discussion changed my mind and want to go with a mid-tower...but I'd still appreciate recommendations.

[Marzipan]

I'm mixing it all up. sorry for being all wishy washy...I haven't had a proper custom desktop PC in close to 10 years.

@CMetaphor, not sure if you're still interested despite not going SFF, excellent!

I like black boxes and as much as it's not me, I will consider a window and RGB because I'm certain it will thrill the grand kids. I'm not big on curves and rolling, but I definitely don't want sharp edges or corners. regarding materials, as long as it's not flimsy and flexi le, I don't really care. oh, I prefer flat / matte finishes...I do not want anything glossy. for the RGB, easy to turn off / disable is important in case I find it disturbs my in-laws at night.


so, here is a list of features I'm looking for:
- flat / matte black color
- solid build, very little flex anywhere. scratch proof or at least resistant, especially whatever the window is made of.
- cooling / air flow for my HOT parts. are there any cases that only use 140mm fans?
- to complicate the above statement, it needs to be quiet.
- easy to do good cable management
- dust filters. 8 cats, 1 dog, 3 grandkids and lots of artwork makes for a lot of crud to build up inside.
- PSU shroud
- toolless
- USB-C support. I prefer placement on the top of the case rather than front panel.
- ample room for the NH-D15s HSF to function
- space for two 2.5" and two 3.5" would be nice, but at minimum two 3.5".


I'll edit as more details come to me or from answering questions.

 

[Izerous]

Anything I would want to suggest such as a 011D Mini pretty much relies on SFX/SFX-XL instead of standard ATX PSUs. Not a lot of cases have been made tiny while still accommodating ATX MB+PSU.

Scratch that looks like 011 Air Mini supports ATX psu but the 011D Mini is the one that is limited.

 

[CMetaphor]

Ahhhh *cracks knuckles* bring it on! Gimme more details, and I shall help!

Price?
Windows vs glass-less ?
Fan setup preference?
AIO or Air Cooling or Full/partial watercooling?
Materials preference? (ALU vs Steel, Plastic, Wood, "Real" glass vs clear Acrylic (some still prefer the latter, less weight), etc
Willingness for strange layout? (BTF, Inverted Mobo, multi- chamber design?
Classic case, LED fans, RGB, MiniLCD?

That should be enough to help me find you a few options. Sorry for the bombardment, but there are so many options out there, that they will help narrow down the field there.

Or, you know, just go with Lian Li? Never bought a bad case from them. Lian Li O11 Mini would be an obvious, easy choice. But if you're going for something different... well... Everyone builds into those, so it wouldn't be the most original build Up to you!

 

[crazyea]

My suggestion was a fractal north.

 

[Bond007]

Hmmm…not a lot out there for what I would truly call compact for ATX support, which is why I elected to stick to mATX. I will have a partpicker browse.

 

[sswilson]

Thinnest?

If you'll settle for "shortest" there are quite a few dual chamber ATX cases which are relatively small because they did away with any semblance of forward drive bays. The 220T I used back in 2020 really felt like it had a small desktop footprint for a full ATX case.

 

[moocow]

Meshlicious full size if you can find one? The ones I see on Vancouver FBM are ITX version. How big is a Tower 600 compare to a Corsair 4000D or Fractal Torrent / Mesh / North?

 

[JD]

I'm inclined to say this ticks most of your boxes: https://phanteks.com/product/xt-silent-black

 

[Marzipan]

Thinnest?

If you'll settle for "shortest" there are quite a few dual chamber ATX cases which are relatively small because they did away with any semblance of forward drive bays. The 220T I used back in 2020 really felt like it had a small desktop footprint for a full ATX case.

I looked up the 220T and specs say it's 18" tall, which is solid mid-tower territory. I'm not sure I'd call that short though.

 

[Marzipan]

I'm inclined to say this ticks most of your boxes: https://phanteks.com/product/xt-silent-black

that is a nice case...but keeping my window / RGB theme in mind, the XT Pro Ultra looks good too. but what in the world, Phantek...removable top and bottom dust filter but no front panel dust filter? I'mma slap you for that!