In case of a small tool free case

[kyufaker]

Hello all,

I am wondering if there's a case out there that is not too big and it's completely tool free [bar stuff like screws on mobo obviously]...

I am currently running a HAF922 and the gut would include:

Asus P7P55D-E with i5-760 on it
Akasa Venom Fan
GTX Gigabyte 670 3x windforce
Xonar DS soundcard
Silverpower 650W
2 HDDs
and a Vertex 3 SSD

miscellaneous stuff also includes 5 sickle flow fans and a fobya fan controller...

So I gather the 922 is actually a very good case, plenty of airflow, but its kind of big and somewhat painful to mess around with, space for cabling at the back isn't great and generally not that aesthetically great inside...

Was wondering if there was another one out there as good but better looking, smaller and easier to access/mess around with and with a price that won't make me bankrupt (<$150 or <£100 I live in the UK) oh yeah and a huge window on the side would also be a welcome feature...

Might consider going liquid cooling as it's actually better than air, saves space and looks cool, but seems a tad risky for me at the moment in case it springs a leak on top of that £150-200 it costs to get all the pieces together...

Given there is plenty of space in the case I am looking to shrink it ( I don't need 5 drive bays and 6 HDD bays or 6 PCI slots at the back for that matter :S)...

I gather that the HAFXM looks good but it's bigger than what I currently got... Corsair 600T looks good, but it's a tad pricey...

So need ideas from pros out there what's good!

Thanks in advance folks

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Check out In Win's midsize cases, I have one of their fulltowers and they are very nice quality cases,
The Mana137 might be what you are after, it takes large cards and tool-free
http://www.inwin-style.com/pd_idx.php?iw_lanid=0
**Edit, if you are serious about Water, you may want to stick to fulltowers though, unless you are prepared to mount rads externally
throw a post up in the W/c section if and when you are ready
Moto

 

[kyufaker]

thanks a lot mate, unfortunately that case isn't to my taste on top of that it doesn't seem to feature 200mm fans (perhaps because it's smaller) instead exhaustwise it only has 1 rear and 1 top 120mm :S, would that hurt cooling?

with w/c i probably would go with top exhaust 2 rads rather than say SSTJ11 quad rads, a bit ott... but i don't really know much about w/c maybe it's necessary to go ott

 

[kyufaker]

it just hit me looking at the SSTJ11 that the mobo is tilted 90 degrees up wards and rotated around, which makes a lot of sense when it comes to feeding the gpu some fresh air as well as aesthetics... where can I get that? without significant expenditure ofcourse

 

[bryonhowley]

Check out In Win's midsize cases, I have one of their fulltowers and they are very nice quality cases,
The Mana137 might be what you are after, it takes large cards and tool-free
http://www.inwin-style.com/pd_idx.php?iw_lanid=0
**Edit, if you are serious about Water, you may want to stick to fulltowers though, unless you are prepared to mount rads externally
throw a post up in the W/c section if and when you are ready
Moto

I love my In Win Dragon Rider it is in my opinion the best case I have ever had. Granted it is not small by any means but then again I was not looking for a small case. I have my FX-8120 in the black and my FX-8350 in the limited edition White version.

 

[kyufaker]

the dragonrider seems quite nice but the size does put me off unfortunately

raven 03 any thoughts? price seems about the same as my haf (which i hope to sell at 50 pounds...) size wise also the same , but has a great cooling solution and allows me to chuck in my 5 sickleflow fans for an extra kick...

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I love my Dragon rider as well Bry, mines bigger 'n yours though
Ravens are nice cases, and have the rotation you were after
Moto