Want to get a mATX case, with some specific features

I'm posting this as a separate thread fron Niku-Sama's, since I want something different than he does and didn't want to hijack.

I'm currently using my mATX AMD system in a Rocketfish case, for the sole reason that it was the only free case I had at the time. But I absolutely hate this case, and it certainly isn't appropriate for a fairly barebones mATX machine, so I want to go with something more practical.

What I'm looking for is a fairly slim box, preferably one that could be set up as either a desktop or turned on its side as a micro-tower. I don't care for the squatty things like the Lanbox and Aspires and such. I want something well-made and sturdy, preferably a thicker-gauge steel... I'm accustomed to the heavy old '90s boxes, and after this Rocketfish I want nothing more to do with aluminum cases. I also want something plain-looking... no windows, no color-changing light strips, any of that crap. Black, white, beige, grey... doesn't matter, but nothing flashy. A SFF PSU is fine, as long as it's a semi-standard type like SFX or TFX, and low profile expansion brackets are ok too. My point of reference is the HP/Compaq slimlines and little Acers... I like those.

There's one other significant hitch: I need it to fit three SATA hard drives.

I've been kinda eyeing this thing, but I can't find much information about the actual quality/fit and finish of it. This also looks interesting internally, and I like the full height card slots, but the front panel just looks awful. Any thoughts, or other options I may have overlooked? Or should I just track down an empty OEM case?

Would you be willing to use a mount for one or more of your hard drives? Most mATX ('side mine) do not have room for more than one or two 'typical' hard drives.

you coulda hijacked thats fine but yea these are alot different than what i am lookin for, i want to use tall stuff and i hate to crowd things in there.

i have used a case like that athenatech case in the past before, infact it was the same guts, different face. the biggest most huge problem was the drives will hang over the motherboard and of course the 5 inch drives are closest to the processor so that can be a limiting factor to what you use to cool your processor because depending on the legenth of your drive or where your processor is it could be right over one another, and forget tall ram with coolers on em, and then toss in the cables and man whatta mess.
i think the tray for the 5 inch bay hangs over quite a bit, but its hard to tell because the athena tech case seems to only have 4 stand offs but i am sure there are some in the very front of the case.

also the PSU that came with it smelled of cat crap for some reason.

there are some cases that get away with it, theyre a little longer, if you have a case that the tray for the 5 inch bay stops before hanging over the motherboard tray it makes things alot easier and you wont have as much over it
here some like that:

Rosewill R379-SM Black/ Silver
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147098
^this one comes from a bunch of different manufacturers, same guts different faces but i thought this was the nicer looking of them, the HD and 5inch tray are all one peice and it flips up, which is handy, and they wont hang over tooo far


IN WIN IW-BT611T.300SL Silver/Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108060

this ones a little spendy and might be a bit big but its well organized and can take a standard PSU
Antec New Solution NSK2480
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129034

there were alot more that i was lookin at before i decided to go tower but i am strapped for time so i'll post em in later

You might like the Antec NSK2480. The case is steel and durable, the front panel is plain looking, and it will fit three SATA hard drives if you place one into one of the two 5.25" bays. I like that case because they compartmentalize the various sections, with two 120mm exhaust fans that cover the length of the board. Additionally the power LED is handled by a molex connector separate of the power switch header, so if you want you can leave that disconnected and have no lights on the front, except for your optical drive. It can handle full size cards, and it uses a full size ATX power supply.

Well, I'm using a Thermaltake TR2 heatsink, it's not particularly big, so unless the clearances are really bad, it probably shouldn't be an issue. I don't have tall ram either... Unfortunately I haven't seen any of those Athenatechs with a different faceplate.

The In-win you linked is about the same as the one I found, just with a different faceplate, and I don't really like the ones where you have to open a door to access the CD drive.

The Rosewill looks kinda nice, it's still got a flip down CD cover, but the eject button can be accessed from the front. My biggest concern with that one is the PSU, it looks a little like a TFX, but not exactly... it might be proprietary, which would especially suck considering the lack of available connections on it and Rosewill's reputation with PSUs in general. I wish I could tell for sure... Also, I noticed on the Rosewill site that they're listing it as 0.5mm steel, rather than the 0.8mm on Newegg. I consider anything less than 0.8mm to be tinfoil, so I wonder which is accurate.

Actually, WRT the PSU, that's another potential thing about the In-Win... it's a little bit different from what I know as a 'standard' TFX (if there even is such a thing). But if I'm going to get something with a SFF PSU, I want something that, worst case, I can fit in one of the Seasonic units, like this one or this one. The former appears it might fit in the Rosewill, but certainly not in the In-Win.

The Antec is indeed nice, but it is a little bigger than what I was looking for, plus it looks like it'd be a bit awkward to stand it on end... seems to be more of a desktop-only design. For $120 I'd want it to be perfect for my use in every way, and it's not really.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Edit: Y'know what? This is exactly what I want, right here. Of course I'd prefer one that's not dented, but I can hunt around for that. But it takes a semi-normal PSU (with SATA power connectors!) which can be upgraded to the Seasonic if necessary, and it has room for three hard drives. (I'm assuming that's a third mount, under the optical drive bracket.) No stupid LEDs, plain front panel... covered CD-ROM, yeah, but still easily accessible without having to open a door. Looks like it might even use standard front panel connections for the audio and USB, judging by what info I can find elsewhere.

