Help choose a case with a height restriction ~5"

[shlammed]

Im having a hard time finding a case that is closer to a cube than most HTPC cases which are pretty long and short. im putting the computer in a shelf with a clear height of 6" but obviously need to have some airflow. The cabinet is cooled with a digital controller with 2 120mm fans and a huge 200mm noctua.

Is there any taller htpc style cases? This will be put beside my AVR reciever as an HTPC and having the height ~5" would maintain the look.


The whole build can be changed around to meet height requirements but its planned as such

Mini ITX board. Thinking ASRock Fatal1ty B450
ryzen7 2700x
M.2 970EVO
16gb ripjaws
Leave space for a 2slot gpu . I have a 1050 i might use for a bit.


horizontal measurements are really not limited but being SFF i would like to keep them as reasonable as possible.

 

[shlammed]

I was thinking of something like the nouvolo case but dont install the feet and mod it to have some isolation feet to lay it on its side.... but if there is a case that fits the bill of that style without needing mods that would be ideal. Im not sure if the nouvolo case side would be rigid enough to handle laying sideways. (they said not to put it sidewasy to me when i asked on instagram, but im always modding things)

 

[Stevo_]

The Lone L5 or maybe the J-Hack Pure X cases, take a look at both in the Concepts & Custom Project forum both fit LP GPU with minimal height

 

[shlammed]

The Lone L5 or maybe the J-Hack Pure X cases, take a look at both in the Concepts & Custom Project forum both fit LP GPU with minimal height

what im looking for is a bit larger than your suggestions. along the lines of the J-HACK Pure X but somewhere in the middle of the X and XL. The XL would likely juuust slide into my cabinet, but that would only leave 3/4" above the case for airflow.

I should probably add to the OP. i would like to use a standard PSU. Going into the boutique SFF PSU would blow my budget.

 

[Stevo_]

what im looking for is a bit larger than your suggestions. along the lines of the J-HACK Pure X but somewhere in the middle of the X and XL. The XL would likely juuust slide into my cabinet, but that would only leave 3/4" above the case for airflow.

I should probably add to the OP. i would like to use a standard PSU. Going into the boutique SFF PSU would blow my budget.

Your size restrictions make the standard PSU requirement difficult in a ~5" height. If you can go 7" or so the Silverstone cube/shoebox cases are probably the way to go for budget like an SG05 https://www.silverstonetek.com/product_case.php?bno=147&tb=1&area=en

 

[shlammed]

Im looking at the Geeek A50 right now. i would be laying it on its side without the feet installed.
It uses a standard SFX PSU as opposed to some of the smaller boutique PSU's, fits a nicely sized GPU and looks like it should match my HT receiver well enough.

The a60 would have been my choice in footprint when put sideways, but the extra 18mm height reduction in the a50 will make a better fit in my cabinet.

 

[Necere]

The problem with putting a sandwich layout case like the Geeek or Steck on its side is they rely on drawing air through the side panels, and by doing that you're cutting off airflow through the side facing down. However, the problem with a non-sandwich, conventional card-in-PCIe-slot layout is it will be too tall, as the height of the card alone is ~126mm. Given that you need an extra 15-20mm for the PCIe power connectors, you're looking at a minimum of 140mm+ (5.51"). There have been one or two shorter cases that didn't include room for the power connectors, intended for use with cards that don't require them. The Element Qi is one, though it only has a single slot.

Ultimately, you'll need to compromise somewhere, because you won't find a shoebox case that short that also supports a good GPU. Either a console case like the Silverstone ML08, or forego the GPU (or limit yourself to a single-slot, and/or low profile GPU) with the aforementioned Element Qi or something like the Antec ISK-300.

 

[Valantar]

I have to ask: why the requirement for airflow above the case? I understand this if it has a top vent, but if it has a front-to-back airflow pattern (which would be far more reasonable in this use case) the top panel should be able to sit entirely flush with the shelf above.

 

[shlammed]

my dad surprised me when i was talking about a sff build and bought a Node202 from a local shop. that will work for now.