Yet another uATX (or m-ATX) case thread - a non HTPC list

[tay]

I am considering a uATX case for 2 boxes :
Box 1 : Sempron 2800 (max OC at default Vcore), integrated everything, 1 HDD, 1 CDRW, S12-330.
Box 2 : Pentium D 820 (dont laugh), 7600GS (about 55W), 2GB DDR2, 1 HDD, DVDRW, S12-430 likely.

Looking for suggestions on the following or other suggested cases. I will update the post so that it can be useful in the future for someone else. Prices are welcome too as I havent looked them all up. I looked at this excellent thread and drew this list up.

Antecs new NSK6500 is interesting based on initial user hype. But looking at how the P180/P150 compare to the pre-release hype this may not be worth waiting for.
[+] Nice cooling design, aesthetics, Antec PSU, price
[-] Non standard PSU
[?] Will expectations meet the hype

Enlight EN-2406
[+] aesthetics, size, options 2401-06
[-] 92 mm fan, Enlight is an average builder IMO
[?] Does it take an ATX PSU?

Inwin Z583, Z589 & Z720
[+] small, diff models, steel, price, included SFX PSU
[-] 92 mm fan, average looks
[?] SFX PSUs (I believe this is true)

*Changed thanks to quietOC*
Aspire X-qpack
[+] Small, 120mm fan, temp readouts, price, availabillity, included 420W PSU. It is suprisingly well liked.
[-] Ugly, thin Aluminum
[?] Can work with standard PSU with newer shorter DVD drives.

*Added thanks to Robisoda*
Chenming MATX-118
[+] Aspire X-QPack clone. Compared well with Silverstone SG01 cases at Sudhian, comes with dual rail 24 pin 300W PSU.

HEC 6K series
[+] Small, several models to choose from, .8 mm steel, Standard ATX PSU
[-] 92 mm fan, availability
[?]

Enermax CS 10068
[+] small, choice, 2x80 mm fan (i think they are quiter than 1x120 *ducks*)
[-] ($90) Price is high because enermax overcharges for their cases
[?] Included SFX PSU

Cooler Master Centurion uATX
[+] 2 x 80 mm fans, aesthetics, std ATX PSU, price ($45), upside down (IMHO the benefit might be that your main exhaust is next to CPU and PSU is exhausting video card heat if your video card is hot or else PSU is chillin'. A ton of posts follow with people doing good things with this case.
[-] Open mesh demands quiet components
[?] A good analysis of this case by Weldingheart

*Added thanks to Felger Carbon*
Evercase ECE3505
[+] 120mm fan, ATX PSU, looks, price ($32!)
[-] Flimsy built, short cables (newegg pictures show some ghetto steel)
[?] Could work well with suspended drives.

*Added thanks to stonyc*
Silverstone TJ-8
[+] 120mm in and out, fits ATX PSU, nice looks and finish, removable MB tray, fits Ninja
[-] $100, HD cages cause incompatibilities with some MBs (check link), some sharp edges
[?] Has gotten some not so good reviews (google)

I am still leaning towards the CM centurion although the Evercase is a good match for my needs as well (edit: conroe screwed up my upgrade). Sorry for the slow edits, but I am going to add some silverstone reviews as I find them around the web.

[Felger Carbon]

I am considering a uATX case:

Inwin 58x and 720 series
[+] 120 mm fan, small, diff models, steel, price
[-] All models ugly
[?] ATX 12V form factor, PS2 size (wtf is PS2 size?)

Since I own a Z-720 and a C-720, let me be of assistance. The Z720 is a uATX case with a 92mm exhaust fan and a 120mm PSU fan. The dimension listed by Newegg is wrong because the InWin site is wrong. The InWin site is wrong because the same basic case is used by three models, which differ only in the styling of the plastic bezel. But the bezels are different lengths, so InWin (and Newegg) list the dimension less the bezel.

My steel tape sez the Z720 is 14.5" high by 16.5" deep. I'll accept the listed 7.1" width without argument. The C-720 is a miditower case which does not belong in this discussion, so we will dispense with it now.

