Compact Mini-ITX Case Round-Up

[Crashman]

Whats this ps2 power supply nonsense ? I ve heard of atx sfx and sfx-l never ps2 . Thats a playstation.

LOL, you don't know form factors then.

ATX is a motherboard form factor, not a power supply form factor. There are ATX specification for power supplies, but those concern the way they're wired and have nothing to do with the size and shape.
PS/2 is the a factor developed by IBM before ATX existed. It persists to this day and is generally used for "full-sized" power supplies. One reason this form factor isn't "ATX" is because it's also AT (pre ATX).
PS/2 form factor includes a depth (front to back). Most high-capacity power supplies ignore that part of the specification.
PS/3 is a shorter version of PS/2
SFX is the next common size down. It's because of people like you that Newegg lists most of these as "Micro ATX", even though Micro ATX cases often use PS2 or TFX.
So PS2, PS3, SFX, TFX are the most prevelent power supply form factors.

 

[RedJaron]

Whats this ps2 power supply nonsense ? I ve heard of atx sfx and sfx-l never ps2 . Thats a playstation.

You might want to try a simple internet search before you embarrass yourself. PS/2 was IBM's Personal System/2 spec, which included not only keyboard and mouse ports, but also PSU dimensions and requirements. There is overlap between the PS/2 spec and the ATX spec, but they're not identical.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/42683-28-power-supplies

 

[Crashman]

Whats this ps2 power supply nonsense ? I ve heard of atx sfx and sfx-l never ps2 . Thats a playstation.

You might want to try a simple internet search before you embarrass yourself. PS/2 was IBM's Personal System/2 spec, which included not only keyboard and mouse ports, but also PSU dimensions and requirements. There is overlap between the PS/2 spec and the ATX spec, but they're not identical.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/42683-28-power-supplies

I was about to link to that article with the caveat "this article contains errors" (such as rules that don't exist, etc). I never got around to replacing it.

 

[Guest]

3 cases does not constitute a "round up", it's more of a "shoot out".

 

[Crashman]

3 cases does not constitute a "round up", it's more of a "shoot out".

OK

 

[wolverine96]

Thank you for the review! I enjoy Mini-ITX case reviews, and I am glad to see that they are back!

I would go with the Cougar QBX (with a couple of extra fans, of course) and do some water-cooling. I think I could get a 240mm rad with 2x120mm fans in there! 😉

 

[Vogner16]

could we see a mini itx business case roundup?
something that is set and forget, yet small and amazingly fast for business workloads aka Samsung 950pro

Id like to see something where thought is put toward another computing crowd.

Just as a note, Most business will use multimonitor setups and only need the igpu, but for futureproofing in a sense id like to see that the igpu you use can run dual 4K monitors at 30hz or 60hz as I expect to see that become commonplace in the next 4 to 5 years as most workplaces run dual 1080p today. Test it with pcmark 8 work bench and show temps and noise for Ultimate business pc!

 

[vertexx]

Just bought the PC-Q10 for a Christmas present for one of my sons. Just about bought the cheaper Cougar case, until I remembered this review was published, reread the review, and decided to splurge on the Lian-Li. Based on the better cooling and overall premium build quality, I don't feel bad at all about the extra $$. I just wish Lian-Li had the same flexibility in the hanging HDD/fan bracket that the Cougar case does. Either way, looking forward to another awesome Lian-Li PC in my household.

The case specs indicate support for up to 10.6" GPU length, but I'm going to attempt to fit a hand-me-down Gigabyte R9-280X 11.2" GPU. I think it will fit based on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2yF90OekuU (that's a 10.5" EVGA GTX 770). It will be tight with the front panel connectors, but I'm pretty sure there's an additional .7" of space there.

 

[vertexx]

Well, the R9-280X isn't going to fit without some minor modifications to the GPU cooler frame (snip, snip). Good old Lian-Li, prioritizing form over function, put the front panel connectors EXACTLY where the longest part of the GPU cooler lies. If only they had the connectors running vertically along either side of the front panel like on so many other cases they've made, you could easily fit an extra 1" GPU in there.

Other than that, it's a beautiful, well built case with lots of open air-flow capability. Typical Lian-Li - top quality with that single fatal-flaw that keeps it from being near perfect.

 

[vertexx]

Just to follow-up in case anyone is using this article for reference. We got the system built, and the case handles the thermal load of the R9-280X and i5-4690k mildly overclocked no problem. Adding a 2nd fan exhausting out the top helps bring down CPU temps a bit.

Another really nice surprise is the .75" behind the motherboard which does wonders for cable management. I used a re-purposed Corsair CX-600 (non-modular) PSU. It took a little work, but we got all the cables tied up behind the PSU and motherboard. Heck, there are even pass-thru holes above the motherboard to keep things tidy. I wish Lian-Li would have allowed the PSU to be flipped, which would have resulted in the cable stack coming out of the PSU on the back-side of the case away from the window. Regardless, after some work, our end result got all cables out of site.

Finally, I'd recommend taking advantage of the CPU cooler clearance and getting one of the mid-sized cross-flow coolers available (instead of the down-flow). The Noctua NH-D9L does the job perfectly and looks really good, but there are other less expensive options out there.

 

[emmanuelxian07]

Good read but I wish you had included pictures of all 3 cases side by side so readers can compare the sizes visually rather than having to imagine it. I've been looking for a picture showing the SG05, QBX and T60 side by side but I can't seem to find any.