Water Cooled Mini-ITX Review: Dan Case A4-H2O Thermals, Noise, & Cable Management
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Date: 2023-10-11
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Comments and reviews: 20
lagrangemechanics
itx case review invariably involves a larger proportion of subjective analysis (ease of cable management, accessibility etc), but that's not to say subjective analysis can't be fair. GN reviews are typically heavier on the metric side of things, which encourages objective discussion, but I don't mind if there are more subjective comments in your reviews if the case (puns intended hell yeah) demands it. Because I still trust the subjective comments from GN to not be laden with time-wasting BS and by-and-large fair (the question of whether I think someone is being fair is in and of itself a subjective judgement). Maybe just front-load the review by saying something like, this is an itx review, hence a lot of the analysis made here will be relatively more subjective in nature than our other reviews .
Another feedback is that with SFF case build, while sometimes you can get things done if you do something in a particular order, it's worth pointing out that this necessarily means the process can be extremely cumbersome when going in reverse. For example, in this video you pointed out that you can still access the CPU power connector on the MB by first plugging in the connector before assembly the radiator. That may be fine when you are building it, but what if you just want to unplug the EPS for a quick test or something afterwards? Then you need to remove the whole shebang before you can just access one plug. Another example: you demonstrated the need to remove the radiator to access the PSU power switch. I may be mistaken but I think for some PSUs you need to toggle that physical switch to reset the OTP after it has been triggered, in which case the need to move the radiator just to access that switch can be a real annoyance.
The philosophy is: if you need to do things in a particular order for it to work, think about the likelihood you will need to do things in reverse because that determines how much of a pain that will incur down the road.
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itx case review invariably involves a larger proportion of subjective analysis (ease of cable management, accessibility etc), but that's not to say subjective analysis can't be fair. GN reviews are typically heavier on the metric side of things, which encourages objective discussion, but I don't mind if there are more subjective comments in your reviews if the case (puns intended hell yeah) demands it. Because I still trust the subjective comments from GN to not be laden with time-wasting BS and by-and-large fair (the question of whether I think someone is being fair is in and of itself a subjective judgement). Maybe just front-load the review by saying something like, this is an itx review, hence a lot of the analysis made here will be relatively more subjective in nature than our other reviews .
Another feedback is that with SFF case build, while sometimes you can get things done if you do something in a particular order, it's worth pointing out that this necessarily means the process can be extremely cumbersome when going in reverse. For example, in this video you pointed out that you can still access the CPU power connector on the MB by first plugging in the connector before assembly the radiator. That may be fine when you are building it, but what if you just want to unplug the EPS for a quick test or something afterwards? Then you need to remove the whole shebang before you can just access one plug. Another example: you demonstrated the need to remove the radiator to access the PSU power switch. I may be mistaken but I think for some PSUs you need to toggle that physical switch to reset the OTP after it has been triggered, in which case the need to move the radiator just to access that switch can be a real annoyance.
The philosophy is: if you need to do things in a particular order for it to work, think about the likelihood you will need to do things in reverse because that determines how much of a pain that will incur down the road.
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froobly
I've got one of these. Got decent cable management over the MB by cramming excess cable lengths wherever they'd go under the PSU or in the GPU compartment. I got an RX 7900XT in there, so it came down to pushing the cables on one side until the PSU fit, then pushing back from the other side until the GPU fit, and repeating until eventually the mess was sufficiently hidden. I call it the guests are coming in an hour, toss everything in the bedroom strategy. The Corsair 240mm AIO has a much less bulky CPU block so the tubes were able to go around into one of the suggested configurations with only a little bit of trial and error.
One thing that I wish I'd understood better is that just because it's physically small doesn't mean it doesn't take up space. A giant GPU in a Mini-ITX case generates the same amount of heat as it does in an ATX, so the thermal footprint is gonna be the same. Yeah, you don't have metal physically preventing you from putting it in a nook, but you'd better maintain at least a foot of clearance over the top because hot death is gonna be pouring out of that radiator.
