Small as possible, vertical GPU, mATX case?

Eastman51 · January 6, 2019

I've been working on a "console killer" PC over the last few months. Recycling parts from my previous main system to make a pretty decent machine. Right now I have it sitting in my old Corsair 100R, which isn't a terrible case, but it's quite large for the application. I want something that better fits the "console" aspect of this PC, as small as I can go while retaining as much as I can from the current case.

I'm looking at getting a new case. Ideally, I'd get an ITX case and move on; but this PC has a 4th gen i5, and getting LGA 1150 boards is getting harder and harder, so an ITX case isn't as easy to go with. Currently, the PC has a mATX board, so a small mATX case is what I'd prefer to get and avoid LGA 1150 ITX board hunting (I'm also running 4x8 DDR3; mainly because I can, I don't have a desperate need for more than 2x8 on this PC). I Would also be in a tough spot as far as Internet connectivity goes; as of right now, the only type of access I can get is Wifi (I could do wall socket ethernet, but that requires adapters) and I have a PCIe wifi card that also has bluetooth (wireless Xbox controllers).

As for case features, I would like to have glass somewhere to show off the PC (I may upgrade the RGB in my new main system and recycle the HUE+ that's in there now). I would also like to have the GPU mounted vertically, with direct ventilation of some capacity (ventilation for lengthy GPUs is preferrable, as I will probably swap in my Strix 1070 after I upgrade my main PC). The PC only has 2 drives (2.5" SSD and 3.5" HDD), so drive storage doesn't need to be crazy. I do also want a good amount of airflow, doesn't necessarily mean giant fans everywhere, but needs to be able to feed the CPU's Cryorig C7 and ofc keep the drives at reasonable temps. Current CPU temps don't reach 70C and drives hover around 28-32C (current fan config is 1x 120mm intake, 1x 120mm exhaust, no top fans. Exhaust fan is PWM); I would like to keep temps in a similar state.

I really like the Fractal Design Node series, but they don't fit mATX (except for the Node 804, but the GPU is horizontal). I've been thinking about the Thermaltake Core v21, but it seems quite wide.

I could get this ITX board, and a Node 304 White. But the board is kinda expensive (I always go with Asus boards when possible, and non-Asus boards are more expensive on Newegg anyways), not to mention I would lose wifi and bluetooth without getting a USB adapter (rendering the PCIe card I have useless).

TVwazhere · January 7, 2019

19 hours ago, Eastman51 said:

I want something that better fits the "console" aspect of this PC, as small as I can go while retaining as much as I can from the current case.

Here's a full SFX list based on Volume size

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dzRY3LLsXcDX5Qt5PvQOrAJhw0EK9Cy7UtQPdyRp6PY/edit#gid=0

If you went with a mITX board from ebay (I went that route and it was a decent experience) then you could get something like the Fractal Design Node 202 or Silverstone RVZ01/02/03 which are just slightly bigger than the Xbone S

Eastman51 · January 7, 2019

2 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

Here's a full SFX list based on Volume size

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dzRY3LLsXcDX5Qt5PvQOrAJhw0EK9Cy7UtQPdyRp6PY/edit#gid=0

If you went with a mITX board from ebay (I went that route and it was a decent experience) then you could get something like the Fractal Design Node 202 or Silverstone RVZ01/02/03 which are just slightly bigger than the Xbone S

Thank you for this list man! I'm going to try and get ahold of a Fractal Design Node 605, I think that case will be perfect for my needs. And with it's support for up to ATX boards, I can keep this case throughout the iterations of this system.

Only problem is that it's discontinued, the search begins...