MI-008 Tower Black P4 Chassis with 250W Itx Psu+sata Power Supply

Hi there! Great little case if you had the right cooling. I'm using a 120mm fan on the side where the hard drive goes for an exhaust, just like a lot of people are saying. It pops right in and fits perfect! 120mm Coolermaster fans here at amazon do the job. I also put an 80mm fan UNDER the case beneath where the internal hard drive area is. I used a tool called a Nickel Plated Nibbling Tool that's actually sold here on amazon to cut out a 80mm hole. I don't know how to link the part numbers so I'm sorry about that. First you take an 80mm fan and mark the holes on the bottom of the case for the screw holes for the fan, then mount the fan and trace the INSIDE circle of the fan on the bottom of the case. Then take off the fan and drill a hole on the inside of the are you traced big enough to get the head of the nibbler in and nibble out the inside of the circle you traced. It does take a few minutes, but its worth it. Then just remount the fan on the inside of your case with the airflow going up inside. I have a "All in One Card Reader 3502B" bought here also. (all my stuff was bought here because I love the free shipping) It sits just above the 80mm fan and the airflow bounces off that and goes directly over the memory to CPU fan and power supply and is sucked out by the power supply and the 120mm exhaust. Once you install the rubber feet you have plenty of clearance for the fan underneath with a 80mm fan grill (make sure to pick one up) and nothing gets in the way. This would probably work if you had the case on its side too, as long as you don't block the fan. I also changed the fan inside the power supply with a ball bearing type. Coolerguys 80x80x15mm 12v sell them here on amazon. I had to cut the wires on them and I wired them to where the old fan was in the power supply and its the exact same size and works great. You probably don't have to do that, but with everyone talking about the sleeve bearing type being a bad investment so I went ahead and did it. The power supply was quiet before I did it and after so I can't tell you about the noise because really there was none before or after the the fan change. Just my peace of mind. I'm using a i3 2120 1155 on a Foxconn H61S Intel H61 motherboard also from amazon and it all works perfect! The power plug is in the perfect place for the 24 pin power plug on the motherboard where its below the DVD drive area. That way the 120mm fan on the side isn't hitting wires and the airflow exhaust isn't blocked. You can definitely only use single slot video card here if you need one. I'm using Sapphire 100357LP Radeon HD 7750 1GB Low Profile also bought here. Other single slot cards might fit, but I KNOW this one does and is is super quiet and requires no extra power. Works great on the provided 250 watt power supply. Also with the bottom fan mod it was kept cool. I game a little bit , just World of Warcraft and SWTOR kind of stuff. I'm on average at 95-100 frames per second and the lowest was 30 in a 25 man raid, but it never dropped below 30 and everyone was casting everything, so its good to go because I game for hours on end..not just 20 minutes. The Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black) fits just fine in this case. The power supply only has two SATA adapters, so if you have more then 1 HDD and the DVD drive you might want to buy and adapter for the four pin molex. I'm only using one HDD and the DVD so I'm good. I'm using a Western Digital WD Scorpio Black 750 GB SATA 2.5-Inch (from Amazon again) and I mounted it inside the case on the right side using a 2.5-inch SSD / HDD to 3.5-inch Bracket Mount Adapter. I took over the cover of the case and lined up the Bracket Mount Adapter and marked the two end holes and then drilled them out on the aluminum rail of the case. I then used normal hard drive screws to mount the laptop hard drive to the bracket, then mounted the bracket underneath with two regular hard driver screw from the top of the aluminum rail. Wish I had a way to take picture because it works perfect. The cover doesn't even hit the screws when it is installed because the screw heads are lower then the aluminum raised bumps for the cover. All in all here's what I bought here from Amazon or their sellers. MI-008 Tower Black P4 Chassis with 250W Itx Foxconn H61S Intel H61 Mini ITX DDR3 LGA 1155 Motherboard. Intel Core i3-2120 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80623I32120 Western Digital WD Scorpio Black 750 GB SATA 3 GB/s 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Internal Bulk/OEM 3.5" Floppy-bit Multi-function Panel All in One Card Reader 3502B 2.5-inch SSD / HDD to 3.5-inch Bracket Mount Adapter (Nextronicus..its two pieces so you can do it twice!) Cooler Master 120mm Silent Case Fan 4-in-1 Value Pack - (R4-S2S-124K-GP) (good deal in case you want extras) Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) Low profile! Sapphire 100357LP Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card 2 x Coolerguys 80x80x15mm 12v Fan 3 pin CG08015L12B2-3Y. One for underneath the case mod and the power supply. Masscool FG-2P-80MM 80mm Fan Guard/Grill - 2-Pack by MassCool (for the bottom fan. Use one on both sides.) Amico 100 Pcs 13mm x 13mm x 4mm Self Adhesive Cable Tie Mount Base Holder ( great to zip tie wires up) TEKTON 6233 Cable Ties, 500-Piece. (way to many but wow, perfect size..you NEED THESE) Nickel Plated Nibbling Tool (search that and it comes up) Windows 7 64 that I had already. I also had my own cordless drill and drill bits to start the hole for the nibbler. Now I didn't use the stock fan from the I3, though it would fit perfect. My friend had a stock fan from his 1155 I7 that has a copper core center. I figured better cooling? Might not be needed for an I3. It does fit and with everyone complaining that the power supply touches the CPU fan, well it does sit right on top and doesn't impair operation at all. If fact it seem to add support to the power supply so it doesn't sag down and makes my power supply not have any "give" since its only mounted by the four screws to an aluminum back. I have no idea why someone said an I7 stock cooler doesn't fit because the one for 1155 does. Other coolers I don't know. Looks like AMD people are having issues with coolers. My I3 with the I7 cooler fits just right. I know this was long and most probably wont read it this far, but with the right layout and proper planning this is a PERFECT case for a small gaming system on a 250 watt power supply. This one is very quiet. I have had no problems with cooling the I3 at all, and I might even go up to an I5. Great for this build, probably even better for a HTPC. I'm very happy with how this build turned out and wanted to prove this great little case could be decently built in and gamed with. Idling CPU is 41C, 30 minutes on Prime95 both cores never went above 61C Idling GPU is 33C, 30 minutes on FurMark 1.11.0 never went over 71C Didn't go longer because I was bored. I hope this helps someone.