Lastly, the aluminum cover is a static hazard. Do not try to ground yourself to it when you're plugging in headphones or something, because it's not grounded. Instead what happens is the charge arcs to your video card which throws it into an error state and you have to reinstall the drivers to make it feel alright.
All that aside, I really like the case. It's really pretty, fits components that have no business being in an SFF case, and even with all those caveats is still easier to work with than most SFF cases. The components I've chosen can chew through most graphics-intensive games, and doing that in a case this size feels like I'm cheating nature somehow.
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I've got one of these. Got decent cable management over the MB by cramming excess cable lengths wherever they'd go under the PSU or in the GPU compartment. I got an RX 7900XT in there, so it came down to pushing the cables on one side until the PSU fit, then pushing back from the other side until the GPU fit, and repeating until eventually the mess was sufficiently hidden. I call it the guests are coming in an hour, toss everything in the bedroom strategy. The Corsair 240mm AIO has a much less bulky CPU block so the tubes were able to go around into one of the suggested configurations with only a little bit of trial and error.
One thing that I wish I'd understood better is that just because it's physically small doesn't mean it doesn't take up space. A giant GPU in a Mini-ITX case generates the same amount of heat as it does in an ATX, so the thermal footprint is gonna be the same. Yeah, you don't have metal physically preventing you from putting it in a nook, but you'd better maintain at least a foot of clearance over the top because hot death is gonna be pouring out of that radiator.
Lastly, the aluminum cover is a static hazard. Do not try to ground yourself to it when you're plugging in headphones or something, because it's not grounded. Instead what happens is the charge arcs to your video card which throws it into an error state and you have to reinstall the drivers to make it feel alright.
All that aside, I really like the case. It's really pretty, fits components that have no business being in an SFF case, and even with all those caveats is still easier to work with than most SFF cases. The components I've chosen can chew through most graphics-intensive games, and doing that in a case this size feels like I'm cheating nature somehow.
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Unbound
I am kind of disappointed you did not test the case with air cooling like the Fractal Terra. Then you can still test with the cooler for the case specific build comparison.
(...Or does it come with the liquid cooler? Because if it doesn't It really doesn't make sense to me)
I know you can't always do the same parts in every case but the more similar the test platform the more comparable they are (noise and cooling, fitment, etc.) and the easier it is for a conaumer to make a decision (the more useful the information). Even if you can't get perfectly comparable every time.
For example, I am looking to build a compact air cooled mini itx for my father. The size and shape was similar to the terra making this case of interest (and it is cheaper). But the lack of air cooling testing sadly makes this case review completely useless to me. The Terra review is almost useless as well without at least one thing to compare it to. We may know how it is, but that only helps if it were the only case available. As I said, it was just disappointing.
If this is the route you want to go moving forward (built as intended only) I think you should break the ITX tests into two liquid or air categories (if both then set it in both categories/playlists) and label them as such on the thumbnail.
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I am kind of disappointed you did not test the case with air cooling like the Fractal Terra. Then you can still test with the cooler for the case specific build comparison.
(...Or does it come with the liquid cooler? Because if it doesn't It really doesn't make sense to me)
I know you can't always do the same parts in every case but the more similar the test platform the more comparable they are (noise and cooling, fitment, etc.) and the easier it is for a conaumer to make a decision (the more useful the information). Even if you can't get perfectly comparable every time.
For example, I am looking to build a compact air cooled mini itx for my father. The size and shape was similar to the terra making this case of interest (and it is cheaper). But the lack of air cooling testing sadly makes this case review completely useless to me. The Terra review is almost useless as well without at least one thing to compare it to. We may know how it is, but that only helps if it were the only case available. As I said, it was just disappointing.
If this is the route you want to go moving forward (built as intended only) I think you should break the ITX tests into two liquid or air categories (if both then set it in both categories/playlists) and label them as such on the thumbnail.
