mATX case I can fly with?

[roadie1]

Hi folks,

A new project means I need to fly with my rig about once a month, and I'm looking for a durable mATX case that will fit comfortably into a Pelican 1610.

I'm also hoping to find a way to avoid taking my graphics card out before every flight, but I'm worried about the PCIe connector standing up to the bumps and thumps involved.

Trying to get the case down to 15" x 18" x 7.5" at largest, so I can get an inch or two of Pelican foam around it on all sides.

I know there are laptops that will do what I need, but given that I own all the computer parts already, and I also need to drive 4 HD outputs at once, as well as an SDI input, the laptop that can do this would be thousands of dollars I'd really rather not spend if at all possible.

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[dave_the_nerd]

7.5" wide is going to be unlikely. Even ITX rigs are rarely that small/tall. Otherwise, doable.

ex: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811345031

Get a slightly bigger Pelican case.

And the extra bag check fees will more than make up for the savings vs. buying a laptop, long term. Buy the laptop.

 

[roadie1]

There are several cases that meet the dimensions I'm looking for, I came here in the hopes of finding advice/experience on which ones are worthwhile and which ones are best avoided.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119274

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147248


A slightly bigger pelican case puts me into $200 per trip in baggage fees, and turns this from a $500 problem into a $2500 problem, it's a non-starter. As you say, once we're into that money I may as well buy the laptop.

As for why I need to travel with it, as I noted above, the work we do onsite requires me to be able to drive 3-4 HD outputs at once, as well as receive an incoming HD signal. When we're on site in Johannesburg, Bangalore and Guadalajara, this isn't something I can source locally, so I've got to bring it with me.

There's no laptop that can drive all of this natively, so now we're looking at a laptop with an outboard video card enclosure, or a Datapath X4, as well as an external capture device that's going to add some latency. Spending enough money could get me to an almost-as-good result.

...and, as I mentioned above, when I own all the parts to do the job, save the case and motherboard, I don't really want to spend $2500.

 

[EliteRetard]

Does it have to be MATX, and does it need to be in a pelican case? I can recommend an ITX case that should be small enough to put under the seat as a carry on (under 1/2 cubic foot).

The Sugo SG-05 and SG-13 are great, low cost, simple, small cases. The SG-13 is a slightly larger updated SG-05, that allows for ATX (vs SFX) PSUs and has a cutout up front to allow slightly longer GPUs (10.5" vs 9.5"). If you're fine with modding a case, you can make the same GPU cutout for the SG-05, and also potentially add more cooling vents (I've done this).

I have an SG-05 with a SFX 450w PSU, i7-4790k and a GTX970. This PC fits inside a cloth lunchbox (with room to spare) I have that is roughly 9" deep, 12" wide, and 12" tall. The lunchbox has convenient straps/handles that make it easier to transport the PC, and its insulation foam acts as a little padding. I also use this same lunchbox on flights and it fits under the seats of the planes I've been in. I have not tried taking the PC in the lunchbox on a plane however.

I imagine taking the PC as a carry on will be much gentler, and if you keep the case oriented upright the video card is sitting vertical in the slot and shouldn't stress the MOBO much at all.

Edit: Oh and I should mention there are a few variants of the SG-05/SG-13. There are options with different front panels, with PSUs included etc. In such a small case I personally care much more about airflow to keep things cool, so I'd always suggest the mesh versions over the solid panel variants.

Now that there are several high quality (and high power) SFX PSUs, and even GTX 1080ti under 9" long, you could fit a top of the line system in an SG05. Imagine a 4.7 GHz 6 core 8700k with a 1080ti in one of these...you'd probably need a nice 120mm AIO for the CPU though (I used a modded air cooler for the 4790k). I'd also suggest ventilating all the space under/around the SFX PSU on the back, to allow air to flow straight through front to back (one of the mods I did, and have the PSU flipped to draw fresh air through the top panel).

Edit 2: It was easy to find examples...
Here's a founders 1080ti in a modded SG-05 (front cutout) with a push pull 120mm AIO:
https://imgur.com/a/WUWzd
There are also much shorter open air versions (I know Zotac makes one) that wouldn't require the mod.

I guess since I'm still here I can also suggest modding the front mesh in the SG-05, bend the tabs inside so you can pull it out. I used some bare wire to make a small finger loop handle on the front outside so I could pull that metal mesh cover out, and have installed some filter material to it to make it easily washable. If I recall, I think there was a permanent filter built into the SG-05, but I didn't like how hard it was to clean. I also made my own magnetic stick on filters for the other intake areas.

 

[mxnerd]

Fractal Design Core 1000

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352032

 

[EliteRetard]

Fractal Design Core 1000

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352032

If he needs MATX (vs ITX) I think this is one good choice. The Cooler Master he found earlier is a little bigger and offers bigger/more fan options, which could be useful if he has a high powered system (over say 450w). If it's a more modest system then this smaller Fractal I think is the better choice. I wouldn't consider the Rosewill at all, that case is more for a 100w celeron type system.

 

[mxnerd]

The Fractal case has one 120mm preinstalled fan in front, one 92mm optional fan in rear, one 120mm optional fan in side panel, guess that should be enough.

But I never own any high power graphics card before, so I don't really know. Each dimension of the case is smaller than OP's requirement, however.

Linus's unboxing review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfwrubJC3II

 

[dave_the_nerd]

There are several cases that meet the dimensions I'm looking for, I came here in the hopes of finding advice/experience on which ones are worthwhile and which ones are best avoided.

Well then I'd say "Always buy Fractal Design. Silverstone is fine too."

But there's not a lot of brands/models that are legitimately best to avoid - some things are slightly better than others, but as long as you're not shopping absolute bargain-basement ($50+ for a uATX case) nobody's making absolute crap anymore - even stuff from the "bad" companies or "cheap generics" are more or less okay.

Given the use case, you're probably going to want to mod the hell out of whatever case you get, with additional shock absorbing grommets, etc. No case is going to be able to take a hit (they're all thin steel and will dent/bend), but with some judicial reeingineering, most cases will let your components survive.