SFF case's that support 120mm tower air coolers

LeDelmo

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Sep 6, 2018
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Hello, New to the forum.

I was planning to build a new PC out of the ID-COOLING T60-SFX case. But came to find out I was too late. That model had already been discontinued and wont be getting a replacement.

I liked that case because it was small yet was able to support a tower air cooler. (It would have also been easy to add filters and extra ventilation, which I had planned on doing)

Now I am left looking for a replacement case. And wanted to see if anyone would have any good suggestions.

The only other two case's I have found that might also work are the Raijintek Metis Plus and possibly the SilverStone SG13... I am wondering if you swap to a SFX PSU and move it to the front side of the case if it would allow room for the a 120mm tower cooler. Hoping that it doesn't obstructed airflow from the front intake. Than have a fan on the rear of the case for exhaust. It would basically provide a perfect channel of flowing air. (If it works that is)


BTW, I was planning on waiting for the 7nm from AMD. But with this price hike coming. I was thinking of just going with the Ryzen 2700 instead.

The PC will be used for lite gaming and VR.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 

Vlad502

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 4, 2017
256
206
BTW ID-COOLING T60-SFX supports CPU coolers to 125mm (most 120mm tower are 150+mm height)
Raijintek Metis Plus is nice aluminum case, but supports GPU to 170mm length.

If you will cool only with air coolers, intersting case is InWin A1 (contain 600W 80+bronze PSU), but is 20liters (FD Core 500 - 19.5liters)
 

Legion

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 22, 2017
357
386
Do you have a specific budget? All the cases you've mentioned so far are all pretty much budget cases.
Or are you just looking for something easy to buy without import and customs duty headaches?
 
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LeDelmo

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Sep 6, 2018
105
39
For a case I'd like it sub $150. But, even if there is a $200 case that meets my needs. I would still feel the need to consider it.

The ones mentioned just happen to be some that I have found that I like. I don't mind spending a more cash to get quality parts as long as I see the value in what I am getting.
 

Legion

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 22, 2017
357
386
For a case I'd like it sub $150. But, even if there is a $200 case that meets my needs. I would still feel the need to consider it.

The ones mentioned just happen to be some that I have found that I like. I don't mind spending a more cash to get quality parts as long as I see the value in what I am getting.

I'd like to suggest the Ncase M1 to you: https://www.sfflab.com/products/ncase_m1

You really don't need a 120mm cooler to keep a 2700 or 2700x at decent temps.
Noctua's NH-D9L and NH-U9S are more than capable of keeping either of those CPU's cool in the M1.
They both work well in the case and are quiet and unobtrusive. (if quiet is ofc what you are looking for)
You certainly aren't restricted to those coolers, there are lots more options for air or water cooling using this case.

This is about as small as you can go and keep good compatibility for big gfx cards and good CPU cooling options.
You can indeed go smaller, but then you run into more restricted CPU cooling, using smaller footprint gfx cards or both.

I'm not going to list what the big manufacturers make, that's all simple and easy to find, I just wanted to show you something a little more upmarket that's still easy to build into with "off the shelf", easily obtainable parts. Yet still retaining a nice and compact sff footprint.
 
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LeDelmo

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Original poster
Sep 6, 2018
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I am going to look into that Ncase M1.

Looks promising. Nice layout inside too. Think a tower would fit with top mounted fans?
 

LeDelmo

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Original poster
Sep 6, 2018
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The Ncase M1 is almost a perfect case for what I want. But, its definitely on the premium side at $200.

I also kind of feel like they missed some opportunities by trying to please everyone. Like the space in front for the CD/SSD. I would have preferred be used as a intake with the front cover being mesh and filtered. And the ATX PSU, if they would have made it sized for SFX-L they could have saved a little more space.

But, I am just nit picking at this point.

Are there any other options out there?
 

Legion

Airflow Optimizer
Nov 22, 2017
357
386
The Ncase M1 is almost a perfect case for what I want. But, its definitely on the premium side at $200.

I also kind of feel like they missed some opportunities by trying to please everyone. Like the space in front for the CD/SSD. I would have preferred be used as a intake with the front cover being mesh and filtered. And the ATX PSU, if they would have made it sized for SFX-L they could have saved a little more space.

But, I am just nit picking at this point.

Are there any other options out there?

*Excerpt from the product page*
"The M1 is designed primarily to use an SFX power supply, for which it is best suited. However, if the dual 3.5" HDD cage or 240mm radiator support aren't needed, and a short GPU under (195mm long) is used, then an ATX power supply can be installed with an included bracket."

As I said, that's about as small as you can go whilst still having the space for big )up to 3 slot) gfx cards.

If you aren't both bothered about size there are dozens of cases to choose from.

At the other end of the budget there is the Sharkoon QB One (Basically an M1 clone for cheap) that supports up to 150mm coolers.

Midway into your budget there is the Rajintek Ophion (due to be released shortly) More cooler limited with this though and cooling potential doesn't look great.

Handy chart for visualising cases sizes:
 
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LeDelmo

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Original poster
Sep 6, 2018
105
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Well, I might as-well let you all know what ended up happening.

I ended up ordering a In-Win Chopin.

Amazon had them for sale almost like a pre-order for some reason. Than one day I noticed it said out of stock. From what I know about the Chopin it isn't really available in the US for some reason. So I was surprised it was even on Amazon let alone via as a pre-order.

Anyways, It didn't allow a GPU so I didn't pay it much mind. I loved the design (Seriously love the design possibly the best designed PC case I have ever seen) but I really wanted to do a full gaming rig so it didn't fit my needs.

But, after looking and looking I really couldn't find/settle on a case that I really liked and prices were really starting to get up there.
(I wanted something small sub 14L with very high air flow that allowed mid sized tower coolers.)

With a mixture of needing a new PC and concern over Tariffs. I ultimately decided just go for something usable.

(Honestly, wonder if these cases will even be available in the foreseeable future. I could easily see stuff like this disappearing because of a 25% price hike)

And luck behold the Chopin shows back up just before the Sep 12 order date. At $99 I see this case as a steal. Not only does it already include a PSU completely eliminating a needed cost. But, will be able to recycle allot of the components I will ultimately be using for the build.

I figured by getting the Chopin I can still build a nice media system. And have it hooked up to my TV instead of a monitor. And It will save me on the cost of a GPU. So $500 saved right there! Plus, I will be using a much cheaper CPU.

After listing all the parts I want. The total cost of this build will be around $450-$600. Depending on the exact parts I end up choosing.
I will be using a AMD 2400G, 8Gbx2 G.skill 3200MHz Ram sticks (Might actually just get some 2666Mhz sticks as they are much cheaper, and I hear they provided the best gains for the cost), and ether the Gigabyte B450-I Aorus Pro OR Asus Strix B450-I.

For a boot drive I plan on just using a Samsung 960 500Gb M.2 NVMe. IF I need more space the option of a SSD is still there Or just use a external HDD. If the Stock AMD cooler wont fit (I heard if you remove that ring with the AMD logo it should fit) I will be getting the Noctua L9a.

Well, this thread ended up in a completely different direction. Sorry about that.

But, I just want to say thank you all for your help. I hope you all will be there for me if I have any other questions.

Also, if you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know.

Thanks