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Peanut
Expanding on the point made about dimensions and volume, there is a serious bugbear of mine, which could be really helpful for [some] consumers to be included in reviews, to move the industry.
Negative points / remarks for not including internal dimensions and spacings for [particularly SFF case (but also larger aswell), with bonus points / praise for making blueprints and downloadable 3D models available pre-purchase (even if some information is removed so it's not easily replicated in China, but the primary information's available for potential buyers).
Whilst straight forward builds are typically catered for just fine, it doesn't take much deviation before online pictures and a couple of [unreliable] dimensions are useless when trying to decide if a case would be suitable for a build. Given 3D models probably already exist and the software's becoming way more accessible for the average person , I really think such files should be made available. This is compounded by the shipping costs for cases, making returns costly if a case is purchased that's then found to not work with an envisioned build.
N.B. Really glad you're incorporating SFF cases. For many they're entirely sufficient and as more of us have to live in smaller and smaller residences, becoming more appealing.
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Expanding on the point made about dimensions and volume, there is a serious bugbear of mine, which could be really helpful for [some] consumers to be included in reviews, to move the industry.
Negative points / remarks for not including internal dimensions and spacings for [particularly SFF case (but also larger aswell), with bonus points / praise for making blueprints and downloadable 3D models available pre-purchase (even if some information is removed so it's not easily replicated in China, but the primary information's available for potential buyers).
Whilst straight forward builds are typically catered for just fine, it doesn't take much deviation before online pictures and a couple of [unreliable] dimensions are useless when trying to decide if a case would be suitable for a build. Given 3D models probably already exist and the software's becoming way more accessible for the average person , I really think such files should be made available. This is compounded by the shipping costs for cases, making returns costly if a case is purchased that's then found to not work with an envisioned build.
N.B. Really glad you're incorporating SFF cases. For many they're entirely sufficient and as more of us have to live in smaller and smaller residences, becoming more appealing.
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CoinRingsUSA
Please review the aluminum Segotep Slath miniITX case because it is very unique with good airflow and fairly classy lookng rather than the more common tacky RGB gamer look that many RGB cases have these days. There is barely enough room for all the cables plus 2x 8TB SATA SSDs for storage so it is a perfectly sized case in my opinion. I bought this case about 3mos ago for 289 and it is quite expensive but 100% worth it for the very cool and unique design, sort of like the Yeston CutePet case and CutePet RX580 GPU which I also bought after your review of them about 3 years ago...and I still use that setup as my secondary computer today because it is so unique! In my new Segotep Slath case I'm using a 7950X3D, ROG STRIX B650e, 64GB Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 6000MHz white RAM (Avenger anime version, had to order from AliExpress, not sold in U.S.), 2TB 980PRO M.2, 4TB Teamgroup MP34 M.2, Corsair SF750, Yeston CutePet RTX 3060 12GB GPU (also from AliExpress, not sold in U.S.), Corsair H100i Elite Cappelix white 240mm AIO, along with all white PSU and 24pin cables so everything inside is white other than the motherboard. I even painted all the screw caps white to match.
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Please review the aluminum Segotep Slath miniITX case because it is very unique with good airflow and fairly classy lookng rather than the more common tacky RGB gamer look that many RGB cases have these days. There is barely enough room for all the cables plus 2x 8TB SATA SSDs for storage so it is a perfectly sized case in my opinion. I bought this case about 3mos ago for 289 and it is quite expensive but 100% worth it for the very cool and unique design, sort of like the Yeston CutePet case and CutePet RX580 GPU which I also bought after your review of them about 3 years ago...and I still use that setup as my secondary computer today because it is so unique! In my new Segotep Slath case I'm using a 7950X3D, ROG STRIX B650e, 64GB Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 6000MHz white RAM (Avenger anime version, had to order from AliExpress, not sold in U.S.), 2TB 980PRO M.2, 4TB Teamgroup MP34 M.2, Corsair SF750, Yeston CutePet RTX 3060 12GB GPU (also from AliExpress, not sold in U.S.), Corsair H100i Elite Cappelix white 240mm AIO, along with all white PSU and 24pin cables so everything inside is white other than the motherboard. I even painted all the screw caps white to match.
