A M-ITX case for high end gaming (best cooling)

Sega Mega Dave

Sega Mega Dave

Sega Mega Dave

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Hey,

I'm looking to build a high end gaming rig but in SFF.

Spec will likely be:

i7 4770k
Asus VI Impact MB
8GB Ram
240GB SSD
MSI 290x Gaming Edition
Standard size Corsair PSU
No optical drive or mechanical drives.

Ideally want something thats going to allow overclocking on both CPU and GPU and keep things relatively cool. All on air.

Not sure if its possible but ideally dont want to go back to a midi or full size tower.

So which cases are providing decent cooling?

Thanks,
Dave
 
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The Prodigy has good airflow with the black mesh front panel (the coloured front panels are solid). It isn't exactly small for an M-ITX case, though.

The Cooler Master Elite 130 is smaller but cooling won't be as good. The CPU cooler height limit is very restrictive, so you'd probably want to put something like an h80i in there.

Then there's the Corsair 250D (which isn't available yet). Again, you'd probably want an AIO water cooler in there due to height limitations, but it can fit an h100i.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Obsidian Series 250D Mini ITX Compact Gaming Case - Black (CC-9011047-WW) £71.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Midnight Black £69.95
1 x Cooler Master Elite 130 RC-130-KKN1 Mini ITX Case - Black £45.95
Total : £201.98 (includes shipping : £11.75).



So it is possible. Generally speaking though, with an ITX case you're better off with a blower style cooler (like the 290 and 780 reference models) because they expel the hot air they produce out of the back of the case, instead of back inside. As that would mean, in your case, using that rubbish 290 reference cooler could I interest you in an mATX case? Slightly bigger, of course, but still a fair bit smaller than a full tower, and with greater cooling potential.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Parvum Systems S1.0 MicroATX Case - White with Gold £139.99
1 x Xigmatek Aquila Micro-ATX Case - White Window £74.99
1 x Aero Cool Dead Silence Gaming White/Black Mini Tower Windowed £72.95
Total : £301.43 (includes shipping : £11.25).

 
Thanks guys,

I was looking at the 250D earlier because as you say mount a 2x120mm rad on the right hand side and i imagine the GPU could get a decent amount of cooling from the grill on the left side plus the front fan.

I could be interested in M-ATX as well, ideally i just want a smaller more compact setup than my current rig.
 
If you have no mechanical or optical drives, go for a Sugo SG05-450. The 450W PSU will power any modern GPU and you can stash SSDs anywhere. Just cut out a bit of the case to fit the GPU ;-) (but the front facia will hide the hole).

You can even fit a 120mm AIO in there.

It's what I've done with my Mini ITX Titan rig and it's so awesome to have that much power in a box smaller than a shoebox!
 
Sega Mega Dave said:
Hey,

I'm looking to build a high end gaming rig but in SFF.

Spec will likely be:

i7 4770k
Asus VI Impact MB
8GB Ram
240GB SSD
MSI 290x Gaming Edition
Standard size Corsair PSU
No optical drive or mechanical drives.

Ideally want something thats going to allow overclocking on both CPU and GPU and keep things relatively cool. All on air.

Not sure if its possible but ideally dont want to go back to a midi or full size tower.

So which cases are providing decent cooling?

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

I have just built a new pc with the exact same mindset and my build is very similiar.

3.5 ghz 4770k
R9 280 3gb card.
8 gb teamgroup ram.
Asus impact iv mobo
Cosair 650 psu.
2 ssd drives
1 sata drive
1 dvd player.
2x nocta 140mm fans top and rear
1x 220 mm fan at front.
1x nocta cpu cooler with nocta fan. Cant remember what cpu cooler model it is but can look

I got all this into the xigmatek aquilla case, there is lots of room around the graphics card on the fan side. Around the cpu it is tight especially with the high ram. I could get another fan oj cpu cooler for push pull but its point less as rear fan is no more than 3 inches from cpu cooler.the xigmatek aquillia case has the psu sucking air in from bottom and then exiting rear warm air from psu never gets into case plus its out the way from mobo gpu etc. If you didnt want to fit a dvd drive u could fit yet another fan in its place.

Ill try and get some pictures of build up for you to lool at any questions just ask
 
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