Hey guys I'm fairly new here. I'm thinking of replacing my case sometime during the summer. Current case is a Corsair 800D. I was thinking of going with something like the 350D or 450D since after using and building PCs for a few years I have realized that, while they do look awesome, I don't have much use for all the space a full tower has. Never have put more than two video cards in my system at any given time and I don't need 999984573297845634297865346975 drive bays since I've only had at most 2 HDD and 1 SSD in my system. What kind of smaller cases do you guys recommend besides the ones I mentioned?
Thanks!
Edit: I also liquid cool (only my cpu) and needs to have a window.
What i can recommend is Fractal Design Arc Mini R2. It's the best micro ATX case in my opinion. You remove the top drive cage, you rotate the bottom one to not interfere with the airflow, you put your HDD's in the rotated cage, the SSD on the back. It will be hell of a quiet case using the integrated fan controller. I have the Arc Midi and i have done just that. I can actually hear my HDD when it's writing. It's that quiet at 7V fans...
You can take also a look at Xigmatec Aquilla... It's a bit large for micro case, but it has nice internals and looks really nice...
Another one you can look at is Zalman Z3 plus... It's mid tower, but it's quite compact, looks great on my opinion and have all bells and whistles... 4 fans, fan controller, fully dust proof, etc...
Silverstone FT03. m-ATX with a Small Footprint. doesn't have a 5.25 bay for Disc Drives cause who needs those. it does have a slim loading slot if you really do need one. and Airflow is awesome. Positive Pressure only. and can hold GPU cards of any Length. also it comes with a magnetic dust filter on the bottom so no dust gets in.
it was a recommendation. he did mention looking at a 350D in his post which is a mATX Case. that's if he does jump on the mATX Train and get a new motherboard.
The Bitfenix Prodigy M is an Absolute Crap when it comes to airflow from personal experience. once you put an SLI or Crossfire System in there that's it you only have about 1 intake and 1 outtake.
Yeah, that's why I decided against the Bitfenix cases, for my own personal consideration. I think the Air 240 is the best balanced of everything.
Unfortunately, he will have to replace his motherboard to accommodate any mATX config, as Peps1 said. I find myself in a similar situation. Gonna have to sell my Hero VI, at some point.
The Bitfenix Prodigy M is an Absolute Crap when it comes to airflow from personal experience. once you put an SLI or Crossfire System in there that's it you only have about 1 intakes and 1 out-take.
????what????
There is space for double radiator/120 fans on the top, a 120/140 in the back and 2x 120mm or 230mm at the bottom and option for passive intake on the side panel.
If your having trouble with airflow in the Prodigy M, your doing something wrong!
This a Picture of my Old Build inside the Bitfenix Prodigy M. Excuse the mess. but to prove my point. if you have 2 hard drives in that case which some people probably do. Airflow is an ABSOLUTE MESS. and you can see it here. you CAN'T put fans on the top while you have two GPU's. and if you have two hard drives and two GPU's you basically have no Airflow what-so-ever
Yes I will be switching motherboards as my current one won't fit if I go mATX. Which is what I'm looking at doing. Mid towers don't seem to be a lot smaller than full towers and it's still more space than I need. Plus since I will be leaving home for college in the somewhat near future I figure a small desktop will be a hell of a lot easier to take with my then this massive 800D I currently have.
And thank you guys for the suggestions so far, I'll look into them all!
Alright thanks for all the input guys! I've narrowed in down to the Corsair 350D or the Fractal Arc Mini. I think I just need to debate which one looks better at this point. Now onto the motherboard... (Made a separate post about that)
