News Corsair Obsidian 250D revealed as mini-ITX case

Not sure what 'others' you're referring to here. We draw the line based on what motherboard the case can fit. It's as simple as that.

In terms of these being big for mini-ITX, just look at the design compromises of the micro-atx versions of cases this size - the Prodigy and Colossus essentially can't fit a 5.25in drive and hard drives are mounted over the motherboard and CPU. With mini-ITX in this size case you don't have these compromises.

 

To continue your own arguments jrs77, what is your opinion on cases such as most of those featured in 'Full ATX' categories such as the TJ11 or the Zalman cube thingy? These cases are FAR larger than the motherboards that they house and yet there are still those who require the space. Your whole argument seems to stem from the opinion that any case should just be about fitting in your chosen hardware in as smaller space as possible regardless of looks, layouts and features. Have a look at most of the case mods and projects in MOTY and look at the amounts of vacant space within the case that is purely there for aesthetic reasons. I can understand your points and opinions, I just get annoyed at constantly seeing your negative comments on each and every Mini-ITX case of this nature based purely on your hatred of the concept and nothing to do with comparing this case with another of a like kind.

To totally agree with Meanmotion's comments.

P.S. I am sure I said I wasn't going to comment further...

 

I'm just questioning the design-philosophy, but apparently that makes some people very angry.

As design is my business (studied graphics-design, but doing aswell interior and industry-design jobs) I'm especially raising alot of questions about designs in general, be it graphics, furniture, PC-cases or whatever.

I'm oldschool and efficiency is the premisse for me, and wasting material and space is simply inefficient.

 

Really? Do you 'question' or rather, complain, the same way about mod projects, Dream PCs or any other case that doesn't deem fit to cram each and every inch with hardware? Apart from the tiny media centre and Mini-ITX cases no other case fills the space the way you seem to deem worthy. Otherwise PC cases with windows would never ever have been developed.

I only started commenting as a response to seeing your personal, negative views on each Mini-ITX article with nothing constructive to say. Merely criticising the entire concept of larger Mini-ITX cases because YOU deem them as bad designs and pointless with no regards or respect to what others may want. And yes, you have ignored time and time again the comments made about housing the same amount of hardware while still providing an attractive and aesthetically pleasing layout and interior.

 

Check out the NCase M1 - in my eyes the PERFECT ITX case. Even fits a 240 rad!

Full story/pics here

 

Yes, a lovely case... IF you want a small, rectangle box on display and have no intention of showing off the insides. I just don't want to see 'hating' on other cases that suit other requirements.

 

Has nothing to do with hate really. It's an oppinion, one that seems to lead to harsh reactions by some people.

 

You all know that the Prodigy is the best selling mini-ITX case out there, right?

So clearly a lot of people think it's the right size

 

JFC, the computer case version of a wedgie !

I don't understand why people are complaining though. I mean, you don't have to buy it.

I think my favourite so far has to be the Colossus mini, even though it's pretty heffa.

Each to his own and all that.

 

How is it a 'harsh' reaction? Am I not allowed to respond to your statement that 'mITX shouldn't be bigger than some 15 liters' and voice my own opinion? An opinion that is backed up by the fact mentioned by Bindibadgi that the Prodigy is the best selling Mini-ITX case available. Never mind the fact that the basis for your whole argument seems to be a personal preference that Mini-ITX systems should be compact and that there is no reason that they should be any larger than your own defined 15ltrs, a statement that is clearly inaccurate.

 

A 30L case and a 28L case aren't in the same size bracket?


The thing is, microATX is superior to mini-ITX in every way, except for size. So if you have the option of a mATX case and a mini-ITX case, and both are approximately the same size, why would you choose the mini-ITX case?

 

nice $hitstorm...
I like the 250D, but it hast one design fault, cause you are quite forced to use a AIO cooler or you will have to have a compromize in cpu cooling as you can´t fit a full size tower cooler. From what I´ve seen it´s not so useable to fit a fully fledged custom waterloop into it for cpu and gpu. But for an aircooled gpu it´s quite nice and prevents you from broken fingers as you have some space to work with
At the moment I´m having a modded Prodigy, with internal watercooling and an itx board.
Still there are many compromizes that I had to make.
The N1 is a nice case if you want to go to the limit about cramping a case with hardware.
For me, and that´s just my personal opinion, a case should not be cramped, full with stuff , it can be roomy inside (some call it inefficient) so that you can choose out of a wider range of hardware.
To continue this, I´d say the case with the most options regarding the hardware to fit in with a itx board would be the caselabs s3, as it has enough room to fit an aftermarket cooling system for the gpu which ocupies 3 slots.
the reason you go for an matx case would mostly be fitting 2 gpu´s means with only 4 pcie slots you cut out the Sniper M mainbords which would need a 5 slot case like 350D instead of a Arc Mini.

IF hardware fits into a case, doesn´t guaranty or say that the hardware suites into it....

 

I've no idea why threads here turn into heated arguments so often these days I think it's totally fine for everyone to have different opinions as to what a mini-ITX or micro-ATX case should be - some prefer the case to be as small as possible, some like a lot of room for watercooling or for ginormous GPUs or a raft of drives. The great thing about the small form factor scene just now is that there are cases out there for pretty much everyone's requirements, and we should be celebrating that rather than getting dragged into petty squabbles all the bloody time.

 

For me, it's because I knew right from the outset that the only expansion port I'd require for the next several years would be a single PCIe x16 slot. This coupled with the flexible drive options, the looks, the unmatched ITX air-cooling, the water-cooling potential and the ability to fit a larger than dual slot GPU were all reasons I went for the Prodigy.

I know it's not right for some, but my reasoning is that I have a small, very quiet case where the overclocked CPU never breaches 45°C and the GPU never gets much over 65°C. It maxes out every current game at 1080p (again, no plans for an imminent update to that), and should I need more grunt all I need to do is drop in a beefier GPU.

Plus I can pick it up and walk around with it if I want to

 

for me with cases like the prodigy and this it is not the size that i have and issue with it is the inefficient use of space even those large case like tj 11 have some sort of use of the space in the case such as the ability to add dual 480 rads and stuff. in the prodigy you can have all the same functionality whilst making it smaller or add more features whilst keeping the case the same size.

 

You are lacking imagination.

This has wasted space:



This doesn't:



Nor does this:



Remember that the Prodigy was never about being the smallest - far from it. It was about being the most flexible, moddable small case on the mass market. It has succeeded spectacularly.

 

Didn't realise they were that close, did a quick google for sizes and the Silverstone seemed bigger (10cm taller or something?)

The main reason you go mitx is so you can fit other things into the same amount of space without making it hard to access the motherboard etc (watercooling or whatever) I guess.

 

I read a little bit of the debate on the previous page and then it became TL;DR. But I agree with Schizo (not that it really matters because we are just throwing opinions around like they magically become facts when they leave our mouths)

To the point, I just ordered a Prodigy and an ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe and am selling my P8Z77-V PRO and meanwhile stuffing all my watercooling gear into the Prodigy.

I searched and studied a lot of cases and not a single one of them had the features/flexibility of the Prodigy while still looking good and being small (I currently have a HAF 922 so small has a different meaning to me than some of you maybe)

I'm going to put a dual 120mm rad and a 220mm (or 240mm, whatever the big square one is... ) rad in it. And all this WC gear:



Only sad part is I'll lose my raid setup but it's cool, my 3TB still has 1.5TB left even after music and like 150 movies.

Can ya tell I don't get to discuss my build often? Haha

EDIT: And this should account for something: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=253141