KXRORS G200 Mini ITX case mini-review

[aisle9]

I love my Silverstone SG-13, but the thing's an oven. Even undervolted and with the front fan set to exhaust, it still gets toasty af in there, hot enough that my PSU's (annoyingly loud) fan kicks in even at idle. So it was time for a change. The original target was the Jonsbo T8 Plus, but I'm not a huge fan of tempered glass or the weight and complexity it provides. Prime Day yielded some interesting results, like a 30% off coupon on an interesting looking case called the G200. There's not much out there on this case, just a manufacturer overview video and a Chinese-language video with a couple of builds in it, so I figured I'd toss a quick little review up here. Pictures shrunken to 500px wide through the forum editor. Tough little ship for scale:

 

 

So my initial thoughts: this thing looks great, and the size is perfect. If you know the SG-13, it's about as wide and a little bit less deep, but maybe 1.5x as tall. Think maybe 1/3rd of a mid-tower, or a 75% scale replica of the Lian-Li TU150. Extremely compact. ITX boards only, 2.5-slot GPUs up to 270mm long, coolers up to 160mm tall. The panels are powder-coated and have a nice heft to them, and the brushed aluminum strip at the bottom, complete with its extremely clicky power button, looks slick. Front I/O is a single USB-C port and a USB-A port alongside (I think it's 3.1, don't quote me). The handle, despite being leather (or fake leather, more likely) feels study enough to lift the entire PC by, which is a very nice touch for someone who needs a mobile PC. Hence, my aversion to tempered glass. TG is heavy and if it breaks, it explodes. The front, back, top, bottom and left side panel are all a fine airflow mesh, and a magnetic dust filter is included for the bottom if you want one to keep your GPU clean. Speaking of the GPU, here's what's in there:

 

 

 

Ryzen 5 5600

Sapphire Pulse RX 6700

16GB DDR4 (2x8)

2x SATA SSD

SFX PSU

2x Aerocool DS 120mm fans (1 exhaust, 1 on cooler)

Thermalright AXP120-67 cooler (fan swapped)

 

So, let's talk about the building experience:

• Lots of room in there for components. I was originally going to use a Noctua C14S, but opted against it due to weight concerns. It definitely would have fit. If you forego the rear fan, you could probably make a twin-tower cooler like the Scythe Fuma work.
• The room is deceptive. The case states a max GPU length of 270mm, to which I say sure, if you don't intend to use a power supply. I had to do this build in a fairly crazy order to get things to fit. Motherboard first, then literally take the bottom off to make the GPU slide in (oh yeah, you can more or less totally disassemble this case), then put the bottom back on, figure out how to make the caddy with my two SSDs fit--the case officially only supports 1x2.5" or 1x3.5" in back, plus 1x2.5" on the bottom if you hate your GPU. Then it was on to the power supply, and some very creative routing/careful stuffing to make it all fit.
• The case supports 3 fans internally and ATX power supplies, nice compatibility for something this small. But again, the order of operations is critical, because once your CPU cooler and GPU are installed, the top and bottom fans ain't happening. And saw far as ATX PSUs, again, yeah, if you don't care about cable management and are using a half-height GPU.
• There is a little bit of room behind the board for cable routing, but not much. Plan on having most of your cables wedged between the SFX PSU that you're going to wisely use to power this and the back of the case. Again, I do not see a way to cable manage in here with an ATX PSU unless you're doing an APU system with no SATA storage.
• And for all the shit I just gave it, this wasn't actually that bad of a building experience. If you charge in balls first and just start trying to shove stuff into place like one might with a typical mid-tower, you're going to have a bad time. If you stop and think through the logical order of operations given how confined a space you're working with, you're gonna be fine.
  • Also, flip the power switch on your PSU to on before it goes in, because once it's up there, it's a pain in the motherf--king g--damned ass to take everything apart so you can get it out and rectify your mistake. Ask me how I know.

So overall thoughts: I paid $85 for this after a 30% off coupon and a bunch of leftover Prime Day credit. It retails for around $140-150. I'm cheap and would never pay that much for any case, but I could be convinced to fork over $110-120 for this pretty easily now that I've got a build up and running in it. It feels very well built, no flex whatsoever, and the handle doesn't look or feel like it's about to rip out of the case when you use it. The build experience can be a pain in the ass if you don't think it through first, but if you do, it's actually not that hard. Cable management is rough, and would be impossible if you're using an ATX PSU and a full-length GPU at the same time.

 

I f**king love this case. It's exactly what I've been looking for in terms of size and design, it's an ice age in there compared to the SG-13, and it just looks dead sexy on a black wooden desk.

 

4.5/5

[mapegl]

Very interesting. Thank you.

I have been eying this for a while now and have a very similar system, although, I am using a 3600. I honestly don't know if this is hotter or not, but I will most likely use a bigger cooler anyways. 

My plan is to be able to carry this in a big "Bundeswehr" backpack with my other peripherals and some clothes for a weekend. My friends and I have started to meet with PCs again in our mid 30s and I can now take the train for free due to my job. My old case is small...ish, but too big for the backpack.