Kolink does have couple small and affordable mATX cases with smaller depth than 38cm, I think. Here are couple Amazon.de links:

Satellite Micro-ATX Cube Case:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/KOLINK-SATELLITE-M … 114&sr=8-1&th=1

Satellite KLM-002:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/KOLINK-SATELLITE-M … 114&sr=8-1&th=1

Maybe after that we're talking about industrial cases? There were some rail mount ones I saw a while ago that had room for the mobo and very little else. Not exactly good looking though 🤣!

When modular PSU's started to get popular I was waiting for proper modular cases: you know, tiny cases for the mobo that could bolt on room for drives etc etc or not if they are not needed. Still waiting to see those, sadly! 🙁

CharlieFoxtrot wrote on 2023-09-05, 12:12:

Satellite Micro-ATX Cube Case:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/KOLINK-SATELLITE-M … e/dp/B017E64OQS

I found that one, too. But I'm not sure how this is a microATX case since it only has 2 card slots. Maybe there are some smaller mATX boards than the spec. allows.

Satellite KLM-002:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/KOLINK-SATELLITE-M … e/dp/B084BY393C

That one I haven't seen, yet. Thank you for the research. It's only 2.5 cm shorter but at least it shows that cases without drive bays exists.

Meanwhile I found another one smaller than the Lenovo:
Chenbro PC722 (hope the ebay-link is ok in this context)
30 x 9 x 32.6 (with 30 being the depth)
Must be an older one because a black version can be found on the web but it's nowhere available anymore.

If size is really that important then one of the RISC or ARM based Single Board Computers might be better than the 1L PCs.

I can recommend the HP 1L PCs though, Ive got a few now. Dell make their version which is also good, and Lenovo too of course.

That Chenbro isnt smaller than the Lenovo M93p. That Lenovo would fit inside just the space taken up by the motherboard.
ServeTheHome did a whole series on the 1L PCs, check them out if your interested. The videos were competent enough, but does leave out some of the "well I guess Ill have to live with it" details on some of them, but you get the idea.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-09-05, 13:36:

If size is really that important then one of the RISC or ARM based Single Board Computers might be better than the 1L PCs. […]
Show full quote

If size is really that important then one of the RISC or ARM based Single Board Computers might be better than the 1L PCs.

I can recommend the HP 1L PCs though, Ive got a few now. Dell make their version which is also good, and Lenovo too of course.

That Chenbro isnt smaller than the Lenovo M93p. That Lenovo would fit inside just the space taken up by the motherboard.
ServeTheHome did a whole series on the 1L PCs, check them out if your interested. The videos were competent enough, but does leave out some of the "well I guess Ill have to live with it" details on some of them, but you get the idea.

But those aren't customisable, and they don't have expansion slots 🙁 They're more like laptops without the screen & keyboard - even if they do often use desktop CPUs. They're nice though I find them a bit noisy, my mum gave me an HP one from work that was being thrown away and I've had a couple of the Lenovo ones.

That Chenbro case looks awesome! So little space wasted in it and it even has room for a slimline floppy drive. Have a look at this thread too: Re: Help me find the perfect case

I hunted down the Avance L12 case that you'll see at the end of the thread. Just put my P4 MicroATX test setup in there last week, it fits regular height expansion cards and an SFX power supply. Sadly the one site that was selling the "Xenta L12A" (ebuyer's own brand / de-named avance case) has stopped selling it, but some Zoostorm computers in the UK utilise that case. It's got a lot of compromises but once it's together it's a nice case.
I've also got the Avance H100 which is a desktop or slim-tower half-height mATX case at "341 x 95 x 380" so probably bigger than that Chenbro case, it's got my MSI MS6168 build in it 😀

Oh yeah, check out Yeong Yang cases too - super hard to find them since they don't seem to have much distribution, but looks like they're still making great tiny cases: https://www.yycase.com/SFF-Slim-Desktop.html
They made what I see as the original tiny mATX case, the Yeong Yang A101 / A201. A few of my builds are in those, they're not as tiny as the Avance cases though.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-09-05, 13:36:

If size is really that important then one of the RISC or ARM based Single Board Computers might be better than the 1L PCs.

Of course I don't want to just build 'a small computer' but one with a specific micro ATX board 😀

That Chenbro isnt smaller than the Lenovo M93p. That Lenovo would fit inside just the space taken up by the motherboard.

