Want to build a tiny gaming PC? Get this cut-price CM NR200 ITX case
Down to £60 on Amazon UK, a great price for the best value SFF PC case on the market.
The Cooler Master NR200 is, in my opinion, the best value small form factor PC case on the market right now. The fancy NR200P version, with an extra glass side panel, retails for £100, but the cheaper NR200 is normally £80 - and today, it's down to £60 at Amazon.
This is a great price for an incredibly well designed ITX case, which boasts great airflow, a simple install procedure and support for a wide range of components, including long and wide triple-slot graphics cards - all in a frame that measures 360 x 185 x 274mm, barely bigger than a shoebox.
I picked up the NR200 in a similar deal a month or two ago, and I've been thoroughly impressed by this case. Normally small form factor builds are an exercise in frustration, from part selection to installation, but the NR200 is surprisingly easy to build in.
You have a choice of air or water coolers, with up to 280mm AiOs or 155mm tall air coolers supported. In terms of power supplies, smaller-than-usual SFX or SFX-L power supplies are ideal, but you can rearrange the internal components slightly to install an ATX power supply too. Graphics cards up to 330mm long are supported, so even an RTX 3090 Founders Edition would fit.
The actual build process is easy too. The side panels come off without a screwdriver, and the top and bottom can be removed with one screw each. With the frame exposed, it's easy to run your cables and position each component in turn. There are plenty of cable tie points on the frame to keep things tidy, two fans pre-installed for airflow and dust filters throughout. There are two USB ports and a 3.5mm port up top too.
The PC Gaming Weekspot: Control Co-op! Great Ace Attorney Chronicles! Doki Doki Literature Club Plus
For my NR200, I picked up a Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro Ax motherboard, Corsair 750W SFX power supply and a 240mm Asus AiO cooler, then popped in an RTX 2080 Super and a Ryzen 9 3900XT. The actual install only took an hour and a half, far less than I expected. (You can see some photos on my Twitter here.)
I've been jolly impressed with the performance of the system so far, and it's relatively quiet too under normal use. The ventilated back, bottom and sides mean there's plenty of airflow to keep each component cool, and there's even room in the base to install two further fans if I wanted to. The whole system is heavy, but small enough to fit in a suitcase - very very cool.
So, I've probably rambled on enough. If you're in the market for a small form factor case, this is in my view the best one available - it's easy to get at a reasonable price, easy to build in and well designed throughout. £60 is an awesome price - I paid closer to £90 for mine! - so do pick it up after reading the requisite reviews online.
Thanks for checking out the article, and we'll catch you soon on the next one!