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- Joined
- 26 May 2008
- Posts
- 1,774
As per title,
I look around at various new cases, below are some examples of recent cases that are in my opinion functional and desureable, with one caveat, most of the best cases, are ATX, mid or full tower.
Fractal R5
Fracral Define Nano S
NZXT Source 340
EVGA DG-8* series
Dark Base Pro 900
Yet, the majority of builds, full atx or not, only have a single gpu and never utilise the majority of expansion slots.
With regards to cases, most smaller cases are moving away from tall CPU cooler support, making AIO or custom loop the choice.
The average user uses no more than two ssd and two hdd.
In that case I have to ask, why the manufacturers are continually piling on features of ATX and large cases when a majority of atx builds dont use them? Why is Micro ATX not being pushed more as it is the more sensible features that will be used option?
Would more people build Micro ATX if there were more proper cases in continual development? Lets face it, most GPU's have air coolers that make water cooling redundant, 240/280 rads are most common, the reality is cases like those above could easily be shrunk into a Micro ATX form while retaining the required features of a Micro ATX build.
The S340 missed a trick by not supporting larger air coolers, and easily could be dropped to Micro ATX height by moving the HDD cage toward the PSU and having a radiator hole in the PSU shroud.
I have used mainly MicroATX since the days of Socket A, I have never fully populated the expansion slots of an ATX motherboard or hard drive bays of an atx case, and the majority of builds I have seen in the last decade reflect this trend. I myself find myself looking at some of these newer cases and contemplating a change, the best MicroATX cases I have used have all had their quirks and issues my two current faves are no different, the TJ08B-E and Mini XL. But recent cases such as the NZXT S340, new EVGA cases, and current Evolve with glass panels have been more suited to the majority of my requirements.
Well apart from optical bay, I still have a use for an optical drive, 6 Sainsburys Elephant bags full of CD's next to me that have waited for years to be ripped, and others elsewhere in storage.
What do I really need, decent air flow, silent, a large tall aircooler or an 240/280 rad on the cpu, 2 or 3 ssd's and 2 hdd's, a single GPU and maybe using another expansion slot. It is about the best set up scenario, a lot of game do not benefit from CF or SLI, MicroATX covers most of the average and enthusiast PC users requirments.
But the range of Micro ATX cases suck.
I look around at various new cases, below are some examples of recent cases that are in my opinion functional and desureable, with one caveat, most of the best cases, are ATX, mid or full tower.
Fractal R5
Fracral Define Nano S
NZXT Source 340
EVGA DG-8* series
Dark Base Pro 900
Yet, the majority of builds, full atx or not, only have a single gpu and never utilise the majority of expansion slots.
With regards to cases, most smaller cases are moving away from tall CPU cooler support, making AIO or custom loop the choice.
The average user uses no more than two ssd and two hdd.
In that case I have to ask, why the manufacturers are continually piling on features of ATX and large cases when a majority of atx builds dont use them? Why is Micro ATX not being pushed more as it is the more sensible features that will be used option?
Would more people build Micro ATX if there were more proper cases in continual development? Lets face it, most GPU's have air coolers that make water cooling redundant, 240/280 rads are most common, the reality is cases like those above could easily be shrunk into a Micro ATX form while retaining the required features of a Micro ATX build.
The S340 missed a trick by not supporting larger air coolers, and easily could be dropped to Micro ATX height by moving the HDD cage toward the PSU and having a radiator hole in the PSU shroud.
I have used mainly MicroATX since the days of Socket A, I have never fully populated the expansion slots of an ATX motherboard or hard drive bays of an atx case, and the majority of builds I have seen in the last decade reflect this trend. I myself find myself looking at some of these newer cases and contemplating a change, the best MicroATX cases I have used have all had their quirks and issues my two current faves are no different, the TJ08B-E and Mini XL. But recent cases such as the NZXT S340, new EVGA cases, and current Evolve with glass panels have been more suited to the majority of my requirements.
Well apart from optical bay, I still have a use for an optical drive, 6 Sainsburys Elephant bags full of CD's next to me that have waited for years to be ripped, and others elsewhere in storage.
What do I really need, decent air flow, silent, a large tall aircooler or an 240/280 rad on the cpu, 2 or 3 ssd's and 2 hdd's, a single GPU and maybe using another expansion slot. It is about the best set up scenario, a lot of game do not benefit from CF or SLI, MicroATX covers most of the average and enthusiast PC users requirments.
But the range of Micro ATX cases suck.
