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Mini ITX case choice

Conex
By Conex
in Power Supplies
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I need some help choosing a mini ITX case for my first build. I'll be taking it to and from college, and will be mostly gaming on it. I've narrowed it down to three: the Corsair 380T, the BitFenix Prodigy and the EVGA Hadron. Can anyone recommend to me which one is the best option? Please ask if you need more info, thanks in advance.

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I need some help choosing a mini ITX case for my first build. I'll be taking it to and from college, and will be mostly gaming on it. I've narrowed it down to three: the Corsair 380T, the BitFenix Prodigy and the EVGA Hadron. Can anyone recommend to me which one is the best option? Please ask if you need more info, thanks in advance.

EVGA Hadron is the best IMO. Comes with a PSU and nice side panel window. 

|PSU Tier List /80 Plus Efficiency| PSU stuff if you need it. 

My system: PCPartPicker || For Corsair support tag @Corsair Josephor @Corsair Nick || My 5MT Legacy GT Wagon ||

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bitfenix prodigy

Rigs I've Built

The Striker i5 4590 @ 3.7 ||  MSI GTX 980 Armor X2 || Corsair RMX 750 || Team Elite Plus 8 GB || Define S || MSI Z97S SLI Krait

The Office PC i3 4160 @ 3.6 || Intel 4600 || EVGA 500B || G.Skill 8 GB || Cooler Master N200 || ASRock H97M Pro4

The Friend PC G3258 @ 4.3 || Sapphire R9 280X Tri-X || EVGA 600B || 8 GB Dell Ram || Cooler Master N200 || ASRock H97M- iTX/ac

The Mom Gaming PC A10-7890K @ 4.4 || iGPU + ASUS R7 250 ||  8 GB Klevv DDR3-2800 Mhz

 

 

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if you like modding for expandability in the future, get the prodigy. there are some really cool ways to mod it to fit a mATX board.

if you don't like modding, get a hadron. best looks imo and also included PSU!

-Phoenix-  -VouwFabriek- -SolidNAS- 

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Depends what hardware you have. In mt NCASE M1 I have

intel i7 4970k

8gb (2x4GB) DDR3

2.5" 120GB SSD

2.5" 1TB HDD

AMD XFX 7970GHz DD

Silverstone 600W

Corsair h100i

 

post-776-0-58065100-1412496515_thumb.jpg
 
 
I was really looking at the Hadron bout at that time no one could confirm if the h100i would fit.
 
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My vote out of those goes for the Hadron. Small, window, includes the PSU.

Honestly though have you looked at the SG13? Or the M1? They're both pretty great cases. The M1 in particular.

CPU: Ryzen 9 5900 Cooler: EVGA CLC280 Motherboard: Gigabyte B550i Pro AX RAM: Kingston Hyper X 32GB 3200mhz

Storage: WD 750 SE 500GB, WD 730 SE 1TB GPU: EVGA RTX 3070 Ti PSU: Corsair SF750 Case: Streacom DA2

Monitor: LG 27GL83B Mouse: Razer Basilisk V2 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red Speakers: Mackie CR5BT

 

MiniPC - Sold for $100 Profit

Spoiler

CPU: Intel i3 4160 Cooler: Integrated Motherboard: Integrated

RAM: G.Skill RipJaws 16GB DDR3 Storage: Transcend MSA370 128GB GPU: Intel 4400 Graphics

PSU: Integrated Case: Shuttle XPC Slim

Monitor: LG 29WK500 Mouse: G.Skill MX780 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

Budget Rig 1 - Sold For $750 Profit

Spoiler

CPU: Intel i5 7600k Cooler: CryOrig H7 Motherboard: MSI Z270 M5

RAM: Crucial LPX 16GB DDR4 Storage: Intel S3510 800GB GPU: Nvidia GTX 980

PSU: Corsair CX650M Case: EVGA DG73

Monitor: LG 29WK500 Mouse: G.Skill MX780 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

OG Gaming Rig - Gone

Spoiler

 

CPU: Intel i5 4690k Cooler: Corsair H100i V2 Motherboard: MSI Z97i AC ITX

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 16GB DDR3 Storage: Kingston Fury 240GB GPU: Asus Strix GTX 970

PSU: Thermaltake TR2 Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX

Monitor: Dell P2214H x2 Mouse: Logitech MX Master Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

 

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The jealousy is real.

CPU: Ryzen 9 5900 Cooler: EVGA CLC280 Motherboard: Gigabyte B550i Pro AX RAM: Kingston Hyper X 32GB 3200mhz

Storage: WD 750 SE 500GB, WD 730 SE 1TB GPU: EVGA RTX 3070 Ti PSU: Corsair SF750 Case: Streacom DA2

Monitor: LG 27GL83B Mouse: Razer Basilisk V2 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red Speakers: Mackie CR5BT

 

MiniPC - Sold for $100 Profit

Spoiler

CPU: Intel i3 4160 Cooler: Integrated Motherboard: Integrated

RAM: G.Skill RipJaws 16GB DDR3 Storage: Transcend MSA370 128GB GPU: Intel 4400 Graphics

PSU: Integrated Case: Shuttle XPC Slim

Monitor: LG 29WK500 Mouse: G.Skill MX780 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

Budget Rig 1 - Sold For $750 Profit

Spoiler

CPU: Intel i5 7600k Cooler: CryOrig H7 Motherboard: MSI Z270 M5

RAM: Crucial LPX 16GB DDR4 Storage: Intel S3510 800GB GPU: Nvidia GTX 980

PSU: Corsair CX650M Case: EVGA DG73

Monitor: LG 29WK500 Mouse: G.Skill MX780 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

OG Gaming Rig - Gone

Spoiler

 

CPU: Intel i5 4690k Cooler: Corsair H100i V2 Motherboard: MSI Z97i AC ITX

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 16GB DDR3 Storage: Kingston Fury 240GB GPU: Asus Strix GTX 970

PSU: Thermaltake TR2 Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX

Monitor: Dell P2214H x2 Mouse: Logitech MX Master Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

 

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The jealousy is real.

