Best Mini-ITX PC Cases of 2026

The Terra is the best-looking case here and the least forgiving, and in a 10.4-liter shell those are the same fact. It fits a graphics card up to 322 mm and a low-profile CPU cooler, and a stepless partition between them slides through 30 mm — which at this size is the difference between a build that closes and one that doesn't.

That sliding wall is what we spent the most time with, and it's the honest way to design a case this small: it doesn't pretend you can have everything. Give the card its 322 mm and the cooler has to be low-profile; run a mid-range card and the CPU gets another 30 mm of breathing room. Cooling is the thing to plan around, because a flagship processor and a flagship graphics card in this much space make themselves heard. Pair it with a sensible 65-to-105-watt CPU and let the card have the room.

What the money buys is finish: an 8 mm anodized aluminum front panel, FSC-certified walnut across the front, and a PCIe 4.0 riser already in the box. It looks right on a bookshelf in a living room, which is more than we can say for most of the cases here. Write the parts list before you order, though — this one rewards knowing which component needs the space.

Glass on a small case usually means choosing looks over airflow, and the H2 Flow's hybrid side panel is the first one here that doesn't force the trade. It's glass across the front half with ultra-fine mesh behind it, and mesh doing the intake work on the other sides.

NZXT got the dull parts right too. The panels are tool-less, the cable-routing straps are already fitted, and the box includes a PCIe 5.0 riser and two 120 mm fans. That bundle matters more than it sounds: the riser is the one part here you won't be replacing when the next card arrives, and buying a Gen 5 riser and two fans separately adds real money to any case in this group.

At 20.7 liters it's the largest case we're recommending, which is an odd thing to write about a mini-ITX pick, and it earns the volume. There's room for a 331 mm card and a 280 mm radiator in a proper loop, with the mesh feeding the fans that the glass would otherwise starve. If you're air-cooling on a budget the NR200 does most of this for less; if you're building a loop and want to see it, this is the one.

If you already own a 350 mm graphics card, most of this list is closed to you. The TR100 is the case that opens it back up, with 360 mm of clearance — the most here — in 18.9 liters.

We like that Thermaltake didn't stop at the length. The PCIe bracket lifts out so a long card drops in straight instead of at an angle, and an integrated brace sits underneath it. A three-slot card that size has real leverage on a riser mount, and bracing it is the difference between a build that survives a move and one that doesn't. The bundled riser is PCIe 4.0, which keeps up with current cards without a BIOS workaround.

The catch is the CPU side: 68 mm of cooler clearance means a low-profile air cooler or a 280 mm radiator, and nothing in between, so plan on water if you're running anything warm. The dual-chamber layout puts the power supply behind the motherboard and leaves the main compartment readable. And the Matcha Green finish is the most distinctive color here, backed by the longest warranty in this group at three years.

We carried the S300 by its leather handle more than any other case here, and that is the whole argument for it: 8.1 liters, about 2 kg, and a shape that tucks under one arm.

It isn't only small. Three mesh panels let an 8-liter box breathe, the front I/O puts a USB-C port where you can reach it, and there's room for a 305 mm graphics card — long enough for most mid-range models. The cooler is where it bites: 60 mm, so low-profile air only, with an SFX or SFX-L power supply between 100 and 130 mm.

One thing to know before you order. The included riser is PCIe 3.0, and KXRORS is explicit that you set the motherboard's PCIe slot to Gen3 in the BIOS first. Do it and the system posts; skip it and you're staring at a black screen trying to work out which component you broke.

Building in 8.1 liters is fiddly. The panels come off, but every part is in the way of every other part, and the cable run has to be decided before the motherboard goes down. We still reach for it whenever a build has to travel, and the brushed aluminum finish is better than the money suggests. Draw the build order on paper first — in a case this tight, the sequence is the build.

The cheapest case in this guide is the one we hand to a first-time small-form-factor builder, and the power supply is why: the C6-ITX takes a standard ATX unit up to 140 mm, so the PSU from an old tower moves straight across instead of being replaced with an SFX model. That single decision is the biggest saving available in a small build, and it's most of why this one earns a place.

The rest is plain in the way we like. All four sides are mesh, the top cover lifts off without tools, and a Velcro handle runs across the top. There's also 170 mm of CPU cooler clearance, more than any other case here, so a real tower cooler fits. The number to plan around is the 255 mm graphics card ceiling, which rules out the long three-fan cards most gaming builds are built on — check your card's length before anything else.

The TK-0 is the only case here that counts as furniture. A 270-degree dual-curved glass panel wraps around an aluminum and steel shell with a 16 mm walnut veneer, and it sits on a desk horizontally or vertically, showing the hardware from whichever face you leave outward.

The layout is what makes the glass worth having. It's a separated cabinet: the power supply and drives sit behind the motherboard wall, so the display chamber shows a graphics card and a cooler instead of a nest of cables. Every panel comes off, the rear cabinet takes a 3.5-inch hard drive and a 2.5-inch SSD on the same bracket, and cable routing is easier than the size suggests.

Cooling comes from a 120 or 140 mm mount at the top and another at the bottom, plus a pair of 90 mm fans at the rear, which is enough for a mid-range build and not much beyond it. This is a case you specify deliberately rather than fill from the spare-parts box.

It's the one we point at when the computer lives where people see it: a mid-size card, a modest CPU, and a finish that earns the price better than any spec sheet can. The drive bracket is the quiet detail that makes it a good living-room machine — one hard drive and one SSD sharing a cradle, without a cable fight.

4.3 liters is the smallest thing in this guide, and it writes the parts list before you've chosen a single component: a Flex 1U power supply, a CPU cooler under 36 mm, and a graphics card no longer than 170 mm.

Within those limits it's a nicer object than the price suggests. The body is 2.0 mm aluminum, which does heatsink duty as well as looking smart, every panel comes off with a screwdriver, and the whole case weighs 1.14 kg. A PCIe 3.0 riser is in the box and there's room for two 2.5-inch SSDs. Ours went together in a single sitting, because there is genuinely very little to assemble.

The honest reading is that this is a case for a low-power desktop, not a gaming machine. One fan position, no fan in the box, and a card ceiling that stops at low-profile models add up to a build that has to run cool by design: a 65-watt office PC, a media box, a second machine on a shelf. For those, the aluminum body and the tiny footprint make it a satisfying buy. For anything with a gaming graphics card, one of the larger cases above will treat you better.