Case Size for Gaming PC?

[Shui Mo Qing Hua]

I'm thinking of building a gaming PC that is powerful but portable at the same time. What is the smallest type of case I could go for and can someone give me recommendations of cases from that category?

My build includes:
1 GPU
1 cooler
CPU/ Motherboard (Micro ATX)
1 SSD drive
1 HDD drive
2 RAM's
1 Power supply
A monitor (although I haven't decided on a size as I can't find much monitors below 22'')

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Darren_uk]

ITX Cases are smallest = ITX Intel motherboard , Z270 Kabylake or Z170 Skylake ,Intel i5 7600k A good Gaming CPU

OCUK (Micro ATX) Cases List , Somewhat bigger

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Micro-ATX or IN Win 301 Micro-ATX

16gb memory kit = 2 x 8gb sticks
1 x SSD m.2 version or 2.5" Samsung 256gb or 500gb for gaming & OS
CPU Cooler depends on the case , AIO Liquid Cooler or Air Cooler tower
GPU for gaming at 1920 x 1080p Min GTX 1050 TI / GTX 1060 better , or GTX 1070 A little overkill for 1080p gaming but nice to have , If money budget not a problem then go for the GTX 1080 TI

Min monitor i would use would be 24" , I use a Single 27" 1920 x 1080p 60hz

 

[Shui Mo Qing Hua]

Hey, thanks for the reply!

However one thing I don't really understand is how the capacity of the case works. Take the IN Win 301 Micro-ATX for example, the website says it supports 1 3.5'' drive bay, and 2 2.5'' drive bays, with 4 expansion slots. What component fits in these sort of categories? or are those the extra stuff apart from the obvious things such as CPU/Graphic cards or SSDs.

 

[Danny75]

Take the IN Win 301 Micro-ATX for example, the website says it supports 1 3.5'' drive bay, and 2 2.5'' drive bays, with 4 expansion slots. What component fits in these sort of categories? or are those the extra stuff apart from the obvious things such as CPU/Graphic cards or SSDs.

The 1 x 3.5" bay fits a normal HDD (and can often fit a 2.5" SSD or laptop/mobile HDD instead). The 2.5" bays fit normal SSDs and laptop/mobile HDDs. The 4 expansion slots are for graphics cards, network adapters, discrete sound cards, additional SATA port adapters, etc etc. The expansion slots correspond to the PCI/PCI-E slots on the motherboard.

 

[Darren_uk]

Most Micro ATX Motherboards Have 4 expansion slots , First one Be a PCI-E 16 X Slot for Main GPU , Most Micro ATX Cases have the 4 expansion slots at bottom rear ,
Few have extra 5th cut out for more room if you have a 2nd GPU.

full size ATX motherboardS Have 7 expansion slots & Cases that support full size ATX Motherboards
Have 7 , Some have a 8th cut out again like for extra room at bottom

ITX Motherboards have 1 expansion slot , For most it be a 16x PCI Express Slot
For the GPU , ITX cases Have 2 Cut outs at bottom rear For the GPU due to most GPUs
take 2 expansion slots up .

Motherboard expansion slots Most Use them for 1 or 2 GPU's & A Sound Card ,On board
Sound now days Very Good fro upto 7.1 Speaker Set up & Headphones

 

[Darren_uk]

I'm thinking of building a gaming PC that is powerful but portable at the same time. What is the smallest type of case I could go for and can someone give me recommendations of cases from that category?

My build includes:
1 GPU
1 cooler
CPU/ Motherboard (Micro ATX)
1 SSD drive
1 HDD drive
2 RAM's
1 Power supply
A monitor (although I haven't decided on a size as I can't find much monitors below 22'')

Any help would be appreciated

If this your First Time in Building a PC ,
You will need to know what your doing & Even after installing the Hardware,
you need to Enter the Bios & know some knowledge on what you doing & Setting up to install The OS
PSU: Recommend a Good Gold Rated one Min , Evga ,Corsair ,Silverstone ,Superflower are some of the good Brand names.

 

[Shui Mo Qing Hua]

If this your First Time in Building a PC ,
You will need to know what your doing & Even after installing the Hardware,
you need to Enter the Bios & know some knowledge on what you doing & Setting up to install The OS
PSU: Recommend a Good Gold Rated one Min , Evga ,Corsair ,Silverstone ,Superflower are some of the good Brand names.

Ah okay thanks

My friend is building it for me, I just need to select all the components.

 

[Darren_uk]

Ah okay thanks

My friend is building it for me, I just need to select all the components.

That is Good , Well if you pick out each of the hardware parts ,I can let you know on each ,
I Guess you be going the Intel route ? ,
Remember the Z270 & Z170 Boards will have more O.C Options & go well with a Intel K version of the CPU Like the Intel i5 7600k ,
Inwin 301 micro-atx & phanteks both got quick rel side windows Tampered glass

My other PC is a itx case & motherboard with intel 7600K build
Give you some i dear on hardware ,

Link to that build : My Raijintek Metis Plus Mini-ITX Case Build

 

[Shui Mo Qing Hua]

That is Good , Well if you pick out each of the hardware parts ,I can let you know on each ,
I Guess you be going the Intel route ? ,
Remember the Z270 & Z170 Boards will have more O.C Options & go well with a Intel K version of the CPU Like the Intel i5 7600k ,
Inwin 301 micro-atx & phanteks both got quick rel side windows Tampered glass

My other PC is a itx case & motherboard with intel 7600K build
Give you some i dear on hardware ,

Link to that build : My Raijintek Metis Plus Mini-ITX Case Build

ah okay thanks
how much was your build in total?

 

[Darren_uk]

Case Used: Raijintek Metis/Plus - White Mini ITX Case £54.95
Motherboards used:Asus ROG Strix Z270I Gaming Intel Z270 Mini ITX £199.99
MEMORY used: Team Group Night Hawk RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz £149.99
Graphics cards Used:Gigabyte GTX 1070 ITX EDITION £ 389.99 , A Nvidia GTX 1060 Begreat for 1920 x 1080p gaming
HDD used: Seagate Backup Plus 4 TB USB 3.0 £139.99 Its a external 4TB hdd ,I took it out of its plastic caddy & use it as a internal Hdd , Not from OCuk
SSD used:Samsung 500GB EVO 2.5 SSD now on special price on ocuk £139.99
CPU Cooling used:Phanteks PH-TC14S CPU Cooler £39.99
CPU used: Intel i5 7600k KABY lake £229.99

around £1305.00 , Prices go up & sometime on special offers like the samsung ssd 500gb

that price not including the keyboard & mouse & monitor ,also the logitech z906 speakers 5.1

 

[Darren_uk]

Heres 7 items Do good for some of the Hardware , Just looked at the Grpahics cards & Prices have sky rocket & a lot out of stock on GTX 1060 /1070s & AMD RX 580S

CPU: Intel i5 7600k KABY lake £229.99
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming-5 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX £154.99
Ram 2 sticks Team Group Dark T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit £119.99
PSU: Corsair RM Series RM650X '80+ Gold' 650W Modular Power Supply £101.99
SSD: Samsung 500GB EVO 2.5 SSD now on special price on ocuk £139.99
HDD WD Blue 2TB 5400rpm SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM £66.95
Monitor: BenQ GW2270H 22" 1920x1080 VA Widescreen LED Flicker-Free Slim Bezel
£98.99
If your after a 22"
or here is my monitor
BenQ GW2760HS 27" 1920x1080 VA Widescreen LED Flicker-FREE Slim Bezel £158.99

• 300cd/m² Brightness & a Good VA panel & low 4ms lag