Enclosure Geeek A10: ITX, LP dual slot and FlexATX

[confusis]

Case manufacturers today have a litany of materials available to them to build a computer chassis with. They vary from the common steel and aluminum boxes, to more exotic wood and acrylic ones that have risen in popularity. And with today's product review, of the GEEEK A10, we find a case made from the latter material - acrylic. GEEEK is a Taiwan-based case manufacturer that specialises in acrylic based PC cases, and the company has a few different designs, covering ATX, M-ATX and M-ITX. In the past, they've even produced a chassis for the failed VIA APC form factor!

Read more here.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

Looks like a good case without too many compromises for the price.

 

[Phuncz]

A unique case, just by focusing on acrylic as a main material. A very nice case for a very nice price !

 

[VeeTeeF]

I purchased this case a couple of weeks ago. Once I got all the protective plastic off (there's A LOT of it) the case looks pretty nice. My only issues are:
1). The panel to mount the hard drives on is too flexible/flimsy, and it uses 8 screws to attach to the case.
2). It would have been great if there were a fan slot on the other side of the case too. If you're not using a flex ATX PSU, there's nothing over there, and a second fan would allow for MUCH better airflow throughout the case (although the airflow isn't bad as-is).
3). The power LED on the front is extremely bright. Although a resistor can fix that.

Installed parts are:
Intel i3-4160T
MSI GTX 750ti (low profile obviously)
Gigabyte GA-H81N ITX motherboard
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB (1X8GB) DDR3
128GB MSATA SSD.
Picopsu 160xt + 192w power supply

The graphics card fits in the case, but I couldn't install an 80x80x25mm case fan internally. An 80x80x10mm fan may have worked as there is a little space between the gpu cooler and the side panel, but I didn't have one on hand to test that out. Instead I just mounted a standard depth fan to the outside of the fan cutout. Also the HDMI plug location on the card interferes with the rear of the case so I couldn't use it, and had to use the DVI connection instead (which luckily outputs 5.1 audio as well with a DVI to HDMI adapter).

My cpu was hitting 65°C without the 80mm fan installed after running Prime95 for 20 minutes. Temps went down to 55°C with the fan installed. I'm cooling it with a Silverstone NT07-115X. Needless to say the graphics card stays incredibly cool with fresh air blowing directly onto it. I may try taking the fan assembly off the card and install the 80mm fan internally.

Overall this is an excellent case and exactly what i was looking for. I wanted something to fit my half height 1.5 slot GPU, have headroom for a decent CPU cooler, have an understated look, and be as small (and cheap) as possible. If they could modify the case to fit a slim optical drive under the motherboard to attach to the front of the case, and add an option for a second case fan, it would be PERFECT, and I'd happily pay double for it. But as it stands I'm very satisfied. I'm planning to upgrade to a more powerful 65W processor in the near future, and probably a Big Shuriken 2 (which does fit this case). I'll report back with results.

 

[K888D]

Also the HDMI plug location on the card interferes with the rear of the case so I couldn't use it

Great write up.

What was the reason for not being able to use the HDMI port? Was it too close to an edge, or was the acrylic thickness interfering?

 

[VeeTeeF]

Great write up.

What was the reason for not being able to use the HDMI port? Was it too close to an edge, or was the acrylic thickness interfering?

If I remember correctly the HDMI port was too close to an edge so I couldn't actually plug my cable in. I don't remember if the card didn't exactly line up with the case, or if the cutout on the case was off/too narrow. I'd have to look at it again.

Anyway I've been running this setup 24/7 since I built it (It's probably been restarted 5 times in 4 months) and I haven't had a single issue. It's mostly used to watched movies but I've also played some Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite. Temps stay reasonable under all conditions and the computer is never audible over my projector fan (although my projector IS directly over my couch).