I've been building computers for a long time, dating all the way back to when the only cases you could buy were full-sized AT towers that were almost all tall as your desk. These mini-ITX cases are an interesting development, as they permit computers to exist in places that normally would be frowned upon (a living room, for example). I was in the market for such an installation type, as the internet connection in my apartment terminates in the living room (path of least resistance, and sets it up more for TV use than internet). I had an existing software router running an open source router distro (pfSense) which was ugly and noisy and chewed up a lot of power sitting idle most of the time. I chose this case to use along with the new D525 Atom board from Intel. I have experience with Micro-ATX cases, so I knew I was in for some layering of components and interesting cable routing. The price point, combined with the decent ventilation and (from the look of it) easy install, made this case a no-brainer. There are 2 major complaints I had with this case: 1) The Intel Atom Dual-Core D525/Intel NM10/DDR3/A&V&GbE/Mini-ITX Motherboard, Retail BOXD525MW is not exactly 100% compatible with this case. In fact, only 2 out of 4 screws were able to be installed. This is problematic as most motherboard manufacturers use the board screws as grounds to the chasis. It did not appear to cause a problem with the board, but Intel is quite good about sticking to specifications, so the case is most likely to blame for this. 2) The case is very short. Reading through other reviews, you will see that a majority of complaints is with installing optical drives, as they can be long enough to have installation problems. What most people don't seem to have an issue with is the hard drive tray is also placed a little too far back. On the intel motherboard linked above, the SATA cables come very close to the large heat sink for the processor & chipset. This could have been solved by rotating the hard drive tray 90 degrees, as there's enough width to install the HD that way. A minor complaint is there's no true option for a fan. As others have noted, the side vents holes line up perfectly for 80mm fans to be installed. However, this looks rather ugly with the fan screws sticking out the side. I purchased an Enermax fan from another reputable website to use with the intel board, and something none of the other reviews pointed out is you have to bend the case cover pretty far in order to fit it around the internal skeleton if you have a fan attached. It will work, but it was disconcerting to say the least. Overall the case works well enough, but could be better with some actual design testing. I have to wonder how much the case manufacturers actually test their designs before shipping them.

