Is there an atx or micro ATX case with no internal or externa drive bays? I'd like to save the space and use only m2 drives.
Thanks. That picker tool is a handy starting point in choosing components. Unfortunately I couldn't find any ATX cases with no drive bays.Where I am not 100% sure they have a case that will meet so specific requirements, it may be worthwhile to consider some of the Silverstone "HTPC" style cases. Most of them are a desktop type footprint with varied height for peripherals.
The Sliverstone HTPC cases come the closest and are an attractive option. Their (possible removable) drive bays are over rather than in front of the mb making them smaller. However, they won't fit in the space available under my display but would fit in one of my desktop drive bays. And, it also looks like there's enough room for the big i9-12900KF CPU cooler. My rack bays have solid sides but the ~1" side clearance is also probably enough room for side fans to work. So this could work.
Thanks for the detailed build description.I recently did a build in the Grandia GD09. I will share some of my own experience with it. I needed a case that would go inside the shelves of the entertainment center. The wife was never crazy about the PC sitting beside said in the living room.
This particular case is large enough for an ATX board. If you use that size, your motherboard is going to be right up against the PSU. The inside of it has placement for (3) 120mm fans and (2) 80mm fans. The optical drive bay and the hard drive cage are completely removable, or you can use just the hard drive bay turned on its edge up against the front of the case. If you are going with anything aside from very low profile coolers, you will have to do the latter, or remove entirely. There is a 2.5" bay directly in front of the PSU, more about that in a moment.
I opted to go with an M-ATX board which allows a couple of inches alongside the power supply for cabling. I do recommend that if you are going to use all (5) fans this case can hold that either you scope your motherboard headers or consider a fan hub to run them. The only way for me to hit all the headers in my build was either to have them crossing over the motherboard, or the hub which is the way I went.
The build I created is:
cheap MSI M-ATX motherboard
11600K w/ Noctua NH9 (the small tower)*
Corsair DDR4 3000 (2x8)**
Samsung 800 series 2.5" drive
A 3.5" drive that I cannot recall the name/size of
Arctic fan hub w/ the included 120mm fan, (1) other 120mm Arctic, and (2) 80mm Arctic fans. I did not opt to populate the last spot after testing.
GTX 1080 (Gaming X version)*
El cheapo 600W PSU- house fire edition
* The height of the tower cooler as well as the graphics card have to be considered here. In order for the graphics card to mount and the case top (side) to close I had to get 180* adapters for the PCI power.
**Certain RAM sticks will actually 'protrude' higher than the fan. I have not noticed a cooling issue, but where it was visible it really bothered me from an aesthetic standpoint. I used some XPG RAM when it was in a case I could see in. For this one it didn't matter.
Building inside the case is very easy. Cable management is basically non existent. If you use a non modular unit like I did, all your cabling will be on top of the 2.5" drive provision and alongside the "bottom" of the motherboard. If you want to use a 2.5" drive in that spot, put it in first, attach its cabling and then mount the PSU. Keep in mind the mention above about fan headers or hub.
In use as a movie viewer, it runs well and stays pretty quiet. The GPU tends to stay around high 30-low 40C for that. The CPU idles and does mild tasks in the low 30's. Due to it being inside an entertainment center it gets VERY warm and VERY audible when gaming with it. On some titles it will get hot enough to throttle. I took a page from the playbook about the "side panel" trick where we ask folks to remove it and point a fan at it. I don't take off the cover, but have found that having a small fan blowing right at the unit during play creates enough air movement/exchange to keep things in the 70's.
Overall, I have been pretty happy with the build. It absolutely looks great in the cabinet, just as if it were meant to be there. The plastic front actually works out well for that type of placement as it matches the other A/V electronics well.
Good luck on your build.