If you want a 120mm exhaust fan in a uATX case that's shorter and shallower than the Z-720, let me recommend the Easy Case ECE3505. It's ~16.3" deep and a tad over 14" high. Its 7.5" width is what allows it to have the 120mm exhaust fan, plus as a bonus the case accommodates tall tower HSs like the Ninja with ease, although the HR-01 at 160mm might be a tight fit. The ECE comes less PSU, but my transplanted 720 PSUs work great.

[tay]

hey thanks for the reply. I had looked at that evercase, but in ATX flavour and forgot about it completely. I dont mind how it looks and the 120mm is nice. I also like the side vents because I can close/open them on my heat/noise requirements. I am going to add it to the list.

WRT the inwins, I looked at the wrong models (had a dozen tabs open). I am going to udpate my list, but I dont really like them. I have used some really shit inwin cases although that was 5+ years ago.

[QuietOC]

Hmm, so the Evercase is shorter and less deep. Oh, well. I should point out that I was able to get the Z720T for $41 with free shipping and it includes a 300W 120mm fan full-size ATX power supply.

I like the mainly screw-free design of the In Wins, but I haven't found a good way/place to put the hard drive in it yet. The 2 standard locations aren't great for noise. Also the open mesh grill on the front of the Z720T lets out a lot of video card noise, but I think the other Z cases don't have that problem.

Emachines have some small micro ATX cases. I gutted the top of an older Celeron Emachine to fit a standard ATX power supply. Probably 3" less deep than the Z720T and a little shorter.

I'd recommend an upside-down case like the Centurion if you want to run a hot video card, but it is certainly a much larger case.

[Robisoda]

If you're looking at cubes, check the Chenming MATX-118. Same as the QPack, but with a quality 300W PS. Also have a look at this review for a comparison to the Silverstone cubes.

Dennis

[Chang]

I like the Enermax CS 10068, but going from another case with the same exact layout, I can tell you that 2x80mm isn't quieter than 1x120mm. To get the same airflow / internal case temps, you really need to run the 80mm's at a faster speed.

And I wouldn't call the X-Qpack's "short" ATX PSU a proprietary size. Optical drives seem to fall in three groups, ones that are either 170mm, 180mm, or 190mm long. The "short" ATX will fit will all drive sizes without issue. A standard ATX will fit easily with 170mm, in a tight fit with 180mm, and extremely tight / require 90 degree molex for 190mm. I haven't heard of anyone complaining about or experienced mobo tray rattle. I'd say the biggest drawback are the crossbars inside the case. They can get in the way for video cards with larger coolers and for taller heatsinks.

[Weldingheart]

I am considering a uATX case for 2 boxes :
Box 1 : Sempron 2800 (max OC at default Vcore), integrated everything, 1 HDD, 1 CDRW, S12-330 possibly
Box 2 : Opteron 144 (max OC at default Vcore), 6800GS/X1600XT (about 55W), 1 HDD, DVDRW, S12-430 likely.

Cooler Master Centurion uATX
[+] 2 x 80 mm fans, aesthetics, std ATX PSU, price ($45), upside down (IMHO the benefit might be that your main exhaust is next to CPU and PSU is exhausting video card heat if your video card is hot or else PSU is chillin'.
[-] Open mesh demands quiet components
[?] Comes in silver *ugh*

I am still leaning towards the CM centurion .......

Subjectively I'll go for CM, however some motherboard&PSU combination might create cable mess without proper routing.

I also plan a system based on this case+DFI RS482+X1600XT+S12-430 (would need heavy cable management-sleeving-a little bit chassis drilling)

[-] Open mesh demands quiet components

We're already here right?

-2 quiet 80mm fan would do the job (not sure if fanless Ninja might fit into that, but we have choices for quiet fanned heatsink)
-a quiet PSU preferably modular-and 'left hand' output cable, 120mm one would also exhaust some VGA heat.
you might also go for NeoHE(ok,just dont ASUS it then)and duct fresh air from front. There's some opportunity for cable management though,cables can be routed by frontleft,rear side, bottom,etc.
-HDD could be suspended on lower HDD cage, or suspended after the intake, even an silencing enclosure could be placed on case bottom. since there's space to accomodate.
-there's possibility to use passive VGA cooler on those card, me=>aim for aerocool VM-101/102, while inverted position would decrease its performance slightly, ducting might help a bit, on VM-102(and most VGA cooler except AC silencers) some amount of heat would be exhausted by PSU.
-There're side vent on the RIGHT panel if it side intake would be employed instead of front intake, this would be advantage(and dustvantage) for non-tower HSF, VGA vent/intakealso might give advantage, for example if AC Accelero is used, there would be fresh air to cool the VGA. It might be used for PSU intake too.
The RIGHT side location of vents mean that sound is not going directly to our ear (with assumption that user place the case on the right hand side)
However since the VGA vent located above exhaust level, it must be prevented to suck exhausted air.
-This centurion seemed to use thin 0.8mm steel, some reinforcing&dampening might be needed
-about the color choice U'll be stuck here since the black one (541) is all mesh front (while personally I'll go for the silver one-540)

