Minimum possible height/width for mITX case

[hardcore_gamer]

What's the minimum height (horizontal placement) / width (vertical placement) possible for mITX cases? Ignoring PSU/Cooling/SSD and assume that case material is 1mm steel. I believe the height of I/O shield and motherboard standoffs will set the limit.

 

[iFreilicht]

That is correct. The minimal internal height you'd need is 52mm. That means 6mm standoffs and 0.25mm above the I/O shield. In terms of width, from the side of the shield to the PCIe-edge of the board, you've got 175.16mm, so at least 176mm internal width. Add 2mm to each of those, and that's the minimum. Depending on the design, you'd need up to another 2mm of height to clear the top of the I/O shield, and up to 2mm in width to clear the side of it. The bottom doesn't need special consideration, with 6mm distance from a 1mm thick sheet you already cleared the bend radius to the shield.

 

[hardcore_gamer]

That means 6mm standoffs and 0.25mm above the I/O shield.

I didn't know that 6mm standoffs exist. Are they 5mm+1mm (Female thread+male thread)?

 

[QinX]

I didn't know that 6mm standoffs exist. Are they 5mm+1mm (Female thread+male thread)?

I think iFreilicht means the Female part is 6mm tall. So the actuall spacing between sheetmetal and motherboard is 6mm.

 

[jeshikat]

I didn't know that 6mm standoffs exist. Are they 5mm+1mm (Female thread+male thread)?

Listed standoff lengths are typically for the body only, the male threaded part is usually measured separately. The problem with male-female standoffs is the male part will stick out the other side of the sheet if it's only 1mm thick

Pressed in standoffs get around this but you'll need the 8mm standoff since the sheet thickness has to be included in the measurement for those.

 

[EdZ]

It would be nice if stand-offs followed an E24-series-like sequence, so you could stack them to achieve nearly arbitrary stand-off distances.

 

[jeshikat]

That'd be nice but due to manufacturing limitations and so there's enough thread engagement, there are minimum lengths for the male thread lengths so stacking them will work for longer lengths (and I'm doing just that for SXT160.0) it won't work for short lengths.

 

[iFreilicht]

I think iFreilicht means the Female part is 6mm tall. So the actuall spacing between sheetmetal and motherboard is 6mm.

This is correct.