler (Dark Rock 4), on a 3600, and good 140mm fans in front and back.

I haven't experienced any thermal throttling myself, though I'm in the cool NW climate.

I do agree with the review that the included fans aren't the best.

I find the build quality on the case to be very good.
 
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