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Best budget microATX case?

aeroencychris
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Hi,

I recently built a rig in one of these (well, the red variant) and it was close to a nightmare. The 970 nearly didn't fit because of the clearance with the optical bay, which was a bit scary. Other than that, it was alright. The mobo is horizontal instead of vertical, giving it a weird feel. Is there a case similar in looks and price to that, preferably with a vertical mobo? Keep budget in mind here. Green would also be preferred but is not needed.

 

Thanks,

-Chris

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Hi,

I recently built a rig in one of these (well, the red variant) and it was close to a nightmare. The 970 nearly didn't fit because of the clearance with the optical bay, which was a bit scary. Other than that, it was alright. The mobo is horizontal instead of vertical, giving it a weird feel. Is there a case similar in looks and price to that, preferably with a vertical mobo? Keep budget in mind here. Green would also be preferred but is not needed.

 

Thanks,

-Chris

Nanoxia deep silence 4 has a green led. Short IO cables but it's an ok case. Fractal design makes good stuff as well.

My account is almost entirely dormant. Hope you all are having a grand time. Many years of fun were had here.

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Nanoxia deep silence 4 has a green led. Short IO cables but it's an ok case. Fractal design makes good stuff as well.

The Deep Silence 4 looks awesome, I might go for that. If I ever decide to water cool (AIO) my CPU, would I put the fan at the top, or at the front as shown in their picture? They advertise having 120/140 support on the top but I just want to make sure.

dVOlStb.png

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Not sure what you mean by budget.

Are you asking for value or best within a certain price range?

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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Sure. Say, $75 tops.

N200: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-nse200kkn1

Core V21: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermaltake-case-ca1d500s1wn00

Silencio 352: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-sil352mkkn1

Although it's a mid tower, the S340 is sized similarly to many matx cases: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-cas340wb1

 

The Define Mini seems to dip to $70 every once in a while: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcadefminibl

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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The Deep Silence 4 looks awesome, I might go for that. If I ever decide to water cool (AIO) my CPU, would I put the fan at the top, or at the front as shown in their picture? They advertise having 120/140 support on the top but I just want to make sure.

 

I own this case. I suggest you put the AIO in front. From what I can see it might be a bit of a squeeze with more than one skinny fan on the radiator.

Just be warned, buy one of these: http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-18-Inch-Internal-Motherboard-USBINT5PINMF/dp/B005G306UK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438786740&sr=8-1&keywords=audio+header+extension

My account is almost entirely dormant. Hope you all are having a grand time. Many years of fun were had here.

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I own this case. I suggest you put the AIO in front. From what I can see it might be a bit of a squeeze with more than one skinny fan on the radiator.

Just be warned, buy one of these: http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-18-Inch-Internal-Motherboard-USBINT5PINMF/dp/B005G306UK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438786740&sr=8-1&keywords=audio+header+extension

The USB 3.0 will fit, right?

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The USB 3.0 will fit, right?

Yes.

Be warned, there are creative ways to cable manage in this case. You're gonna be sucked in trying to make cables fit through holes in the optical slot bay and stuff.

My account is almost entirely dormant. Hope you all are having a grand time. Many years of fun were had here.

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Yes.

Be warned, there are creative ways to cable manage in this case. You're gonna be sucked in trying to make cables fit through holes in the optical slot bay and stuff.

There's another side panel to hide cables in, right?

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There's another side panel to hide cables in, right?

There's the other side of the case to hide cables, yes. Note that you want a typical placement of the 24-pin (middle of the motherboard on the side as opposed to being in the top right corner as this makes cable management messy). The space behind the motherboard tray is tight for 24 pins so I suggest getting a Corsair RMi series power so you can utilize that space better as it uses a flat 24-pin. I used a sharpie on any cables from the case that didn't color match my all black setup:

 

innards.jpg

 

I also recommend getting a mobo with 90 SATA headers on the motherboard. Saves a lot of cables mess as well as you can see with that stray SATA cable.

My account is almost entirely dormant. Hope you all are having a grand time. Many years of fun were had here.

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Hi,

I recently built a rig in one of these (well, the red variant) and it was close to a nightmare. The 970 nearly didn't fit because of the clearance with the optical bay, which was a bit scary. Other than that, it was alright. The mobo is horizontal instead of vertical, giving it a weird feel. Is there a case similar in looks and price to that, preferably with a vertical mobo? Keep budget in mind here. Green would also be preferred but is not needed.

 

Thanks,

-Chris

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119274

Nothing fancy, but has the essentials

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119302&cm_re=Silencio_652S-_-11-119-303-_-Product

If you wanna get something nicer but still within the 70 dollar price range

System

  • CPU
    I7-4790K @ 4,7GHz
  • Motherboard
    Asus MAXIMUS Formula VI
  • RAM
    Kingston HyperX FURY 16GB Kit (2x8GB) 1866MHz
  • GPU
    MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X
  • Case
    Cooler Master Cosmos SE
  • Storage
    Samsung 840 EVO 500GB+WD Green 3TB
  • PSU
    EVGA SuperNOVA 850G2 80PLUS Gold Certified
  • Display(s)
    ASUS PB277Q 27" WQHD 2560x1440 75Hz 1ms
  • Cooling
    Corsair H105 with AP121s and Phanteks fans
  • Keyboard
    Logitech G610 Orion
  • Mouse
    E-3lue E-Blue Mazer II 2500 DPI Blue LED 2.4GHz Wireless Optical Gaming Mouse
  • Sound
    Audio-Technica ATH-M20x
  • Operating System
    Windows 10
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