it's not the size but what you do with
it that counts at least that's what I
keep telling myself and lately you know what I seem to be getting some backup
here because there's been a lot of love for big things that come in a small
packages if you know what I mean ITX
cases and the motherboards that go with them have been growing in popularity for
some time but there are some inherent
tradeoffs that come with tiny Computing
size noise cooling performance and of
course one of the big reasons anybody wants a small computer in the first
place looks so we rounded up eight of
the best small form factor designs for your viewing pleasure come along for the
ride the package ride you bought the ride package
cyber power PCS lineup of gaming desktops feature Intel 7th generation
core i7 processors check them out at the link
below we'll kick things off with the venerable Silverstone Milo M8 which
rocks a classic high-fi look this
particular model comes with a carrying handle along with a vertical stand
should that suit your fancy taking a peak under the hood reveals a separate
chamber for a full-size GPU which helped
with both thermals and Acoustics in our
testing on the other side we find generously sized front panel cables and
two toolless 2 and 1/2 in Drive mounts
for any combination of spinning or SSD
storage taken all together we think this one's a great choice for a living room
PC next up fractal designs node 202 a
moderately sized Media Center style case
again with a vertical stand if you're into that sort of thing and optional
feet if you're not one thing you'll notice right away here is that there are
no screws anywhere on the top or the
back they're all on the bottom and
thankfully they use standard phillips heads something apparently you can't
take for granted inside is a spacious
clean design with well proportioned cable
and a power supply Mount that uses rails for additional stability all the fan
intakes are filtered including the GPU intakes dual 120 mm fans which we would
recommend using our GPU got pretty toasty in testing and with two 2 and 1/2
in Drive mounts it's a pretty versatile
option crowdfunded on Indiegogo this is
the Dr Zer Sentry a Polish built mini
monstrosity made entirely of Steel right down to the brackets and
vertical stand everything from the satisfying power button to the weight of
the panels exudes Quality Construction
getting inside past the hex bits we can
see a fairly sensible layout with a separate GPU cooling Zone and slightly
long front panel cables if your GPU is
shorter than 200 mm you can actually make use of a provided bracket to St up
to four 2 and 1/2 in drives in place of
one of these mounts for a grand total of up to eight drives of course if you were
to actually load in that many drives I would suggest taking off all their
clothes cuz in our testing it got uh pretty hot in there behind the
GPU not content to provide only one case
for our Roundup Silverstone also sent in their Raven rvz01 e which I guess we'll
call Ron another larger case Ron trades
volume for cooling coming with two slim
120 mm fans with space for a third and
convenient magnetic filters for each of them all of which combined to give it
the top results in our thermal testing
inside we see an incredibly sturdy PCI Express Riser four 2 and 1 12in Drive
mounts ample room to maneuver and amount for a full-sized ATX power Supply Ron's
not perfect though between the too long for Comfort too short for uh reach
around front panel cables he's a little bit of a pain to service and
aesthetically we don't think Ron fits in well in the living room making him more
of a smallish showcase piece for the
computer Den now where Dr zabber debuted
on Indiegogo the Dan Case a4sfx burst
onto the scene by way of Kickstarter it is currently the world's smallest
computer case it's super light and it's
really beautiful the panels snap on and
off easily which actually could be a problem with how jam-packed heght things
are in there if not for the optional screw holes it's extremely space
efficient under the hood with the full-size GPU compartment separated by
way of a plastic flap to save weight while offering darn impressive thermals
now the a4s sfx's size and lack of dust
filters do hurt its acoustic performance
and a single front USB 3 Port is not ideal for the year 2017 but two 2 and 1/
12 in Drive mounts give you decent options for internal storage and while
sadly the A4 sfx is unavailable for
purchase at the time of filming more good news they do have a subscription
service that will notify you when they're returning to production moving
along to the NK 1 we see many
similarities between it and the a4sfx it's lightweight constructed from
aluminum and feature Snap-on panels though these ones unfortunately don't
screw down it's wholly get it
holy ventilated with two 120 mm fan
mounts that we would recommend filtering and using as intakes to help prevent the
rest of the case from sucking in dust thanks to its perforated design The m1's
Thermals were great even if it's a little on the loud side and in spite of
its diminutive size our unit includes amazing Drive expansion with the
optional slot loing optical drive that goes where you could also mount a 2 and
1/2 in drive and even an option to mount
dual 3 and 1/2 in drives if you like to
store your media locally and you'll want a small case you'll want to give this
one some consideration it's probably the most versatile chassis at its size
support for triple slot video cards is just icing on the cake at that point
next up I hope you're ready mate's cuz we've got the r agent Tech Mt
plus affordable with a premium looking aluminum finish this is a more
traditional looking Cube PC much care
and attention clearly went into making it look and feel streamlined
with brackets hiding the slot screws and the bizarre Power Supply Mount sadly
though this makes working in it a huge pain and each side panel is held on by
Philips screws rather than you know little quick releases looking inside
though we find space for up to 4 2 and 1/2 in drives or two 2 and 1 halfs with
a single 3 and 1/2 or two 3 and 1/2 in
drive so the storage options are definitely a strong point making it an
attractive home theater PC option even if I can't emphasize this enough it's
not great to work in finally a brand new
chassis to round off our Roundup the bit
Phoenix portal evoking a certain turret
design this is probably the most over complicated case we have on hand with an
inner frame for our parts to bolt onto attached via a rail this doesn't leave
much room in spite of its size for cable routing but there's plenty of cooling
which was a big benefit to the portal in our testing it even managed to stay
pretty quiet for the portal showing off your build is just a window option or
two thumb screws away and it features twin quick detach 3 and 1/2 in Drive
sleds and up to two 2 and 1/2 in Drive mounts so if you want something
absolutely unique you're looking at it as long as you don't mind dealing with
yet another case that is difficult to work with so then final recommendations
what to buy for someone with Forward
Thinking style the bit Phoenix portal at 139 us looks pretty good looks it's got
plenty of options sturdy construction and head turning appeal but it's far
from the smallest in our Showdown and really not that small for an ITX case so
make sure you've got the room for it for those of you looking to build a gaming
grade home theater PC to store and consume your content we like the
Silverstone M8 at $79 the dror abber Sentry does get an
honorable mention here for its stunningly slim and clean design but at
235 us it's very pricey finally for
those of you who just want a slick small form factor PC the nm1 at 185 us is the
Cadillac and the fractal design node 202 at 79 is the similarly functional if
less luxurious Camry the Dan Cas a 4 sfx
gets an honorable mention though when it's available but at
€230 it's a little tough to swallow
though it should be noted that in spite of their size all of these cases are
relatively easy to work with and performed very well in our testing so
there you have it this video was a metric but ton of work so guys drop a
thank you for Anthony Max and Ivan in the comments while you're at it cable
mods custom length individually sleeve cables actually did legitimately help us
complete these builds in some cases and
keep it real guys until next time real
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