Asus Preps Understated $75 Micro-ATX Case With Lots of Mesh

Asus AP201
Asus AP201 (Image credit: Expreview)

According to Expreview, Asus has a new micro-ATX case, the AP201, with plenty of cooling options to compete with the best PC cases on the market.

The AP201 measures 460 x 205 x 350 mm, amounting to a volume of 33 liters. It's not the smallest micro-ATX case that we've seen, but it's one of the more spacious. Asus' chassis includes steel, plastic and glass fiber reinforced plastic. The case weighs 5.8 kg and comes in both white and black colorways, which should accommodate lots of design ideas.

Although the AP201 is meant for micro-ATX system builders, the case also accommodates mini-ITX motherboards, but that will mean a lot of leftover space. In addition, In addition, Asus left around 32 mm of space to facilitate cable management.

Asus' AP201 offers support for the best graphics cards, CPU coolers, and power supplies. The case has room for graphics cards with a maximum length of 338 and CPU air coolers up to 17 0mm in height. In addition, there are four PCI expansion slots on the case, so a dual SLI or CrossFire setup isn't out of the question. As for power supplies, the AP201 can fit units of all capacities and form factors as long as they measure between 140 mm and 180 mm in length.

The case features mesh, front side, and top panels with dust filters to ensure maximum airflow. There are nine fan mounts with spacing for two 140 mm or three 120 mm cooling fans at the top of the case. It also allows two 120mm or 140mm cooling fans at the case's front, bottom, or rear. However, Asus only includes a single 120 mm cooling fan located at the back. The generous cooling options also means the case  supports liquid cooling with radiators from 120 mm to 360mm.

The AP201 provides three drive bays that accept 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch drives and a specific 2.5-inch drive bay for SSDs. The front I/O panel consists of two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one USB Type-C port, a headphone jack and a microphone jack.

Asus will reportedly launch the AP201 in the middle of next month for 499 yuan, around $75. We don't yet know iff the AP201 is exclusive to the Chinese market or if the case will make it over to our side of the world.

Zhiye Liu
RAM Reviewer and News Editor

Zhiye Liu is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • tennis2
    The world needs more mATX.
    Reply
  • Lucky_SLS
    Where does the psu sit in this case? Mounted besides the mobo? If sfx psu is supported, this is gonna be a very good case for custom loops...
    Reply
  • JoBalz
    That's a very nice mATX case. I like that the I/O is on the front of the case and not sitting on the top (which makes it hard to use if your cases is on your desk and you're seated). Hope this one will be available in the US.
    Reply