Smallest Case for High End PC?

[PlasticTastic]

Hey guys. Now that I'm at uni and not constantly moving between the parent's houses, I feel like I can buy a PC to replace my laptop. Anyway, something that I've noticed that my friends' high-end PCs is that they are physically HUGE. What would be the smallest case that would fit a 970/980 (depending on finances when the time comes)? I'd like it to be as easy as possible to take home when I visit for holidays. Thanks for your help!

 

[SpyderTracks]

I would say the BITFENIX PRODIGY is a capable Mini-ITX case.

As an example of a high end build:

Case
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Case (White)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4690 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H81I-PLUS: Mini-ITX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
2GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 2GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 - 1 DVI, 1 mHDMI, 3 mDP - 3D Vision Ready
1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Corsair H55 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£39)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,157.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-1150-gaming-mini-pc/s4JxxhOyAa/

 

[PlasticTastic]

Awesome, thanks! Are mini-PCs as capable and easy to upgrade as the full-sized ones? I'm not fussed about SLI here

 

[SpyderTracks]

Awesome, thanks! Are mini-PCs as capable and easy to upgrade as the full-sized ones? I'm not fussed about SLI here

The boards obviously have less PCI-E slots and certainly not SLI as you mention, but as for exchanging RAM, CPU and graphics, that's not really an issue.

It's the motherboard that limits the potential, for instance, the one I listed will support only a maximum of 2 x 8Gb 1600MHz RAM, for gaming for the foreseeable future, that's masses.

It may be worth looking through the motherboard options and seeing which one has the most features vs you budget.

 

[PlasticTastic]

Yeh that's a thing, I've just begun a 5-year course in Engineering and I don't know toooo much about requirements but in the future I may want to upgrade.
I tried googling what I was looking for but of course it doesn't understand "Best small big case" :sleeping:

 

[SpyderTracks]

Yeh that's a thing, I've just begun a 5-year course in Engineering and I don't know toooo much about requirements but in the future I may want to upgrade.
I tried googling what I was looking for but of course it doesn't understand "Best small big case" :sleeping:

It's really the gpu, ram and processor that are the most important components. You can have the same of those as you would in a full size desktop, so I wouldn't worry.