Best Smallest Micro ATX PC Cases: Reviewed

A micro-ATX or MATX case may be the last thing on your mind when setting up your gaming system. However, it’s an important component for a gaming PC. There are several MATX cases on the market, and they all differ in certain areas or features such as airflow, appearance, size, cost, etc. Getting a good casing for your PC is just as similar as getting a good cover for your book. Hence, you have to get the ideal Micro-ATX casing available. 

Airflow is one of the essential features to consider when selecting the case. First of all, you have to select a MATX casing suitable for your room’s airflow. If your room doesn’t get much ventilation, that means you need to go for a MATX casing with high airflow to keep its components cool. 

You have to select a casing with a build that can enhance or support airflow to its components. This also means installing more fans to the build. The size also matters here because some sizes support the additional installation of fans for more airflow. 

The size of your MATX casing is determined by certain factors such as the size of your components like graphics card, motherboard form factor, and even a future proof casing. In terms of size, you can choose between getting a cupboard-sized MATX casing to fit all your future upgrades or a minimalist casing to take up less space on your desk and satisfy your preference. If you’re looking for a slightly bigger PC case for ATX motherboards, then read up on OvrClock’s article.

Out of the numerous options on the market, there are a few MATX casing whose features, capabilities and specifications place them above the rest. 

• MasterBox Q300L – Best Overall Smallest Micro-ATX case
• Antec Minuet 350 – Best Minimalist Smallest Micro-ATX case
• Corsair Carbide Air 240 – Best Airflow Smallest Micro-ATX case
• MasterBox Q300L – Best Budget Smallest Micro-ATX case
• Corsair Crystal 280X – Best Gaming Smallest Micro-ATX case
• CoolerMaster Silencio S400 – Best Lightweight Smallest Micro-ATX case
• Antec Slim VSK2000-U3 – Best Slim Smallest Micro-ATX case

Quick Summary:

Image	Motherboard	Features	Price
Best Overall Smallest Micro-ATX case	MasterBox Q300L Features 2 USB 3.0 ports (USB 3.1 and USB 3.2) Made using Acrylic Measures 15 x 9.05 x 15.23 inches Offers great value Lightweight (weighs 1.06 pounds) Features unique filters	9.8	Check Price
Best Minimalist Smallest Micro-ATX case	Antec Minuet 350 Features a pair of USB 2.0 ports Made from paper Measures 12.8 x 3.8 x 16.8 inches Supports e-SATA Noise-free airflow Has PSU	9.7	Check Price
Best Airflow Smallest Micro-ATX case	Corsair Carbide Air 240 Superb cable management system A pair of USB 3.0 ports Made using plastic and steel Measures 15.63 x 10.24 x 12.6 inches Features a big side window Weighs 12.4 pounds Up to 6 bays for hard drives Magnetic dust filters	9.7	Check Price
Best Budget Smallest Micro-ATX case	MasterBox Q300L Features a pair of USB 3.0 ports Manufactured using Acrylic Measures 15.2 x 9.1 x 15.0 inches Six various locations for flexible I/O panel Solid build RGB lighting	9.6	Check Price
Best Gaming Smallest Micro-ATX case	Corsair Crystal 280X Made using tempered glass Simple hardware installation Measures 15.67 x 10.87 x 13.82 inches Features a pair of USB 3.0 ports alongside an audio jack Liquid cooling and can support up to 5 fans for airflow	9.5	Check Price
Best Lightweight Smallest Micro-ATX case	Cooler Master Silencio S400 Made from alloy steel Features a pair of USB 3.0 ports Measures 8.27 x 16.46 x 16.06 inches Features a mic/audio jack, which can support HD Audio Weighs 15.4 pounds Sleek design and solid build Slot for SD card	9.4	Check Price
Best Slim Smallest Micro-ATX case	Antec Slim VSK2000-U3 Appealing design Features a pair of USB 3.0 ports Supports HD Audio Made using steel and plastic Measures 18.6 x 15.9 x 7.0 inches Slim build with an optical drive	9.2	Check Price

The MasterBox Q300L is a masterpiece. It was launched in March 2018, and as of May 2020, it was the 2nd best-selling PC casing on Amazon. This casing may be miniature, but it provides superb thermal performance and functions excellently. In addition, this MATX casing can be positioned both horizontally and vertically, depending on your desk space or your personal style.

