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Unofficial mini-ITX case thread - Page 7

post #181 of 643
4/8/11 at 3:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ru4real View Post

Aluminum costs more than steel, and some buyers find value in that, or in different features, aesthetics or construction quality. This thread appears to be open to discussion of all mini-ITX cases, not just low-cost cases with PSUs.

Good point.
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post #182 of 643
4/8/11 at 3:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GatoEnFuego View Post

I can understand that, i have yet to put any stress on the new chip as i just barely installed windows last night. That 120mm fan is a good idea, I do have a 3.5" hd but there is a bay right below the 5.25" that I can use. Might do the upgraded low profile fan if this one turns out to be too noisy for me.

I like your hd "adapter" in that picture. What is that a long wire tie?

Its actually not mine - its from silent pc. I think its a bungee cord.
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post #183 of 643
4/8/11 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Its actually not mine - its from silent pc. I think its a bungee cord.

Ooooooo, hi-tech.
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post #184 of 643
4/8/11 at 4:39pm
Just wanted to document here something that was discussed regarding these 2 (identical) cases in my Buyer's/Builder thread...

APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX with 250 watt PSU - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=apex%20008


Rosewill RS-MI-01 BK Mini ITX Tower with 250 watt PSU - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rosewill%20itx


The picture on the top is the Apex008/Rosewill RS-MI-01 case with the Clarkdale stock i3 CPU.
The picture on the bottom is the same case with the Sandy Bridge stock i3 2100t CPU.
***The 2100 (not 2100t) has the same stock fan as the Clarkdale. To get the smaller fan it appears you need to order the 2100t***

It looks like you could use it with caution in the Clarkdale/SB2100 build and without hesitation in the SB 2100t build.

i3 Clarkdale or SB2100

i3 Sandybridge 2100t
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post #185 of 643
4/25/11 at 11:19am
There's this new case that looks interesting, sadly no review anywhere....

In Win BP-671
IN WIN BP-Series BP671.200BL


Standard 5.25'' disc drive, PSU is not over the CPU. But it's a bit bigger than the others in the same category 10.4"(W) x 3.9"(H) x 12.2"(L).
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post #186 of 643
4/25/11 at 11:23am
Is that a slot loading optical drive?
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post #187 of 643
4/25/11 at 11:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post
Is that a slot loading optical drive?
Nope!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPatate View Post
Standard 5.25'' disc drive
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post #188 of 643
4/25/11 at 11:48am
Looks nice, good price for an included PSU.
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post #189 of 643
4/25/11 at 12:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GatoEnFuego View Post
Looks nice, good price for an included PSU.
I agree. Very nice.

It looks like you could put a SSD on top of the PSU between the cover and the PSU.
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post #190 of 643
4/25/11 at 12:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post
Good lord. That case is $150!

And it doesn't have room for a 3.5" drive.
They go on ridiculous sale sometimes. I got it for $70 when I bought it. Otherwise, yeah, no thanks. My PC-Q09 only has an i3-540, H55, 64GB SSD and 4GB memory in it -- nothing else.

There's many many pictures of it in my blog linked in my signature.
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post #191 of 643
4/26/11 at 7:20am
I've ordered my new HTPC from Newegg. I'll post pictures of the new case InWin BP-671 I mentioned above. Hope it's a good case! Hate to be the beta tester hehe...
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post #192 of 643
4/27/11 at 11:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by StardogChampion View Post

I ordered one of these from China (the black one). If I ever get it I'll post some pictures. I have my doubts if it will ever show but it's a good experiment and all it takes to get my money back is to open a dispute with PayPal so at least I am protected there.



I was attracted to the case purely on looks. We'll see what happens. I just wish there were a US distributor of these cases (and lots of other cases I've seen on Asian websites).