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Pitboy
To add to the list of what to add to ITX case reviews:
- Can the feet of the case be removed? and if they can,
- exactly how much longer is the screws holding the feet on in relation to the depth of the stock feet.
- In other words, How tall a replacement or additional foot can you 3D print ... before you have to get new screws?
What a lot of people are doing if they have access to a 3D printer is printing replacement or add-on feet in order to increase the amount of air space under the case ... its about cooling ... your training has sunk in. Even further, in some cases with these tiny cases, and high voltage GPU's and CPU's, people are retro fitting quiet, low speed, slim fans on the outside bottom of the case to blow air in or exhaust as needed like a GPU ambient air exhaust in todays example.
All of this is likely beyond the original design of these cases.
Most important is if feet are attached by a rivet and are not removable without drilling it out,
that alone might make some people choose a different case.
Adding info regarding feet for these small cases is a real world thing, worth discussing.
It is a standardizable idea.
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To add to the list of what to add to ITX case reviews:
- Can the feet of the case be removed? and if they can,
- exactly how much longer is the screws holding the feet on in relation to the depth of the stock feet.
- In other words, How tall a replacement or additional foot can you 3D print ... before you have to get new screws?
What a lot of people are doing if they have access to a 3D printer is printing replacement or add-on feet in order to increase the amount of air space under the case ... its about cooling ... your training has sunk in. Even further, in some cases with these tiny cases, and high voltage GPU's and CPU's, people are retro fitting quiet, low speed, slim fans on the outside bottom of the case to blow air in or exhaust as needed like a GPU ambient air exhaust in todays example.
All of this is likely beyond the original design of these cases.
Most important is if feet are attached by a rivet and are not removable without drilling it out,
that alone might make some people choose a different case.
Adding info regarding feet for these small cases is a real world thing, worth discussing.
It is a standardizable idea.
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E1T3
Built this case last year. I remember pre-ordering it lol. Really good case but I gladly moved into the best case recently the FormD T1. Dan A4 H2O is a great entry SFF PC for the mainstream PC people. Once you go deport in the SFF hobby every things slowly becomes custom. People that care about this hobby usually just gets custom length psu cables from RayCustomCables from Etsy. A lot of people don t know him cause he s a underdog in the SFF community. Cable mods is trash compared to his cables. If you re ambitious you do custom water loop. The most fun and challenging part in cases sub 10L. Since you said you guys are still exploring hopefully you get as much information you get as you get depose on the reviews. Also please start using Corsair SF750 PSUs for your SFF reviews and actually spend a bit of time tidying up the cables I swear it s not that hard. You guys didn t even try with the cable management and calling it bad.
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Built this case last year. I remember pre-ordering it lol. Really good case but I gladly moved into the best case recently the FormD T1. Dan A4 H2O is a great entry SFF PC for the mainstream PC people. Once you go deport in the SFF hobby every things slowly becomes custom. People that care about this hobby usually just gets custom length psu cables from RayCustomCables from Etsy. A lot of people don t know him cause he s a underdog in the SFF community. Cable mods is trash compared to his cables. If you re ambitious you do custom water loop. The most fun and challenging part in cases sub 10L. Since you said you guys are still exploring hopefully you get as much information you get as you get depose on the reviews. Also please start using Corsair SF750 PSUs for your SFF reviews and actually spend a bit of time tidying up the cables I swear it s not that hard. You guys didn t even try with the cable management and calling it bad.
