Small computer cases?

I have an overwhelming temptation to build a PC that is efficient, small and quiet. (Yah, I'm jealous of the Wii).

Hunting for small cases that could house this led me to this, which is small, not /too/ expensive (though right at the edge of how much I'm willing to spend for a box) and aluminium (good), but also with insufficient cooling and a really weird sounding fan (bad). From the sounds of it, that case has a lot of cusotmization going on, which I couldn't be bothered to do.

A superior alternative mentioned on that product page, however, is much more expensive. It sounds viable, but I'm hoping there is something better. (Come on, how can a tiny case cost more than an enormous case with more stuff in it?! ...And that one looks stupid).

I don't really need the cube shape anyway; just something small that looks nice, can be freely moved so it doesn't interfere with the TV antenna it is directly above, and that doesn't need to be treated at all differently from the big cases.

I also found this here, which has a bunch of really small cases that are not really suited to my intents. I'm still intending to use it for all that fancy stuff including 3d graphics. (Not routing or servering!).
I imagine those ones are all proprietary components, as well.

Do you know of any such cases or resources for building small (and efficient and quiet) computers?


Edit:

I found some more!
Not bad, though rather regular looking
EEEWWW!! This is worse than Dell's glass monitor
Oooh, Wii-ish... Except for the imperfect reviews, and it doesn't look very small. There needs something beside it to judge that!

Why is is that most PC's are so ugly?

I would like to know this too. I have a pretty nice case here; it is a black aluminum box with plexiglass on the front (NOT a window!). I'll admit the thing still looks a bit dumb compared to an actual nice design, but at least it isn't bouncing around screaming "Look at me, look at me!!!". It was hard to find, to say the last.

To follow up on that Dell's Glass Monitor thing... I'm talking about This.
Yes, that horrible looking monitor is actually approved of. It's scary.
(Now, if that was redone without the speakers, thus being a monitor with no border, it would be excellent. Alas, they would rather not make something nice; it needs a place to put the Dell logo!).

Those small computer makes alot of noise.
On of my colleges had one, and the fan was allways running and making a lot of noise.

Maybe she just had bad luck with hers!

Because I don't want to pay extra for a pretty box for something I'm going to shove into a desk where I can't see it? Have you seen what Alienware charge for a standard PC in a pretty box? I can't think the average person would want to pay overinflated prices for the privilege of prettying up something they'll likely never look at.

I think my next PC is going into a rackmount case. Then I'd shove it in my home 'studio' guitar rack.

That's the thing, though. Alienware PCs frankly do not look pretty; they look bulgy, childish, ridiculous... and they take up way more space than they need to. They appear to be decorated by plastic figures glued onto the outside -- A lot like the "Fisher Price" look that Windows XP gets routinely teased about.

A nice case in my opinion is one that is simple, small, and not covered in tacky decorations that don't fit into its design. Most cases look about as overdone as Alienware cases (for example: Tinted glass windows?!), yet for some reason people like them.

In my opinion, Mac Mini has the perfect design.

I just bought a new case, not the latest but a Antec P180 dual chamber with silicon gromets to stop vibration from the HD. I spent $55 on a new VGA cooler and CPU heatsink. The VGA is silent with the 5v mode, and the CPU fan runs at a steady 950rpm and stays between 22c and 35c

it's silent from about 1m away, was a bit weird at first having my monitor displaying graphics but no noise in the room.



It's not small and not flashy looking, Got mine on sale for $79 down from $170

I don't disagree. However, it was just an example, not a personal aesthetic preference. All I meant was look at what happens to the price as soon as some people ( regardless of whether it's my taste ) deem it attractive.

Having built quite a few, yes. The cases I prefer are the Antec and Thermaltake ones, although they both require a little fixing (the thermaltake ones in particular, need replacement case fans). Also you need to be really picky when chosing a graphics card - generally you'll need to get a older graphics card to get the heat issues manageable. Also don't get a case that doesn't support standard ATX form factor PSUs. Another problem might be the CPU cooler. Getting a usable low-profile CPU cooler can be somewhat of a chore.

I think my next PC is going into a rackmount case. Then I'd shove it in my home 'studio' guitar rack.

I've thought about that myself too, but decided not to, because my rack also has synths 'n stuff.

A PC in a studio is typically something you'd want to put into a soundproof place, not highly practical when you need to use your synths. My 2 PC's are in a nearly silent cupboard under my desk, I can have them both switched right on without being annoyed with them. I'd say that is the most practical solution to eliminate sound.

I have a case like this, and it is honestly so good-looking I don't want to upgrade. None of the cases I have looked at even compare.

I have the best looking case in the world. It's all black with a drive cover and a badge like my sig image. -_-

That is quite the nice looking tower there Halo..., only thing that bugs me about it though is the HP logo. ;/
(I just dislike their logo, only exception is being on printers)

My tower...


Big, wants to be looked at with no real purpose since I don't bring it to LAN parties or have friends over, but is functional. I just wanted something that screamed "gaming rig", and this seemed to fit the bill.
(it makes a good foot-stool also)

I just like the size, lots of room to tidy up my cords inside without everything become a strangled mess that overheats like back in the days with my 486/66 setup. No idea how small PC towers deal with that stuff unless all their parts run without the need for fans attached...


Regarding small PC cases though, don't the smaller ones usually require you to have custom-fitted motherboards/cards to get them in? A couple of the ones you linked don't appear to fit the standard mobo layout.....seems more like something you'd buy as a complete PC, kinda like the Mac Mini.

I hate that style. It looks like something that would go in a ten-year-old's room. They're making a lot of stereos like that now:

Yep. Way over the top. Less is more. :)

To each their own preference anyhow.

Regarding ghetto blasters, can't agree more on them, friggen retarded....I quite like my 80s retro stereo setup downstairs, nice wooden-box speakers, no plastic crap surrounding the speakers dulling the audio.


Wonder when a single-color no-frills cube-tower will come out.

Hm... I just read a bit more and I'm really liking that case, Evak!
It almost fills the single-colour box criteria, so not bad at all.

It isn't small, but it sounds quiet and cool enough to get away with it :)
Looks I have some price matching to do, though. It's up against this thing, so it will need a very good price...

I'll just hope that the new hardware doesn't cause radio interference :/

Yah, I've been bumping into that with my searching. They seem to make them either really big or really tiny; there isn't much in between.
Thus, they either do normal hardware and are the usual big size, or they have crazy proprietary hardware with integrated graphics.
For example, I just saw a great one but at the very end of it's description it turned out there was a motherboard specifically for it, integrated graphics, weird RAM, and a tiny hard drive that comes with the case :(
There are a few that let you use all normal parts (for example, that first one I found), but they seem to have rather imperfect cooling.


Heh... that is one lame looking stereo! I think they look more like this, though:

A nice place to find elegant cases is Xoxide, I particularly liked their selection of home theater cases. I chose mine after researching the construction and the great deal I got at Bestbuy.com.

I would have probably got one of these and stuck it on a rach of hifi seperates if I had to pay over $100 for it though.


http://www.xoxide.com/hometheater.html

This case is the bomb, but way expensive...

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1301.html

A good site for all things PC modding/cases...

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/