SGPC - K29

This is the small K29 case, not the larger model that is mixed in with these reviews. I gave it 5 stars because it is just what I wanted, and I got just what I expected. The commenter that gave a 1 star review, complaining that it does not fix an ATX motherboard is like a guy that complains that the Smart car is not a pickup truck. Duh! The complaints about the case (actually the power supply) blocking the PCIe slot is correct. If you think you're going to have room to plug in a GPU or ANY PCIe card, look for a much larger case. Period. Whatever ITX motherboard and CPU combination you choose, make sure it supports HDMI and maybe Display Port on the rear I/O panel, because there is no room left in such a small case for a GPU. This is a very solid, steel case. It's a bit of a minimalist design, which frankly I like quite a bit. You don't have to put either of the handles on it, and there is nothing sticking out from it. You can choose where to put the little sticky feet that are supplied--either for vertical or horizontal orientation. I had no problems with the screws or the case. Everything fit together just as designed. I like that SGPC gives you two side lids to choose from: either the white steel or the clear plastic side. Nice touch! I also was very pleased with the nice little plastic organizer SGPC supplies with all the screws and spacers, as well as a very nice Phillips screwdriver. Speaking of spacers, the manufacturer thoughtfully supplies 4 black (wish they were white!) spacers that are 10mm high, or about 7/16 inch. These allow the builder to space the lid out more to either give more airflow or to clear a CPU cooler that might be just a bit too high. CPU coolers: I measured 58mm from the top of the Intel CPU lid to the inside top of the case lid, so choose a 45- or 55mm low-profile cooler. This measurement did not include the extra height you can get from the spacers. I bought this case specifically to hold an MSI H5101 Pro ITX motherboard for older LGA1200 CPUs. The CPU is a core i5-11600 from 2021. Both were $170 eBay finds. The cooler that I chose is the excellent Noctua NH-L9i, which is specifically designed for LGA115x and LGA1200 CPUs, so don't buy this if you are using an LGA1700 or newer CPU. These are not the latest parts, but for running a Linux desktop using Zorin 18 Pro, it is excellent. Even light gaming is possible with Zorin Linux. If you want to do more serious GPU-less gaming, try the Ryzen 7 8700G chip that has a very fast, built-in APU (GPU integrated into the CPU). I have one of those in a different small case, and it rocks! Anyway, since a few people complained about it, I'll also address the USB3 dual plug that feeds both the type A and type C USB connectors on the front of the case. This is clearly shown in the details, and is not some weird, unconventional type of arrangement. Quite a few ITX motherboards do not have the separate connector for a 10 or 20 Mbps type C connector anyway. I'm glad that SGPC gives me both 5Mbps USB A and C connectors from the single connector that is on my motherboard. There is nothing magic that the case front panel does. It's a straight-through connection to these USBs on the front. Of course, there is no PD power supply coming from the type C connector, so you won't be able to charge your phone from the front panel. But you will still have type C connector(s) on your rear panel that may have PD or higher speed connectivity, depending on which motherboard you bring to this party. For me, it's a good thing, and I'm happy with how SGPC gave me connectivity to the front panel. Again, this is a minimalist design--not cheap, but no extra flashing lights or things that can just be annoying. For example, I am annoyed by the often very bright blue LEDs case manufacturers use on their front panels. If you want a case with ARGB or blinky lights, look elsewhere. I've added a few photos to show my build. In one photo, I added the 4 spacers to the lid, and also flipped the lid around so that the vents are over the Apevia ITX-PFC500W power supply at the bottom. (A 500 watt power supply is way overkill for this build, but I had it on-hand already) This is just to help you see what you get, but I don't plan to use the spacers. Note that the photos showing the front panel have my Logitech wireless USB keyboard adapter dongle plugged in to the USB A port. As I said, I'm extremely pleased with this case, and the care the manufacturer put into it. They did not give me anything free or pay me. I just wanted to give you my honest opinions. Disclaimer: I am a very experienced PC builder, so maybe some of the things I had no issues with might not be the same for you.

I would have kept it if the PSU hole could be easily used for GPU without modding as I moved to PicoPSU. Flex ATX PSU being too loud for my taste.

The Pci-e slot is blocked. A bit annoying, if the case had been just half a centimeter longer it wouldn't be an issue, so I don't understand why they did it this way. I suppose it is sorta visible in one of the store images but I didn't really expect this to be a thing so I wasn't looking for that in the store images initially. My fault I guess. Pretty case though, and sturdy. Guess I'll keep it around for some other build in the future where I don't need the PCI-e lane used.

Easy to assemble pc, used with ID-cooling IS-40X and fit perfectly. Enough space for cables. Was worried about thermals and airflow so replaced the panel with a DIY screen and works great.

Of all the mini-ITX cases I have tried lately, this one was the best for my APU build. It’s very minimalist in its design and does not waste space with external decoration. Probably the best feature is that it fits Flex-PSUs so PSU failure is not a deal breaker. The only issue I found with it is that the front USB-C is spliced with the USB3 such that they both go into the USB3 header on the mobo. 4.8/5 from me.