Looking over all the reviews, you'll see mixed feelings on this case, seemingly based on expectations and uses for this case. As a HTPC case it's working very well for me. Currently it houses: Gigabyte LGA 1155 DDR3 1600 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Motherboard GA-Z77N-WIFI Intel Core i3-3225 Dual-Core Processor 3.3 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637i33225 Corsair XMS3 8 GB (2 x 4GB) 1333 MHz PC3-10666 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC128B/WW Samsung Spinpoint F4EG 2 TB SATA2 5400rpm 32 MB Hard Drive HD204UI/Z4 Note the SSD is housed in: StarTech.com 3.5-Inch Trayless Hot Swap SATA Mobile Rack for Dual 2.5-Inch Hard Drives SATDOCK2520 (Black) The fit was tight, but reasonable. The factory heatsink/fan will touch the PSU, but there are no issues. Cable routing is a chore just to keep the cables out of the heatsink (system runs so cool that even wasn't an issue save for clicking sound as the fan tried to spin), but all in all it's quite a versatile little case. There's room for enough 2.5" drives to fill any motherboard's ports, and if you go the 3.5" HD route, you can get 3 in there easily. The top bay is only for external DVD/Blu Ray drives, as the door is not removable, which alas thwarted my plans for that hole, but that's no biggie given the other options. Noise isn't at all an issue with my setup above, and while it's bigger in person than I realized, it's still not only compact but also quite capable. Oh, it's cheap to. $49 is a steal for such a case with a PSU. Yeah there are better options, but no where near so for the price. If you're looking for a higher powered CPU or a video card, you may need to go that route. For a HTPC using onboard graphics (or low end video card), this is your case.

