Best small & portable Mini ITX case?

[RylieDetchon]

The title describes my problem. I'm looking for a portable Mini ITX case that I can bring with me since I have divorced parents, and I'm looking to build my first rig.

Here is my list for possible cases:

Cooler Master Elite 110
Phanteks Evolv ITX (A bit big)
Silverstone RVZ02 (Expensive)
Cougar QBX

The EVGA Hadron & NCase M1 are perfect for me, but they're too expensive and/or sold out everywhere.

Note: I'm in Canada, so everything here is super expensive.

If you have any other cases or want to suggest one on my list, feel free to.

-Rylie

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The Evolv is my fav .... see one of my fav system builders ... Bill does reviews to a deth that no one else does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnvpFZ64hI

Its made of 1/8th inch thick aluminum panels so should take the travel abuse.

It will fit anything air cooler wise, had five 140mm fan mounts and it's water cooling options are just crazy.

Fits 330mm (13") GFX cards
Fits 200mm tall air coolers (7.9")
Fits the Swiftech H240 X2 AIO (280mm - 2 x 140mm) on top and a 240 (2 x 120), rad in front

 

[RylieDetchon]

The Evolv is my fav .... see one of my fav system builders ... Bill does reviews to a deth that no one else does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnvpFZ64hI

Its made of 1/8th inch thick aluminum panels so should take the travel abuse.

It will fit anything air cooler wise, had five 140mm fan mounts and it's water cooling options are just crazy.

Fits 330mm (13") GFX cards
Fits 200mm tall air coolers (7.9")
Fits the Swiftech H240 X2 AIO (280mm - 2 x 140mm) on top and a 240 (2 x 120), rad in front

Thanks for your reply. It's a huge Mini ITX case and I'm not sure if it will be as portable as I'd like, such as travelling to friend's houses. And I'm not looking for water cooling, but I'm sure it will be fine for when and/or if I do decide to upgrade.

The GPU I'm looking at is the MSI GTX 1050 Ti OC (Single Fan Edition).
My CPU cooler for the moment is the default Intel cooler for the i3 6100.

The Evolv is 34L, which is huge.

Do you think the Cougar QBX (19L) would be a better and more portable option?

 

[robax91]

I've owned several ITX systems and this is what I would go with:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nMfn9W

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($207.45 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($38.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M-ITX/DL Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($117.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($127.05 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Turbo Video Card ($269.70 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case ($84.68 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($99.26 @ Amazon)
Total: $944.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Sign up for a trial of amazon prime to get a total of $880 (prime gives free shipping).

I've had an older i5 ivy bridge and recently upgraded to an i7 skylake... makes almost no difference in 99% of games. Also I got a 980 and they came out with a 1060 that is just as good with more vram for half the price. If i could go back in time, I'd get this, cause this is not the ultimate penny pinching "bang for the buck" setup, but it's pretty damn good and will run anything you throw at it at ultra 1080p or high/mixed 1440p. Windows was not included in the build, usually you can get a free student copy from university or off an old PC, otherwise its 60-100$ online.

 

[RylieDetchon]

I've owned several ITX systems and this is what I would go with:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nMfn9W

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($207.45 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($38.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M-ITX/DL Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($117.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($127.05 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Turbo Video Card ($269.70 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case ($84.68 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($99.26 @ Amazon)
Total: $944.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Sign up for a trial of amazon prime to get a total of $880 (prime gives free shipping).

I've had an older i5 ivy bridge and recently upgraded to an i7 skylake... makes almost no difference in 99% of games. Also I got a 980 and they came out with a 1060 that is just as good with more vram for half the price. If i could go back in time, I'd get this, cause this is not the ultimate penny pinching "bang for the buck" setup, but it's pretty damn good and will run anything you throw at it at ultra 1080p or high/mixed 1440p. Windows was not included in the build, usually you can get a free student copy from university or off an old PC, otherwise its 60-100$ online.

Thank you for your answer.

Unfortunately, I live in Canada, and this is a super expensive part list, way over budget ($900-ish CAD).

I like the case though. Will definitely put that on the list of possible cases.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[robax91]

Ah, didn't know your budget or region. In that case, this is a little weaker, but at 1080p should be the bee's knees.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/YD26NN

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($149.98 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS80F CPU Cooler ($12.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($88.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($107.68 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($194.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Silverstone ML07B HTPC Case ($84.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($104.22 @ DirectCanada)
Total: ABOUT $860 CAD before REBATE --- $828.34 CAD after REBATE
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

You could get free shipping on anything from amazon the same way, but the prices are all over the place, so using the vendor listed is probably the best even if you have to make separate orders. Also, there are some rebates you'd have to apply for so the upfront cost is a little more than the final total. I don't think Windows is more expensive for Canada, I'm sure you can still get it for the same price.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Thanks for your reply. It's a huge Mini ITX case and I'm not sure if it will be as portable as I'd like, such as travelling to friend's houses. And I'm not looking for water cooling, but I'm sure it will be fine for when and/or if I do decide to upgrade.

The GPU I'm looking at is the MSI GTX 1050 Ti OC (Single Fan Edition).
My CPU cooler for the moment is the default Intel cooler for the i3 6100.

The Evolv is 34L, which is huge.

Do you think the Cougar QBX (19L) would be a better and more portable option?

No way that's 34" long. The Primo isn't even that long

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854024

Dimensions (H x W x D) = 14.70" x 9.00" x 15.50"

http://phanteks.com/Enthoo-Evolv-ITX.html
Dimensions: 230 mm x 375 mm x 395 mm (W x H x D) / 9.1 in x 14.8 in x15.6 in

I uses it on k series processors with big powerful cards and highly overclocked CPUs w/ big coolers... for your build, I'd go cheaper maybe the define S nano

 

[RylieDetchon]

Thanks for your reply. It's a huge Mini ITX case and I'm not sure if it will be as portable as I'd like, such as travelling to friend's houses. And I'm not looking for water cooling, but I'm sure it will be fine for when and/or if I do decide to upgrade.

The GPU I'm looking at is the MSI GTX 1050 Ti OC (Single Fan Edition).
My CPU cooler for the moment is the default Intel cooler for the i3 6100.

The Evolv is 34L, which is huge.

Do you think the Cougar QBX (19L) would be a better and more portable option?

No way that's 34" long. The Primo isn't even that long

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854024

Dimensions (H x W x D) = 14.70" x 9.00" x 15.50"

http://phanteks.com/Enthoo-Evolv-ITX.html
Dimensions: 230 mm x 375 mm x 395 mm (W x H x D) / 9.1 in x 14.8 in x15.6 in

I uses it on k series processors with big powerful cards and highly overclocked CPUs w/ big coolers... for your build, I'd go cheaper maybe the define S nano

Not sure where you got 34" from, since it's only 395 mm long (15") UPDATE: 34L does not mean 34 inches long, it means 34 liters xD Sorry for the confusion.

I was looking at the Define Nano S, since it's smaller (203 x 330 x 400mm, 26L) and a little cheaper than the Evolv ITX.

Thanks for your suggestion!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Only time I talked about liters in a case build was in one of those aquarium builds when you submerge in oil

And yes, it is about $10 - $15 cheaper, deponding on how configured so if that's an issue ... it matters.

The only real important spec difference I think aside from aesthetics, fit and finish, is the allowable air cooler height: 160mm on Nano / 200mm on Evolv. If ya not using air and instead are using a Swiftech AIO, that won't matter.