The one I have is huge and I’m using a mATX mobo. Here is my current setup:
Power Supply: Antec BP550 (just ordered it actually)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus III Gene (it can Crossfire/SLI)
Processor: i5 650
RAM: 4x2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz
One 1 TB hard drive and one DVD drive (this is currently not successfully writing).
Video Card: AMD 6850
Anyway, the way I see it, the mobo/processor setup will eventually need to go and I’m not going to go dual videocards in my next setup. But I do like the idea of having a very small, easy to use case.
I don’t see the point of having an optical drive anymore (and I have an external for those rare occasions) so basically the case should have be able to fit all of the above but possibly without an optical drive (but maybe a SSD in the future). I don’t see the point of being able to expand for anything more as I don’t really load my hard drive up.
I used the Temjin TJ08-E from Silverstone for my recent mATX build, and I like it quite a bit. Well-made, attractive (if you like simple, minimalist cases, which I do), nice big fan (180mm) with good air flow, good interior layout. It’s a lot smaller than my old Dell XPS 630i case…
i know they made improvements to the tj08 with a revamped model but i had one a few years back and i did not like its lack of polish compared to antec cases.
I have no experience with earlier models, but the case that I have is very polished. It’s really smartly laid out, and build quality comes close to my old Lian Li case.
Corsair 600T. Not small and kinda fat, but my favorite case ever. Wumpus wrote about it on his blog after I bought my black one, which made me feel bad about missing the awesome stormtrooper white model but it’s still the best case I have ever worked in.
I recently moved to a mATX board and thought my case was now too huge as well. This week I moved everything into an NZXT Vulcan which is nice and airy and has a great layout. It’s not going to be as nice to work in as a mid or full tower but it’s very portable with an optional top handle included.
I swapped out the fans in mine for all Xigmatek fans which are a little more quiet, but the stock ones are not bad at all. Fans are front 120mm intake, 2x top 120mm exhaust, rear 80 or 92mm exhaust, and side 200mm intake. The side is not a true 200mm. It’s a little small, so unless you buy the NZXT fan for it you’ll have to rig it a little. This didn’t really cause any trouble for me but something to be aware of.
The two dials at the top left of the front panel are fan controls, and support two fans per dial. I already had a front bay controller with display so I don’t use them and can’t vouch for how good they are.
It’s supposed to fit very long video cards better than most mATX cases, if that is a concern, though my little HD6770 doesn’t take much space. It runs about $70.
The Vulcan’s dimensions are 7”(W) x 16.6”(H) x 16”(D). Height of 14.9" without the handle.
Out of the box it has one front and one top fan. This does pretty well due to the open and airy nature of the case, but as an enthusiast I like to load it up…
The website for the Core 100 says it supports graphic cards with lengths up to 350mm which converts to roughly 13.78 inches. Website for the Vulcan says the same.
Oh sorry, missed that. Generally your SSD will fit in an adapter rail in the space of an HDD, maybe taking up a little less space depending on the layout, but i’d say planning on 220mm of space in that case is your safest bet. Hopefully rei will check back in.
