I want to be smaller!

Kilberz

Kilberz

Kilberz

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Joined
1 Mar 2013
Posts
56
Hey,

With my MOBO on the blink ASUS X299 TUF MK2 - i9 7900X I have decided I want to compact my setup a bit.

I've been looking at a H400i but I've seen many Micro ITX Boards for the 2066 socket are discontinued or few and far between.

I can pick up an evga x299 micro atx 2 and my components will all fit in this case and are compatible with the board.

Just wanted to put this out for some advice and any other opinions?

Right now I'm running a rather hefty full tower ATX+ and while I get nice temps (water-cooled and delid cpu) I'm just not a fan of the massive tower anymore.
 
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I have recently built two systems for unconnected, unrelated people to use as "Office" systems.
In both instances the buyers specified small cases with systems that were reliable (RAID 1 data drives) and that booted fast (M.2 SSD).
One wanted two medium sized displays, the other wanted a single huge screen.
Neither system is used for games or anything too demanding.
Neither system was water-cooled and to be honest they aren't spectacularly quiet.
They were an absolute nightmare to build (I had to do some "metalwork") and will doubtless be nightmares to maintain.

Personally I would avoid small cases, especially if you plan to use water cooling but there you go ;)
 
I have had a few mini-ITX systems and really liked them. I've used this case - https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/cases/mini-itx/elite110/

Which was great but a bit of a shoebox shape. My most recent mini-ITX build was using one of these - https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=607&area=en

This is about the size of a large console (or a VHS player if you're old enough to remember those!). It can fit a decent sized GFX card in too - there's a Zotac 1070 Ti Mini in there at the moment, and I managed to fit six SSDs into the case with it (it's a file server and media box, with occasional gaming duty). Tight space to work in though, and you need a special SFX PSU like a corsair SF750.

But for my main machine I've stayed with full-ATX but went for the Raijintek Thetis, which is very compact and very pretty case (IMHO). It's reverse-ATX so everything's upside down compared to usual - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-thetis-aluminium-atx-cube-black-window-ca-03a-rt.html

Highly recommended but a bit cramped. I have a 240mm radiator attached to the CPU in mine, and a pretty huge graphics card (Palit Dual 2080Ti) and the airflow isn't great... but it's manageable.
 
Jimmy Weirdarms said:
I have had a few mini-ITX systems and really liked them. I've used this case - https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/cases/mini-itx/elite110/

Which was great but a bit of a shoebox shape. My most recent mini-ITX build was using one of these - https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=607&area=en

This is about the size of a large console (or a VHS player if you're old enough to remember those!). It can fit a decent sized GFX card in too - there's a Zotac 1070 Ti Mini in there at the moment, and I managed to fit six SSDs into the case with it (it's a file server and media box, with occasional gaming duty). Tight space to work in though, and you need a special SFX PSU like a corsair SF750.

But for my main machine I've stayed with full-ATX but went for the Raijintek Thetis, which is very compact and very pretty case (IMHO). It's reverse-ATX so everything's upside down compared to usual - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-thetis-aluminium-atx-cube-black-window-ca-03a-rt.html

Highly recommended but a bit cramped. I have a 240mm radiator attached to the CPU in mine, and a pretty huge graphics card (Palit Dual 2080Ti) and the airflow isn't great... but it's manageable.
Click to expand...

This is the kind of reply I was hoping for.

I'm not looking for the smallest case, I just want to compact things a bit more. I'm not a fan of having such a large case! My machine does pack a punch so I do need the airflow but I am delid'd so its running cooler than normal.

I'm guessing the Raijintek will help as the availability for smaller boards for the 2066 is low.
 
You'd have trouble fitting a custom loop in the Raijintek, if that's what you're using - my 240mm rad is an AIO. But an AIO will fit fine.

I've gone with an SFX PSU in there too, just to get back a bit of extra space.
 
Jimmy Weirdarms said:
You'd have trouble fitting a custom loop in the Raijintek, if that's what you're using - my 240mm rad is an AIO. But an AIO will fit fine.

I've gone with an SFX PSU in there too, just to get back a bit of extra space.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know I'm gonna have to reconfigure and spend money on the loop if I go for a smaller case. Just need to find the sweet spot.

Currently running a Define S which I find too big! https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/define-s/black/
 
Yeah that's a big one! I was using an aerocool DS 200 before - https://www.aerocool.com.tw/au/chssis/ds/ds200

About the same size. The Thetis is a good bit smaller, and the reverse ATX setup works really well for me because I like to see the shiny lights inside and I have my machine on the left.

There are a bunch of other tiny-but-full-ATX cases around, though searching for them was a bit tricky. There's no easy way to search for case size AFAICT!
 
Jimmy Weirdarms said:
Yeah that's a big one! I was using an aerocool DS 200 before - https://www.aerocool.com.tw/au/chssis/ds/ds200

About the same size. The Thetis is a good bit smaller, and the reverse ATX setup works really well for me because I like to see the shiny lights inside and I have my machine on the left.

There are a bunch of other tiny-but-full-ATX cases around, though searching for them was a bit tricky. There's no easy way to search for case size AFAICT!
Click to expand...

I think I'd need a new smaller rad for the top, some new flex hoses and fittings, my res pump combo should fit in the middle somewhere. Maybe an additional 120 Rad in the front.. ? is there enough clearance? As my GPU and CPU are both on the loop.
 
There's nowhere to fix anything on the front (unless you're going to be making modifications). You could fit a 120 on the exhaust at the back. There's also a 120mm fan position on the floor of the case at the bottom, but the clearance there is going to depend on your motherboard. I ended up having to get a slimline fan for that position -

JxoVUTf.jpg


Am thinking of removing the 'pull' fans from my push-pull setup there too, as they are crappy fans (Raijintek Iris) and it would be better to let the 'push' fans you can just see at the top of the picture (Alpenfohn high speed) do all the work, and get that space back for circulation.

Yes I like shiny lights ;)

My only future plans are to maybe get a 'hybrid' AIO for the GFX card and position the 120mm fan from that on the back there.
 
Jimmy Weirdarms said:
There's nowhere to fix anything on the front (unless you're going to be making modifications. You could fit a 120 on the exhaust at the back. There's also a 120mm fan position on the floor of the case at the bottom, but the clearance there is going to depend on your motherboard. I ended up having to get a slimline fan for that position -

Am thinking of removing the 'pull' fans from my push-pull setup there too, as they are crappy fans and it would be better to let the 'push' fans you can just see at the top of the picture (alpenfohn high speed) do all the work, and get that space back for circulation.

Yes I like shiny lights ;)
Click to expand...

is that a ATX PSU or Smaller? Looks like I could easily get a 120 Slim Rad on that front fan. Would just have to mount the PumpRes to the Rad maybe.
 
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