Smaller(er) high performance case?

I have a Fractal Design R4 Case, and I like it overall.

It's MUCH bigger than I need tho. There are at least 8 hard drive bays which seems silly since I only have one 2.5" SSD.

Many of the smaller cases don't have the depth required for the huge heat sinks and video cards that I commonly use.

Any suggestions for a minimalist case that is just big enough for a full sized Motherboard and 1-3 large video cards? No neon or flashy stuff required. Neither is a space for 5" optical drives or older 3.5" drives.

I'll even look into a horizontal mount design.

Thanks

CE

 

Lian Li cames to mind. Look at their ATX case selection:
http://www.lian-li.com/en/products/#154/1/list

 

The R4 is already a mid tower, it's a bit big, but smaller might be a tad difficult. If you can find a mATX motherboard that has the right # of PCI-E x16 slotf for your video cards, then a case like this might work: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=303&area=en. That case may not have a ton of fans, but it's designed for good airflow and you can easily fit a Hyper 212 cooler in it.

I built a rig in its cousin, the PS07 and I had no problems putting the parts in, well the wiring was a bit trickier than in larger cases, but I had no issues fitting a large video card in it. Well, my GTX570 triple slot cooler would take too much room for fitting in a second video card, but dual slot coolers won't be an issue.

Lian-Li is also a good alternative, they tend to be pricey, but they have pretty nice designs. If you still go for a mid tower ATX case, then smaller than the R4 is possible, but only slightly smaller from what I can tell. Also look at Corsair cases, they also have pretty well designed ones.

 

If you have a full sized ATX motherboard, then I think it makes sense to get a mid-tower ATX case. The reason is because it gives you lots of room for future expansion (whether it be more storage drives, a closed-loop water cooler, or a gigantic video card that gets released 2 years from now). Plus, mid-tower ATX cases give you plenty of room for cable management, which lets you keep your PC neat / tidy with obstructed airflow.

You could go with an ATX mini-tower case (which is the smallest form factor for a full-sized ATX motherboard). But to be honest, you're not really saving a lot of physical space by doing so. You're going to be intentionally limiting the maximum size of video card you can cram in there. And you're going to be limiting your selection of vendors / models that make mini-tower ATX cases.

If you really want to save space, you'll probably do well looking into MicroATX cases and motherboards. You can probably rebuild your computer into one of those for about $300-$350 ($200 for a microATX motherboard, $150 for a microATX case). And the MicroATX form factor will typically have fewer drive bays, support full-sized graphics cards, and have just enough space to fit two dual-slot video cards configured in SLI / Crossfire.

 

NZXT S340, hands down the best ATX case in terms of bang for your buck.