With the year-end in sight, I thought it would be a good time to talk about a few of my favorite ITX cases that I’ve built in this year so far. Now, I obviously have not used every available ITX case on the market, but I have built quite a few PCs this year. I also have more builds planned in new cases or ones that are new to me, including the new Ncase M1 Evo and others. So, I expect this to be a topic that will get revisited every six or so months as more cases are released.
This list is also not in any particular order, nor are they necessarily the best in any specific category. Rather, they are just the cases that stood out to me the most. The only other criterion to make the list is that they must be available to buy at the time of this posting.
NR200P Max
Let’s start with a case that I’ve not stopped thinking about since my build back in April of this year: the NR200P Max. Now admittedly, this is more than just a case as it includes an 850W 80 Plus Gold SFX power supply and a 280mm CPU cooler pre-installed. However, if you don’t want those extras, the NR200P case can be purchased on its own, which has the same 18L design and size. Still, I highly recommend the Max because of how incredibly easy it is to get up and running.
I think this Max version is the perfect fit if you are someone who is looking into downsizing to an ITX machine but don’t want to go through all of the planning required for a small build. Even if you’re not an experienced builder, you can have this thing fully armed in under an hour. Once the CPU cooler bracket is installed on your motherboard, you can drop it in and attach the block, make your power, riser cable, and case connections, drop in your GPU, and you’re done. You don’t have to worry about CPU cooler clearance, cable management, or much of anything else.
I absolutely love this dark gray color, especially paired with the included tempered glass side panel. It just looks super clean, in my opinion. It also includes a vented side panel as well, but I was quite happy with the cooling performance even with the tempered glass side panel when using my large 4080. This case can support up to a triple-slot GPU at a max of 336mm in length, so the large majority of today’s graphics cards are still compatible.
NXXT H1
The NZXT H1 is another excellent case. It includes a 750W power supply and CPU cooler while taking up very little footprint on your desk. The case is easy to build in and can often be found for half the price of the NR200P.
Fractal Terra
Next up is the case everyone was talking about and has since become a pretty popular option: the Fractal Terra. This case originally got a lot of attention due to its interesting design, especially the wood feature on the front panel that is unique to every individual case and made of solid walnut. I really like the overall look of this case, although I can’t help but wonder what a version of this case would look like with a front panel design similar to the Fractal North.
The build experience with the Fractal Terra is also great, in my opinion. The case comes fully assembled and has easy-access side panels that flip up and can be easily removed. Fractal included an adjustable center, which, when shifted, allows you to favor either CPU cooler height or GPU clearance. This feature allows for much more overall component versatility. While Fractal is not the first company to have this feature (the FormD T1 has been doing this for years), the Terra has its own spin on it that makes it a bit more beginner-friendly with numbered markings and easier access to make adjustments even after all of your components are installed.
The Terra is 10 liters in volume and, depending on how you have the case configured, it supports a CPU cooler from 48mm to 77mm and a GPU width from 33mm to 62mm up to 322mm in length. Unfortunately, there is no top or bottom radiator compatibility. However, you could add a single 120mm side radiator with a shorter GPU, although I imagine the vast majority of people will opt for air cooling. This case is perfect for a simple, stylish air-cooled gaming PC build.
FormD T1
Next up is the FormD T1. This case also has a capacity of 10 liters and has been beloved by the ITX community for quite some time now. Although I only recently had the chance to build in it myself, it quickly became one of my favorites as well. I know there will be people who will comment that these are not available, but as of right now, they have been frequently restocked at the sites I have listed in the description. At the time of this posting, there are more in stock.
It’s not hard to see why these go out of stock frequently. The FormD T1 is one of the best-designed cases I’ve used. It’s almost entirely made of high-quality CNC aluminum and has a center adjustment similar to what we discussed with the Fractal Terra. However, I actually prefer the T1’s implementation of this feature. While the Terra’s adjustable spine is more beginner-friendly, I like the “locked-in” nature of the T1. It does require some pre-planning, but I think the end result feels more solid and secure.
For such a small 10-liter case, the T1 is seriously uncompromising. You can fit a standard 240mm liquid cooler along with a decently sized three-slot graphics card up to 325mm in length. You could even pick up a fan bracket and go for a dual radiator setup if you wanted. My recent build uses the new Cooler Master Atmos 240 and a 7800XT, but you could snugly fit up to a Founders Edition 4090 if you wanted.