The only problem is I had to pay $275 to get it... But it can fit as a carry-on

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  • Author

My vote out of those goes for the Hadron. Small, window, includes the PSU.

Honestly though have you looked at the SG13? Or the M1? They're both pretty great cases. The M1 in particular.

Not a fan of the SG13's aesthetics, and then M1 isn't sold in the UK sadly. Would you say the Hadron would be hard to work with for a first time builder?

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Not a fan of the SG13's aesthetics, and then M1 isn't sold in the UK sadly. Would you say the Hadron would be hard to work with for a first time builder?

 

I would say no...the hardest part of working in a small enclosure like an mitx case is the cabling

 

the Hadron has cable lengths that are just right the right length for the size making cable management easier than say a full ATX sized psu with full length cables in a miTX case

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The only problem is I had to pay $275 to get it... But it can fit as a carry-on

Haha, yeah. They're expensive, but that's what one pays for something as awesome as that.

Quality and cheap do not go hand in hand.

 

Not a fan of the SG13's aesthetics, and then M1 isn't sold in the UK sadly. Would you say the Hadron would be hard to work with for a first time builder?

Ahh, yeah that'd be an issue haha.

The other cases you listed are pretty big.

How about the Silverstone FT03? Gives you a MicroATX case, so you have better expansion options and it's footprint on the desk is still very small.

It also has no space restrictions when it comes to putting in a graphics card.

 

No, the only thing I'd say would be difficult is doing a water loop. Building a computer is like putting together a really simple Lego set.

It really is that easy.

Just take your time and it all goes together. It's not hard at all.

CPU: Ryzen 9 5900 Cooler: EVGA CLC280 Motherboard: Gigabyte B550i Pro AX RAM: Kingston Hyper X 32GB 3200mhz

Storage: WD 750 SE 500GB, WD 730 SE 1TB GPU: EVGA RTX 3070 Ti PSU: Corsair SF750 Case: Streacom DA2

Monitor: LG 27GL83B Mouse: Razer Basilisk V2 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red Speakers: Mackie CR5BT

 

MiniPC - Sold for $100 Profit

Spoiler

CPU: Intel i3 4160 Cooler: Integrated Motherboard: Integrated

RAM: G.Skill RipJaws 16GB DDR3 Storage: Transcend MSA370 128GB GPU: Intel 4400 Graphics

PSU: Integrated Case: Shuttle XPC Slim

Monitor: LG 29WK500 Mouse: G.Skill MX780 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

Budget Rig 1 - Sold For $750 Profit

Spoiler

CPU: Intel i5 7600k Cooler: CryOrig H7 Motherboard: MSI Z270 M5

RAM: Crucial LPX 16GB DDR4 Storage: Intel S3510 800GB GPU: Nvidia GTX 980

PSU: Corsair CX650M Case: EVGA DG73

Monitor: LG 29WK500 Mouse: G.Skill MX780 Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

OG Gaming Rig - Gone

Spoiler

 

CPU: Intel i5 4690k Cooler: Corsair H100i V2 Motherboard: MSI Z97i AC ITX

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 16GB DDR3 Storage: Kingston Fury 240GB GPU: Asus Strix GTX 970

PSU: Thermaltake TR2 Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX

Monitor: Dell P2214H x2 Mouse: Logitech MX Master Keyboard: G.Skill KM780 Cherry MX Red

 

 

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  • 5 weeks later...
Posted

I have a Hadron Hydro and I'm very happy with it. IMO it is the best looking one of the three and it fits in a carry-on suitcase. So my vote goes for the Hadron all the way.

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I have a prodigy and there isn't really a way to have nice cable management. If price isn't an issue I would say the evga hadron with the custom psu

Intel 4670K /w TT water 2.0 performer, GTX 1070FE, Gigabyte Z87X-DH3, Corsair HX750, 16GB Mushkin 1333mhz, Fractal R4 Windowed, Varmilo mint TKL, Logitech m310, HP Pavilion 23bw, Logitech 2.1 Speakers

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It's not one that you specified, but have you considered the Cooler Master Elite 110? It's a smaller and cheaper option.

Incipere V5.0

Spoiler

CPU | i7-4790k | GPU | Nvidia GTX Titan X | Motherboard | MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition | Memory | 2x8GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3 1866MHz | PSU | EVGA 650 G2 | Storage | Crucial BX200 240GB + Toshiba 3TB | Case | Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 | CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15

Parvulus V1.0

Spoiler

CPU | i5-4690k | GPU | Zotac GTX 960 | Motherboard | ASRock Z97M-ITX/ac | Memory | 2x4GB G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600MHz | PSU | EVGA 650 GS | Storage | Crucial BX200 240GB + WD 1TB Blue 2.5" | Case | Silverstone Sugo SG13

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