Did it ever arrive ? Can you give us a model number ? I also like the look of it
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post #193 of 643
4/28/11 at 7:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomgle View Post
Did it ever arrive ? Can you give us a model number ? I also like the look of it
Nope, it never arrived. I'd ordered it from DHGate.com. After two months I got a message saying it'd been lost in shipment. I cancelled the order. The guy I ordered it from was a complete a** about it too -- very insulting. It's too bad because I was really looking forward to playing with it. I am tempted to fly to China and give this guy a beatdown and then pick one up while I am there j/k

http://www.dhgate.com/wholesale/mini+itx+desktop.html
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post #194 of 643
4/28/11 at 8:31am
Has anyone seen this mini-itx case?

VidaBox CubeCase - Home Server/Media center Mini ITX case - $99.99

The 2 swappable HD bays looks like a pretty nice feature.

http://www.vidabox.com/store/index.p...74e974789c786b




Dimensions 7.8"(W) x 8.3"(H)(w/feet) x 13.5"(D)
200mm(W) x 210mm(H) x 340mm(D)

Some online reviews:
http://www.missingremote.com/review/...ubecase-review
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2010...x-server-case/
http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/ar...#axzz1KphpmYXQ

Its what I'm thinking about for my next build.

habe
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post #195 of 643
4/28/11 at 11:11am
Thread Starter 
Nice find.

That looks like a rebadge of this case: http://www.chyangfun.com/pro04_1_5.asp

It's sister case: http://www.chyangfun.com/pro04_1_1.asp is rebadge as Rosewill or Athenatech and in my experience has been a great case.

If you get this case and don't want to use the included power supply, I have an adapter plate that'll fit the opening and let you mount a 60mm fan and 2.5mm DC jack for the picoPSU.
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post #196 of 643
4/28/11 at 12:29pm
This is exact case I was looking into to build my HTPC. I need at least
- 1 X 5.25"
- 1 X 3.5" for HDD
- 1 X expansion card

I found the IN WIN BP-Series BP671.200BL cheaper elsewhere than newegg.
The site is excaliberpc dot com.

The price is $48.50 + shipping.


Since I am a new member, i am not allowed to post links just yet.

EDIT: I meant IN WIN case (IN WIN BP-Series BP671.200BL )

I would love to hear the experience with that case.

I am building a Zacate based HTPC from MSI + G skill memory + WD Blue 500 HDD hdd.
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post #197 of 643
4/28/11 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx View Post

Two Japanese cases.

Abee acubic S10, ~$360 USD. 84W PSU, no expansion slot, supports an older slot-load ODD.

The chassis is made from 3mm thick aluminum.

Speaking of thickness , slot loading, and self promotion, how about 15mm thick faceplate with 9mm heatsink panel.





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post #198 of 643
4/28/11 at 7:25pm
yes it is very nice looking.
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post #199 of 643
4/29/11 at 2:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

Just wanted to document here something that was discussed regarding these 2 (identical) cases in my Buyer's/Builder thread...

APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX with 250 watt PSU - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=apex%20008


Rosewill RS-MI-01 BK Mini ITX Tower with 250 watt PSU - $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rosewill%20itx


The picture on the top is the Apex008/Rosewill RS-MI-01 case with the Clarkdale stock i3 CPU.
The picture on the bottom is the same case with the Sandy Bridge stock i3 2100t CPU.
***The 2100 (not 2100t) has the same stock fan as the Clarkdale. To get the smaller fan it appears you need to order the 2100t***

What do you think about picoPSU-ing this case. It would create a lot more space and I hear the power supply they include is kinda eh anyway.

Is there a source for a backplane for the pico?

Seems like with a quiet 120mm fan on the side (as you and SilentPCReview have done) and a pico, the case is a cheap box, with plenty of space for an ITX build, with discrete graphics space if wanted.
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post #200 of 643
4/29/11 at 6:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rogo View Post

What do you think about picoPSU-ing this case. It would create a lot more space and I hear the power supply they include is kinda eh anyway.

Is there a source for a backplane for the pico?

Seems like with a quiet 120mm fan on the side (as you and SilentPCReview have done) and a pico, the case is a cheap box, with plenty of space for an ITX build, with discrete graphics space if wanted.

