# Mission Impossible: Case Advice Needed!!!



## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

Right, my m8 loves the small cases (he currently has a very nice Shuttle system) but he wants a change because he would like to get a standard ATX style motherboard for his C2D and add 2 nVIDIA cards in Sli (2x 8800's or 2x 8900's  )

BUT!.....

Hes a fussy git and wants the case to remain on the small size (ie pretty much like a Shuttle style case) only bigger!  He doesnt like 'Media Centre' cases either LOL

Hes looking for an ATX case with dimensions close to this: 

16 inch (460mm) high, 13 inch (330mm) deep, 10 inch (254mm) wide.

Any help would be great guys


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## pt (Jun 11, 2007)

so nvm on the small mobo?


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## DaMulta (Jun 11, 2007)

LINK


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## sneekypeet (Jun 11, 2007)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129012 

I realize this isnt a UK sale But case is close to specs....try to find 1 without the PSU!


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

sneekypeet said:


> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129012
> 
> I realize this isnt a UK sale But case is close to specs....try to find 1 without the PSU!



i think that would be too 'upright' for him LOL, but thanks anyway m8 

Like I said he is FUSSY!!!


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## sneekypeet (Jun 11, 2007)

take him to the local shippers and tell him to get whichever box looks best!!!...LMAO!
Cardboard can be your friend too!


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## Wile E (Jun 11, 2007)

Just a little deeper than he wants, but a really nice case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112130


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

Wile E said:


> Just a little deeper than he wants, but a really nice case.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112130



I did tell him how nice the Lian Li cases were....I will show him that one, thanks m8....


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

Wile E said:


> Just a little deeper than he wants, but a really nice case.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112130



Nope, he said its no good LOL


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## tkpenalty (Jun 11, 2007)

I do not think it is wise to keep to such small dimensions aformentioned, it is simply too thermally challengine and impractical. May I ask, how small is his current computer?


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## Chewy (Jun 11, 2007)

a you prob have seen.. the TT lanbox!? that case is pure sex. xD


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## tkpenalty (Jun 11, 2007)

this guy is going for a full sized ATX mobo... chewy.. Why dont you tell this guy that he cant get a case that small with two 8800s to operate safely within :S...

Does your friend know what reality is?

That Lian li case is excellent, for the 8800s...


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## scoutingwraith (Jun 11, 2007)

Some of the possible cases. All ATX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144161

Try looking for these types if they are suited.


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## Grings (Jun 11, 2007)

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=7&FilterCategories=480&Thumbnails=yes

i personally think these things are ghastly, but they may strike a chord with your awkward pal


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## Wile E (Jun 11, 2007)

scoutingwraith said:


> Some of the possible cases. All ATX
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144140
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144161
> ...


Those won't do. He want ATX, not mATX, but he wants to keep it around mATX size.



@Hookey, I think you're gonna have to tell your friend to make a choice.

A). Keep his mATX and forget about going SLI

B.) Make a small size sacrifice in his case, and go with something around the size of the Lian-Li I posted above, and have SLI and a good ATX mobo.

The way I see it, those are his only options. And like TK said above, a case any smaller than the Lian-Li mentioned above, will likely cause him to have thermal issues with a pair of 8800s.

Why does he want it to be so small, anyway?

Also, does he realize that an ATX board is 9.6" wide? That would only give him 3.4" in front of the mobo for components, by using his depth of 13". It just isn't gonna happen. Maybe a cube style case, but those might be too wide for him. I'll try to find one, but he's probably gonna have to compromise on his dimensions, period.


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## Wile E (Jun 11, 2007)

Just did as much searching for cube cases that I could, and guess what. Every single case that I came across that supports ATX, is deeper than 13". I'm fairly confident that nobody makes an ATX case that shallow, only mATX.


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## Mussels (Jun 11, 2007)

lol a matx sized case that fits ATX. Yeah, lets fit a car inside my antec P150!

Its not possible to have a motherboard larger than the case, and two GTX's are going to need incredible airflow. He needs to choose a weaker system, or a larger case - end story.

Edit: hell, a GTX is ~ 12" long anyway, so you'd NEED at least a 13" deep case (assuming HD bays and that werent in the way) just to make the VIDEO card fit!


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## Agility (Jun 11, 2007)

Seriously no insults but ask your dumb friend to be more realistic. There's gonna be heat problems.


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

tkpenalty said:


> I do not think it is wise to keep to such small dimensions aformentioned, it is simply too thermally challengine and impractical. May I ask, how small is his current computer?



