What M-ITX or M-ATX case would you recommend that will take a 2080 and a standard ATX PSU?
- Thread starter silvagti
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Going for an ATX PSU really limits your SFF case choice.
However more specifics are need.
How big you your CPU cooler?
How big is your 2080?
Are you aiming to be as small as possible under 10 litres, or is under 20 litres ok for you?
What is you budget, £50, £100, £200?
However more specifics are need.
How big you your CPU cooler?
How big is your 2080?
Are you aiming to be as small as possible under 10 litres, or is under 20 litres ok for you?
What is you budget, £50, £100, £200?
I have been looking and doing research on this recently and it seems to be if you're wanting an ATX PSU and/or a big CPU cooler (NH-D15) - you're in big ITX case territory.
Which then leads to the question of why not go up to MATX form factor. Cheaper and less limiting.
For example.
Fractal Nano S - Fits all your requirements.
Fractal Define Mini C / Meshify Mini - is only a few inches bigger but supports MATX
Which then leads to the question of why not go up to MATX form factor. Cheaper and less limiting.
For example.
Fractal Nano S - Fits all your requirements.
Fractal Define Mini C / Meshify Mini - is only a few inches bigger but supports MATX
But then you could argue why bother at all?
The Mini C is very close to the same size as the regular Define C; only 4cm in height separates the two. The two cases have the exact same footprint. In terms of volume, the difference is less than 10%.
On the other hand, the Nano S is the same height as the Mini, but 1cm narrower and 6cm shallower. Footprint is around 20% smaller, while volume drops almost 30% compared to the Define C, and 20% vs the Mini.
Unless there's a reason why you need a case that's 40cm high rather than 44cm high, the Mini C seems completely pointless. You don't gain any desk space, and you wind up limiting motherboard choice to Micro ATX (AKA the "budget" section of the market) or ITX (for which the case is pointlessly large). It would seem more sensible to just stick with the full size Define C (or save a useful amount of space by going with the Nano S or similar).
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Depends what form factor the OP is after. Plenty of choice in console-style cases (Node 202, Silverstone's Raven range, etc.) and cube-style cases (Silverstone's SG line, Fractal Core 500 CM Elite 110 and 130). Less choice with tower layouts (Sliger Cerberus, Inwin A1, Raijintek Metis, Fractal Era, Streacom DA2). And only one sandwich-style case I can think of (Raijintek Ophion/Ophion Evo). But that's still ~18 cases to chose from, and I probably missed some. Thought doubtless some won't meet all of the requirements (e.g. GPU clearance; I didn't check).
Most of the boutique "in fashion" SFF cases need an SFX PSU, yes. But then the principal aim of the designers of those cases is to use space efficiently, rather than being to provide broad compatibility. Ncase had ATX support up until V6, but ditched it due to lack of demand.
Most of the boutique "in fashion" SFF cases need an SFX PSU, yes. But then the principal aim of the designers of those cases is to use space efficiently, rather than being to provide broad compatibility. Ncase had ATX support up until V6, but ditched it due to lack of demand.
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I was just going for air cooling using the fan with the processor in the first instance. Currently I have a geforce 980 which is around 30cm though I'll likely upgrade to a 3000 series card when they launch later this year. CPU wise I was considering a Ryzen5 or maybe the upcoming Ryzen3 depending on pricing/performance.
Case wise I like the look of the NZXT 200i though maybe you're right in saying I should consider M-ATX instead of M-ITX. Would I be able to go for a substantially small case and still fit a high end GPU if I went for a smaller case with a non-ATX PSU?
Budget wise I was thinking of around £100 for the case. I have a spare ATX PSU which is why I'd wanted a case that could fit it.
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Cougar QBX would work for you
At £100, here's a selection of options to get you started. See what you like:
ATX PSU:
NZXT H200/H210 (ITX tower)
Inwin 301 (small Micro ATX tower)
Raijintek Ophion (ITX sandwich case)
Silverstone SG13 (small cube case)
Fractal Design Node 202 (console-style case)
Cougar QBX (short ITX "tower")
SFX PSU:
Lian Li TU150 (similar design to the H200, but smaller)
Phanteks Evolv Shift/Shift Air (unique tall tower design)
Raijintek Metis Plus (really small ITX tower. Can take an ATX PSU, but at the expense of GPU clearance).
TBH, at this price point there isn't much that requires an SFX PSU. Closer to £200 and you start to see it crop up as a requirement more often.
If you can pick ones you like from the selection above, it'll give people more of a starting point for recommendations. ITX cases come in quite a wide variety of form factors.
Thanks for the replies everyone. Looking at the Ryzen range there appears to be a new motherboard chipset out next month (B550) which should hopefully have some nice updates (WiFI 6, PCI-E 4.0, Thunderbolt, etc possibly) and out of the box support for 3000 series CPUs. Likewise there's a Rzyen 3300 CPU out which gives me more CPU options though I think it'll probably be worth spending the extra money for the Rzyen5
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...nnounces-ryzen-3-3100-3300x-desktop-cpus-b550
Given I'm building this to replace my old PC which broke last month I'm hoping to keep things on a budget with the intention of re-using most of the parts (GPU, SSD, RAM, PSU, etc). So I just need a new CPU, Motherboard and case which I reckon I bring in for around £300-400. Actually regarding storage given I have to reinstall Windows I might contemplate moving to an M2 SSD as my current one is still SATA.
I'll update this thread when the B550 motherboards launch so I can order parts. With any luck this whole pandemic situation will have eased up slightly by then as well as it definitely seems to be affecting supply of parts and pricing. Though the lack of available motherboards could be linked to the fact that the range is being updated just now as well.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...nnounces-ryzen-3-3100-3300x-desktop-cpus-b550
Given I'm building this to replace my old PC which broke last month I'm hoping to keep things on a budget with the intention of re-using most of the parts (GPU, SSD, RAM, PSU, etc). So I just need a new CPU, Motherboard and case which I reckon I bring in for around £300-400. Actually regarding storage given I have to reinstall Windows I might contemplate moving to an M2 SSD as my current one is still SATA.
I'll update this thread when the B550 motherboards launch so I can order parts. With any luck this whole pandemic situation will have eased up slightly by then as well as it definitely seems to be affecting supply of parts and pricing. Though the lack of available motherboards could be linked to the fact that the range is being updated just now as well.
I have just thrown my Phanteks Evolv ITX on my desk and then done some measurements for a Fractal Define C
It's barely any bigger to get the Define C and give me all the expandability of ATX.
In my personal opinion, when it comes to ITX, go small or go home as you can get extremely compact ATX cases these days.
It's barely any bigger to get the Define C and give me all the expandability of ATX.
In my personal opinion, when it comes to ITX, go small or go home as you can get extremely compact ATX cases these days.
The Define C is over 40% larger and barely offers any extra features for that increase in volume. Sure, footprint is similar. But that's to be expected given broad feature parity; the size is determined by things like GPU clearance, CPU cooler clearance, radiator support, and PSU support, all of which are close to identical between both cases.
SFF is, broadly, about space optimisation. To go smaller than the Nano S, you have to pick features to drop. There isn't a single windowed <20L case with the same (or equivalent) radiator support to the Nano S, for example.
SFF is, broadly, about space optimisation. To go smaller than the Nano S, you have to pick features to drop. There isn't a single windowed <20L case with the same (or equivalent) radiator support to the Nano S, for example.
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