Small Mini-ITX Case

RobH

RobH

RobH

Soldato
Joined
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Nottingham
I'm looking for a mini-ITX case for an Atom based machine that I'm building but I want it as small as possible. I only need space for a single 2.5" hard drive and the ITX motherboard with a stick of RAM. Most of the cases I've come across are way too big and nearly all have room for a PCI card and/or an optical drive. Can anyone recommend any specific ones?

Thanks
 
Not too much help directly, but i've used these 2 sites before for ITX stuff and they seem to cover everything you need between them. Take a browse.

Edit: Removed links... Didn't consider them competitors personally, but best not to annoy
 
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Careful in case they're classed as competitors :p

The second one I've had experience with though, they're very prompt in their deliveries but if you have any problems then forget about it :|
 
Jetway makes a small case, the JC200 is the smallest you can get, it has room for a 2.5, a flat optical (that you can ignore) and no PCI.

/however/ I think it is the wrong case for an Atom board, as there is almost no room between the fan on the chipset and the top of the chassis. Also the case fan is 60mm and thats a noisy little thing :D

I returned that case, and picked one with a horizontal PCI space -- I don't use it and it makes sufficient space in the case for proper cooling as well as a 80mm case fan, thus the machine is virtually silent now...
 
Conan - those would probably be classed as competitors as OCuk sells mini-itx boards- I'd get rid of them pretty sharpish.

I've just made a Atom setup in a LC05 which was brilliant, cool and small. Work well I'd suggest if money isn't too much of any issue that you look at the Silverstone LC12. Otherwise look at something like the Cubid 3688 or 3677 or "M200 Enclosure" (though heat might be an issue here)

good luck
 
I've been looking at the M200 enclosure as it's quite cheap and very small, plus the LCD version looks like it could be fun to play around with. Would I have heat issues with the 1.6Ghz Atom? I plan on running it with 1GB RAM and a single 2.5" drive. For the operating system I'm thinking Ubuntu, it's just something I'm going to play around with, I don't have a specific use for it at the moment.
 
The smallest Mini itx enclosure around is the silverstone PT04 google it, i had one it took some modding to get the mobo in but it was about an inch wider and lobger than a dvd burner.
 
RobH said:
Would I fit an Atom in that though?
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It requires some modding but it can be done.The case is very rare and difficult to get hold of but its one of the smallest itx available.

Skeeter said:
Tranquil PC - Passive Atom based Mini ITX systems.
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Ive had one of these aswell, unfortunatly mine didnt have the heatsink attached correctly + a huge scraqtch down the side so i returned it. They look tidy systems tho.
 
I might just go with the eeeBox as it's going to cost me about the same to build one and I still won't get the power consumption as low or a enclosure as small.
 
RobH said:
I might just go with the eeeBox as it's going to cost me about the same to build one and I still won't get the power consumption as low or a enclosure as small.
Click to expand...

probably best m8 i wish i did either an ebox or the tranquil t7 both good systems.
 
RobH said:
I might just go with the eeeBox as it's going to cost me about the same to build one and I still won't get the power consumption as low or a enclosure as small.
Click to expand...

I'm beginning to wish I had've done that as well; it would have save the 6 weeks of hassle I've already went through to get something up and running, not to mention the 2 more weeks I'm likely to suffer :mad: The only think that keeps me going is knowing that the eee only has an 80gb hard drive, which means it's nowhere near sufficient for my needs :rolleyes:
 
The only eeeBoxes I've seen (availiable to buy in the UK) are the 1.6Ghz Atom, 160GB Hard Disk, 1GB RAM Windows XP ones and they all seem to be around the £190 - £210 mark which is a fair deal. It would be nice to see some Linux ones being sold over here and at a lower price.

There is nothing stopping you ripping open the eeeBox and installing a larger hard disk, likewise you could hookup an external one to it's USB port and add all the storage you want.
 
BusError said:
There are eeebox with 160GB disks...
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Either way, it's still substantially less than what I'm looking for. There's room for one internal 2.5", and the prospect of having 2 or 3 USB drives hanging off it kind of defeats the entire purpose of a compact build. Oh well... Just have to persevere :p
 
I know what you mean, I didn't want to get the eeebox either for lack of any expandability and having to pay for an windoze license :D

It /is/ possible to do small, silent, and reasonably cheap too. My setup ended up costing me less than an eeebox, but I already had a 160GB PATA disk and the memory...
 
I've gone for the 160GB HDD/1GB RAM/Windows XP eeeBox with free keyboard and mouse for £195. Both the Linux and Windows versions cost the same here in the UK and they work out cheaper than the 80GB HDD/1GB RAM/Linux version in the US which is a surprise.
 
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