It has a flexible I/O panel that you can easily shift into six locations, including the top, rear, front, bottom, and sides of the casing. This panel also features a pair of USB 3.0 ports and a jack for audio, supporting HD Audio. The front panel of this casing can support a pair of 140mm fans for cooling support or airflow and a 240mm radiator to enhance thermal performance. It can also support one 120mm fan or radiator on the rear panel and a pair of 120mm fans on the top panel.

In addition, there are perforations on the top, rear, and front panels to ensure great airflow. This keeps the system cool even during heavy operations. The rear panel comes with a pre-installed 120mm fan. This casing can support a CPU of 159mm and features a 360mm space for a full-size graphics card and a decent space of 160mm to house the power supply. Its cable management features a routing space of 28mm behind its motherboard tray.

It features a glass panel from one edge of the casing to another, beautifully displaying its components in style. Its aesthetic design is high-density, unique-looking, and supremely functional.

This MATX casing was launched in January 2008. Physically, it’s very slender, and it has a narrow space. It’s the perfect PC casing for users who prefer a smaller chassis. It’s equipped with a bay for three hard drives, but only two drives (3.25 inches and 5.25 inches drives) can fit in with ease. This means that if you install an internal Blu-ray recorder, this casing can only support a 3.25 hard drive, closing out other internal storage options.

However, storage won’t be an issue if you use a hard drive with sufficient space. Its power supply is an 80 PLUS certified 350w with Active PFC and Universal Input. Despite its tiny build, it’s very efficient with energy consumption. It’s also equipped with incredible boost speeds and an energy-intensive graphics card. It comes with a single 8cm fan on the side panel for airflow. This fan is equipped with a 3-phase speed regulator.

It’s noise-free and ideal for energy-intensive gaming and processing. It supports HD Audio, a pair of USB ports on the front panel, and e-SATA. In addition, it features dim lighting for the hard drive activity and power casing. If you’re looking for an all-white gaming PC case, you can check out OvrClock’s dedicated article for this as well. In summary, it’s regarded as the best micro-ATX casing in terms of compact build.

The Corsair Carbide Air 240 was launched in June 2019. It has a unique cube shape and is designed to hold sufficient space for containing large components. For instance, it can support a pair of graphics cards, which is unusual for a MATX casing. In addition, it comes in both white and black colors to serve a variety of customers. It also features a glass panel from one edge of the casing to the other, covering the entire side panel.

Aside from being able to support large components, it also has enough room for a high-performance cooling system. Its compact build is deceptively larger, you may think. The vents of its cooling system have a metal mesh surface equipped with magnetic dust filters. This casing houses a CPU, motherboard, and graphics card in its left chamber. On the other hand, its right chamber contains its power supply and a tool-less storage bay. There’s also a full-size vent on its lower side for the bays and the power supply.

Its drive bay is not only superb, but it’s also easily removable. There’s no need to unscrew. This bay can support three 2.25-inch and three 3.25-inch drives, giving it an enhanced storage facility. It features an excellent liquid cooling system that can support 240mm radiators in pre-installed holes on the front, bottom, and top panels. However, you should only install a radiator on the front panel because of the dual GPUs and motherboard.

Aside from its spacing, the Corsair Carbide Air 240 is the best MATX casing in airflow because it comes with three fans- a pair on the front and one on the top panel. In addition, it can support the further installation of a single 120mm fan on the top panel, two 120mm fans on the bottom panel, and finally, two 80mm fans on the rear panel.

This PC casing is similar to the MasterBox Q300L, but it’s an older version. Launched in March 2018, the build was designed for enhanced flexibility and premium functionality. It’s a bit heavier than the MasterBox Q300L. It features RGB LED regulator, four detachable handles for enhanced mobility, and 1-3 splitter cable.

Its flexible I/O panel is also removable, and it can be adjusted up to six locations, including the bottom, top or front panel and both side panels. This panel also features an HD Audio port and a pair of USB 3.0 ports. This MATX casing can also be positioned horizontally and vertically on the desk.

The front panel can support a pair of 140mm fans and a 240mm radiator for its airflow system. The rear panel can carry one 120mm fan or radiator, and the top panel can carry a pair of 120mm fans. It also features perforations on these panels for superb airflow to provide sufficient cooling and ensure excellent thermal performance despite the load.

It comes with a single 120mm RGB LED blower at the front panel, a pair of pre-installed fans on the top, and one 120mm blower at the chassis. This casing can support a CPU measuring up to 159mm, and it has an installation space of 360mm for a full-size and even a larger graphics card. It also has up to 160mm of space for its power supply.