neoseeker review of 540
Viperlair review of 540
Hardwarezone review of 540&541

There're BTX things but since the base of the case is nearly identical, those pictures in the reviews can be used for examination too...
3DGameman 541 BTX review
Modthebox 540 BTX review

newegg 540
newegg 541

how to do a bulleted/numbered list?

EDITED

[hmsrolst]

I'm using the Centurion and am quite happy with it. It's well made, and although I'd prefer all black, I don't find the silver as unpleasant as I was concerned that I would. It's got good ventilation and with the mesh front, you get pretty good air moving over the HDD even though there's no fan in front of it.

[QuietOC]

-2 quiet 80mm fan would do the job (not sure if fanless Ninja might fit into that, but we have choices for quiet fanned heatsink)

I for one don't look at the Centurion and think 2 - 80mm fans. I think, wow, that's a nice open rear grill. I can build a duct off a 120mm fan mounted to the Ninja and get some very good airflow.

There's no rule that you have to put fans where there are mounts for them. That's why I wasn't swayed by the 120mm rear fan mount in the Evercase. The Evercase rear grill looks slightly more restrictive than the rear grill on the In-Wins, and neither can compare to the Centurions. All three will provide very little airflow resistance for a low-speed 120mm fan.

[winguy]

-2 quiet 80mm fan would do the job (not sure if fanless Ninja might fit into that, but we have choices for quiet fanned heatsink)

That's something I've always wanted to know. Does the Ninja fit into the CM? If it does how much space is there between the HS and the side panel? I'd probably do a side window mod (if i get the CM) to get rid of those side vents, so this information is valuable.

[Felger Carbon]

That's something I've always wanted to know. Does the Ninja fit into the CM? If it does how much space is there between the HS and the side panel? I'd probably do a side window mod (if i get the CM) to get rid of those side vents, so this information is valuable.

There are two questions here: 1) does the Ninja fit, and 2) does the Ninja and its standard fan fit? The default fan mounting configuration leaves the 120mm fan towering well above the top of the Ninja itself.

My guess is: the Ninja fits fine, but the Ninja and its default 120mm fan with the default mounting clips doesn't even come close to fitting.

[lucienrau]

I have the CM and it seems like there would be about 1-1.5 cm clearance with the bare Ninja. I don't have a Ninja to test it out on though (my XP-120 is doing just fine.) I've been meaning to rebuild my system to duct the exhaust out, but haven't managed to get around to it.

Decent cable routing is possible, but difficult (it took me an an hour and a half to get everyithing just so which is why I'm not looking forward to doing it again.)

[winguy]

Another concern regarding the CM is HDD cooling. With the stock arrangement the HDD seems to be in a "dead spot".






Any great ideas on how to overcome this?

[QuietOC]

My guess is: the Ninja fits fine, but the Ninja and its default 120mm fan with the default mounting clips doesn't even come close to fitting.

????
The clips don't have to extend any further than the hex nuts on the Ninja--at least how I am using them they don't. I have the S-flex on the bottom of the Ninja sitting right on the TForce 6100 northbridge heatsink blowing up. You can also put the fan on the clip side this way, but the clips will push out the fan at a bit of an angle.

I used plain old bread bag twisties to mount the 92mm Tornado on the Ninja and that worked just fine too.

If you're putting in the Window the Ninja fits fine in the In Win Z-series, or you can just pop out the side vent like I did.

[hmsrolst]

Another concern regarding the CM is HDD cooling. With the stock arrangement the HDD seems to be in a "dead spot".

Any great ideas on how to overcome this?

