Unofficial mini-ITX case thread

A few of my favorites. Both with 150 watt PSU.

Case: Antec ISK 300-150 - $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-080-_-Product


LIAN LI PC-Q09FB - $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-293-_-Product

This is another one that some people on AVS really like. It takes a full 3.5" hard drive and dvd drive despite its size. The arm mount is removable. The 65 watt PSU is pretty small but for the zacate it will likely work fine.

GIGABYTE GZ-SPIM51-P0B - $61
http://www.platinummicro.com/product...=CAGZSPIM51P0B

Here it is at newegg...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811233060

I'm using one of these and replaced the stock PSU with a Pico-150XT. Plenty of clearance for it and any other Pico-PSU you can find. Coolers are another matter. With Zacate or Atom/Ion MBs there is no problem. But if you want a little extra power, the Thermaltake MeOrb fits with about 2mm to spare. I have an AMD Athlon II 240 running at 3ghz in mine cooled with a MeOrb running at 60% speed. Barely can hear it when the room is silent.

BT

Silverstone SG06--a near perfect match for the "cascade" front panel on most modern Sony ES receivers...

A perfect case in my mind is one that 1) would have an IR windows and 2) accept a standard DVD drive (not slim).

If money were not object - I would go all the way to the Wesena ITX2.

http://perfecthometheater.com/perfec...Pictures-2.htm

It gets pricey with the slot BD DVD, power supply and remote.... $329 (yikes).

Also - OrigenAE makes some nice cases, but also gets very expensive. The black M10 looks like a nice unit. But it looks like you need to buy the VFD version to get a remote option....

I think you may be on to something here.... the 800 may be a great choice AND you could probably snake/install/rig a small IR sensor behind one of the air holes. I notice newegg has these listed as "server cases".

Not sure if this is cool, but http://www.compsource.com/pdfs/pdf_new/22270.pdf is a link to the owners manual for the box.

I am looking at this one regular price $56





APEX MI-008

250W PS
standard size drive bays: External 5.25", External 3.5", Internal 3.5"
front ports behind i/o cover panel
11.80" x 8.70" x 5.1"

I use this case (its cheaper than $56) and dremeled out a portion of the 3.5 bay face plate so my USB IR receiver can be inside the case. I removed the CPU fan, mounted the retail heatsink on top of a Silverstone NT07 heatsink and added a 120mm case fan on the side connected to a Zalman fanmate. Most of the time I can leave the fanmate on the lowest setting and still maintain CPU temps in the 36-38 C range. Laptop drive is on top of the DVD drive so airflow is fairly unencumbered.

I have the Silverstone SG05 in my bedroom (with no optical drive). Perfect fit behind the TV so it's totally invisible. There are definitely smaller cases for this form factor, but this has plenty of space to work inside, and a large fan at low rpm keeps it nice and quiet.


I do wish more case manufacturers would add a integrated IR port for SFF and HTPC cases. Not a huge fan of the slim optical drive either, but I don't use an optical drive in this PC, all my content can be streamed from my main machine.

Less than impressed with this case. Horrible design, imo. PITA.

The PSU is directly on top of the CPU fan and you actually have to wedge it in there to fit if you are using the i3 stock fan which is pretty low profile.

Hmm, I hadn't even considered an IR window. Are there affordable cases with that option? I don't have size or sound constraints due to location, but for WOW factor showing it off, I'd love the unit to have a Home Theater look instead of a computer look.

thx

If you guys really like these, and enough of you want them, I can setup a group buy with Habey. They are one of my suppliers, I know them well.

ahh
if i use that case with zacate board, will it be ok?

Probably. Someone said the psu cooler is much shorter on the zacate board. Might want to verify though.

At Fry's they have a $40 mITX case with 300w and I think it looks fine, certainly better than the "cube" type cases you see.

http://www.frys.com/product/6145869






As much as I like the Habey cases, none of they space for expansion. It all has to be based on what you would put in laptops (mini cards) or USB which adds to the clutter.

For $40, I'd say this is pretty good. It has no "feet" so it can't be turned horizontal without covering up a cooling vent. That's easily solved...

That and the InWin Wavy are the only sub-$100 mITX cases I like that have a slot opening. The InWin has Four, not that you would use them all with a mITX board, but at else one additional can be used for extra USB ports, Firewire or eSATA.

Options, Options, Options

Used as a File Server - http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...ic.php?t=57965

Used as a HTPC - http://www.overclock.net/htpc/835125...tup-wi-fi.html

Sure you can send more and get maybe a better looking case. But I'm driving to build a sub-$300 in parts HTPC and getting the cheapest case possible is important while still remaining stylish and giving me an important expansion slot.

Its either that or a bunch of USB devices...

LUXA2 LM100, as stated by OP [ed]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...se,2814-5.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/luxa2-lm100



linking review and picture Origen M10, also stated earlier by Emerlin


http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Origen_ae/M10/1.html

It'll probably work great for Zacate. Wouldn't use it with normal desktop parts, though.

I have used this case for 2 different builds, one with a Zotac MOBO and e6 series cpu from Intel, the other with a Gigabyte MOBO and i3 cpu.

In both cases the fit was tight between the CPU fan and the PSU, but you can fit a full size Optical drive, 2 3.5 drives and 1 2.5 drive. As well all the front connections are behind a flip down door. The first build has been running as my main HTPC for over a year now without fail.

I would use the case again, due to its low price and size.

http://www.mini-box.com/M350-univers...-itx-enclosure

great case at a great price, if you dont need a dvd/blu ray drive

Would be nice for a client HTPC and mounted on the back of the TV. No one would even know it was there.

BT

The problem with ITX (or even mATX) cases is this, if you want to keep a small overall footprint:

- If the optical drive hangs "over" the motherboard, then the case becomes high
- If the optical drive is positioned to the "side" of the motherboard, then the case becomes wider, but potentially thinner.

My perspective is that it's a compromise and an individual choice. Some folks like thin cases (but don't mind wide), some like them narrow even if they are higher.

An ITX motherboard is 6.7" x 6.7". Even though optical drives (full size drive that is)have varying depths, most modern drives are never more than 7" deep and 5.25"-5.5" (approx) wide. A 1U server chassis (1.75" high) easily fits a full size drive. As far as motherboards go, a fair number will fit, other than a few whose audio headers on the back panel are too high. Then you need to think about the one and only add-on card that you may want to add to the system. The "height" of a full size add-on card is 4.2"

So, let's start designing a case....

Case width = 6.7" (MB) + 4.2" (add-on card height) + 5.25" (optical drive width) = ~16.2"
Case depth = And that's where the design forks out into any number of configurations....
Case height = Has to be atleast ~2" and onwards....And that's also where the design forks out into any number of configurations....

Where do you put the power supply? What type? What size??