Custom Mini ITX Case ideas?

[SpeedEnforcedByAircraft]

Hello Tom's! I need your help in either finding a case, or coming up with inspiration for one. The deal is, I wanted to make the absolute tiniest build I could with high quality, low-TDP parts. Here it is:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7DGcNN
While I could've gotten away with using a PicoPSU with 160 watts, I wanted to keep some power headroom as to not stress the power brick all the time.
Anyway, it's current home is on my desk, with four motherboard standoff and screws holding it off the ground. I want to find a case, but I haven't seen any when googling case for LP M-ITX sans PSU cases. Either they don't have GPU expansion or have a spot for a PSU I don't need.

Any ideas for a cool case mod, or have a very small case for me? I could even 3D print, but I couldn't find anything relevant on Thingiverse. I'm considering seeing if I can find an Inwin H-Frame Mini (maybe make my own GPU cooler for it?) , or maybe make my own case.

Help a friend out?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The problem is looking for the teeniest case possible is in direct conflict with finding the best case possible with regard to features, cooling, fitting components and ... fitting my big hands inside. Once they gat below 9" wide and 15" / 15" for depth and height, I find it introduces too many sacrifices.

I did see a nice mod whereby the user cut a hole in the top of his desk and used and deeper top drawer as his PC case. Bought a "Mo Bo tray" to mount the MoBo and just used standard accessory parts to mount SSDs and stuff.

These guys took the concept to the extreme ... but they weren't 'thinking small"

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2013/08/12/pre-order-your-red-harbinger-cross-pc-desk/1

 

[RCFProd]

As a starting tip, you might save a bit of costs but for about equal performance with a G4560 + H270M motherboard.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.00)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Motherboard: ASRock H270M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($105.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $197.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-03 10:20 EST-0500

G4560 is also 2C/4T like the i3-6100, they'll be similar in performance but you save 50% on costs.

 

[SpeedEnforcedByAircraft]

As a starting tip, you might save a bit of costs but for about equal performance with a G4560 + H270M motherboard.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($62.00)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Motherboard: ASRock H270M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($105.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $197.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-03 10:20 EST-0500

G4560 is also 2C/4T like the i3-6100, they'll be similar in performance but you save 50% on costs.

You are right, but I'd plunked down the money for the i3-6100 already, sorry. I got the Cyrorig C7 not because it was necessary but because the stock cooler is ugly.

 

[SpeedEnforcedByAircraft]

The problem is looking for the teeniest case possible is in direct conflict with finding the best case possible with regard to features, cooling, fitting components and ... fitting my big hands inside. Once they gat below 9" wide and 15" / 15" for depth and height, I find it introduces too many sacrifices.

I did see a nice mod whereby the user cut a hole in the top of his desk and used and deeper top drawer as his PC case. Bought a "Mo Bo tray" to mount the MoBo and just used standard accessory parts to mount SSDs and stuff.

These guys took the concept to the extreme ... but they weren't 'thinking small"

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2013/08/12/pre-order-your-red-harbinger-cross-pc-desk/1

Looks cool, but it's a tad too expensive.

 

[jsmithepa]

Not for the budget conscious but I have one of these and love mine, silver or black front, optical slot or plain minimalist. Solid aluminum construction, no cheapy sheet metal. Comes with everything for passive cooling your CPU. For some reason when it has no fan, it feels "friendlier," I keep touching it and if I feel the warm, I know it's working!