*** UPDATE (2011/12/22) *** After about a year (and some months) of having this case (along with 2 other systems with this case) the first case I got (before I bought more) has started to get PSU problems. The system would only POST some of the time (rather than all), and I excluded all the other attached hardware (not much). If I use a different PSU from another system, the system boots without problems all of the time. If you are looking for a replacement PSU, be sure one is around the size of 5" x 4" x 2.5". The PSU in this case is probably super generic and probably isn't built for quality as much as the case. But most PSUs that come with cases are cheap generics anyway. With normal system load: > ~3.4V on SATA Orange (3.3V) > ~5.1V on IDE Red (5V) > ~12.46V on IDE Yellow (12V) Also spec wise, it is now completely different as everything was upgraded. The single Intel SSD is now in a bracket attached to another bracket attached to the 5.25" bay (for more airflow underneath). *** ORIGINAL REVIEW *** This case is pretty good. Specs: * Intel Desktop Board D510MO with integrated Intel Atom processor D510 - Motherboard - mini ITX - iNM10 - SATA-300 - Gigabit Ethernet - video - High Def * Kingston ValueRAM - Memory - 4 GB ( 2 x 2 GB ) - DIMM 240-pin - DDR2 - 800 MHz / PC2-6400 - CL6 - 1.8 V - unbuffered - non-ECC * 2 SNV425-64GBs, Kingston's cheap SSD thing. In a RAID0. Storage: I just got two SSDs dangling in the case, so hopefully they don't escape SATA cables and SATA power connectors. I also taped the CD drive bay shut so nobody tries sneaking a peek at the system. LEDs: The HDD LED (red) is super bright, bright enough when it flashes to give me nightmares where there are insane electrical storms causing with flashes (in the dark the red flash turns into a bluish white light), so yes LEDs give me nightmares. The HDD light also lights everything infront of it like a beam. Rumor has it that the power light is blue, but I got a green one thankfully. Blue LEDs should be banned as they are super bright and always illuminate half the room, so my green LED is nice. I thought the case had a dead power LED but it turns out that I just attached it wrong, the HDD and Power LEDs can swap + and - to provide multiple colors I think anyway, but I don't know if the case even does that since I never standby. Fans: This case has no fans (excluding the power supply) and no place for any fans but I got one anyway. I placed a 120mm fan in it anyway and made it fit, I won't be able to get it out though. I placed it on the right side at the front of the case and squeeze slided it as much as I could to the back of the case along the right case wall until the blades hit the rim of the fan, once I heard the clicking sound I moved it back a bit. So basically 1 inch of the fan is covered. In short, in a room that averages between 75F and 85F, my board and system temperature stay low. During the last day it remained at 40C (board) and 31C (cpu). Before I put a fan in at all the system went up to 60C and jumped wildly all over the place but a fan smooths out mountains nicely. Power Usage: Irrevelant to the article but if you were wondering, it draws maybe 20-30W? Durability: The case appears pretty durable and resisted my attempts to force technology into it. Somehow when installing the system the board connector plate thing that goes into the rectangular slot wouldn't fit, I then noticed that it was bent out (above), so I just pushed it back in and it fit fine. The primary case frame and the base is very strong though, you can just easily bend the areas full of holes since it's thinner metal. Noise: This case doesn't make any real noise at all even with a jamed in fan.

This case is perfect as a HTPC case. Paired with a Zotac nVidia ION Atom 330 Dual Core mini ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-G-E motherboard, there's still plenty of room for a standard 5 1/4" DVD and 3 1/2" hard drive (I actually am using an older Atom 230 version of the Zotac motherboard and have a 2 1/2" hard drive nested in the 3 1/2" drive space). There is room for mounting another 3 1/2" drive on its side. Shorter than the Shuttle Computer cases, it fit easily into my entertainment center. This case was reviewed on the SilentPC website, and they noted the included power supply was very quiet. I was skeptical, not because their reviews are biased, but because I thought perhaps they just "got lucky" with an abnormally quiet PSU. I was pleased to find the system very quiet, and my plans to use an external PSU were scuttled as soon as I turned the system on to test. There are plenty of power connectors from the PSU, a mixed blessing in such a small case. But I did find the extra cables nested comfortably in the space under the 3 1/2" drive. Wiring in small cases is a challenge, and the only "con" with this case is that the included SATA cables are 18" long. I purchased some 10" SATA cables similar to these - mod/smart 10in SATA II Cable w/Latch, 3Gb/s, Straight to Straight, UV Green - with FREE MATCHING HOLD DOWN CLIP - and felt better about the airflow inside the case. But otherwise, working in the small case is fine: the manufacturer has most of the sheet metal edges rounded and I didn't encounter any of the small scrapes and cuts you often get from sharp metal edges. I'm very happy with this case.

I used this case for my first Atom-based ITX machine. That machine failed recently, only booting intermittently. I'm pretty sure this was due to a connector working loose due to the cramped quarters (the cooling fins on the processor were pressing up against the data cable on the disk drive, for example). Aside from the poor layout, the case is pretty junky -- plastic and sheet metal. I just bought Lian Li PC-Q07 case for about the same money and transplanted the components into it (except for the PSU). The machine works reliably (I'm typing this on it) and what a difference in build quality and the thoughtfulness of the case layout. Given that, I'd strongly suggest looking at the Lian Li case and skip this one.

