Case suggestions

[Stillspace]

So iv been looking for a mini itx case and so far the coolermaster h100 seems like the way to go however iv got a few worries about the airflow as I’ll be putting a Ryzen 7 3700x in it with a gtx 1660ti. Is there any better mini itx cases I should take a look at.

Iv for a budget for under 200 usd including case fans to go along with it

[Guest]

Thing has an full mesh front panel, what more could you possibly ask for in terms of airflow? Just a massive hole?

I know there's someone out there in this forum that's hell-bent on recommending the Silverstone SG13, can't remember their name though. That aside, the SG13 is an awesome case as well.

[IkeaGnome]

@Fasauceome

[danalog]

13 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

@Fasauceome

Yep 

[Fasauceome]

10 hours ago, wavem2 said:

there's someone out there in this forum that's hell-bent on recommending the Silverstone SG13

Henlo

 

10 hours ago, Stillspace said:

Is there any better mini itx cases I should take a look at.

The Silverstone Sugo SG13 has a lot of volume, while still being really compact (about shoebox sized). It has a full mesh front panel, room for many full ATX sized power supplies, and is recommended with a 120mm intake fan so you get maximum GPU room. If you get a really thick radiator like the Corsair H80i you would be restricted to one fan instead of two but that's not a big deal, I've completed a build with a Ryzen 9 5900X and it worked out pretty well in that configuration.

 

An LED fan looks really nice underneath the mesh. Make sure you avoid the non-mesh version. The V2 is nearly identical to the original, with minor tweaks to the hard drive bracket (which you probably will end up never using)

 

Nothing against the h100, it's a bit large for an ITX case though. Like the h510 from Nzxt, it's sort of in a "baby ATX" category, a little closer to your average micro ATX case.

[Stillspace]

6 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

The Silverstone Sugo SG13 has a lot of volume, while still being really compact (about shoebox sized). It has a full mesh front panel, room for many full ATX sized power supplies, and is recommended with a 120mm intake fan so you get maximum GPU room. If you get a really thick radiator like the Corsair H80i you would be restricted to one fan instead of two but that's not a big deal, I've completed a build with a Ryzen 9 5900X and it worked out pretty well in that configuration.

I wasnt nessasarly going to use a AIO in this build, is using a small profile air cooler gonna cause some issue with temps with a ryzen 7 3700x and if it is what aio would you reccomend for this case

also im not using a big gpu as im using a pny 1660 ti

[Fasauceome]

2 hours ago, Stillspace said:

I wasnt nessasarly going to use a AIO in this build, is using a small profile air cooler gonna cause some issue with temps with a ryzen 7 3700x and if it is what aio would you reccomend for this case

also im not using a big gpu as im using a pny 1660 ti

Using a small air cooler is fine, you definitely get more room if you use a SFX power supply by the way so I do recommend that even though the case can fit ATX. The 1660 ti is fine but you get more room for future upgrades which is nice

[TVwazhere]

On 7/9/2021 at 9:34 PM, wavem2 said:

Thing has an full mesh front panel, what more could you possibly ask for in terms of airflow? Just a massive hole?

This is EXACTLY why people need to do more research into a case without just looking at a front panel and making an entire decision about how good the case is.

 

"But wait, it's got a mesh front panel and a huge 200mm fan. Your 380T has the same thing! So what's the problem?"

 

The Internal Layout Doesnt Leverage The Airflow Provided

 

If you watch or read any review on this case (that actually BUILD in the case), you'll see complaint after complaint about how terribly thought out this case is. The PSU is a normal FULL SIZE ATX which sits directly over the CPU cooler location. So you can ONLY use a low profile cooler (and fight the PSU fan) or an AIO (which defeats the purpose of the front fan as there's nowhere else to mount a fan.)