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The
I built my first PC in this case a few months ago. I built mine to a 1,000 budget, and chose to forgo the AIO in the interest of allocating more budget to the GPU. To anyone thinking of doing an air cooled build in this case, it does work nicely, and you can put two 140 mm case fans in an exhaust configuration where the AIO would go to aid airflow. Again, in the interest of budget, I'm using the stock Intel RM1 CPU cooler on my i5 12400, which is admittedly quite noisy under load. My GPU is an overclocked and undervolted ASRock Challenger Pro 6750 XT (2735 MHz, 1125 mV, +15% Power Limit). Both the CPU and GPU are running a custom exponential fan curve. My temperatures are as follows:
CPU (Idle): 41 C 33% PWM
CPU (Gaming): 75 C 100% PWM
GPU Hotspot (Idle): 47 C 0% PWM
GPU Hotspot (Gaming): 90 C 65% PWM
GPU Edge (Idle): 43 C 0% PWM
GPU Edge (Gaming): 68 C 65% PWM
Ambient (Idle): 41 C
Ambient (Gaming): 53 C
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I built my first PC in this case a few months ago. I built mine to a 1,000 budget, and chose to forgo the AIO in the interest of allocating more budget to the GPU. To anyone thinking of doing an air cooled build in this case, it does work nicely, and you can put two 140 mm case fans in an exhaust configuration where the AIO would go to aid airflow. Again, in the interest of budget, I'm using the stock Intel RM1 CPU cooler on my i5 12400, which is admittedly quite noisy under load. My GPU is an overclocked and undervolted ASRock Challenger Pro 6750 XT (2735 MHz, 1125 mV, +15% Power Limit). Both the CPU and GPU are running a custom exponential fan curve. My temperatures are as follows:
CPU (Idle): 41 C 33% PWM
CPU (Gaming): 75 C 100% PWM
GPU Hotspot (Idle): 47 C 0% PWM
GPU Hotspot (Gaming): 90 C 65% PWM
GPU Edge (Idle): 43 C 0% PWM
GPU Edge (Gaming): 68 C 65% PWM
Ambient (Idle): 41 C
Ambient (Gaming): 53 C
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jadcott
I really love your case reviews, particularly ITX. I bought a Silverstone SG13 way back after seeing your review of it back when you were still working in the house.
I'm an audiologist by trade so find your acoustc testing of particular interest.
One thing I've notived about your new data is when looking at the frequency plots provided I have no idea how subjectively loud any of it actually is. For example is -15dBSPL 4kHz an annoying whiny sound or is it even within the range of human hearing? Should I care about that?
When testing someone's hearing I use dBHL (hearing loss) which normalises dBSPL against equal loudness curves. This results in 0dB at any frequency to be the expected hearing threshold for a young adult. Is there any way you could parse the objective dBSPL data against these equal loudness curves to make the data more digestable?
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I really love your case reviews, particularly ITX. I bought a Silverstone SG13 way back after seeing your review of it back when you were still working in the house.
I'm an audiologist by trade so find your acoustc testing of particular interest.
One thing I've notived about your new data is when looking at the frequency plots provided I have no idea how subjectively loud any of it actually is. For example is -15dBSPL 4kHz an annoying whiny sound or is it even within the range of human hearing? Should I care about that?
When testing someone's hearing I use dBHL (hearing loss) which normalises dBSPL against equal loudness curves. This results in 0dB at any frequency to be the expected hearing threshold for a young adult. Is there any way you could parse the objective dBSPL data against these equal loudness curves to make the data more digestable?
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Ben
Cooler Master NR200P please. Flexibility in graphics card size and orientation. Cooling performance that allows for the possibility of high-end builds. Reasonable desk footprint. 2 x 120mm fans with splitter cable and riser cable included in the accessories box. And the best bit about this case is that you can completely take it apart. I have managed to fit an Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II 280mm AIO on the side mount without an issue to provide ample cooling for my i7-13700k. And there is room downstairs for at least half a dozen different variants of RTX4090 cards. I've been building my own rigs for over 25 years and this current build in the NR200P was an amazing experience. I don't think I will go back to a mid or large ATX case again. GamersNexus Please give the NR200P the thorough review treatment?