I should clarify my earlier post, because I had the same concern. I mounted the HDD in the FDD slot (since I had no desire to use one of the latter). Since the mesh bezel is the only covering, there's good air flow from the exhaust fans. This, of course, requires a pretty quiet drive. I used a Barracuda V, but a suspended notebook drive would do even better.

[QuietOC]

Another concern regarding the CM is HDD cooling. With the stock arrangement the HDD seems to be in a "dead spot".

Any great ideas on how to overcome this?

That actually looks like an excellent placement for a cool running hard drive. If I had that case I might even put a duct around the intake to block the hard drive noise from escaping out the front intake grill.

I have my hard drive sitting on the floor of the In Win in about the same location, and, while there is plenty of airflow there, it is all very hot air coming out of the x800GTO.

[lucienrau]

My solution is to suspend the drives between the cage at the bottom and the 3.5 slots, both to get them into the airflow and to provide some further quieting.

[Weldingheart]

I'm using the Centurion and am quite happy with it. It's well made, and although I'd prefer all black, I don't find the silver as unpleasant as I was concerned that I would. It's got good ventilation and with the mesh front, you get pretty good air moving over the HDD even though there's no fan in front of it.

I have the CM and it seems like there would be about 1-1.5 cm clearance with the bare Ninja. I don't have a Ninja to test it out on though (my XP-120 is doing just fine.) I've been meaning to rebuild my system to duct the exhaust out, but haven't managed to get around to it.

Decent cable routing is possible, but difficult (it took me an an hour and a half to get everyithing just so which is why I'm not looking forward to doing it again.)

hmsrolst & lucienrau,
could you please post your setup pics and specs here(or maybe in Gallery section), this case really grab my attention, but I hardly find any nice user pics other than those in the reviews(which are not so nice&quiet).
How cool&quiet your setup are? does the case vibrate or resonance?
Thanks.

[hmsrolst]

I'm using the Centurion and am quite happy with it. It's well made, and although I'd prefer all black, I don't find the silver as unpleasant as I was concerned that I would. It's got good ventilation and with the mesh front, you get pretty good air moving over the HDD even though there's no fan in front of it.

I have the CM and it seems like there would be about 1-1.5 cm clearance with the bare Ninja. I don't have a Ninja to test it out on though (my XP-120 is doing just fine.) I've been meaning to rebuild my system to duct the exhaust out, but haven't managed to get around to it.

Decent cable routing is possible, but difficult (it took me an an hour and a half to get everyithing just so which is why I'm not looking forward to doing it again.)

hmsrolst & lucienrau,
could you please post your setup pics and specs here(or maybe in Gallery section), this case really grab my attention, but I hardly find any nice user pics other than those in the reviews(which are not so nice&quiet).
How cool&quiet your setup are? does the case vibrate or resonance?
Thanks.

The case is in a place where taking pics would require some effort. I don't want to overstate my experience with it. I bought it because it seemed well-made and would suit my needs. I was looking for something to put some spare parts in for an extra PC for my son who occasionally likes to play some old WIN 98 games that just won't work right on XP. I used quiet parts (L1A's for fans, a Barracuda V) but didn't make any attempt to set up a seriously quiet system, e.g., I hard mounted the fans and the HDD. As it is, it's not nearly silent enough to be my work machine, but it's not intrusive either for a machine that's on about once every month or two. At the same time, with some effort, I suspect it could be made quiet, but that's based on speculation not direct experience.

[lucienrau]

The case can be made quiet and it is a decent base for a smaller system. I'll see what I can do about pictures but here are my system specs:

AMD 64-3200 Venice core
XP-120 with Nexus 120mm fan @5V
4X 512 PC 3200 DDR Ram
MSI RS480M2-IL Socket 939
2x Panaflo L1A soft mounted with EAR grommets, controlled by Speedfan
Radeon X800XL with Artic Silencer 5 V2
Samsung P80 PATA and P40 SATA
SeaSonic S12-380
Samsung DVD+-RW drive
Leadtek PVR
Soundblaster X-Fi music

I'm running Speedfan and ATI Tech Tools. Speedfan is great and is sufficient to undervolt the fans to silence (I keep a fan on the CPU mainly to cool the ram as it works just fine without a fan, just gets hotter than I prefer.) The system (vid card excepted), never heats up enough to cause the fans to ramp up.

The hard disks are currently hard mounted and cause reverberation but will be suspended soon. I'm thinking about putting a window in to block off the two intake vents and direct more air over the hard disks.

