Small, full-size ATX case?

[noteworthynerd]

The audio ports on my trusty ASRock Z77 Pro4-M are starting to go, so I'm looking at replacing it with another 1155 motherboard, or possibly a 1150 motherboard and 4690K. My current build is an mATX build, but I think my next build with be ATX for a couple reasons (possible SLI being the most important).

However, I do like the compactness and mobility of my mATX build, so I'm looking for as small an ATX case that I can find that will still fit all of the essentials. Anyone have any recommendations?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my tastes: I like sleek, clean cases like those offered by Fractal Design and Lian Li. Let's say that the budget is $200 and under.

[Deleted]

Take a look at the s340 from NZXT
Although it is a mid tower, you will be hard pressed to find a more beautiful case

[Deleted]

Do you rely on any specific add-in cards? Because SLI itself is entirely possible with mATX, the only disadvantage being that it leaves you no free PCI-E slot. On the other hand, boards such as Maximus VII Gene already contain somewhat decent audio and separate solution for a WLAN card, lessening the need for those extra PCI-E slots.

[noteworthynerd]

No other cards Fae, just the (potentially) two video cards. I toyed with the idea of SLI mATX, but I'm not sure I like the idea of the cards being on-top of each other.

Looking through the Lian Li lineup, it seems that they have several ATX cases where the PSU mounts in the front, removing the need for the extra space above or below the motherboard.

[Wries]

No other cards Fae, just the (potentially) two video cards. I toyed with the idea of SLI mATX, but I'm not sure I like the idea of the cards being on-top of each other.

In the case of two blower style coolers, that should in theory work very well. Although I haven't bought my second card yet so can't give any personal experience with it just yet.

Though I love my somewhat small mATX solution, I'll have to mention how boring it is buying a motherboard for that form factor. Basically only ASUS seem to make a good mATX board (criteria: Intel NIC, shielded sound, SLI-support) and it's better on paper than reality (which features nasty bios bugs in my experience..)

[Drunkenvalley]

I've gathered the new Fortress case is quite tightly packed.

[moremana]

Take a look at the s340 from NZXT
Although it is a mid tower, you will be hard pressed to find a more beautiful case

Its a nice tower, it does have its flaws. I have the black one.

Its not light in any way, its actually rugged and heavy, it is a nice looking case, I like it but it does have some cheapness to it.

The matte black finish on-top and inside does scratch very easy so you have to be very careful installing components and not rest anything on-top and the window is very cheap plastic and scratches really easy to.

[Fascinate]

What kind of dimensions are you looking for? Phanteks enthoo pro is 21" tall an an nzxt h440 is 18.7" tall. Those are my two favorite cases right now, my next build is gonna be in a razer designed h440. Mind you if you plan on doing an AIO water cooler id suggest against the H440, air coolers work far better in these cases because of the top panel design.

Have you considered doing an itx build? Zalman just released a really nice lil itx case, if it had support for a larger intake fan i would have bought it already, but im sure its sufficient with a 120:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811235048

Really impressive otherwise, fully dust filtered with hot swap bay and really well designed internal layout. Looks good too.

[Skytip]

Consider the NZXT H440. BUT! You can't put an optical drive in it.

Image: http://i.imgur.com/zwOSIlT.jpg

[Fascinate]

Consider the NZXT H440. BUT! You can't put an optical drive in it.

This is actually one of the reasons i like the H440 lol. They got front fan (where the CD drive usually is) lined up directly at the CPU cooler, and the rear fan is on a slide mount so you can align it perfectly with the output of the CPU fans.

[Skytip]

This is actually one of the reasons i like the H440 lol. They got front fan (where the CD drive usually is) lined up directly at the CPU cooler, and the rear fan is on a slide mount so you can align it perfectly with the output of the CPU fans.

I just can't live without it. I ended up going with the Enthoo Luxe, which is a full tower.

[Fascinate]

I just can't live without it. I ended up going with the Enthoo Luxe, which is a full tower.

lol ya the luxe is amazing, i honestly cant decide between it and the H440. The only thing i use my CD drive for is installing my printer drivers (its so old i cant find them on the internet lol). Aside from that i have no use for it, i use MP3's for my car, i have windows on a USB stick, and i dont watch blu rays on my PC so ya lol. Once i get a new printer ill have zero use for it.

[Deleted]

loving the case in my sig

[Arbiter]

If a smaller full ATX is something you're looking at, even smaller than the standard mid towers, Bitfenix Pandora might be something you're interested in.