Full Tower, needed to be to fit an SSI EEB motherboard.
Main rig is matx and I suppose you'd class the case as a ‘mini’ tower, my other rig is in a ‘cube’ case.
Depending on what I build next it will either be a full atx tower (work) as I need more space for parts or a mini itx compact build (gaming)… having said that I do like the idea of playing around with a raspberry pi for media streaming etc so who knows.
Presently ITX, but wouldn't mind going back to midi. Just easier to work with them and get to the bits inside.
Full tower (243 x 586 x 577 - WxHxD mm - according to the specs for mine on Scan), to ensure as much space for cooling as possible to be effective, plenty of hard drive and SSD bays for future-proofing, and plenty of space to fit any add-in cards, including whatever GPU may come next, without having to worry about them not fitting - also for future-proofing.
My intention is to continue using the be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 rev.2 for any future builds that succeed my current one, so there are definitely no plans whatsoever to go to anything smaller in future.
Dimensions 230 x 380 x 585 mm ( W, D, H) (Super mid tower case).
I got it because I liked the depth part, it's less than normal towers. Did consider Matx / Mitx on the last build but couldn't find a case that I liked.
I've got the following:
6x mid-tower
6x mini tower
1x compact (Coolermaster Elite 130)
1x HP SFF
1x big silver desktop
I'll stick with mid-towers for gaming PCs, I like the elbow room and ability to pack them with many drives
Mini-ITX and Shuttle form factor for the last 15 years.
ATX board in a Silverstone Alta case, I hope.
LC Power 65x250x320 Mini Itx am4 ryzen 2200g, very pleased and noise free.
ATX Mid tower with Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, and likely not to change with upgrade.
I do like the look of the Phanteks Enthoo 719, but unsure if my budget will really stretch to that as part of new build.
Instead Fractal Define R6 is a strong possibility.
I'm one of those weird people still using DVD drives.
210×360×366 mm (W×D×H) Full ATX, i would've liked to have smaller but things get tricky when you go lower than ATX, thermals, motherboard, graphics card length all has to be thought through thoroughly and it can limit upgrade paths (at least IMO).
ATX.
Big case. Big fans. Nice & quiet :)
DanceswithUnix
ATX.
Big case. Big fans. Nice & quiet :)
This.
The current case my hardware are inside are a Lian li PC-A70 full tower.
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/lian-li-pc-a70/2.html?pageSelect=/reviews/LianLi/PC-A70/2.htmlI am however working on a Thermaltake level 20 XT that dwarf the lian li case.
I cant recall when i last was on a regular ATX MOBO, i tend to follow that American tradition of “ go big or go home”
The last midi tower i owned was a cooler master, and it sat on top of a Codegen S-201-2 server case that housed the cooling, all of that of course also modified to hell by yours truly.
But that was something like 20 years ago if my grey goo serve me right.
Too bad all my pictures have gone to hell :mad:
Large full tower (Thermaltake Tower 900) needed for E-ATX motherboard and full custom watercooling
Work puter = atx in atx case
Media Centre/gaming rig = m-atx in atx desktop case with front display
gig projector and main lighting controller - thinkcentre M73 ;)
music pc 1 = m-atx in rack mounted case
music pc 2= atx in rack mounted case running X86 as several instruments only 32-bit
I'm using a be quiet dark base pro 900 rev 2as well, it's 577 x 243 x 586mm spec from their own website. It's perfect of my EATX system.
Apparently, mine is a Full Tower, although I'd have said it's a bit smaller…
I'm considering getting a bigger case, as I can't quite fit a pump-res combo between the end of my GPU and the drive bay frame, where the purpose-built reservoir mount is supposed to go, and I'd quite like a PSU mounted on its side, to give me more room for pointless junk in the front… or a radiator, whichever looks best!
In the full sized ATX corner, filling up 212 x 497 x 616mm and weighing in at 15.3kg when empty, at least 20kg and very hard to move now, mine is the SilverStone FT02 Fortress.
Change it? not likely.
Full tower, Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition (W) 282 x (H) 584 x (D) 590 mm
It looks like this might be my case forever now as I am currently using 2x optical drives, 4x 3.5 hard drives and 2x 3.5 card readers. Not many (if any) new cases support such configs.
Other PCs,
Work PC at premises MATX aerocool dead silence
HTPC MATX, Antec MicroFusion Remote 350
media extender HP SFF
2x All in one media extenders.
