Case decision problem

[alhennessey92]

Hi i am currently using a laptop for my work however it is struggling and on its way out, so i have decided to finally do what iv always wanted and build a custom pc, mainly because i can have more control over fixing problems and improving it overtime. I have decided to go for a xeon cpu ove i5 because it will act more of a workstation in the beginning and i will change it to a more gaming rig overtime when i get the money. My problem is that i am really undecided on what case to get, i definately want to go for an mitx because i dont have a lot of room on my desk. I have been looking at two, the first is the inwin 901 because i really like the design however it doesnt have much room for moddi g and expansion overtime. The second is caselabe noba x2m, which might be an expense in the beginning but will allow for improvement overtime. What do you reckon will be best in my situation or can you advise me on any other cases might be better?

[brob]

Hi i am currently using a laptop for my work however it is struggling and on its way out, so i have decided to finally do what iv always wanted and build a custom pc, mainly because i can have more control over fixing problems and improving it overtime. I have decided to go for a xeon cpu ove i5 because it will act more of a workstation in the beginning and i will change it to a more gaming rig overtime when i get the money. My problem is that i am really undecided on what case to get, i definately want to go for an mitx because i dont have a lot of room on my desk. I have been looking at two, the first is the inwin 901 because i really like the design however it doesnt have much room for moddi g and expansion overtime. The second is caselabe noba x2m, which might be an expense in the beginning but will allow for improvement overtime. What do you reckon will be best in my situation or can you advise me on any other cases might be better?

 

Mini-ITX does not offer much in the way of expansion. One adapter generally being a gpu and two sticks of memory. Storage is about the only place much can be added. So the question is what sort of expansion/modding do you anticipate doing?

[alhennessey92]

Generally increasing certain components like better gpu, cpu, memory and eventually when its worth it adding watercooling

[brob]

Generally increasing certain components like better gpu, cpu, memory and eventually when its worth it adding watercooling

 

Have you looked at the Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV?

[stconquest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($231.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($87.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card  ($184.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: RAIJINTEK Metis (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $691.19