Looking for a smaller mid tower with great cable management

[ENOTTY]

Hi all, long time lurker here.

I'm looking for a mid tower case that is on the small and light side, but has great cable management for better airflow. The only cable management "innovation" that I've seen is cable routing holes. If there are any others, please let me know.

So I'm looking for a case that has these cable routing holes, but is as small and light as possible. All the cases I'm looking at are about 20"x8"x20" (LxWxH) and ~20 pounds. The case needs to fit a 5970 and have great airflow. I like 200mm fans because they can push a lot of air yet still be quieter at the lower RPMs. A removable motherboard tray would be nice, but I don't think it's completely required.

I'm looking at the:

• Antec 902 (25 pounds, but this case looks like it can keep stuff really cool)
• CM 690 II (I may be mistaken, but I think cooler masters have lower build quality)
• CM HAF 922 (its a bit heavier and larger than the Element S)
• Thermaltake Element S

I was wondering what you guys thought of these cases, or could suggest some others to me to look at. I don't particularly care about price at this point.

Thanks.

EDIT: I've seen some reviews that say the Antec 902 and the CM 690 II won't fit 5970s. Boo.

EDIT2: Just measured my current case (a Lian Li PC 201B) which is 24x8x23. So none of these cases are significantly smaller :/

 

[cbn]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129058

From the review at 3/10/2010 @ 2:49pm (Antec 902 will not hold HD5970)

http://www.totalpcgaming.com/hardware/cm-690-ii-advanced/

According to this review CM 690 II will not fit HD5970.

 

[Kenmitch]

When you said mid-tower, good airflow, cable management, 200mm fans the first thing that popped in my mind was the HAF 922.

When you said small and light it vanished. The case has depth which is needed for long video cards. The case has width which is needed for the front 200mm fan.

I have a HAF 922 and it does have alot of room inside and good cable management. Great airflow. The fans are pretty quiet also.

As far as a 5970 fitting I have a 5850 in mine. From end of card to drive bays 4" of clearance.

I like mine and don't have any complaints other than I wish they would have just put maybe 1 more inch above the MB. Wanna upgrade my upper rad but with only 2" up there it limits my possibilities. I got my eye on the HAF X which is kinda huge but depending on the price I may just sell my 922 and get one of them.

 

[ehume]

It's ugly, but the NZXT Beta Evo fits your bill. It is not terribly large, light and has a wide area behind the MB tray for running cables. It has anchors for cable ties back there, along with lots of slots for passing cables around the the edges of the MB.

I've modded mine - cut out three grills, removed the HD cage, cut a fan hole in the bottom. Barrels of fun to play with, and cheap - watch the sales and you can get it cheap with no shipping. One thing - don't depend on rebates ever getting to you. Just buy it cheap with free shipping.

 

[ENOTTY]

It's ugly, but the NZXT Beta Evo fits your bill. It is not terribly large, light and has a wide area behind the MB tray for running cables. It has anchors for cable ties back there, along with lots of slots for passing cables around the the edges of the MB.

I've modded mine - cut out three grills, removed the HD cage, cut a fan hole in the bottom. Barrels of fun to play with, and cheap - watch the sales and you can get it cheap with no shipping. One thing - don't depend on rebates ever getting to you. Just buy it cheap with free shipping.

The website says it can fit 10.5" graphics cards. The 5970 is just under 13 inches. I don't know what card that is on the website but its not a 5970 and there is only like 1-2 inches behind it.

Other than that it looks like a great case. It's significantly smaller and lighter than the others. I worry about the NXZT brand though. it's not as well known. About how much depth is there behind the motherboard to place cables?

I'm planning on replacing any included case fans with Scythes anyways, so this case's lack of included fans is okay by me.

 

[ehume]

The website says it can fit 10.5" graphics cards. The 5970 is just under 13 inches. I don't know what card that is on the website but its not a 5970 and there is only like 1-2 inches behind it.

Other than that it looks like a great case. It's significantly smaller and lighter than the others. I worry about the NXZT brand though. it's not as well known. About how much depth is there behind the motherboard to place cables?

I'm planning on replacing any included case fans with Scythes anyways, so this case's lack of included fans is okay by me.

OK. NZXT Beta Evo: from the back end of the case, top two slots to edge of 3.5 drive bay is 11.5 inches. I've removed my HD cage, but the pics show it to leave about 0.5 inches less - call it 11 inches max.