Fractal Tardis - I mean Define XL . It's bleeding huge.
xigmatek midgard - mid tower size.
its extremely dusty inside, either should clean it more often or work out proper fan airflow stuff.
temporary main rig is now a kingbox k3 kodi box that i remember had chrome on it, and came with mini keyboard, paired with Asus memo HD7.
the silence is odd, i miss the whiring fans.
who knows what computers will be like in 10 years when next (hopefully planned this time) upgrade will be
mATX cube case from Thermaltake - looking at the rather bleak future of mATX with no real upgrade path onto Ryzen and prices on Intel side being silly.
ATX tower, love the quality feel of my Corsair Obsidian 500D. It's not technically the best at anything but I am happy with it.
Last build was in an Antec 1200 as I liked the flexibility of having 12 external/internal bays to play with. I would stick with it as it's ideal for gaming and storage but as it's in the UK and I'm not, I need a replacement. Downsizing to a Core V21 in the US but finding a decent mATX board, especially a good AMD one, is proving very difficult.
DanceswithUnix
ATX.
Big case. Big fans. Nice & quiet :)
judge56988
This.
And, this again.
2x mid tower Coolermaster MASTERCASE MC500P,superb cases,will fit a EATX board.
1x compact Coolermaster Elite 130
I'm a big fan of Silverstone's mATX cases having built some very quiet rigs (mine included) in the
TJ08-E. If you don't need 3.5" drives they're pretty much perfect so I don't see myself going any larger in future.
Currently putting something together from spare parts in an
SG10 and while definitely more challenging, it's still a very well thought out case.
Corsair 600d e-atx, i want nxt to be in a ATX, as small i can get it.
Mines in a Micro tower but I need to change it as it runs too hot. I ordered a new one more than a month ago which hasn't arrived due CV19! Ironically its too hot because of CV19 as its running both Folding & Boinc full time.
It's what you do with it that counts!
Quartz
ATX board in a Silverstone Alta case, I hope.
That's my next one, I hope; my current case is a Silverstone FT05.
One Midi Tower with mATX board (and plenty of space), one full size as I wanted 5No 5.25 bays. Loads of room which is great but it is a big old thing. I hadn't missed the full size and vowed not to go back there, but smaller cases typically now only have 1-2 5.25 bays tops. It just doesn't work for me that.
Large Tower (Xigmatek Pantheon) from when I needed multiple RAID0 arrays when working on VMs and video from Home.
Now almost empty with 2 NVMe drives on the motherboard and a single SSD in the case.
I have an ATX case but I want to try mini-itx but it holds back a lot of restrictions.
Changed last year froma full tower to a more managable dynamic 011.
ITX is fine so long as you don't want ability to upgrade.
Full Tower Fractal F6, Allowa better cooling.
ik9000
ITX is fine so long as you don't want ability to upgrade.
It limits your upgrade options. It doesn't remove them.
Last 2 have been mini itx. A fractal core 500 then a define nano s because I wanted just that bit more space for decent airflow. Wouldn't consider anything bigger than that case though
Spreadie
It limits your upgrade options. It doesn't remove them.
Too few ports for me. It makes upgrading substitutive rather than simply additive. Love the size however - so portable.
How many ATX PC builds have you seen? Huge chassis, acres of wasted space and a single GPU.
The vast majority stay that way - many choose that size because of FOMO, and still do nothing with the wasted space.
Full Tower, can fit every type of motherboard that way (including SSI EEB according to specs). So no need to swap a case or have a restricted choice upgrade path.
Matx mid towers for a while now, best trade of between size and capacity. Single GPU and at most one add in card, and at most 2 disks (one SSD). Cases aren't super compact and temperatures are fine with decent case fans moving the air without too much noise.
Still got the old Lian Li full tower though it's relatively narrow so cooling and access are considerable worse that the mid towers.
That's a very personal question ;)
I'm proud of my little mITX Fractal Design Node 304. It takes a full ATX powersupply and most full sized graphics cards, with well-placed ventilation. I suppose I could go smaller but this sits well behind my monitor on the corner desk. Only air-cooled at the moment but there's potential for a radiator in there. Cable management is important for good air flow but that's getting easier and easier with all the smaller and modular elements these days.
I don't think I'd ever go back to a tower, as this amply covers my gaming/design needs.
Spreadie
How many ATX PC builds have you seen? Huge chassis, acres of wasted space and a single GPU.
The vast majority stay that way - many choose that size because of FOMO, and still do nothing with the wasted space.
I don't dispute that, but it's not the case for me. Every PCIe slot occupied on day 1 of build. Having to add extra sata ports already, etc.