 

[mgb2120]

Case manufacturers today have a litany of materials available to them to build a computer chassis with. They vary from the common steel and aluminum boxes, to more exotic wood and acrylic ones that have risen in popularity. And with today's product review, of the GEEEK A10, we find a case made from the latter material - acrylic. GEEEK is a Taiwan-based case manufacturer that specialises in acrylic based PC cases, and the company has a few different designs, covering ATX, M-ATX and M-ITX. In the past, they've even produced a chassis for the failed VIA APC form factor!

Read more here.

Could you stick a gigabyte mini gtx 1070 in it?

 

[jtd871]

It only takes low profile cards, so not without a significant mod.

 

[janas19]

When are these coming back into stock? Basically all sold out.

 

[confusis]

@GEEEK ^

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z0k.6846577.0.0.nB3r9d&id=13899954424&_u=t2dmg8j26111

Also curious if these are the same, or a copy?

 

[janas19]

So I just received this email from a sales rep at GEEEK:

"Hi,

Thanks for your email.
We are afraid that we will not keep producing this case anymore. And, it is already out of stock.

BR,

GEEEK"

If that's really the deal, then this is a bummer. The A10 was a fairly unique case at a very affordable price point. There's almost nothing out there to which comes close to replacing it, to the best of my knowledge.

I hope GEEEK will reconsider their decision or a viable alternative will come along, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[K888D]

So I just received this email from a sales rep at GEEEK:

"Hi,

Thanks for your email.
We are afraid that we will not keep producing this case anymore. And, it is already out of stock.

BR,

GEEEK"

If that's really the deal, then this is a bummer. The A10 was a fairly unique case at a very affordable price point. There's almost nothing out there to which comes close to replacing it, to the best of my knowledge.

I hope GEEEK will reconsider their decision or a viable alternative will come along, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think they are developing a new case called the A30, which looks a similar size and style, maybe it is its replacement?

 

[aquelito]

The In Win Chopin seems close enough.

You lose the 2 slots LP GPU support (except if you get rid of the Flex-ATX PSU) and $50 but finishes should be much better.

Both cases seem larger versions of the older Antec ISK-110 to me.

 

[zovc]

That explains it, I was hoping to pick up the A10 and had kept checking in on its page.

I've used a similar case from In Win and it's fine, a little cramped, with pretty good build quality but I'm just not a huge fan of the aesthetic of most of their ITX cases. Their (901?) tempered glass ITX case is really pretty, but that's in a different direction.

 

[janas19]

The In Win Chopin seems close enough.

You lose the 2 slots LP GPU support (except if you get rid of the Flex-ATX PSU) and $50 but finishes should be much better.

Both cases seem larger versions of the older Antec ISK-110 to me.

Hey, that's exactly the point. The Chopin doesn't have GPU support unfortunately.

Now if Intel did a widespread Broadwell release, you could put a Broadwell i5/i7 in there and have a decent midrange system. But Intel didn't, so we are stuck with dGPUs for now...

 

[aquelito]

Hey, that's exactly the point. The Chopin doesn't have GPU support unfortunately.

Now if Intel did a widespread Broadwell release, you could put a Broadwell i5/i7 in there and have a decent midrange system. But Intel didn't, so we are stuck with dGPUs for now...

You could either lose the Flex ATX PSU or use an inward 90° riser to accommodate a GPU ?
This is what I will be doing with my ISK 110 :

 

[janas19]

You could either lose the Flex ATX PSU or use an inward 90° riser to accommodate a GPU ?
This is what I will be doing with my ISK 110 :

The GPU doesn't fit internally though, does it?

Or am I missing something?

 

[aquelito]

I'm not sure to understand your question.
The GPU does fit into my Antec ISK 110 case, provided I use a Slipstream 120mm fan.

 

[alexep7]

I'm not sure to understand your question.
The GPU does fit into my Antec ISK 110 case, provided I use a Slipstream 120mm fan.

How? I honestly can't see how a GPU would fit in that case, even a low profile single slot GPU. It seems impossible...