In a few aspects, the Lian Li TU150 is comparable to the NZXT H200. One: for an ITX enclosure, it is on the bigger side. And two: it has a similarly closed-off front. Other than that, they are pretty different, though. In some areas, that is a good thing, and it is a bad thing in others.

In the timeframe of just over a year, this is the fourth (!) computer case that I have tried. Usually, it is the CPU or GPU that gets replaced more often 😅 It is also my current case, which means I can provide good pictures to visualize my thought process better.

In the third part of my road to the perfect mini ITX computer case, things will get a bit weird. As you may have gathered from the title, I will not talk about a mini ITX enclosure in this blog post. Quite the opposite, in fact: the Fractal Design Meshify C is a full-sized mid-tower ATX case.

You may now wonder why I suddenly had a change of heart and ditched a big.SMALL™ case for a not-so-small big computer tower. Well, I was surrendering to big graphics cards. Or, put the other way around, I was annoyed that I had to search endlessly to find a fast and quiet, and affordable two-slot graphics card model, only to fail ultimately. But, let me not get ahead of myself and start from the beginning, the same way I did for the previous two blog posts.

The second of the bunch is one of the stylish cases from NZXT, the H200. While it is technically a mini ITX chassis, it is a large case for that market segment. Just like the Fractal Design Core 500, it is compatible with a wide range of hardware, making it the perfect enclosure for price-conscious buyers. On top of that, it also is beautiful.

Unfortunately, I do not have an image of a complete desk setup with this case. Here is one with a good look at the internal layout and installed hardware.

The computer that I bought roughly a year ago has seen quite a few revisions already. But I am not talking about the core hardware – although I switched the GPU at one point. I mean the case. I wanted to go with something small from the start, so the basis is a mini ITX mainboard. However, I have not been incredibly happy with any of the cases so far. In this first installment in a series of several blog posts, one for each computer case, I will share my experiences in building a small, attractive, and performant and yet price efficient computer. I will cover design, hardware compatibility, pricing, and availability. Unlike the YouTube tech creators, not everybody has a seemingly unlimited budget or receives hardware from the manufacturers for review or showcases. It may look easy in all those YouTube videos, but it might not be for everyone.

Although I am mainly talking about gaming hardware, the same thoughts also apply to compact office PCs or workstations. Depending on the use case, i.e., which PC component requires the most focus, one or the other might become less or more relevant. So, first off is the Fractal Design Core 500.