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Cooler Master NR200P please. Flexibility in graphics card size and orientation. Cooling performance that allows for the possibility of high-end builds. Reasonable desk footprint. 2 x 120mm fans with splitter cable and riser cable included in the accessories box. And the best bit about this case is that you can completely take it apart. I have managed to fit an Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II 280mm AIO on the side mount without an issue to provide ample cooling for my i7-13700k. And there is room downstairs for at least half a dozen different variants of RTX4090 cards. I've been building my own rigs for over 25 years and this current build in the NR200P was an amazing experience. I don't think I will go back to a mid or large ATX case again. GamersNexus Please give the NR200P the thorough review treatment?
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Eric
My favorite ITX case is still the Lian Li Q58 because of how versatile and watercooling friendly it is compared to other similarly sized cases. I hope they make a revised version that can accommodate slightly larger gpus since you're basically limited on the high end to noisy blower RTX 3090s or reference RX 6900 XT/7900 XT. Other than that, its a great case that can accommodate a custom loop with a 240mm radiator for either the cpu or gpu. To get around the fact that there's basically no room for a reservoir, I used a external res/pump and ran tubes out the bottom of the case. That said, you could replace the two front feet and front half of the bottom of the case with a acrylic res tank and a sunk in DDC pump if you have the skills to design that.
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My favorite ITX case is still the Lian Li Q58 because of how versatile and watercooling friendly it is compared to other similarly sized cases. I hope they make a revised version that can accommodate slightly larger gpus since you're basically limited on the high end to noisy blower RTX 3090s or reference RX 6900 XT/7900 XT. Other than that, its a great case that can accommodate a custom loop with a 240mm radiator for either the cpu or gpu. To get around the fact that there's basically no room for a reservoir, I used a external res/pump and ran tubes out the bottom of the case. That said, you could replace the two front feet and front half of the bottom of the case with a acrylic res tank and a sunk in DDC pump if you have the skills to design that.
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Lukas
Can you or anyone recommend a itx or matx case which has more or less the form of an Xbox One or something similar which you can put under your TV? These ITX cases are interesting but they always do the Tower approach, so not working with a TV Rack. I really want to build a Console like PC, let's call it a Steam Machine TM. :D But there seem to be very few cases in that form, mostly HTPC cases. Any ideas? I need one 5,25 external slot, no internal slots since there will only be NVMe SSDs, some front USB and Audio, maybe an IR sensor, but that one is not so important. And like I said ITX or mATX and should be big enough for a discrete graphics card, at least a two fan solution like the twin edge cards from Zotac.
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Can you or anyone recommend a itx or matx case which has more or less the form of an Xbox One or something similar which you can put under your TV? These ITX cases are interesting but they always do the Tower approach, so not working with a TV Rack. I really want to build a Console like PC, let's call it a Steam Machine TM. :D But there seem to be very few cases in that form, mostly HTPC cases. Any ideas? I need one 5,25 external slot, no internal slots since there will only be NVMe SSDs, some front USB and Audio, maybe an IR sensor, but that one is not so important. And like I said ITX or mATX and should be big enough for a discrete graphics card, at least a two fan solution like the twin edge cards from Zotac.
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Linus
I never got the whole mini-itx thing if you are not space constrained or if you don't move your computer enough.
I bought a define 7 XL (sadly with TG) from someone who regretted the purchase and put 3 high quality fans in the front (toughfan 14 pro), 2 in the bottom (arctic p14 argb without the RGB. I don't know why, but they sound much more pleasant than the regular p14s) and a 420 radiator in the top (liquid freezer II, opened box, tested but largely unused, so half price)
I never had to plan anything. That case swallowed everything, and it keeps my 7900 with PBO cool while being very quiet. I unmounted the door to make it a worse meshify 2 XL.
