Being sensible I've decided to "upgrade" my system and shrink it, a Full ATX tower is excessive for what I'm doing these days plus half the front panels on the fritz wiring the reset button as the on button etc. Anyway, looking at ITX but keeping some of my kit namely the below 2X SSD's and 1 3.5" mechanical R480 (28cm long) Optical drive (I'm old an have bluerays to watch) Ive narrowed down to a couple of cases but any advise on others or opinions would be great. Factual Design Node 500 CM Elite 130 Corsair Obsidian 250 Bit Fenix Prodigy
Any thoughts as to what graphics card you will be using? Perhaps a specifically small form factor one? Assuming air cooling? using existing CPU cooler and if so which one? would you be willing to fork out for an SFX power supply as well?
First and foremost, what is your budget? Are you gaming? Do you need a screen? etc. I have pulled the trigger on an itx system myself, so I can provide some insight. The chassis vs system requirements is likely to be what you focus on.
Graphics is an MSI 480X which is a smidge under 28cm long Cooler is a thermalright one which wont fit into anything available in ITX as its 171.2mm high! So I'm looking at a low profile air cooler or AIO unit PSU, id rather avoid shelling out I have a HX750 (160mm long) unit which is working fine. Gaming yes, nothing major, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, World of Tanks and Warships are the main ones I play. Screen I already have I'm simply downsizing the enormous box. Case budget around the £100 mark less is always better though.
It's worth noting that whilst the Prodigy is an ITX case, it's a bit of a beast (36 litres!) Fine if you're watercooling but a bit excessively large for air cooling, imho.
It is indeed huge, about as large as some of smaller end matx cases I believe, and from my experience it was a bit of a pain to work with too. Looks like you have a few things limiting just how small you could realistically go, The GPU is a tad on the large size and the full size power supply and disk drive also limit the case choices. Is the disk drive slot loading or tray?
£100 for the case? or everything? I quite like this. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/zalman-m1-mini-tower-black-ca-085-za.html This is quite nice too. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cougar-qbx-mini-itx-cube-chassis-black-ca-013-cu.html https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-enthoo-evolv-itx-mini-itx-chassis-black-ca-025-pt.html
£100 is for the case That Phanteks is interesting, CPU cooler clearance of 200mm, That's a bit mad for an ITX
Personally, I find the use of ATX PSU's in ITX cases is 'doing it wrong' but if you have to, I think the Evolv is indeed a good shout, or alternatively, the Define Nano
I've used the windowless version of the Fractal Define Nano before and is was very easy to build in. Although it also doesn't have the drive bay for the bluray drive
...buy an NCase... (or don't 'cos they're really expensive) You could bung it all in an RVZ01 though with an ATX PSU (it'd be a squeeze), but you might be better off with a 250D if you want a 5.25" drive. I've had one for years and I actually don't mind it. It's way too big for what it needs to be, mind... Also, isn't it 'conundra'? /languagepedant /itxweirdo /workisreallygrindingmygearstoday
The prodigy (I had the M version) isnt the easiest to build with or make a decent tidy build without a lot of time and patience. I have used the evolv for just under 6 months as my main rig and not a bad case at all. Plenty of flexibility and you can make the system tidy if you are willing to put the effort in. As commented it doesnt have the externally facing optical drive though. Personally ditch the internal optical. Im pretty sure you can pick up a cheapo ext usb3 optical.
The RVZ01 does look a squeeze, an I couldn't tell you the spelling, spell checks disabled as the bulk of the staffs first language isn't English, I just guess words mainly now spices up the day. Nimbu, I think its the best bet, I can stash the USB on my desk I worked out without issue. The Phantek is very tempting, ill have to get the tape measure out to get an idea when im home.
