Searching for very small (~5l) uATX case (no GPU)

Got a shopping cart of parts that you want opinions on? Get advice from members on your planned or existing system (or upgrade).

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
csillag
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:11 am

Searching for very small (~5l) uATX case (no GPU)

Post by csillag » Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:16 am

Hi all,

I am new here, and I am looking for advice.

I would like to build a system based on a Micro ATX motherboard (namely, Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H TH ), and not much else.
If possible, I would like to use a passive, external, power-brick - style CPU.
I don't need any ODD.
I don't want any video card. (The one in the CPU will be just fine for what I need.)
I only need space for one 2.5" SSD.
I would like to use some slim, low-profile cooling solution. (I am going to use a CPU with 45W TDP.)

I am searching for a case that is as small as possible.

Since the motherboard is 9.6" x 9.6", (245mm x 245mm)
I am thinking of something of dimensions like 10" x 10" x 3" (254 x 254 x 72 mm) or so.
( ~ 5l of volume.)
Or maybe 10" x 10" x 4" ...

I tried to look, but I could not find any Micro ATX cases in that kind of form factor.
There are some Mini ITX cases, but I want to use a Micro ATX motherboard.
(As far as I can tell, nobody has released Mini ITX motherboards with Thunderbolt ports yet.)

I considered Intel NUC and Shuttle's offering, but none of them offered 3-monitor support, which is required for me.
(Hence the choice of motherboard.)

The best match I have found so far is the Silverstone LC19, which is 15.3" x 13.7" x 2.6".
This is how it looks like, with a uATX motherboard installed:
Image
As you can see, it has way too much wasted empty space inside. (That's why it's 15.3" x 13.7", instead of 10" x 10" )

Could you please help me find a suitable case?

Thank you:

Csillag

csillag
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:11 am

Re: Searching for very small (~5l) uATX case (no GPU)

Post by csillag » Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:05 am

Right now I am looking at the CoolerMaster Elite 100 (262 x 69.6 x 318 mm, 10.3" x 2.7" x 12.5"), which got a terrible review here, but that was mostly because of the bad built-in PSU, which I intend to remove, and add an external solution instead.

I was also referred to the Evercase ECE0526 and ECE0546 cases, which have about the same dimensions as the Elite 100.

Unfortunately, all three models seem to be hard to find in Europe...

Post Reply