Currently I have mid-tower, but i plan to change it for something bigger as i have no room to add the LC i wanted to :P
Managed to source a 900D a few months ago… Always wanted this case, full tower and imo way better looking than the 1000D
Sulfatron
Managed to source a 900D a few months ago… Always wanted this case, full tower and imo way better looking than the 1000D
Nice! I'd looked at those but couldn't find one anywhere. Managed to pick up a Bitfenix Shinobi XL 2nd hand. Not too shabby for the money tbh
mATX
Wanted something smaller than my old full-ATX PC but ruled out ITX because i wanted at least some PCIe expansion slots left. (turned out to be a good decision, as i'm now using the additional slots)
Midi tower. It has to be that height because it doubles as a monitor stand on the floor.
Mid tower as always, I really find full towers very obnoxious. Right now in my modern mid-tower (without those old HDD and Optical drive cages), I have 5 drives, a BIG GPU and only 3 cooling fans but I could fit another two if I wanted, that's way more than what most people need. I just really eat a lot of space with games, music and professional work. Don't really feel to need for more physical space. In fact if I could I'd like to go smaller. Maybe when I get my hands on a BIG m.2 SSD I can move on to ITX.
Liquid cooling is just a gimmick, as it's has more parts to fail and doesn't offer any performance benefits unless you go custom and invest a month's worth of you salary in parts, so I'm not into it.
Massive, it's Thermaltake's The Tower 900 (white) with dual loop water cooling
Spank
Massive, it's Thermaltake's The Tower 900 (white) with dual loop water cooling
Didn't even know this existed so looked it up, the price isn't bad but it really is setup for custom loops which can't be cheap. Would love to have one but just can't justify it.
My last build was with a large mini-ITX chassis, the Thermaltake Core V1. I got it specifically because it's my first mini-ITX build, and I wanted to make sure it was big enough to be easy to work with, but also small enough to fit inside one section of an Ikea Kallax storage cube (think 13 inch by 13 inch, and deep enough). It's also big enough I was able to put a full sized power supply in it, instead of paying extra for a small one. Most cases that are mini-ITX-only are smaller, though, and I might go that route next time. I'll spring for a power supply with modular cables, regardless. I swear I have said this for a couple builds now, but cable management issues are much more serious in small boxes.
I was looking around at some of the Lian Li cases. Pretty expensive though.
15“ laptop. It'd have to be a very specific use-case for me to go back to a desktop as a daily driver now. I simply don't do anything that even a modest laptop can't handle. I might consider something a bit smaller next time I upgrade, but that shouldn't be for a few years, and tbh 15” is a really good balance between daily usability and lugging it around as necessary. If I *need* something smaller I already have a 9" 2-in-1, so…
I do own a small form factor Lenovo desktop, but that's dedicated to my audio work and doesn't get used very much. My much loved (and photographed on here) Antec Aria and its current components are being donated to a friend once we can all travel freely. And that will be the end of my desktop association for now. I even have a laptop as my primary computer in my day job.
Full Tower (Corsair 750D)
Need loads of room for HDD's
Looks like a pig sty in comparison to some of the neat builds pictured here! :D
ATX. Keep considering MATX but you don't save anything (but a bit of space) and often lose features (i.e. 4 to 2 RAM slots).
As for case - currently rocking an NZXT s340 which is pretty nice but I got it for £25 as an ebay special (Its branded by an OEM - cyberpower?) and its got a red scheme going on I hate. Tempted with a Phanteks p400a or similar mesh case to get that sweet sweet airflow for my Rx480. I also need the RGB for those extra frames ;)
Full tower. It's the only PC I've actually built from scratch, so I went big on the case. Turns out, 8+ years later, that the only aspect of the size that I've really taken advantage of has been its storage space - I have 2 5.25“ optical drives, 4 3.5” HDDs, and a 2.5“ SSD in it. It has space for one more drive at each size, but the mobo only has one more SATA port, so I'd need a PCI card adapter to max it out. Fortunately, I also have two free PCI slots and one free PCI Express slot - never did take advantage of those upgrade opportunities.
I may well go with a mid-tower next time, particularly since if I have a couple m.2 slots, I won't need as many 3.5” drives. But I am quite pleased with how quiet the full tower is. I've also considered keeping the full tower as my main rig once I switch to Ryzen, and using a mid-tower for my secondary/backup/friend over for a LAN rig.
ik9000
Sulfatron
Managed to source a 900D a few months ago… Always wanted this case, full tower and imo way better looking than the 1000D
Nice! I'd looked at those but couldn't find one anywhere. Managed to pick up a Bitfenix Shinobi XL 2nd hand. Not too shabby for the money tbh
I longed for one of those, but push to click shut Corsair panel locking mechanisms break far too often for my tastes.