This MATX casing is regarded as the best casing for gaming. Launched in February 2019, this case is very visually appealing, thanks to its attractive design and RGB lighting. Just like MasterBox, this is Corsair’s second entry on the list of best smallest MATX casing. Although this casing is slightly more expensive than several MATX casing, it compensates for this with its noise-free performance, visual appeal, high functionality, and efficient airflow.

It features three good-looking tempered glass panels, a unique-looking dual-chamber, and RGB lighting remotely controlled by the iCUE software. This casing is available in white or black colors. It provides enhanced cooling because it can carry six blowers (120mm or 140mm) around it. This includes two on both sides, a single one on the top, at the rear, and at the front). Alternatively, it can take up to three 240mm radiators, one at the front, one on top, and one at the rear.

This PC casing also has a housing compartment for its internal storage; it can carry up a pair of 3.5-inch or three 2.5-inch drives. The dual-chamber within the casing provides two functions: properly arranging the cables in a small space and displaying the casing components using RGB lighting.

The CoolerMaster Silencio S400 was launched in the early part of 2020. As the name suggests, it performs quietly and is manufactured to strike a balance between style and quality. This casing was manufactured using plastic and steel. Unfortunately, it’s only available in black color. The side panel features tempered glass, displaying the RGB setup and the casing components.

The steel on the side panel is custom-made for reducing sounds for completely quiet performance. However, this feature is removable. It has sufficient space for its drives and can easily carry one 5.25-inch drive, four solid-state drives, and hard disk drives. This housing can be adjusted backward or forward to create space for a more lengthy power supply or a radiator.

The housing is also detachable for easy installation or if internal storage is not needed, which doesn’t seem likely in any scenario. The airflow system comprises one 120 or 140mm blower on top. There can be space for another fan of the same size if you take out the ODD cage. Alternatively, this cage can be detached to create space for a radiator, if necessary.

The rear panel can support one 120mm blower or a 120mm radiator. The most extreme section of its rear side houses its 140mm power supply. In summary, this is the best MATX casing in terms of portability.

Because of its very slim build, it’s the perfect casing to integrate with a Mini-ITX or Micro-ATX gaming system. Launched in September 2015, it can take up minimal space thanks to its build and vertical installation. In addition, it comes with three drive bays, including one 5.25-inch tool-less drive bay, one 2.5-inch drive for SSD, and one 3.5-inch drive for HDD. It’s also capable of supporting four expansion slots, which is impressive for MATX casing.

However, this casing doesn’t come with a power supply, and this is one key difference between the Antec Slim VSK2000-U3 and the Antec Minuet 350. Sadly, this case wasn’t designed to support a standard PSU, and it will require a particular TFX form factor power supply. The front panel features a pair of USB 3.0 ports with audio jacks for output and input. It can easily support a 200mm graphics card.

Its airflow system comprises a single 92mm blower activated by specific temperature levels. However, the fan is noisy, particularly for an HTPC design. In addition, the only airflow is outwards through the rear, which isn’t enough to keep the system as cool as it should be while operating.

Here at OvrClock, we are committed to keeping our editorial and product recommendation processes completely independent from our monetization — so, you can always be sure we are recommending the best PC Parts for you without any partiality.

The OvrClock team has been reviewing all parts of a PC build for years now, and we use our expert opinion and experiences when making recommendations. We try to get our hands on and actually test all of the products we recommend, in addition to the dozens of alternatives that are not on the final list. This allows us to provide insights beyond what you can find from reading other online reviews, and get a true and more clear understanding of the best options. Our diverse team and vast experience also allow us to highlight each product’s ideal use cases, as well as the perfect customer profile for any given product.

For PC Cases, we test things including but not limited to: form factor, build quality, dimensions for parts clearance, parts included, RGB lighting options, and elegance, among many other factors. Our experience allows us to translate these insights into actionable conclusions and purchase recommendations for you, without you having to test all the products, or having to sift through piles and piles of data from our testing. All of the recommended small micro ATX PC Cases and dozens of others not in this roundup have been tested rigorously by our team and shortlisted thereafter.

For any questions about our product selection and recommendation process, feel free to contact us.

Over time, the micro-ATX casing has become a favorite, replacing standard ATX casing as the mainstream product.

In our opinion, the overall best micro-ATX casing is MasterBox Q300L, followed next by Corsair Carbide Air 240 and Antec Minuet 350. 

If you’re conscious of your budget, go for MasterBox Q300P. For the perfect casing for heavy gaming, go for Corsair Crystal 280X. For quiet performance and portability, go for CoolerMaster Silencio S400. However, if you like sleek casings, your best bet is Antec Slim VSK2000-U3.