Compact ATX case w/o Optical Bays

[Friend00]

Hey there,

 

I'm planning to upgrade my case, my current case is a "Xigmatek Midgard", not very known brand. It served me "kind of" well over the past few years, but it's not the best. A lot of stuff is riveted in and it only supports a single front fan (even though it's fairly big), which has resulted in me ghetto-modding in a second fan (i.e. hanging it from the edges with cable ties lol, let's rather not speak of this atrocity...).

Also, even though the front fan is a Noctua AF14 PWM it was loud as hell, because it was taking air in from right against the fan grill, which seems like a poor design choice, so I had to remove the front fan grill as well and just kind of loosely throw the fan in there.

Overall, it's time to change.

 

Since I switched to SSD-only a couple of months and the last time I used a DVD dates back a long time, I don't need any Optical Drive mounts or tons of 3.5" mounts. Not even that many 2.5" mounts for that matter (I have a 1TB 850 EVO and a 250GB 840 EVO, that's it).

 

But I would like a full ATX board to fit, since I'm not planning on switching CPU or motherboard anytime soon. I had a look at the NZXT S340, which fulfils a lot of my requirements, but I'd still have to make too many compromises imho... I'm not particularly fond of side windows, though I'd be willing to accept that granted I have to take more time to cable manage lol...

 

What really throws me off the S340 though is the way the PCIe covers "stick out" of the back and expose a huge gap. Also the glossy finish is not my kind of style either...

 

I'm willing to pay 100-150€ for it (however many $ that is right now, probably like 5$ seeing how crappy the euro runs lol), so I'm well in the range for a Define R5, but it is too big for my taste. As I said I don't need the ODD or 3.5" mounts...

 

So tl;dr:

- I'm looking for a compact ATX case

- Should support Corsair RM750i PSU (that's longer than regular PSUs iirc)

- Should support ATX motherboards

- Without Optical bays

- Without too many drive mounts (2x 2.5" is basically enough)

- Basically like the NZXT S340, BUT without the "sticking-out" PCIe covers and maybe with a semi-glossy or matte finish and w/o side window

- Oh and the Noctua NH-U14S should fit

 

Thanks guys

[skimmilk5]

The Fractal Design Define R4 may be what you're looking for. There's no 5.25" bays, supports ATX motherboards, has support for a wide variety of PSU units, has plenty of drive mounts (the front mounts are removable), has a matte finish, and is thick enough for the NH-U14S. Btw, I'm a fan of Noctua fans too ;p

[Gidoguy]

Phanteks Enthoo Pro M, It has one 5.25 external bay, but you can remove the internal mount as if it was never there. It has really nice modular drive caddies, both 2.5" and 3.5" compatible, there is also a drive cage with two caddies in the bottom compartment, both also 2.5" and 3.5" compatible, but that can be entirely removed. PSU shroud is included, and cable management is the best around. It's like a sized down enthoo pro, which is widely regarded as the best chassis you can get. I'm sure you can live with those 5.25" bay lines as they add some character to the front of the case.

Link - 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phanteks-PH-ES515P_BK-Enthoo-Tower-Window/dp/B011A2LWZI/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1448902837&sr=1-4&keywords=phanteks+enthoo