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Best (small) mATX case?

aeroencychris
By aeroencychris
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Hi all,

Planning a build for my friend and he's looking to get a very flashy system, with an LED strip and all. The Bitfenix Prodigy M looked perfect since it has a nice look on the outside and upon first glance arranged everything quite well on the inside, with a window to show everything off. After brief research on /r/buildapc and some threads here, there seem to be only poor experiences with it, so I'd like to look elsewhere.

The Air 240 seemed great since it's still relatively small but also very high quality (I've build in it before and loved it) but he's not a fan of the mesh intake on the left side. The Fractal Node 804 looked nice too but it felt too "boring" for him with the brushed front (I guess it's a specific taste). My best option at this point is the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv but the window seems a bit too tinted to show everything off.

Any other suggestions for smaller cases? I'd like to keep it mATX since ATX is a bit too large for him to carry but I want the flexibility of Crossfire as well.

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23 minutes ago, cdsboy2000 said:

Hi all,

Planning a build for my friend and he's looking to get a very flashy system, with an LED strip and all. The Bitfenix Prodigy M looked perfect since it has a nice look on the outside and upon first glance arranged everything quite well on the inside, with a window to show everything off. After brief research on /r/buildapc and some threads here, there seem to be only poor experiences with it, so I'd like to look elsewhere.

The Air 240 seemed great since it's still relatively small but also very high quality (I've build in it before and loved it) but he's not a fan of the mesh intake on the left side. The Fractal Node 804 looked nice too but it felt too "boring" for him with the brushed front (I guess it's a specific taste). My best option at this point is the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv but the window seems a bit too tinted to show everything off.

Any other suggestions for smaller cases? I'd like to keep it mATX since ATX is a bit too large for him to carry but I want the flexibility of Crossfire as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIABFS4D87647&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-_-Cases+(Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-9SIABFS4D87647&gclid=CjwKEAiA0pDBBRCFtoPyguTh8AUSJADNWeuxm5fmfI_S7pxbaHMDQ4I-R7kHG89YoxbG3kUDDXsYGxoC3Azw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds is a very beautiful thing case imo

MF UH BEANS

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6 minutes ago, aries757 said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIABFS4D87647&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-_-Cases+(Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-9SIABFS4D87647&gclid=CjwKEAiA0pDBBRCFtoPyguTh8AUSJADNWeuxm5fmfI_S7pxbaHMDQ4I-R7kHG89YoxbG3kUDDXsYGxoC3Azw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds is a very beautiful thing case imo

bit taller than what I'm looking for, but it does look nice

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I personally just vuilt in a fractal design arc mini r2 and it was a very very nice experience. rubber grommets are placed well, offset top 280mm rad support, modular drive cages, full atx psu support, a fair enough space for rear cable management, and removable dust filters everywhere (top one is modular) except for the rear exhaust (idk why youd need one there tho). my only gripe about the case was there's no psu shroud and the tint in the side panel is a little dark if you're not putting on a light show in there. the 2 5.25" bays were also a nice touch. great product for the price, I give it an A- as far as overall quality is concerned.

 

Also a good choice (possibly) if your friend could go for a cube style case, is the aerocool DS (dead silent) line. Another really solid case at the price point and like most cubes has a flat mobo layout that really shows off your rig nicely. kind of hard to come by tho

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Enthoo Evolv mATX - this thing has lots of options

 

You can bark like a dog, but that won't make you a dog.

You can act like someone you're not, but that won't change who you are.

 

Finished Crysis without a discrete GPU,15 FPS average, and a lot of heart

 

How I plan my builds -

Spoiler

For me I start with the "There's no way I'm not gonna spend $1,000 on a system."

Followed by the "Wow I need to buy the OS for a $100!?"

Then "Let's start with the 'best budget GPU' and 'best budget CPU' that actually fits what I think is my budget."

Realizing my budget is a lot less, I work my way to "I think these new games will run on a cheap ass CPU."

Then end with "The new parts launching next year is probably gonna be better and faster for the same price so I'll just buy next year."

 

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3 hours ago, YoloSwag said:

Enthoo Evolv mATX - this thing has lots of options

 

 

17 hours ago, cdsboy2000 said:

My best option at this point is the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv but the window seems a bit too tinted to show everything off.

 

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White LED lights can fix that. Even if it's just a bunch of LED fans, you'll get to see it.

 

There is a different tempered glass version too...I'm not sure if it's only ATX though.

You can bark like a dog, but that won't make you a dog.

You can act like someone you're not, but that won't change who you are.

 

Finished Crysis without a discrete GPU,15 FPS average, and a lot of heart

 

How I plan my builds -

Spoiler

For me I start with the "There's no way I'm not gonna spend $1,000 on a system."

Followed by the "Wow I need to buy the OS for a $100!?"

Then "Let's start with the 'best budget GPU' and 'best budget CPU' that actually fits what I think is my budget."

Realizing my budget is a lot less, I work my way to "I think these new games will run on a cheap ass CPU."

Then end with "The new parts launching next year is probably gonna be better and faster for the same price so I'll just buy next year."

 

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2 minutes ago, YoloSwag said:

White LED lights can fix that. Even if it's just a bunch of LED fans, you'll get to see it.

 

There is a different tempered glass version too...I'm not sure if it's only ATX though.

I think I managed to sell him on the blue S340 :) thanks though

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1 minute ago, cdsboy2000 said:

I think I managed to sell him on the blue S340 :) thanks though

S340 is a good case too. I just like the Phanteks one because of the tons of water cooling options in case you guys wanted to mod it

:D NP

You can bark like a dog, but that won't make you a dog.

You can act like someone you're not, but that won't change who you are.

 

Finished Crysis without a discrete GPU,15 FPS average, and a lot of heart

 

How I plan my builds -

Spoiler

For me I start with the "There's no way I'm not gonna spend $1,000 on a system."

Followed by the "Wow I need to buy the OS for a $100!?"

Then "Let's start with the 'best budget GPU' and 'best budget CPU' that actually fits what I think is my budget."

Realizing my budget is a lot less, I work my way to "I think these new games will run on a cheap ass CPU."

Then end with "The new parts launching next year is probably gonna be better and faster for the same price so I'll just buy next year."

 

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