Best reliable small form factor

[Walt]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what the best smallest form factor is. I want to help a friend of mine. He always has a laptop because he need to carry his laptop/pc between 2 houses.

This is the reason he wants it to be small. Any advice on cases that fit into a small bag?

Thanks!

[honor]

Mini-ITX i would say. Small cases are out there, like the fractal node 202

[LHJKO]

get a slim mini itx  like the node 202 

[GER_T4IGA]

if price is not an issue: Linus reviewed the Dan's Case S4-SFX or the NFC-S4 Mini which both seem to be great chasis for their size although a little hard to build in.

Bonus: Idk if this is out yet and I am to lazy to look. Do it yourself if you like the looks and features

 

[Silver47]

45 minutes ago, Walt said:

He always has a laptop because he need to carry his laptop/pc between 2 houses.

This is the reason he wants it to be small. Any advice on cases that fit into a small bag?

I use a Silverstone SG05-Lite for the exact same reason. Due to its small outer dimensions it comfortably fits into my backpack but still is superior to cases like the Silverstone RVZ01 or the Fractal Node 202 in its cooling capacity. I fittet a 120mm Silverstone-AIO with a full-size radiator and two fans in the front of mine, so that I could oc my 4770k to 4.2 Ghz.

 

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=413&area=en&pid=413

[bowrilla]

You really have to get more specific as in what components should go inside and how big or small you think a "small bag" is. The smaller you go the more expensive and boutique it gets.

 

Probably the smallest option would be the NFC S4 Mini at 4.2l volume, but you'll need an HDPLEX and an external power brick and you only have 40mm of clearing for a cooler (and you have to select your GPU carefully, 8" max I think).

Above that you have several options: Zaber Sentry (~7l) with support for full-length GPUs and SFX-L PSUs, DAN Cases A4-SFX (7.2l) with support for full-length GPUs and internal SFX PSUs, the often mentioned Fractal Design Node 202 (10.2l) at quite a reasonable price as it's not a small batch production (and people have put AiO and custom loops in it), NCASE M1 (12.6l) with support for 240mm radiators on the side, Silverstone's whole RVZ-line offers 4 options ranging all around 14l except for the RVZ02 (~12l), with the RVZ01 supporting custom loop cooling and the RVZ03 being pretty new and pretty nice looking as well, then there's the cube-shaped Cooler Master Elite 110A (~15.2l) with some GPU-length restrictions (or the Elite 130 at ~19,9l with full-length GPU support I think). And then there's the mATX project called Cerberus at only 18l which still is considered SFF (<20l). Not quite SFF anymore is the new Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Shift with a volume of 21,9l and support for 2x 120mm radiators (and tempered glass side panels).

Between 10l and 20l are countless more cases on the market from several big and small manufactures. You really have to be more specific on what has to go in it, how small it actually should be and the budget…

 

If your budget is tight then probably forget all the small batch production cases and aim for the Node 202 or Silverstones RVZ line-up.

 

EDIT:

Forgot about the following case:
Silverstone FT03-Mini (17.6l)

Lazer3D LZ7 (~7.1l) – not available yet

Louqe Ghost S1 (7.3l) – not available yet

EVGA Hadron Hydro (~18.2l)

Cooltek Coolcube (~10.1l) – pretty cheap and not best quality

Raijintek Metis & Metis Plus (~13.4l)

…

Edited July 27, 2017 by bowrilla
Additional cases, missing link