 

In addition, the GPU is almost literally choked. Some users will say "Dont get the H510 it has no airflow and chokes systems" no the H510 has airflow. This case has zero ventilation points for a GPU; it basically puts the face of the card straight down into the bottom of the case with no holes or ways to get in any sort of air. The 200mm fan doesnt go low enough to even push air into the front of the card. You may as well put your GPU in it's own box!

 

 

Coolermaster's photo's manipulate the image to make it look bigger and more spacious than it really is (also placing the ATX PSU fan against a completely solid side panel)

 

When in reality:

(And that's an SFX PSU they used because Dmitri knew ATX would be suicide)

 

/rant

 

However, their NR200 is MUCH better in terms of actually listening to the community and building a pretty well thought out, space optimized and low price case. At 18L it's larger than most typical mITX cases but it's a good entry point for most users as it allows you to maintain a standard tower cooler or 240 AIO, SFX PSU and full size GPU support all under $100. 

 

Other popular non-luxury mITX cases the aforementioned SG13B, Fractal Design Node 202 & Silverstone RVZ01/02/03 / ML08, and Lian Li's TU150. In win also makes the A1 which typically comes with a PSU already. 

[Guest]

Thanks for correcting me, @TVwazhere, always looking for an opportunity to learn more to make sure I can help people and not give them shitty advice.

 

I'll make sure to check the actual layout of the case and think about how the airflow actually works instead of thinking "hurr durr mesh front panel good".

[TVwazhere]

15 minutes ago, wavem2 said:

Thanks for correcting me, @TVwazhere, always looking for an opportunity to learn more to make sure I can help people and not give them shitty advice.

 

I'll make sure to check the actual layout of the case and think about how the airflow actually works instead of thinking "hurr durr mesh front panel good".

All aspects of a case need to be considered to determine if it's good, bad or otherwise. Sadly the H100 felt short of expectations upon release despite a strong showing at CES

[IkeaGnome]

1 hour ago, TVwazhere said:

Silverstone RVZ01/02/03

Fair warning. These cases are awesome. I would just stick with lower thermal parts in it. I think OP would be fine with these, but with my set up I am having big issues with thermals in the RVZ03. If I don't undervolt my 5800x, I over heat my PSU. I've got a SF600, which is on the small side. However, it runs for a little while in games and benchmarks, and then the PSU shuts off. Stays off for about 5 or 10 minutes and then everything is okay again. I think with the internal layout and the shroud for the PSU, my PSU is intaking warm air from my cooler. When I tried my RM1000x in the same case, I had the same problems.

Once again, I don't necessarily think this is a bad case, I just think you need to be smart about how hot of components you throw at it. Just because it will fit, doesn't mean it should.

[TVwazhere]

2 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Once again, I don't necessarily think this is a bad case, I just think you need to be smart about how hot of components you throw at it. Just because it will fit, doesn't mean it should.

Shouldnt the PSU have it's own intake?

[IkeaGnome]

17 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Shouldnt the PSU have it's own intake?

With an ATX it should. I'm not entirely sure why I was having the same issue with my RMX as a SFX. With a SFX the PSU sits above the fan slot by a bit.

Spoiler

Like I said, I think it comes down to my specific configuration. The riser and plate for the GPU keep that half of the case completely separate from the motherboard and CPU side airflow wise. With the fan on the L12 facing down and intaking cold air, there just isn't enough exhaust ports to let all the air out that it needs to let out. With the fan facing up VRMs get uncomfortably toasty and the CPU (5800x) hits thermal throttle even on a -30 curve. Simply removing the top panel gets rid of a lot of these issues. I have a Dynamic Mini that is getting delivered today, I'll be home on the 14th. If you wanted, I could do more in depth testing with this case before I tear it down to get transplanted. My Fluke and thermocouple are actually down in Phoenix, so I don't have access to that, but I want to say I have a heat gun laying around I could use. I've also got the Geeek A60P that I used for my 9900k. I could put this build in that case temporarily to test "small" ITX to small ITX. 

I probably ran into a case of over estimating the case.