Lightweight, portable cases larger than ITX

zandor

Supreme [H]ardness
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Dec 14, 2002
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I've been looking around for a case that's larger than ITX but doesn't weigh a ton. Finding a 10lb case isn't hard, but I'm wondering if anyone still makes all aluminum mATX or ATX cases? Bonus if it has a handle, but if not tossing it in a bag will do. Have any suggestions?

I'm ok with an SFX PSU, and it doesn't need to be able to fit a top end vid card. Not too expensive is good too since we have no interest in looks/bling but if the case is the most expensive part of the build that's ok. I'm basically trying to do a desktop build that's as easy to cart around as possible for a friend who wants to learn about computers. Toss it in a car, bring it over to my place, then toss it back in the car and take it home. The rest of it's gonna be cheap-ish. On that note, easy to build in without cutting your hand would be good because I'm going to make my friend do the build while I stand around giving instructions. I've sliced myself more than a couple times on cheap cases. Best way to learn is to do it yourself, right?
 
Sama IM01. Similar in size to the Cerberus and has a similar layout. It’s barely larger than the Cooler Master NR 200.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. All around 10lbs and worth considering, though I'm hoping for something lighter. That Sliger Cerberus case looks really nice, but pricey as kirbyrj said. I'll see if my friend chokes on the price tag. If LAN parties were still a thing I'd totally buy that for a gaming rig. I really miss those all aluminum Lian Li cases, but Lian Li is trendy as always and most of their stuff includes tempered glass. They have one nice little portable aluminum one, but it's ITX. I was hoping for an extra usable slot or two, which is why I want mATX or ATX rather than ITX. It's supposed to be a portable training computer, so it should be able to support things like screwing around with a NIC, disk controller, etc. Just get cheap used stuff off eBay to learn on.
 

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  • Lian Li Lancool 170M.pdf
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I like the Lian Li Lancool 170M, but it seems to be a MicroCenter exclusive model (doesn't appear anywhere on Lian Li's site)
Here's a PDF of the manual that I scanned

Fairly compact, and very cheap (~$40 IIRC)
Unfortunately I don't see it on my local Microcenter's web site. Could be a contender if I could get one. Or maybe it's just old stock and your Microcenter still has them?

And yeah, it would be nice to have more than one slot since it's intended as a portable training computer rather than a gaming rig. It'll be full of cheap parts and eBay will be involved. On that note I should look on eBay and see if they have any old all aluminum mATX cases.
 
Unfortunately I don't see it on my local Microcenter's web site. Could be a contender if I could get one. Or maybe it's just old stock and your Microcenter still has them?

And yeah, it would be nice to have more than one slot since it's intended as a portable training computer rather than a gaming rig. It'll be full of cheap parts and eBay will be involved. On that note I should look on eBay and see if they have any old all aluminum mATX cases.
https://www.microcenter.com/product...-glass-microatx-mid-tower-computer-case-black
Think this is still a current product, as it keeps getting restocked regularly (qty on the site fluctuates, always a few present in store (Dallas), etc.)

Was not happy with the other mATX options on the market (too bulky and/or pricy)
The 170M imposes a GPU length limit (270mm), but that's enough to comfortably accommodate a 4070

20221203_193531_edit.jpg


Might have been willing to live with an ITX case (single-slot), but the nicer / "non-bloated" ones (Dan A4, Hyte Revolt, nCase, Sliger, etc.) are understandably more boutique and very pricy.
Then again, maybe I'm just a cheap bastard and want the more of a build budget to go towards CPU, GPU, and PSU :)
 
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https://www.microcenter.com/product...-glass-microatx-mid-tower-computer-case-black
Think this is still a current product, as it keeps getting restocked regularly (qty on the site fluctuates, always a few present in store (Dallas), etc.)

Was not happy with the other mATX options on the market (too bulky and/or pricy)
The 170M imposes a GPU length limit (270mm), but that's enough to comfortably accommodate a 4070

View attachment 571047

Might have been willing to live with an ITX case (single-slot), but the nicer / "non-bloated" ones (Dan A4, Hyte Revolt, nCase, Sliger, etc.) are understandably more boutique and very pricy.
Then again, maybe I'm just a cheap bastard and want the more of a build budget to go towards CPU, GPU, and PSU :)
Ok, sounds like I should keep an eye open for a restock then. No huge GPUs is no problem. Good chance we'll go previous gen Intel (12 or less) or go with an AMD APU and not even use one. How was building in it? I'm not terribly concerned with cable management and making a pretty build since it's just gonna get torn apart repeatedly, but I've cut myself plenty of times on cheap cases and don't want to subject a noob to a slice-o-rama and end up breaking components because they got soaked in blood.
 
Ok, sounds like I should keep an eye open for a restock then. No huge GPUs is no problem. Good chance we'll go previous gen Intel (12 or less) or go with an AMD APU and not even use one. How was building in it? I'm not terribly concerned with cable management and making a pretty build since it's just gonna get torn apart repeatedly, but I've cut myself plenty of times on cheap cases and don't want to subject a noob to a slice-o-rama and end up breaking components because they got soaked in blood.
No problems. As far as I can tell, typical Lian Li build quality (good)

Cable management was not too troublesome, though it does help that the eVGA 3060 Ti only needs a single 8-pin.
A PSU with less depth than mine (eVGA G3) would definitely have been nice, and definitely recommend something fully modular.
 
I have a "retro" Silverstone Sugo SG01-Evolution which (unlike many of the later models from Silverstone, LianLi etc which have steel/plastic internals, frames etc.) is all aluminum (sans a tiny bit of the decorative acrylic on the front panel) .. Its a cube/shoebox/toaster style mATX case, supports ATX PSUs, reasonable full sized GPUs, 2 5.25" front bays (one of which has an aftermarket fan controller in it currently), 3.5" HDD rack, and I also upgraded it at the time with additional fans. Worked as a mini server / NAS / router build in the past among others. Let me know if it sounds like something in which you'd be interested.
 
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