I recently purchased this case for a home theater pc build. At first I was slightly disappointed as I couldn't quite get all three of my drives to fit. If you are using 2.5 drives, then you shouldn't have too much of an issue getting them in if you forgo an optical drive. As I wanted to install two 3.5 drives and an ssd, I simply used a converter to allow the use of my 3.5 drive in the optical slot and a bit of Velcro to attach the other drives elsewhere as there is plenty of extra space in the case. It may not be the most conventional method, but it works and the drives stay in place. Aside from this, the case is quiet and attractive. I think my biggest is the brightness of the hard drive led. It is a very bright and solid red which can be distracting. Of course, this can be disconnected. The power light is not distracting though it is a light green color. I personally would of preferred a soft white. If you are technically inclined, these can be replaced, but I did not bother.

It looks great, its small, and I like the front USB / audio jacks, but because its small it can cause some problems if you're not careful. The PSU is directly above where the CPU will go on the motherboard (it covers about half of it) and with the heat sink / fan, at least the one I'm using, is only about a quarter of an inch of room between the PSU and the top of the fan so there is very little / to no room for air flow or getting a non stock heat sink and fan. The case is about 5" tall, the PSU takes up about half of that (2.5") and my CPU heat sink/fan is just over 2" tall. This in itself can cause the CPU to overheat VERY easily. Make sure your CPU heat sink and fan will fit before buying this too! Absolutely use the side mounting brackets for the HDD!! If not you will get very cramped and make it extremely more likely the CPU will overheat as mine did. Once I moved it to the side, there were less cables directly above the CPU fan and provided more air flow. I would also definitely recommend a fan or 2 or 3 if you can. I think there is only one 4 pin connector for a fan but you can buy splitters to put more fans in. The more you can cool this tiny thing, the better because it gets hot in there! Overall I like it for my HTPC but I have had struggles with it. UPDATE (4-22-15): Until recently I haven't had much need to leave my HTPC on constantly. Now that I'm about to get rid of cable I've been leaving it on more to transfer files and test it out. Just recently I went to it after it would've been on for about 3 days and at some point it restarted due to what I expect to be from overheating. I've constantly struggled with overheating with this box and I've gotten to the point where I am going to buy a new case to see if that helps. There is barely any room for the PSU, CPU, DVD, and HDD to keep cool, and I have a fan and there really is no room either for a non stock CPU heat sink/fan. I don't recommend this for a high power machine at all.

Nice little compact tower. Needs a special CPU low fan OR the OEM Intel fan. Full seize Video cards are Ok (Mine is an NVIDIA Quadro 2000K) Plenty of places for 1 or 2 SSD (maybe more, but I don't checked) There is no place for an additionnal fan. So the CPU and the Alim fan are doing all the cooling job. Anyway: nice buy for the price + shipping.

For anyone wanting a nice small HTPC mini-ITX case, with the option to install a full-sized/standard Blu-ray/DVD player, ..., then this is perfect. - These APEX ITX cases have been around for quite awhile, but the price is great considering it "includes" an ATX12V/SFX 250W PSU. The only reason(s) I didn't give it 5-Stars: a.) It would've been really nice if APEX would've added (2) USB 3.0 ports in the front, since there's room enough beside the older (2) USB 2.0, and audio plugins. Unfortunately, I'll have to pickup a (2)-port-USB 3.0-for-3.5"-front panel bay. b.) The spring-loaded 5.25" bezel door, that swing's open with a DVD Player tray, is fine, BUT, it would've been better/simpler to have left the 5.25" bay fully open, with just an optional standard 5.25" bezel plate, and that way any (full-sized) BD/DVD player,..., can just be slid in/out from the front. c.) A "Reset" switch on the front would've optionally been nice feature to add.

Plastic parts in front are not well made and have broken shortly after put together. If need low cost and don't mind if the plastic hinged parts don't last.

Not the most beautiful chassis out there, has the words CD-ROM printed on it but who is to say you're even going to install one, so that's kinda dumb. Only real advantage to this case is that it comes with a PSU, else there are much better choices that are close in price.