I've had 'silent' systems and been around here for a while. The system is quiet but not perfect, not nearly as silent as my last PC which was overshadowed by CRT buzz. The only significant noises are vibration from the hard drives and the sound of the artic silencer. With a fanmate on the vid card to get rid of the clicking from PWM and suspended hard disks it would be hard to tell if the system is on. At the moment I have an external HD enclosure that is louder than the system. However, it is still noticable in a quiet room.

The case is as good of a base for a quiet system as any Antec case that I've used. The grilles are open and it is a solid build so any reverberation is kept to a minimum. It is a M-atx case though so cable routing is difficult and necessary. Only one side panel is removable which only adds to the cable routing difficulty. All edges are rolled and the build is pretty easy if you use everything stock. Changing anything inside the case is difficult since it is a M-Atx case and space is at a premium. Its not as bad as some that I've used though. Some of my space issues are caused by using an XP-120 as it is a very big and unweildy piece of metal.

[winguy]

Regarding the CM, are you guys using RC-540 (silver) or RC-541 ? RC-541 looks nicer IMO but its power and reset buttons are kinda wobbly (I've felt it and different samples have different degrees of wobble). The RC-540 just looks plain dull in comparison to the RC-541.

[hmsrolst]

I have the RC-541, and haven't found the buttons to be wobbly (I just checked again to confirm).

[lucienrau]

I'm using the 541 and haven't found anything to be wobbly. If you were looking at a display model, those get beat up pretty quickly. I would have never bought an Antec case judging by the shape the display models at MicroCenter are in, however a new one just out of the package is something different. I'd actually put the coolermaster a step above the Antecs that I've used in terms of build quality. The button assembly is separate from the front panel and may not have been snapped in completely on the ones you tried.

I prefer the looks of the 541 too but the front is all mesh (I'm not sure that it shows in the pics) while the 540 has a mesh opening on the bottom.

[tay]

Thanks for the informative posts, I have updated the list.

[stupid]

(edit: conroe screwed up my upgrade).

Yep, same here. I was going to upgrade to S939 X2 4600+, but the Conroe teaser benchmarks were too intriguing.

Anyway, for my HPTC build from over 2 years ago, I decided to get the Antec Aria after reading a few review and long before I joined SPCR. Overall is a good little case for which I will list the pros and cons.

Pros:
- Small, but big enough to fit any m-ATX mobo
- Come with 300w PSU
- 120mm exhaust fan that can be swapped out
- Room for 4 drives
- Integrated 7-in-1 card reader.
- Front USB ports, and a Firewire port
- Laminated panels help reduce noise
- Rigid
- DVD drive hides behind face panel so a beige drive will not look awkward
- Can accept full size expansion cards
- No legacy floppy drive bay

Cons:
- Proprietary PSU that cannot be replaced with an off the shelf PSU.
- PSU overhangs the CPU socket limiting HSF choices to 75mm - 80mm in height
- Somewhat restrictive airflow. Newer version is reported to have an exhaust port on top.
- Some people have stated the LCD lights are a bit too bright
- 2-Tone color (Black/Silver) may no appeal to everyone.
- No legacy floppy drive bay
- Very cramped, but this is true for most m-atx cases.
- Somewhat expensive at $90 (US)

[honeymonster]

I am using the following case:

http://aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=21482

It's not InWin as advertised. But rather a 'HiPoint rebel M1 series'
[+] 120mm fan mounts Front and back
[+] Scythe Ninja Fits
[+] 3 x 5.25 bays (bottom 1 only usable with very short device)
[+] 2 x 3.5 bays
[+] Allows full length cards
[+] Front panel audio/usb

[-] Cheap look/manufacter
[-] 'fixed' CD/DVD front panels (I had to mod/destroy these to allow a removable drive cage)
[-] LEDs didn't work (had to replace from an old case)

I am quite happy with it. It allows for a powerful and quietish system

[winguy]

not sure if fanless Ninja might fit

Guys I need a definite answer as to whether the Ninja will fit in the CM RC-540 / RC-541 without problems. Can owners help check it out. I want to go ahead with my purchase without any regrets.

Thank you all so much.

[winguy]

techPowerUp! Reviews :: Cooler Master Centurion 540