He has a Shuttle system, like this one: 

http://www.theglowlounge.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/119_127/products_id/746


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

Wile E said:


> Those won't do. He want ATX, not mATX, but he wants to keep it around mATX size.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I totally agree, he does know that there are some great cases on the market, but all are of the larger ATX variety.  I would like to see him go for a larger case and forget about the small systems, he does need the room for airflow because hes into overclocking and building monster gaming rigs LOL

I will see if I can talk him round today 

I did say "why not go to the other extreme?", instead of very very small, why not go very very big? (with something like the CoolerMaster Stacker!)


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

Agility said:


> Seriously no insults but ask your dumb friend to be more realistic. There's gonna be heat problems.



Hes not an idiot, just a perfectionist


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## ex_reven (Jun 11, 2007)

HookeyStreet said:


> (with something like the CoolerMaster Stacker!)



Hell yes!


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## Wile E (Jun 11, 2007)

I third the CM Stacker 830 vote! lol


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

Wile E said:


> I third the CM Stacker 830 vote! lol



Now how do I persuade him to leave the little cases and go for a huge beast of a case?????????


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## Wile E (Jun 11, 2007)

HookeyStreet said:


> Now how do I persuade him to leave the little cases and go for a huge beast of a case?????????


Tell him that they are easier to build in, fit more possible upgrades, have better airflow-therefore better cooling, and some of the just look damn, sexy. lol Plaus, many of them have features like slide out mobo trays, and are convertable to different form factors. My 830 is also capable of BTX, reverse ATX, E-ATX(In case he ever wan't to do a dual cpu set up). In short, big, high quality cases are simple capable of more.

A nice big Lian-Li or Stacker would kick ass. The build quality of either would blow his mind.


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## ex_reven (Jun 11, 2007)

tell him the brushed alu will give him a hard on every time he looks at it


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## Agility (Jun 11, 2007)

If he wants to be a perfectionist ask him to build his own casing the way he likes. Since he wants to be "perfect", that's the easiest way. There's gonna be heat problems, air flow, not enough room for gpu and cooler is too big. How about he adds all his parts, measure the width,height and length. Build the case about 2CM longer from those measurements and tell us how "leet" his case would be.


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

Agility said:


> If he wants to be a perfectionist ask him to build his own casing the way he likes. Since he wants to be "perfect", that's the easiest way. There's gonna be heat problems, air flow, not enough room for gpu and cooler is too big. How about he adds all his parts, measure the width,height and length. Build the case about 2CM longer from those measurements and tell us how "leet" his case would be.



Im not sure if I like your tone or not!!!!


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## Mussels (Jun 11, 2007)

your friend is asking for the impossible hookey, agility has a decent and valid point - if your friend doesnt like whats suggested here, either he changes the hardware, or he makes his own case. There really isnt many other options.


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

Mussels said:


> your friend is asking for the impossible hookey, agility has a decent and valid point - if your friend doesnt like whats suggested here, either he changes the hardware, or he makes his own case. There really isnt many other options.



I agree he has a valid point, but hes just being sarcastic with it!

Im trying to talk my m8 round and make him see the benefits of a standard ATX case.  Hopefully he will cave, or he will have to stick with the 'Shuttle' case (which isnt ideal for the amount of gear he wants to load it with)


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## pt (Jun 11, 2007)

i don't know any small cases (except htpc's) that fit those needs, i suggest going with a atx one


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

pt said:


> i don't know any small cases (except htpc's) that fit those needs, i suggest going with a atx one



Hopefully thats what he will do


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## WarEagleAU (Jun 11, 2007)

I would suggest him building his own as well, out of acrylic or something. At least this way, he can cut it to size and its easy to work with and cut pieces out of and what not. Hell he can even hook up an awesome watercooling system to it and oc the heck out of them puppies (Cpu and video cards). 

Heat may be a problem, but if he has decent airflow design, it shouldnt really hinder him that much. I just hope he will go with the 8800GTS 640 or 320. That way, it wont really be as hot as the 8800GTX. Just my opinion though.

EDIT: If not, the Antec Nine-Hundred, Lian-Li suggested, CM Stacker 830, TT Armor, Armor Jr, Mozart and Kandalf are all good choices. Gigabyte Aurora too!


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 11, 2007)

WarEagleAU said:


> EDIT: If not, the Antec Nine-Hundred, Lian-Li suggested, CM Stacker 830, TT Armor, Armor Jr, Mozart and Kandalf are all good choices. Gigabyte Aurora too!



Any one of those would be ideal for what he needs, but he wants it to 'look' a certain way 

If it was my system I would go for the Antec Nine Hundred or the CM Stacker 830 tbh


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## g30rg1e (Jun 12, 2007)

Thanks hookeystreet for getting the ball rolling in the research department, this thread got to interesting to sit on the sidelines so i spent a few hours trying to guess my old login details.

