Moving from Mid-Tower to LAN-friendly case

Atlas23 · 21 Oct 2014 at 11:07

Hi guys, I currently have a Corsair Vengeance C70 with an i5 4670K and Nvidia GTX780 (full specs of PC here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18526630) and I am looking to move the internals into a much smaller, more portable case.

I was looking at the MSI Nightblade barebones PC (as I don't know if my mobo will fit in a smaller case?) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-020-MS

Or something like the BitFenix Prodigy http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-120-BX&groupid=2362&catid=2279

Do you guys have any experience with downsizing? I have an SSD and two HDDs so will need space for them.

Obviously the MSI Nightblade is more pricey as it comes with mobo and power supply, but they are offering £100 cash-back at the moment.

snips86x · 21 Oct 2014 at 11:10

I'm using a Parvum S2 and taken it to 1 LAN and it was ideal to be honest. I'd also recommend the Phanteks Evolv.

Atlas23 · 21 Oct 2014 at 15:26

Or alternatively, any suggestions of smaller cases that will still fit my Gigabyte Z87x OC mobo?

Varsh · 21 Oct 2014 at 19:05

Well there are some that aren't small like the CM Scout 2 or the CM Cosmos but they do have handles which makes them easy to move around from place to place. But for going much smaller you're most like going to have to go with a cube case and while the Corsair Air 540 is smaller, the Cooltek W2 seems to be tiny in size for a cube case but able to fit a fair amount inside. I think that case has only just been released and I'm thinking of picking one up myself as I am also looking for a tiny ATX case.

The only caveat for the Cooltek W2 though is that it has its optical drive slot at the rear... good for a reservoir + pump combi I guess but not one for an optical drive, but then who uses optical drives nowadays? Just grab an external instead.

Review: http://www.ocaholic.co.uk/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1432&lang=english

Atlas23 · 21 Oct 2014 at 22:14

Varsh said:
The only caveat for the Cooltek W2 though is that it has its optical drive slot at the rear... good for a reservoir + pump combi I guess but not one for an optical drive, but then who uses optical drives nowadays? Just grab an external instead.

Review: http://www.ocaholic.co.uk/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1432&lang=english

Wow that might be exactly what I'm after! So I could put my mobo straight into it without even removing the cpu/cooler?

Thanks

Edit: Just ordered the Cooltek W2