[Build Complete] Mini ITX case transplant

PICTURES

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type	Item	Price
Case	Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case	$79.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply	Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply	$19.99 @ Newegg
	Total
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.	$99.98
Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-31 20:12 EDT-0400

I swapped cases from a Silverstone SG05 to a Fractal Design Node 304. My main reasons for switching/upgrading were that the tiny psu fan (80mm, but only 15mm thick) was pretty loud (by far the loudest component in the system), and I was running out of hard drive space on my single storage drive, a 1 TB WD caviar black. I have an old 640 GB hard drive just taking up space in my drawer, so I wanted to use it instead of buying a 2 TB drive, which would have cost as much as I spent on the case and power supply.

I love the cleaner look of the Node compared to the SG05, it just overall seems like a higher quality case with its solid black interior with white accents and its aluminum front. One thing I visually don't like is how the front is curved, it looks too much like a mini fridge to me; squared off edges and a flat front would have looked better IMO.

Internally, there is so much more room in this case! I was able to route some of the cables out of the way to not impede airflow instead of putting them wherever they would fit. I might buy some shorter sata cables, because I really don't like how I had to bunch them up in the top of the case. I've never used round sata cables, but they might be easier to route in such a small place. I'd like to get white ones to go with the white accents on the rest of the case. I wish my motherboard didn't have the stupid orange and yellow sata/ram/pcie slots! Although it doesn't really matter since no one besides me is ever going to see the inside of the case haha.

I picked the PSU because it seemed like a pretty good value for my money. At $20 after rebate, it's got 80 Plus Bronze, sleeved cables, 120 mm fan, a short length so it fits in the case, and just the right amount of cables for my build, so I'm not stuck with a bunch of unused cables stuffed in a corner taking up space. It might not be the quietest PSU around, but it is much quieter than the SFX psu in my old Silverstone.

Overall I'm happy with the new case. The Silverstone is a good case for what it is, a tiny case for a mid range build without a lot of storage, but my needs outgrew it and the Node 304 is the perfect balance of size and features for my current and future needs.