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I never got the whole mini-itx thing if you are not space constrained or if you don't move your computer enough.
I bought a define 7 XL (sadly with TG) from someone who regretted the purchase and put 3 high quality fans in the front (toughfan 14 pro), 2 in the bottom (arctic p14 argb without the RGB. I don't know why, but they sound much more pleasant than the regular p14s) and a 420 radiator in the top (liquid freezer II, opened box, tested but largely unused, so half price)
I never had to plan anything. That case swallowed everything, and it keeps my 7900 with PBO cool while being very quiet. I unmounted the door to make it a worse meshify 2 XL.
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Munchkin
I have this case with a reference AMD RX 6800 in the outer position because I wanted to route the cables in between the GPU and the mobo, and I wanted to give the riser cable more breathing room. I had heard of people complaining about their riser cables failing at the time, and my only guess was that the heat trapped between the GPU and mobo didn't help. Unfortunately, the RX 6800 fans are REALLY loud because they're only 1-2mm from the side panel. Taking off the side panel reduces a lot of the noise. I've thought about getting custom side panel with much larger openings to hopefully reduce the very loud turbulence.
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I have this case with a reference AMD RX 6800 in the outer position because I wanted to route the cables in between the GPU and the mobo, and I wanted to give the riser cable more breathing room. I had heard of people complaining about their riser cables failing at the time, and my only guess was that the heat trapped between the GPU and mobo didn't help. Unfortunately, the RX 6800 fans are REALLY loud because they're only 1-2mm from the side panel. Taking off the side panel reduces a lot of the noise. I've thought about getting custom side panel with much larger openings to hopefully reduce the very loud turbulence.
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Bob
Glad your getting into itx cases I've built a lot of sff builds over the years and better reviews (or even just more for different opinions) will be nice. Last one I settled on is a Jonsbo V3 the build quality is something else just wish they were easier to find in the western market they have some interesting cases for sff but not a lot of English reviews.
I have built in an nr200 and elite 130 both good cases in there own rights and what is now known as Raijintek metis can't even remember the original producer of the case but it wasn't them (got it when Linus was still at ncix) horrible case to build in.
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Glad your getting into itx cases I've built a lot of sff builds over the years and better reviews (or even just more for different opinions) will be nice. Last one I settled on is a Jonsbo V3 the build quality is something else just wish they were easier to find in the western market they have some interesting cases for sff but not a lot of English reviews.
I have built in an nr200 and elite 130 both good cases in there own rights and what is now known as Raijintek metis can't even remember the original producer of the case but it wasn't them (got it when Linus was still at ncix) horrible case to build in.
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werty
I used to be all in for Mini ITX a decade ago but I m so glad I went back to ATX. I don t miss how little space there was to fit things. Not being able to use most GPUs because they were too big and even if you do fit it my hands couldn t fit to work with components and any little thing basically required an entire tear down of the entire case to reach. I never want to go back. If I need something small I use something like a NUC with an iGPU. For regular cases I instead go for as big as possible these days. Especially since graphics cards get bigger and bigger and I want support for 360mm AIO.
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I used to be all in for Mini ITX a decade ago but I m so glad I went back to ATX. I don t miss how little space there was to fit things. Not being able to use most GPUs because they were too big and even if you do fit it my hands couldn t fit to work with components and any little thing basically required an entire tear down of the entire case to reach. I never want to go back. If I need something small I use something like a NUC with an iGPU. For regular cases I instead go for as big as possible these days. Especially since graphics cards get bigger and bigger and I want support for 360mm AIO.
