Stylish/minimalist mATX/ITX case

Amp34 · 20 Feb 2012 at 23:22

First off - When did OcUK stop selling Lian-Li cases?! :eek:

On to the question, I'm contemplating building a little mATX/ITX system for everyday/photoshop use but want it as small as possible (just a 2500k and a couple of HDDs, maybe a low power GFX card if not integrated). I also want the case to be minimalist with my preference to be similar in design to the Fractual Design Array, preferably with a slot loader rather than any normal DVD drive. I know Lian Li do one as well but other than that I'm a bit stumped. Both seem to be for mini servers rather than desktops (lots of HDD bays) but the other cases for mATX and ITX all have loads of extrenuous bits on them.

Any suggestions for other cases I should look at?

Ben Cole · 21 Feb 2012 at 10:30

Wesena?

Legion · 21 Feb 2012 at 13:03

Placing a 3.5" hdd in Wesena/Streacom ITX2,ITX6 and ITX 7.2 is not straightforward.
They all use drive rails above the motherboard and the 3.5" caddy sits just above the cpu.
This severly limits the height of cpu cooler you can use when kitting the system out with a 3.5" hdd, stock intel and amd coolers will not fit when using a 3.5" storage drive.

Silverstone make a low profile cooler for s1155 but I'm not sure how good it is or if it even fits when using a 3.5" drive.

You could opt to velcro/sticky pad an ssd elsewhere in the case and use the 2.5" caddy with a 2.5" hd instead which would allow you to use the intel stock hsf.

With Wesena/Streacom cases you also have the added outlay of a pico psu, they are not included.

A Lian-Li PC-Q09 may suit you better if you want a case with psu included and less hassle.
It seems to tick all your boxes.

Any board using the H61, H67 or Z68 chipset already has the outputs on it for using the cpu's IGP.

cereal3 · 21 Feb 2012 at 21:18

IMO for everyday/photoshop a 2500k seems a bit overkill, I was thinking of building a m-itx build using a llano A6 or A4 in a streacom (wesena) case

Amp34 · 22 Feb 2012 at 20:43

Photo processing can use quite a lot of power. Especially if I don't intend to upgrade for several years after.

The Wesena look interesting, not sure about having to use a Pico PSU though... That's the sort of thing I'm looking for, not the Lian-Li PC-Q09, which is more an HTPC case.