I've got a PC011 Dynamic midtower. I like it, but with liquid cooling and some of the big graphics cards, it can be hard to get things to fit. My MSI SeaHawk EK X 2080 ran into the EK pump reservoir when I had it on the bottom of the 360mm rad, so I had to get a different bracket and a smaller reservoir and move it up to the middle fan on the rad. Pretty poor use of space in that regard. Pretty, though.
Percy1983
Spank
Massive, it's Thermaltake's The Tower 900 (white) with dual loop water cooling
Didn't even know this existed so looked it up, the price isn't bad but it really is setup for custom loops which can't be cheap. Would love to have one but just can't justify it.
I managed to get one in a sale for £40 less, it's dead quiet as I can have the fans running at 400rpm when gaming (& only CPU fans running most of the time, but yeah, the water-cooling could have paid for a decent PC on its own
Midi tower at the moment. What I really want is a Mini ITX with TRX40 chipset and all the trimmings.
Phrontis
Midi tower at the moment. What I really want is a Mini ITX with TRX40 chipset and all the trimmings.
I think the socket and 8 ram slots might shaft that possibility by itself no?
Phrontis
Midi tower at the moment. What I really want is a Mini ITX with TRX40 chipset and all the trimmings.
The nearest you'll get to that is with something like a 3950X on X570 or an Intel i9 HEDT on an Asrock X299E-ITX/ac.
Small midtower. Corsair 400C Carbide. It's the smallest PC I've ever built in fact. First time I didn't use a full tower in decades, and the last mid tower I built over 20 years ago was around 10-15% larger than this is. It's practically tiny, relatively speaking in comparison to my previous builds. But VERY dense, component wise, unusually so for one of my builds. Easily as heavy as larger builds due to the component density, which was surprising.
Been running 3 years on this machine and will not go back to larger towers, no need for them anymore. This is perfect. Next build and the one after that will re-utilize this tower again, so will be awhile before I think about a new tower. This one has everything I need in a tiny form factor (relatively).
New build for my server - MB has shrunk from ATX to mATX, and I'm recycling the same Coolermaster Mid Tower, since it has an integral hotswap 3.5" bay, which is great for swapping out the backup drives.
cheesemp
ATX. Keep considering MATX but you don't save anything (but a bit of space) and often lose features (i.e. 4 to 2 RAM slots).
Odd, I know you lose some things on a mATX but my current one (and last 3) have all had 4 dimm slots.
Anyhoo, case I suppose is a mid tower now. I did use a small mATX case but the Coolermaster NR400 gives great cooling for the price.
Ditto mAtx usually has 4 ram slots though I have seen a few oem ones that didn't. But then they're usually rubbish and heavily gimped anyway. There is itx below mAtx which is smaller and only runs with 2 ram slots one pcie etc. Possibly some confusion going on?
ik9000
Ditto mAtx usually has 4 ram slots though I have seen a few oem ones that didn't. But then they're usually rubbish and heavily gimped anyway. There is itx below mAtx which is smaller and only runs with 2 ram slots one pcie etc. Possibly some confusion going on?
The lower end mATX boards, current Intel example being a H310 chipset, would typically only have 2 slots. The B360 boards will be a mixture of features, with some having 4 slots.
The higher end Z series boards will almost always have four RAM slots.
It's all a bit silly really, because anyone pushing for performance outside of HEDT circles would usually run with only two sticks anyway. Four sticks are often a cause of instability when pushing the limits, due to greater load on the memory controller.
Silverstone SG03-S Silver Micro-ATX
Spreadie
It's all a bit silly really, because anyone pushing for performance outside of HEDT circles would usually run with only two sticks anyway. Four sticks are often a cause of instability when pushing the limits, due to greater load on the memory controller.
True enough, can't recall the last time I used all four dimms on a board.
adidan
True enough, can't recall the last time I used all four dimms on a board.
Old server had all four populated for a maxed-out 32gb. New one has 2/4 for 64gb. Progress!
Currently using a Corsair 800D (since 2012) but I'm thinking about moving to something with a bit more room. Probably the 1000D. I cannot fit all that I want in the 800D.
mATX - Fractal Meshify Mini. My PC is deskbound so I prefer to keep the chassis small as I don't like a towering monolith sat next to me.
hatcher
Full Tower Fractal F6, Allows better cooling.54x47x24.quote