The M93p comes in three different flavors: a mini tower, a Small Form Factor desktop, and a tiny mini ITX version. I was referring to the second one which is also in the linked video above. I assume you mean the third, tiny version

Some more to add since this is a topic close to my heart - in the UK we have Colours IT or CiT that offer cheap and small computer cases, sourced from Asia I think so the actual manufacturers vary from year to year - for instance I got the CiT SI001BK a while back which is a regular height Micro ATX case that takes a TFX PSU and is only 33cm deep. For comparison to the Avance L12, it's taller than the L12, but shorter. The SI001BK is also limited to a 9mm optical drive only, which was tricky to fit for an IDE based system. That was a de-branded Chinese manufacturer case that isn't otherwise available here in the UK.

Looks like they've got some current models that fit what you're looking for, like the CiT S8 series. No PSU included it looks like, but it's regular TFX fitting and those are available very cheap from recyclers usually with a good brand like FSP.
"Dimensions 321 x 95 x 283 (WxHxD mm) "

Also I've not seen this thread before but they're searching for pretty much what I am: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/ideal … cade-pcs.18593/
I'd forgotton about In-Win, actually I've only got 1x Yeong Yang case and the other one is an In Win IW-L545. The In Win BK523 fits regular height Micro ATX with an SFX power supply.

Have you looked at Antec's offerings as well? The Antec VSK2000 fits the bill pretty well for half-height mATX with a small profile.

The Avance L12 is really nice. I would maybe reconsider the low-profile decision if it were available 😀
The CiT S8i is also interesting. But it's strange that nobody seems to build really small cases. Nowadays nobody uses optical drives and SSDs are small.

About the slim-drives: I've seen an IDE adapter on ebay to some connector that I'm not familiar with. Do all slim drives have the same connector?

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-09-05, 18:26:

But those aren't customisable, and they don't have expansion slots :( They're more like laptops without the screen & keyboard - […]
Show full quote

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-09-05, 13:36:

If size is really that important then one of the RISC or ARM based Single Board Computers might be better than the 1L PCs. […]
Show full quote

If size is really that important then one of the RISC or ARM based Single Board Computers might be better than the 1L PCs.

I can recommend the HP 1L PCs though, Ive got a few now. Dell make their version which is also good, and Lenovo too of course.

That Chenbro isnt smaller than the Lenovo M93p. That Lenovo would fit inside just the space taken up by the motherboard.
ServeTheHome did a whole series on the 1L PCs, check them out if your interested. The videos were competent enough, but does leave out some of the "well I guess Ill have to live with it" details on some of them, but you get the idea.

But those aren't customisable, and they don't have expansion slots 🙁 They're more like laptops without the screen & keyboard - even if they do often use desktop CPUs. They're nice though I find them a bit noisy, my mum gave me an HP one from work that was being thrown away and I've had a couple of the Lenovo ones.

That Chenbro case looks awesome! So little space wasted in it and it even has room for a slimline floppy drive. Have a look at this thread too: Re: Help me find the perfect case

I hunted down the Avance L12 case that you'll see at the end of the thread. Just put my P4 MicroATX test setup in there last week, it fits regular height expansion cards and an SFX power supply. Sadly the one site that was selling the "Xenta L12A" (ebuyer's own brand / de-named avance case) has stopped selling it, but some Zoostorm computers in the UK utilise that case. It's got a lot of compromises but once it's together it's a nice case.
I've also got the Avance H100 which is a desktop or slim-tower half-height mATX case at "341 x 95 x 380" so probably bigger than that Chenbro case, it's got my MSI MS6168 build in it 😀

Oh yeah, check out Yeong Yang cases too - super hard to find them since they don't seem to have much distribution, but looks like they're still making great tiny cases: https://www.yycase.com/SFF-Slim-Desktop.html
They made what I see as the original tiny mATX case, the Yeong Yang A101 / A201. A few of my builds are in those, they're not as tiny as the Avance cases though.

They dont have PCI expansion slots but they do have lots of room for expansion with storage and then the HPs have the flex slots for expansion modules.

Noisy?
Mine are silent! Sometimes I honestly dont know its on.

That case looks good but from the OP I got the idea that size was thee most important thing here.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-09-05, 20:54:

That case looks good but from the OP I got the idea that size was thee most important thing here.

Yes, but size of a case for a micro ATX board 😀

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-09-05, 20:20:

Have you looked at Antec's offerings as well? The Antec VSK2000 fits the bill pretty well for half-height mATX with a small profile.

