Last year I had a disaster when my motherboard stopped working and I impatiently bought a matx mobo and case to get my pc up and running the next day. I am getting sick of having such a big case and want to go back down to m-atx and so am looking for suggestions. Requirements: My original m-atx was a silverstone tj08e (30L volume) so a similar size to this 5 pci-e slots, as I want to be able to crossfire/sli***** Obviously the best noise and thermals combined Only cases I have found that fit the criteria so far are the bitfenix phenom-m and colossus-m, are there any other options? Cheers, atc95 *****Or alternatively a 4 slot case with room for a 2 slot cooler and I can buy a single slot adaptor to screw it in
Not sure how it compares with size but I recently did a build for a friend in the Corsair 350D and found it very good. The only criticism I have about it is fitting a radiator in the top blocks the top 5.25" bay.
Nice case but only marginally smaller than my current atx case and I really want to downsize, particularly as lugging around an atx case to and from uni was a nightmare!
TJ08e was great but due to the layout (upside down) you cannot crossfire, also the I found the gpu temps very high due to most of the airflow being below the gpu altogether (again because of upside down layout). SG03 looks like a good size, definitely on the shortlist!
350D and Node 804 are both good but too big to be considered tbh, I think realistically my maximum is probably about 35L as the tj08e was great for transporting it around and sitting on my desk in uni!
Probably not going to be watercooling until I go all out on my pc build which will be after my year in industry due to finances, I do have a 120mm closed loop cooler for the cpu though so the air 240 and the sg10 look good, heat hasn't been an issue so far but If I get a case where the gpus are near case vents or intakes then they should be cool enough, my 7950 rarely goes above 80 degrees even with very little airflow in the tj08e and the 300r I have now!
Just so you know, the Carbide Air 240 is actually bigger than the Fractal Node 804 (I've just bought the latter). I will also second the suggestion of a Lian Li. My previous case the A05N is 38cm tall X 22cm wide and I regularly carted it back and forward to uni (with watercooling as well). It is light as a feather in comparison to other cases.
80 degrees is only after an hour or so of bf4 or watch dogs. Are you sure the air 240 is bigger? The 804 has roughly a 40L volume from the fractal design website and kitguru give dimensions for the air 240 that equate to only 33L. Realistically the air 240 would be the biggest I could go, going up to uni last year with the tj08e and monitor etc was quite tight on space in the car, plus taking the carbide 300r to lans was a nightmare as the tj08e, monitor and peripherals could be done in 1 trip.
Narrowed it down to the following so far: Silverstone Grandia GD10 (27.5L) -atx but htpc design means it is small and will just have to rethink desk layout. Silverstone Grandia GD09 (27L) Bitfenix Phenom / Colossus M (31L) - little bit of modding may be required to front panel to allow for more airflow like the prodigy M Bitfenix Prodigy M (36L) - would get rid of the handles immediately and mod on case feet to get the volume down as the handles are just a huge waste of space. Lian Li PC-V354 (33L) - Really like this but would need to mod bottom panel with a vent for gpu intake otherwise the thermals on xfire will be outrageous. ACE Ecco 250 (27L) - Would need to mod gpu vent as above but looks quite good, also looks like it might be possible to mod the railings on the side to hold fans and mod the side panel. Also considering the Raijintek Atlas if it fits the criteria. Does anyone know of any reasonably priced services where you can send them your side panel for fanholes/vents to be drilled? Don't really have the tools or expertise to do it myself.