Guys the links youv'e all posted and comments have been a great help, thanks it is appreciated very much, i guess 4+ years of shuttle small form factors may have tainted my judgement and whilst i havent seen a perfect case solution yet there have been some reasonable compromises, one thing i have decided on my next build is i wont compromise on content, so im gonna order all the components that i simply can't be without, put them in a cheap 20quid case whilst i decide what cases are avilable and best suit my needs, maybe then once i have all the components together and running i will have a better idea of what dimensions are involved.

Thanks again love your forums, much more interesting and helpfull than my regular haunt.

regards georgie


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 12, 2007)

g30rg1e said:


> Thanks hookeystreet for getting the ball rolling in the research department, this thread got to interesting to sit on the sidelines so i spent a few hours trying to guess my old login details.
> 
> Guys the links youv'e all posted and comments have been a great help, thanks it is appreciated very much, i guess 4+ years of shuttle small form factors may have tainted my judgement and whilst i havent seen a perfect case solution yet there have been some reasonable compromises, one thing i have decided on my next build is i wont compromise on content, so im gonna order all the components that i simply can't be without, put them in a cheap 20quid case whilst i decide what cases are avilable and best suit my needs, maybe then once i have all the components together and running i will have a better idea of what dimensions are involved.
> 
> ...



Lo m8.  Good idea on grabbing a cheap case for now while your still searching for that "ultimate" case 

Why not grab one of these?: http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/115479 (its the case I have coming for my C2D build)

Its very cheap and looks half decent (I think the airflow should be good aswell due to the front, side & rear fans  )


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## Mussels (Jun 13, 2007)

g30rg1e said:


> Long post...
> 
> ...regards georgie




Good idea on the cheap case, all i can say is watch the cooling - if you get a case with a single 80mm exhaust and no intake fans a single GTX (let alone two) wont cope well with the heat. Try and get one with ventilation, or run with the side panel off if you can stand the noise


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## g30rg1e (Jun 13, 2007)

Mussels said:


> Good idea on the cheap case, all i can say is watch the cooling - if you get a case with a single 80mm exhaust and no intake fans a single GTX (let alone two) wont cope well with the heat. Try and get one with ventilation, or run with the side panel off if you can stand the noise



its because i'm having a bit of a cooling crisis thats prompted me to wanna go a bit bigger in the case, i've had to remove the gtx cause card idle temps are at 70, as well as overall system temps which has increase by 12-15 degrees, the cpu air intake is obstructed by the card, fortunately i have a 7950gt to hand which has got my temps all stable again, i guess big really is best when it comes to the high end of pc gaming, as soon as the new nvidia is released i will get a pair for sli, a ddr3 mobo that does sli and just go for it, hoping gigabyte have a nice mobo out by then, my brother runs a gigabyte p35 dq6 and a quad core, so need to be beating that  can't wait.........


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## Agility (Jun 13, 2007)

Dude i wasn't being sarcastic or anything. I've never seen any cases like mATX with a ATX inside. The only way is to make his own casing. Not like no one has never done it before. I remembered the "Briefcase" casing and "wooden" casing here at TPU. Seen them made by some of our members.


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## Agility (Jun 13, 2007)

g30rg1e said:


> its because i'm having a bit of a cooling crisis thats prompted me to wanna go a bit bigger in the case, i've had to remove the gtx cause card idle temps are at 70, as well as overall system temps which has increase by 12-15 degrees, the cpu air intake is obstructed by the card, fortunately i have a 7950gt to hand which has got my temps all stable again, i guess big really is best when it comes to the high end of pc gaming, as soon as the new nvidia is released i will get a pair for sli, a ddr3 mobo that does sli and just go for it, hoping gigabyte have a nice mobo out by then, my brother runs a gigabyte p35 dq6 and a quad core, so need to be beating that  can't wait.........



Yer mate said you wanted a mATX. What now? 

BTW

Tried water cooling?


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## Wile E (Jun 13, 2007)

Agility said:


> Yer mate said you wanted a mATX. What now?


We talked him out of it. lol


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 13, 2007)

Agility said:


> Dude i wasn't being sarcastic or anything. I've never seen any cases like mATX with a ATX inside. The only way is to make his own casing. Not like no one has never done it before. I remembered the "Briefcase" casing and "wooden" casing here at TPU. Seen them made by some of our members.



No problem m8


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## HookeyStreet (Jun 13, 2007)

Wile E said:


> We talked him out of it. lol



He has seen the light


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## TSX420J (Jun 13, 2007)

HookeyStreet said:


> Now how do I persuade him to leave the little cases and go for a huge beast of a case?????????



Tell him birds like blokes with bigger cases.  If that doesnt work tell him girly blokes like blokes  with bigger cases


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## Wile E (Jul 17, 2007)

Hey, forgot about this thread. Any updates on case choice?


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## g30rg1e (Oct 17, 2007)

Ended up with one of these  SilverStone Sugo SG03 SFF (black)


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