The case is lying on its side, but measuring from the MB tray to the workbench is one inch.

 

[Antec_Rep]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129058

From the review at 3/10/2010 @ 2:49pm (Antec 902 will not hold HD5970)

http://www.totalpcgaming.com/hardware/cm-690-ii-advanced/

According to this review CM 690 II will not fit HD5970.

It really depends on the 5970. Most of the 5970 are around 11-13" long and the Antec 902 fits GPU up to 16" inches (Note: some video cards may block access to the adjacent hard drive bay). Unless you have 3+ hard drives in your system I don't see any problems fitting a 5970 in a Antec 902.

Pictures/specs: http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzIy

 

[Washoe]

I just got the 902. my gpu is gtx460 - there is definitely plenty of room!

 

[nitromullet]

You might want to checkout a Silverstone FT02 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...n=ft02&x=0&y=0

The high points:

- Excellent air flow.
- Good looks (IMO)
- fits a 5970*, so it's fairly future proof in terms of graphics cards.
- decent cable management

The low points:

- It's mostly steel (kinda heavy)
- doesn't have optical drive bezels as an option, which is a shame for such a clean looking case IMO.
- Doesn't accommodate some of the longer BluRay optical drives very well because the clearance between the optical drive bay and motherboard. Seems to work fine with standard length optical drives though, especially with right angled sata power/data cables.

* side note about fitting the 5970: You have to remove the fan grilles from the FT02B and FT02B-W, but not the FT02B-WRI (the Limited edition one with the red interior) to fit the 5970 though. The WRI uses a different fan than the regular models that has a diffuser built in that doubles as a grille, so it's just thin enough to accommodate a 5970. You can get the fan used in the WRI separately, but it would run you $75 for three of them. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-039-_-Product

...in case you're wondering, no, I'm not a Silverstone rep. I've just been researching the hell out of this case because I'm considering it as my next case also coming from a Lian Li (Rocketfish branded) full tower.

found some user pics:

more pics in this thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18143977

 

[PrimeSLP]

any of the nzxts

I just built into a M59

love the cable management

 

[Rubycon]

Haha I have one of those and it definitely runs cool. Even with a pair of 480s pancaked temps are lower than with a standard case with them apart!

You might want to checkout a Silverstone FT02 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...n=ft02&x=0&y=0

The high points:

- Excellent air flow.
- Good looks (IMO)
- fits a 5970*, so it's fairly future proof in terms of graphics cards.
- decent cable management

The low points:

- It's mostly steel (kinda heavy)
- doesn't have optical drive bezels as an option, which is a shame for such a clean looking case IMO.
- Doesn't accommodate some of the longer BluRay optical drives very well because the clearance between the optical drive bay and motherboard. Seems to work fine with standard length optical drives though, especially with right angled sata power/data cables.

* side note about fitting the 5970: You have to remove the fan grilles from the FT02B and FT02B-W, but not the FT02B-WRI (the Limited edition one with the red interior) to fit the 5970 though. The WRI uses a different fan than the regular models that has a diffuser built in that doubles as a grille, so it's just thin enough to accommodate a 5970. You can get the fan used in the WRI separately, but it would run you $75 for three of them. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-039-_-Product

...in case you're wondering, no, I'm not a Silverstone rep. I've just been researching the hell out of this case because I'm considering it as my next case also coming from a Lian Li (Rocketfish branded) full tower.

found some user pics:

more pics in this thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18143977

 

[nitromullet]

Haha I have one of those and it definitely runs cool. Even with a pair of 480s pancaked temps are lower than with a standard case with them apart!

How's the fit for the optical drive?

 

[Petey!]

How's the fit for the optical drive?

depends how long your optical drive is. I've heard people mainly have problems with the longer Bluray drives then anything.

 

[Rubycon]

How's the fit for the optical drive?

Tight but doable with standard length drives.

 

[nitromullet]

Tight but doable with standard length drives.

Nice. Thanks. This case is looking more attractive all the time.

 

[Rubycon]

It's basically a Raven RV02 in a much nicer looking package. Far less plastic. It's heavier though. (don't drop it on your toes!)

I was suggested to get the red version because it has the newer fans. They seem to move less air to my hands but temps are cooler than the RV02.

I wish they made a larger version to handle jumbo boards like the EVGA 4X Classified 762 and dually - SR2!