You can get a PCI bracket adapter that allows the power cable to be mounted in a PCI slot.

Otherwise what I did was I gutted the power supply that came with the case (I used something similar to a PicoPSU so I didn't need the included power supply) and cut all the metal out and just retained the back portion of the power supply that screws into the back of the case. You could easily drill a hole in the back portion of the plate that would fit a PicoPSU connector. Since I had all that extra space I also mounted an SSD onto the back plate as well. The screw holes liked up perfectly and it was very convenient.

I've attached some pictures of what I did.

When doing my build I consulted this thread for some great pointers.
LL
LL
LL
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post #201 of 643
4/29/11 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rogo View Post

Is there a source for a backplane for the pico?

If you mean a backplate to mount a picoPSU in the SFX12V hole, I can fabricate one. I'll be getting everything next week to create these. I am already making one for another forum member for the Apex MI-008 case. PM me if you're interested.

Attached is a rendering of the plate. There are mounts for both types of picoPSU jacks - the barrel jack and the 4-pin, tapped screw holes for mounting to the case and a mount for a 60mm fan. I can do it with or without the fan mount/fan and with whichever picoPSU jack you're purchasing.
LL
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post #202 of 643
4/29/11 at 5:26pm
What about this chenbro case - http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesite...il.php?sku=167


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post #203 of 643
5/3/11 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhaveshr View Post

I meant IN WIN case (IN WIN BP-Series BP671.200BL )

I would love to hear the experience with that case.

I've ordered it with Newegg, as soon as I get it (Purolator isn't very efficient with this package sadly) I'll post pictures of the build. I believe I'll be the first one here with this case so I'll take lots of pictures for others to see if it's a good buy.
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post #204 of 643
5/3/11 at 7:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cburbs View Post

What about this chenbro case - http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesite...il.php?sku=167

I've drooled over this one for a while for a home server build. That was until I saw the Lian-Li PC-Q08.
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post #205 of 643
5/3/11 at 9:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPatate View Post

I've ordered it with Newegg, as soon as I get it (Purolator isn't very efficient with this package sadly) I'll post pictures of the build. I believe I'll be the first one here with this case so I'll take lots of pictures for others to see if it's a good buy.


Thank you.

Since the case looked nice and it has the features I was looking for ( standard 3.5" hdd case, ODD slot, power supply included etc), I also ordered it but from a different website, it was slightly cheaper. I am expecting delivery on Thursday (May 5, 2011).
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post #206 of 643
5/4/11 at 1:35am
There is another rebadge/reseller of the Athenatech/Rosewill RC-CIX-01/CFI A8989 case from the company Ace of Sweden.
Ace Polly:
http://www.aceofsweden.com/ace/case/...lly-black.html
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post #207 of 643
5/4/11 at 5:26am
I had the CFI A8989 for a while, but still feel it's too big for a download/upload server, since I use a DAS for the storage.
so I custom ordered an acrylic case for the server, and created another custom case for the mini gaming machine.

it's OOT, but here is the pics



Server Album



Mini Game Machine
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post #208 of 643
5/4/11 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhaveshr View Post

Thank you.

Since the case looked nice and it has the features I was looking for ( standard 3.5" hdd case, ODD slot, power supply included etc), I also ordered it but from a different website, it was slightly cheaper. I am expecting delivery on Thursday (May 5, 2011).

The optical drive isn't a slot load if that's what you mean by ODD slot...
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post #209 of 643
5/4/11 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPatate View Post

The optical drive isn't a slot load if that's what you mean by ODD slot...

I'm looking forward to your pics. Can't wait to see that new case in the wild!
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post #210 of 643
5/4/11 at 7:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

I'm looking forward to your pics. Can't wait to see that new case in the wild!

I'm still waiting for the case... Newegg sent all my HTPC parts from their New York warehouse except the case which is coming from L.A. So I've received all my parts but I'm still waiting for a case to put them in... Newegg is a TEASE! :P
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