I really like the modern minimalist look; it’s incredibly sleek, in my opinion. There are a handful of different colors to choose from. Mine is the silver finish, and I think it looks super clean, almost like it belongs in an Apple lineup. The case does not come assembled, so it arrives flat-packed, which means a more involved setup process compared to most of the cases on this list. My recent build video goes through it all step-by-step if you are interested in building in it yourself.
Velcase Velka 3
Next up has to be the Velkase Velka 3. It’s incredible just how much you can fit into this tiny 3.9-liter case. In my recent build with it, I was able to fit up to an RTX 4060 with an Intel i5-13400. This makes it the smallest enclosure available that can fit a 4060. It’s amazing how powerful a gaming PC you can get from such a small build that fits into your backpack.
Due to its size, the options for CPU cooling are quite limited, supporting only up to a 37mm CPU cooler. However, if you pair this with a lower TDP CPU that can be adequately cooled by an ultra-low-profile CPU cooler, you can achieve some impressive results.
Because of its compact size, a flex ATX power supply is required. Many of these smaller power supplies can produce a significant amount of noise. However, I have used the 600W power supply from the Velkase website and have had no issues with noise levels. In fact, the overall system noise level was only 42 dB when subjected to a heavy gaming workload.
The build process is pretty unique. It comes fully assembled but requires you to basically take the entire case apart to remove the center motherboard tray, where you then mount your motherboard and GPU before fitting everything back together. If you are interested in seeing the build in more detail, I’ll have a link to the video in the description.
If you are needing a more powerful GPU but still want a similarly small-sized PC, then you could also check out the Velka 5 or 7. I recently posted a video building a 4070 system in the Velka 5, and I think the results are quite impressive.
HT5 Laser3D
Another super compact case worth checking out is the HT5 from Lazer3D. The case is only slightly larger than the Velka 5 at 5.3 liters. However, unlike the Velka cases, you have the option to position it horizontally or vertically, which I believe makes it a good choice for a home theater or media console PC.
There’s also a ton of room for CPU cooling at up to 72mm, and it can fit a dual-slot low-profile graphics card. In my build, I went with the best LP card available right now, the Gigabyte 4060 OC low profile. I paired that with the Ryzen 7600 and a 250W power supply from HDPlex, which was just enough to power the build. I was recording around 220 watts of power draw from the wall under a full gaming load. Altogether, it made for a super satisfying fit.
This case comes flat-packed and is made using laser-cut acrylic, which feels very light but sturdy with a slight texture. The build process for that is very simple, and they keep all of the parts nicely organized to make things even easier.
IQUNIX ZX-1
The final case is the IQUNIX ZX-1. I really enjoyed building in this one. It has a fully machined uni-body aluminum construction, so the whole case just feels absolutely solid. The magnetically attached side panels and a touch capacitive power button give it a really clean and premium feel.
As far as the build experience goes, the bracket for the AIO in the water-cooled version is removable, making it pretty easy to put together. There is adequate space for an SFX or SFX-L power supply and plenty of room for cable management. The AIO tubes fit in perfectly as well; however, you will want to plan ahead on the CPU block height. There is about 55mm of space, and many CPU blocks these days exceed that, with not all of them listing that spec.
I tried a few different ones in my build and landed on the Corsair H100i RGB Elite liquid cooler that I thought looked really clean in my all-white build. There are two different versions of this case, one for air-cooled and the other water-cooled, and each of these has different dimensions and component compatibility. The water-cooled version here is 10.6 liters and can support a dual-slot GPU up to 305mm in length and 60mm in height, which I maxed out when I stuffed a Gigabyte Aero 4070 in there.
It’s important to know that the air-cooled version is more height-limited and can support a GPU up to 45mm in height but can fit a larger CPU cooler up to 70mm. Since my build in September, IQUNIX has also added more colors to their lineup and offers PCIe 4.0 riser cables, which is really good to see as well.
Despite graphics cards and many of our PC components getting larger and larger, the ITX market is still thriving with new cases coming out all the time with new designs and new ideas. Because of that, there are still plenty of builds with new cases coming to the channel. This is definitely a topic I want to revisit periodically.
I have plenty of other cases and builds on the channel that I really enjoyed working in, and generally speaking, when I’m planning out an ITX build, I am usually looking for something that I think I will like and that I hope you all will like as well. So I am always starting with a positive mindset and trying to judge a case fairly based on its intended purpose. I love this hobby and am not motivated to just bash a product for views. But with that said, that doesn’t mean I won’t point out its shortcomings when I see them.