Hello,

I'm planning to build a new system, currently reading up on today's hardware. At the moment I'm thinking:
CPU Intel i7-3770K (though not fully convinced, not sure if the power justifies the price)
MB Intel DH77DF
SSD Samsung830 256GB (1x)
RAM 16GB

I'm thinking Big Shuriken 2 cooler, since I don't plan to use a PCIe card - this will be a Linux machine, mostly development work and a couple of VMs running on it.

What cases would you recommend - or, better yet, have you used in similar situations? I'm looking for the smallest case possible, if it has external power brick even better (though not critical). Cooling is important, the computer might even end up in a semi-closed cabinet.

I know mITX cases have been discussed a number of times, but usually people want a PCIe card, or are looking at low-power systems.

Thank you very much in advance for your comments.

Be advised that mITX boards only have two available RAM slots. As for a case. I'd suggest a Lian Li PC-Q08. It's small, has good cooling options (one 120 mm fan, one 140 mm fan), compatible with standard ATX PSU. The only reason it didn't receive the Editor's Choice award was the proneness to vibration from hard drives, but that won't be a problem for you. The height for the CPU cooler is a bit limited though since the PSU is positioned above the CPU.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/lianli-pcq08

You may also consider the Fractal Design Node 304 which has recently been announced. Also a very small mITX case that's compatible with CPU coolers up to 165 mm tall!

I don't know enough about VMs to judge, but Hyperthreading sounds good for your use, even if it's already a quadcore, and the i7 sports "Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)", whatever that is. Those are the main i7 advantages I can see, the rest is of no concern as far as I can tell. The i5-3570K runs like a champ, and the price difference is quite big, at least in Finland.

I'm a stranger to mITX as well at this time, but here's an interesting-looking case: http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/produ ... y#overview. There's a lot of marketing and a lot of holes in the design (unfiltered side intake, restricted front intake), but it's a looker, and sports good compatibility with different fans on paper. The Lian Li mentioned by kuzzia I would think to be the smarter design though.

Thank you for your comments.

About the cases, I've seen both the BitFenix Lian and the Li PC-Q08 - and they're both a bit too large to my taste, I would like something even smaller (especially as height) than the Silvestone SG06.

The SG06 looks like an OK compromise, though - as pointed in the SPCR review - it does have its shortcomings. And it was designed to accommodate a PCIe card, which is not something I need.

Other suggestions?