The smallest case...

[igouvea]

Hi everyone,

I need your help. I want to build a computer, but I am moving from US pretty soon, so I want something mobile. (must fit my luggage)

My requirements are not much, but they are specific

So here they are:

- The smallest that fits what I need.

- It has to have 2 PCI lanes, one for graphics card, one for perhaps upgradeability or Thuderbolt 3

- M.2 Slot for PCI SSD

- Space for a small water cooler for CPU (Im going to be running a 7700k, don't plan on overclocking heavily)

- Space for one 4tb HD for footage.

That's it. I was thinking the Tiki from FalconNorthWest. Seems awesome, is there anything similar?

If anyone has a suggestion. I am grateful already!

Thanks everyone.

Ivan

[ZeusXI]

6 minutes ago, igouvea said:

Hi everyone,

I need your help. I want to build a computer, but I am moving from US pretty soon, so I want something mobile. (must fit my luggage)

My requirements are not much, but they are specific

So here they are:

- The smallest that fits what I need.

- It has to have 2 PCI lanes, one for graphics card, one for perhaps upgradeability or Thuderbolt 3

- M.2 Slot for PCI SSD

- Space for a small water cooler for CPU (Im going to be running a 7700k, don't plan on overclocking heavily)

- Space for one 4tb HD for footage.

That's it. I was thinking the Tiki from FalconNorthWest. Seems awesome, is there anything similar?

If anyone has a suggestion. I am grateful already!

Thanks everyone.

Ivan

not sure if mini-itx cases have the ability to have 2 pci slots since mini-itx mobo (to my knowledge so dont get mad at me) dont have 2 pci slots. i do know however, that some have 1 PCIe x1 and 1 PCIe x16, but not 2 of the same. Fractal node 202 is a good small form factor case. I honestly wish i got that case. as for m.2 slots, those are found on motherboards. i only see 1 on mini-itx cases. not sure how you are going to fit a liquid cooler inside a small form factor unless you do some case mods. can always just get the Noctua NH-L9a cooler which is small.

[dizmo]

I don't think they sell their case separately, and when you price out a system with them, the cost is quite inflated. The case itself came out to being $1000ish of the cost last time I checked. Not at all worth it.

For small, I suggest checking out the following.

• DanCase A4
• NCase M1
• Cougar QBX
• Silverstone SG13
• Silverstone FT03
• You can also check out these guys, apparently they'll do custom changes.
  https://hardforum.com/threads/custommod-mini-3-24l.1922832/

If you want a truly compact case I'd consider getting an external hard drive enclosure for your mass storage.

What do you think you'll need Thunderbolt for? I can't think of anything that actually makes use of it. Not only that, but there isn't really a need for expansion slots. It just creates wasted space.

 

8 minutes ago, ZeusXI said:

not sure if mini-itx cases have the ability to have 2 pci slots since mini-itx mobo (to my knowledge so dont get mad at me) dont have 2 pci slots. i do know however, that some have 1 PCIe x1 and 1 PCIe x16, but not 2 of the same. Fractal node 202 is a good small form factor case. I honestly wish i got that case. as for m.2 slots, those are found on motherboards. i only see 1 on mini-itx cases. not sure how you are going to fit a liquid cooler inside a small form factor unless you do some case mods. can always just get the Noctua NH-L9a cooler which is small.

What mITX board has 2 expansion slots? I've never seen one.

Some mITX boards have 2 m.2 slots.

There are many SFF cases that allow for water cooling.

 

You don't need to quote the original post. It just creates unneeded clutter.

 

[ZeusXI]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

-snip-

 

im sorry. my bad. Mini DTX my bad. mini DTX have 2 expansion slots

[igouvea]

6 minutes ago, dizmo said:

 

Dizmo, thanks a lot for the answer.

The PCI slot is for expansion, maybe thunderbolt just because it is the highest bandwidth.

It is not necessary, but it makes me a lot more comfortable. Otherwise the SG13 is incredible. Fits almost in my backpack.

Do you think that a noctua l9 can cool the 7700k?

Thanks!

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, igouvea said:

Dizmo, thanks a lot for the answer.

The PCI slot is for expansion, maybe thunderbolt just because it is the highest bandwidth.

It is not necessary, but it makes me a lot more comfortable. Otherwise the SG13 is incredible. Fits almost in my backpack.

Do you think that a noctua l9 can cool the 7700k?

Thanks!

It has high bandwidth, but very very few things can actually make use of it. External storage, for example, can't even saturate USB 3.0 unless you're using NVMe SSDs, but I don't think that's really become feasible yet.

If you're getting a case like the SG13 I believe it supports liquid cooling. You're pretty limited when it comes to air cooling, the Noctua isn't recommended for chip with a TDP that high. You'd be limited to the 7700. Just go with a closed loop cooler though, it's only a little more and will let you overclock. Just remember you're limited to 10.5" when you

I get your worry about future expansion. I had the same fears. But trust me, over the 4 ATX builds I've had, I've never installed another card for expansion purposes. My next build will be a super tiny ITX build, because that's reasonably all I need.

 

You can go with mATX boards, but they're a fair bit larger as are the cases that go with them.

22 minutes ago, ZeusXI said:

im sorry. my bad. Mini DTX my bad. mini DTX have 2 expansion slots

 

Ah yes, that dead form factor.

[TVwazhere]

I've literally never heard of mini DTX before