The Antec VSK2000 is 35.6 cm deep, so it's slightly shorter than e.g. the Lenovo case, but not by a lot. I found one or two more cases on ebay which all have a similar depth (around 38). But below that there aren't many options

Oh ok I thought size was the most important criteria.

In that case that opens up the field considerably.
How many LP PCI cards do you want it to support?

It's a standard micro ATX board with four slots. Hence the Satellite Micro-ATX Cube above does not fit. It seems that most mATX cases still have drive bays which makes them a lot deeper.

There are plenty of SFF cases out there. Some have shallow depth but to hold a microATX board is difficult to find.

For example HP Elitedesk 800 G3 is shorter depth (front to back) due to hard drive turned sideways and uses notebook type optical drive, but board is not ATX. What processor are you intending to use?

Cheers,

I have some SFF cases from the Pentium 4 times wich take regular hardware.
Yes they are old and used but not scrap. A nice project.
I also live in germany, and if you want one of the cases i take out the hardware from one and you can have it for free (just shipping).
Power supply is of course included.
They should not have too many hours on them because i took them out of Point of Sales terminals wich were basically never used...
They are black with 1 5 1/4 bay.
If you are even interested in something used i can take some pictures later and post them here.

pentiumspeed wrote on 2023-09-06, 14:21:

For example HP Elitedesk 800 G3 is shorter depth (front to back) due to hard drive turned sideways and uses notebook type optical drive, but board is not ATX. What processor are you intending to use?

The board seems to have mATX dimensions and the HP would be a nice solution since it's only 31 cm deep. But unfortunately like some other similar HP cases I found it doesn't have an exchangeable ATX backplate. So it not possible to use it with another board (unless I would cut it out). And I think they are using a proprietary PSU with a non-standard size AND plug. (About the size I'm not sure so maybe it can be replaced). I want to use a Slot 1 board.

DerBaum wrote on 2023-09-06, 15:01:

I have some SFF cases from the Pentium 4 times wich take regular hardware. Yes they are old and used but not scrap. A nice proje […]
Show full quote

I have some SFF cases from the Pentium 4 times wich take regular hardware.
Yes they are old and used but not scrap. A nice project.
I also live in germany, and if you want one of the cases i take out the hardware from one and you can have it for free (just shipping). Power supply is of course included.
They should not have too many hours on them because i took them out of Point of Sales terminals wich were basically never used...
They are black with 1 5 1/4 bay.
If you are even interested in something used i can take some pictures later and post them here.

Oh right, I haven't thought about POS-terminals! But I also haven't seen any during my search. If you have some that have room for standard mATX boards with 4 slots and are smaller than or in the ballpark of the Chenbro PC722 above, that would definitely be interesting! So yes, please send pictures 😀

I tried bit of search and couldn't find any that is so compact.

Now I understand you are trying to package a slot 1 motherboard in shortest case. Not easy due to PSU size upsets the dimensions even in SFX form factor power supply.

Now, reason the HP was able to make this 800 G3 SFF so short is nonstandard PSU and non-standard motherboard, drives turned sideways.

Yet, you can might find an newer Lenovo as it uses mATX motherboard with snap out i/o panel. HP and Dell does not.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/225581258560?hash=ite … ABk9SR-Sik53OYg

Cheers,

HanSolo wrote on 2023-09-07, 22:37:

...So yes, please send pictures 😀

finger and medion minitower for scale 😏

If they were smaller the cooler would not fit on top of the cpu.
I think behind the larger black plastic cover is a 3 1/4 bay, and behind the small oval cover are holes for 2 usb and 2 audio connectors.

DerBaum wrote on 2023-09-07, 22:55:

finger and medion minitower for scale 😏

Thank you for the pictures! Look like plain (which is good!) cases. The width and height can't get any smaller. Could you measure the depth from front to back? That is the problematic dimension of most cases, in particular those with full size drives.

pentiumspeed wrote on 2023-09-07, 22:47:

Yet, you can might find an newer Lenovo as it uses mATX motherboard with snap out i/o panel.

That one I haven't seen, yet. Judging from the images I would have thought it is deeper than it really is with <36cm. Still more than the Chenbro but shorter than most others.

HanSolo wrote on 2023-09-08, 00:41:

Could you measure the depth from front to back?...

sure

Edit. I already took one apart. Here are the insides. I just took the mainboard hdd and cd drive out, i left the rest like it was.
The feet are clip-on. i took them off and put them together with some screws in the included parts bag.

Just in case (pun intended) you want it ... 😁