I like compact systems, which is somewhat incompatible with my penchant
for multiprocessor systems. Recently, I have got hold of a couple of Cooler-Master Elite 360 cases which are about as small ((W) 148 x (H) 360 x (D) 439 mm) as you can get and still fit a regular ATX PSU and motherboard. The K8N-DL here does, however, take liberties with the ATX specification (being slightly L-shaped and 10.5 inches rather than 9.6 inches deep). Fortunately, the Elite 360 drive supports are placed to exactly fit this "L"!
While you can technically fit two 5.25-inch devices into this case, it makes things a *lot* neater if you only use one and route/stash cables in the other. Here I have a nice little 4x2.5-inch SATA backplane for SSD's/HDD's and a USB card reader that gives me another front port too. The top 3.5-inch hard drive bay is also used as a cable stash and just behind it there is a 5-way ModMyToys 4-Pin Distribution PCB from KustomPC's which runs the top, rear and bottom fans.
Since I now use my VE200 for most installs, the lack of an optical drive isn't really a problem - most of my stuff is downloaded anyway.
Also note that the PSU has to go in last as it sits over the motherboard (and you have to remove the graphics card, the bottom CPU cooler and any tall NB coolers to get it in! A modular PSU is a must!
I have a couple of the Addonics ones in the link and a couple of cheap Chinese ones from eBay and, frankly, they are identical. I have some Transcend 4GB 266x and Lexar 8GB 200x cards which are as cheap as chips compared to SSD's - rather slower too but Linux still boots quite snappily with no seeking to worry about.
For main storage I have a mix but the Samsung M7 laptop drives are working well for me in RAID1 pairs.
P.S. I'm aware I've mixed units. Being a Physicist by training, I work in SI but IT is often still standardised in (US) Imperial - it makes sense to use native units. Who uses a 133.4mm drive?
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