Edit again: I found the teh secksiest mATX case ever to exist anywhere in the known universe. Unfortunately there's the tiny detail that it's $330 without a PSU, and it's only available in Japan.

really you think thats the best ever?

really you think thats the best ever?

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The Windy? Yep, that thing is awesome. Basic industrial look, but with a clean fit and finish, plenty of room for drives, and not only are there the four standard low-profile expansion slots, but there's also provisions for adding a riser to have a full height card. Compartmentalized airflow, so that the PSU isn't acting as the main vent for all the heat in the case. The only problem I see with it is the price and availability... it's not worth $330 to me no matter what it is, I didn't pay that much for the entire rest of my system.

As for the Dell case, which would actually be attainable, again it has a good layout, it's built like a tank (at least judging by every other Dell case I've seen), cooling should be adequate since none of my components really run that hot, and it's about as plain looking as you can get nowadays. Perfect for the 'set it and forget it' sorta deal I want. It may be a little cramped to work on, but I'm used to working with those things already (I've dealt with SFF Dells on a regular basis) and I don't plan on opening it up very often once I get it together anyhow.

im keen to this one, no i dont own it but thinking about getting it for my i7 matx build. though im also still thinking about building my own matx case to suite my needs...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119195

that one isnt mATX though evil.
neat idea for the PSU though

DOH, somehow when i was going thru the cases i saw MATX...

DOH, somehow when i was going thru the cases i saw MATX...

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There's the Elite 341 and the Centurion 541 that are mATX... The 541 is kinda neat with the inverted motherboard, and I like the quality of my old Centurion 5 mid-tower. Might be worth looking at for your build.

i owned the 541 at one time, had a LGA775 P4 with a ninja in that case... was nice but i didnt like the rear 80mm fan section... the 341 well that is just rubbish to me after having a LL A10B.. im looking for a certian setup internally which is why im now looking at building my own case. i cant find one case that has the layout that i want... either that or my matx i7 will live in the LL A10B for a while...

what are you lookinf for in a case evil? similar thing small and desktoppy?

Niku-Sama said:

what are you lookinf for in a case evil? similar thing small and desktoppy?

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something like that, the design i have in my head is close to like that.... the main body of the chasis will house the board and cd/dvd/hd's. then the modular part would be a top housing the can be switched out for a air setup or water. with the water setup it would house a 2x120 rad with pump and water level indicator. the other modular portion would be for the power supplies allowing me if i wanted to switch out the modul to handle two psu's or just one. one thought so far for the psu's is a modded Seasonic TFX or SFX psu at 300watts. interally join the 2 12v rails, with a smaller unit to power just the HD/fans/cd-dvd. the other psu i have been looking at is a 2u 460watt seasonic unit as well, kind similar FF to the TFX or SFX unti i was looking at but a touch bigger in width and height. the way the case will be setup is that i will need to use a PCIE module with a flexi cable. as i will have the back of the GPu as close to the mobo as possible. then the fan no the GPU hs will pull air from the side panel instead of from inside the case. hieght wise this will be lower profile then normal mounting method. now if i design the base of the unit for just water then that means the highest point for the case would be for the dual slot that is inverted for the GPU. prolly something like 5 possibly 6 inches for the height. then the base would be 10 wide and 12 possibly 14 deep(never now how much future gpus will grow. if i were to stick to the length of my current gpu then it would be only 12 deep, card is 9.5 but need some extra space for cable routing thru the bottom side of the case. now if i took the base even further in design to lower hieght, then a single slot would be needed with about .25 to .5 in of clearance to the side panel for the waterblock (assuming i went that direction as well with the GPU cooling.) though i dont think the 2x120 rad would handle a oc'd i7 with gpu. which leads me in another direction for tring to fit 2 rads in a tight space.. though that would then up the case hieght back to around 5-6 inches...

it something i really need to draw on paper and then try to get into a cad program.. cause the whole idea behind it is to allow different possiblities for case without have to get a whole new case.. could say it is more a "retail" idea but i dont plan to make them for "retail". i might however build one extra and possibly sell it later on, that is if things work out...

*edit*
also if i did striaght air cooling then the hieght of the case would be even higher to allow perfect fitting for the mugen 2 HS. instead of using a rear mounted 120mm fan it would just be Vented at the back with a airduct to the top of the case where either a 120mm or 140mm fan would be mounted. i am thinking i would make sure i could fit a 38mm thick fan in there like the sanyo denki im using for best cooling on the mugen 2. though if i wanted to add a fan on the back side of the hs where the vent would be, i would make sure the duct wouldnt interefear with it...

stuff like that i have in my head i just cant seem to get out. much less actually get one made since $$ is a issue for the most part...