Hi all, what mATX case should I aim for? I need to fit a D14 and a 120mm rad in a SFF case.

Currently thinking about ditching my cpu/mobo/Fractal R3 for a mATX/ITX case for one of these:

Temjin TJ08-E
PS-07 (able to fit 120mm on top as exhaust)
Any other recommendations?

Because friends want to build a budget gaming system, I can sell my old CPU/Mobo and upgrade to Ivy myself.
I've fallen in love with the Temjin TJ08-E but 2 things:
1) I've been hearing less than optimal things about the AP181 on it
2) Guessing I cannot fit the 120mm rad on the rear exhaust with a D14

Separate question: I have a Xonar DG - Do any mATX mobos exist with PCI slots? If not, might as well go ITX since it's the only expansion card I have!
The last requirement is for the mobo but it doesn't seem there exist any quality mATX motherboards at MicroCenter that have PCI slots.

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That is all! D14 + 120mm rad are the biggest factors that're tripping me up right now. The PS-07 is going on sale for $68AR on amazon right now, so that's what I'm leaning towards. What would you guys do with this system?

The two cases are nearly identical, just minor differences between the two. I've built several systems in PS07 cases, and customers love them, and they're very easy to work in. No sharp edges, and fairly straight forward installations. Silverstone thought out these cases very well for even very advanced builds.

The D14 should fit, but whether it will fit with a 120mm rad in the back, I'm not going to place any bets. There's a lot of room in the case, but the motherboards socket position will be the determining factor for that. If the rad has no fan, you might be able to squeeze it in and use the CPU heatsink fans for some cooling, or even mount the fan outside the case after chopping out the grill, but I don't want to give false hopes. As far as the AP181 goes, fans can always be removed or replaced, don't let those be a dealbreaker of the case. With the right components and coolers in the case, you could easily do without the AP181 and not have any ill effects. I'm also going to say that you wont need a top exhaust fan in the PS07, it has a lot of airflow by itself, you'll want the CPU cooling pointed out the back, and maybe one intake fan in the upper position for them (it comes with two). Make sure the PSU fan is pointed up, and leave the filter on the case, you shouldn't have any problems. Alternatively, you can have the

As far as PCI goes, I'd look towards going PCI-e rather than keeping a PCI sound card. As PCI-E advances and PCI gets dropped more and more, you'll likely begin having trouble with how it works. Also, 90% of the motherboards out now have easily comparable audio to the Xonar series, if not a new X-Fi that runs PCI-E will be cheap enough. I know your pain, with 3 pro audio cards that are PCI, and I'm looking to upgrade, no motherboard will support them if I upgrade.

How? Where would the PSU go?

Do you mean regular old (legacy) PCI? Sure, there are plenty. You can get mATX boards that have 1 or 2 PCI slots. And at minimum 1 PCI slot is a requirement for me when shopping for a mATX board. What is your CPU? Maybe that will help to narrow it down.

Your post reveals I missed a ton on information.

I ended up purchasing this


Since the mobo was extremely cheap $50AR for a G1.Sniper M3!

Information I missed:

mATX mobo with an excellent VRM setup for overclocking (heatsinked at least 6 phases)
PCI Slot
i5-3570k + Noctua D14 (aiming for high performance, high overclocks) By the way, the PSU goes on top, no?

The first two options pretty much show up nothing in terms of quality boards that can hold high 24/7 overclocks.