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Dogzilla07
FormD T1 or SSUPD Meshroom S pls include the 40 extender bracket for mATX boards would be a nice choice for the next one (give time for limited run, out-of-stock, delayed, V2 production run of other ones to arrive on the market)
You could also do a 2 in 1 SSUPD Meshroom S + Meshroom D video with extender brackets and reverse layout build
But you could also try to ask for samples from Dancase for C4-SFX V2 [Q1 2024], Ncase for M1EVO V1.1/V2 [Jan 2024], or Streacom+Ncase for Freeflow One [Q4 2023/Q1 2024] xD
All the other bigger 18-20L cases are >Q2 2024 at the very least
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FormD T1 or SSUPD Meshroom S pls include the 40 extender bracket for mATX boards would be a nice choice for the next one (give time for limited run, out-of-stock, delayed, V2 production run of other ones to arrive on the market)
You could also do a 2 in 1 SSUPD Meshroom S + Meshroom D video with extender brackets and reverse layout build
But you could also try to ask for samples from Dancase for C4-SFX V2 [Q1 2024], Ncase for M1EVO V1.1/V2 [Jan 2024], or Streacom+Ncase for Freeflow One [Q4 2023/Q1 2024] xD
All the other bigger 18-20L cases are >Q2 2024 at the very least
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Bing
It's incredible how quickly you've gone from starting ITX reviews to hitting on all the most relevant points to ITX builders that ATX just doesn't really need to deal with! One request please - when showing the acoustic data, could you also play some example audio over the top? On the cable management side - absolutely agree with the decision to test with stock cables for look/impact on air flow. However, I don't think it's nearly as big a deal as ATX builders are used to - most people won't even see or care, and those who do care will buy/make custom cables instead
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It's incredible how quickly you've gone from starting ITX reviews to hitting on all the most relevant points to ITX builders that ATX just doesn't really need to deal with! One request please - when showing the acoustic data, could you also play some example audio over the top? On the cable management side - absolutely agree with the decision to test with stock cables for look/impact on air flow. However, I don't think it's nearly as big a deal as ATX builders are used to - most people won't even see or care, and those who do care will buy/make custom cables instead
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Dryfto
I have the A4 H2O and my cable management is not as bad as you just described, and is waaaay nicer than what you're showcasing in this video. For reference, I have the corsair h100i pro rgb 240m AIO, Lian Li sp850 sfx psu, and the msi gaming z trio 3070 which technically isn't supposed to be compatible with this case (it's 323mm versus 322mm that the case supports. Ido have a 1mm protrusions on the front panel)
All stock cables, didn't customize the length of any cable at all.
But IMO, your opinion on terrible cable managability is a bit too harsh
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I have the A4 H2O and my cable management is not as bad as you just described, and is waaaay nicer than what you're showcasing in this video. For reference, I have the corsair h100i pro rgb 240m AIO, Lian Li sp850 sfx psu, and the msi gaming z trio 3070 which technically isn't supposed to be compatible with this case (it's 323mm versus 322mm that the case supports. Ido have a 1mm protrusions on the front panel)
All stock cables, didn't customize the length of any cable at all.
But IMO, your opinion on terrible cable managability is a bit too harsh
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gio2vanni86
I had to put a Commander pro in mine with a SSD, it was pain in rear end to get it too boot. But its a real nice sturdy case and keeps temps okay. And if i had a choice between my 1000D or Lian li Dan case actually would pick the Mini itx case just because i can pick it up and take it anywhere without a problem. However it has no room to grow which is why i have my 1000D, but i cant move my 1000D at all. So theirs always trade offs but its overall a good pick for i believe like college students or maybe a lite weight LAN party PC.
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I had to put a Commander pro in mine with a SSD, it was pain in rear end to get it too boot. But its a real nice sturdy case and keeps temps okay. And if i had a choice between my 1000D or Lian li Dan case actually would pick the Mini itx case just because i can pick it up and take it anywhere without a problem. However it has no room to grow which is why i have my 1000D, but i cant move my 1000D at all. So theirs always trade offs but its overall a good pick for i believe like college students or maybe a lite weight LAN party PC.
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