mATX case advice/help

[Julian Norman]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

I started looking at a SuperFlower/TTGI but cannot find anywhere that
sells their mATX case (ebuyer only sell the cheaper ones).

But am looking at this Suntek case from DABS

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product Details.htm?quicklinx=2CRH&searchphrase=suntek

but as I cannot find any comments about it on the web I cannot fully
decide.

So can anyone recommend me a suitable case, I'm looking not to break
the bank, upper limit about £70 but I shop to find one nearer £50, the
Suntek is £40 with PSU. I don't like wasting space with unused 5.25"
slots so one is enough.

Anyone?

Cheers, JMN.

 

[Tone-EQ]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I

am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

I started looking at a SuperFlower/TTGI but cannot find anywhere that
sells their mATX case (ebuyer only sell the cheaper ones).

But am looking at this Suntek case from DABS

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product Details.htm?quicklinx=2CRH&searchphrase=suntek

but as I cannot find any comments about it on the web I cannot fully
decide.

So can anyone recommend me a suitable case, I'm looking not to break
the bank, upper limit about £70 but I shop to find one nearer £50, the
Suntek is £40 with PSU. I don't like wasting space with unused 5.25"
slots so one is enough.

The first case on this link:
http://www.aria.co.uk/productsList.asp?Category=10&Submit=submit

I bought one when ebuyer were doing them in their Blowout section. It's only
downfall is that it's low profile, which means shortened height expansion
cards. It's a great case if you can accept that. Can be used as a desktop or
a slimline tower, looks nice either way.

Built one for a relative using an A7N8X-VM400, Athlon 2400+, Samsung combo
drive, Mitsumi floppy/media drive and a 80Gb maxtor drive, the included 200w
power supply handles all this well.

--
Regards,
Tony. (tony.cue(at)tiscali.co.uk)

Discogs: building the definitive database of electronic music...
http://www.discogs.com

 

[Rob Morley]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

I like this one, but there's no accounting for taste
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?&product_uid=52035

 

[tomcas]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case

Why do you say you must use a mATX case for a micro mobo? Every standard
size case I have seen will mount a micro ATX board without any problem.

 

[David Maynard]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

You only need a mATX case if you want the smaller size as mATX is simply a
smaller, but 100% compatible, version of full size ATX, so any ATX case
will work with that motherboard. The motherboard will simply not extend on
down to fill up the space past the 3 or 4 PCI slots it has.

 

[kony]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

As others have mentioned, you don't actually "NEED" mATX, but if
you WANT mATX, so be it.

Next step is to decide what you want in a case, what is best for
your particular tastes/needs/parts. Maybe you need audio, usb,
firewire, etc, on the front... maybe not. Maybe it needs to be
glowing neon clear chromed with bells on it's toes... maybe not.

I started looking at a SuperFlower/TTGI but cannot find anywhere that
sells their mATX case (ebuyer only sell the cheaper ones).

But am looking at this Suntek case from DABS

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product Details.htm?quicklinx=2CRH&searchphrase=suntek

but as I cannot find any comments about it on the web I cannot fully
decide.

So can anyone recommend me a suitable case, I'm looking not to break
the bank, upper limit about £70 but I shop to find one nearer £50, the
Suntek is £40 with PSU. I don't like wasting space with unused 5.25"
slots so one is enough.

Most major manufacturers make mATX cases, often then look quite a
bit like the larger midtowers, though there are compromises to be
made. For example, some mount optical drive sideways, others use
mATX PSU with lower wattage and lower expected lifespan. Others
have room for only 1 HDD, maybe 2 but cooling is then poor,
questionable.

Some only accept half-height PCI cards, others have limited
ventilation. The smaller the case is the more it generally
deviates from "normal", so often it's a matter of how many
tradoffs you want to make to reduce size. Going the opposite
direction there are some mATX with almost no tradeoffs beyond
fewer 5 1/2" external bays, but those are practically full sized
cases, only a 1-3" shorter than a full sized midtower, almost not
worthwhile since "most" people don't mind the height of a case as
much as width or depth, assumine there is any space constraint at
all.

 

[Carbon]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

You could use a decent ATX case if you want, but I do like the Enlight
EN-7602 mATX case. There's a picture of it here:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-116-121&depa=0

It's $42 USD, so it should still be reasonably priced in the UK.

 

[Last Boy Scout]

Coolermaster has started selling the CMStacker Case which is kind of large
and expensive. It is suppose to be configurable as either a BTX or ATX
case and can be used with 2 power supplies and they also can support 11 or
12 hard drives. The entire front is all CDROM size drive bays. It uses a
cartridge to mount hard drives in.

Just make sure you have a BTX motherboard to put into the BTX case.

 

[Last Boy Scout]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

I started looking at a SuperFlower/TTGI but cannot find anywhere that
sells their mATX case (ebuyer only sell the cheaper ones).

But am looking at this Suntek case from DABS

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product Details.htm?quicklinx=2CRH&searchphrase=suntek

but as I cannot find any comments about it on the web I cannot fully
decide.

So can anyone recommend me a suitable case, I'm looking not to break
the bank, upper limit about £70 but I shop to find one nearer £50, the
Suntek is £40 with PSU. I don't like wasting space with unused 5.25"
slots so one is enough.

Anyone?

Cheers, JMN.

Most MATX motherboards will fit in an ATX case. Might try any case. Asus
makes a Cube Case for MATX motherboards called the Aria. A Open also makes
a few models that are MATX. Some MATX cases are extremely small or narrow
and only take the Short PCI cards.

 

[Last Boy Scout]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

I started looking at a SuperFlower/TTGI but cannot find anywhere that
sells their mATX case (ebuyer only sell the cheaper ones).

But am looking at this Suntek case from DABS

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product Details.htm?quicklinx=2CRH&searchphrase=suntek

but as I cannot find any comments about it on the web I cannot fully
decide.

So can anyone recommend me a suitable case, I'm looking not to break
the bank, upper limit about £70 but I shop to find one nearer £50, the
Suntek is £40 with PSU. I don't like wasting space with unused 5.25"
slots so one is enough.

Anyone?

Cheers, JMN.

You might look for some sites that sell Mini-Itx cases
like www.mini-itx.com

 

[AndrewJ]

Hi, I am trying to decide to the best case to buy for my new system, I
am going to use a micro ATX motherboard so I need a mATX case but
cannot find one I can easily decide on.

I started looking at a SuperFlower/TTGI but cannot find anywhere that
sells their mATX case (ebuyer only sell the cheaper ones).

But am looking at this Suntek case from DABS

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product Details.htm?quicklinx=2CRH&searchphrase=suntek

but as I cannot find any comments about it on the web I cannot fully
decide.

So can anyone recommend me a suitable case, I'm looking not to break
the bank, upper limit about £70 but I shop to find one nearer £50, the
Suntek is £40 with PSU. I don't like wasting space with unused 5.25"
slots so one is enough.

Anyone?

Cheers, JMN.

This was given 5 out of 5 stars buy customers at newegg. It's the best
m-ATX case I've seen for under $100USD. Got one and it's great.

http://tinyurl.com/2xrke

 

[Julian Norman]

Thanks for that, I am after an mATX case to save space for my smaller
uni room next year to answer previous questions.

I was just wondering where you got the Athenatech A106 case from if
you are in the UK as I can't find anywhere selling it.

Cheers, JMN.

 

[AndrewJ]

Thanks for that, I am after an mATX case to save space for my smaller
uni room next year to answer previous questions.

I was just wondering where you got the Athenatech A106 case from if
you are in the UK as I can't find anywhere selling it.

Got it from newegg in the states.