REVIEW OVERVIEW
BUILD QUALITY
75 %
FEATURES
75 %
SIZE & WEIGHT
95 %
PERFORMANCE
70 %

Case by Case Design MI-6From $210

There are an ever increasing amount of excellent options if you are looking for cases in the small form factor mini-itx market. I always get excited when a new compact case comes to market.

Case by Case Designs MI-6 is a little different then the cases I have reviewed in the past featuring a narrow vertical orientation. I took a deep look at the case and its features.

Case Specifications

MaterialAluminum (2mm)
Motherboard SupportMini-ITX
PSU SupportSFX/SFX-L
Fan Mounts1 x 92mm
Volume6L
Dimensions135 x 203 x 246mm
Max CPU Cooler Height68mm
Max GPU Length188mm
HD Support3 x 2.5″

Design & Build Quality

ccd mi-6 case reviewThe CCD Mi-6 is made entirely of 2mm thick aluminum. It feels solid to the touch, and while it is not as thick as other cases it’s plenty sturdy.

The entire case is held together by 6 screws, four on top and 2 on each side. Internally everything is one piece. The case is designed to be as simple as possible and CCD has truly achieved their goal.

The silver accent surrounding the top panel, and bottom feet makes the case stand out. It’s a simple but gorgeous design that should be timeless.

mi-6 internal frameInternally the case has two zones. The left side is dedicated to the GPU, and right houses the motherboard and CPU. The two sides are connected by a PCIe extension cable. The separation helps keep temperatures down on each side.

There are rubber padding points almost anywhere the a component may touch the case, or case panels may rub against each other. You can tell that there was great attention to detail.

Hard Drive & Fan Mounting Options

mounting options mi-6There is some flexibility when it comes to mounting hard drives and fans. The case can accommodate up to 3 2.5″ HDD, or 2 and a single 92mm fan.

Depending on the components you select, you may or may not need a fan to keep things cool. With the fan installed, I found that the PSU cables blocked a significant amount of fan airflow creating audible turbulence noise.

Build Process

ccd mi-6 buildFor the full build process I would check out the video review above. Overall building in the MI-6 is very straight forward. The only part that proved to be even a little challenging was connecting the PSU and hard drive wires. My Corsair SF450 cables made it a little tight. Custom cables would be the preferred solution here. You will find the full list of components used for testing below.

System Components

CPUIntel Core i7-8700K
RAM32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3000MHz
GPUGigabyte GTX 1080 Mini
MotherboardAsus ROG Strix Z370-I
HDD1 x Samsung 960 EVO 256GB
1 x Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
PSUCorsair SF 450
CPU CoolerNoctua NH-L12S

Noise Levels

We now have compact PSUs, GPUs, and motherboards to power our systems. One of the last hurdles small form factor cases have to overcome are acoustics. The MI-6 suffers from the same audio performance issues as the rest of the industry.

While noise levels are reasonable, if you are coming from a full sized system you will notice the increase in noise under load. As will most compact system, the components you choose will determine how loud or quiet your system will be.

IDLE29db
GAMING45db
GPU/CPU 100%49db

Note: I tested the system with and without a 92mm fan installed in the base. It was noticeably louder with the fan installed, but cooling performance was greatly enhanced.

Temperatures

mi-6 case build cpu sideThe MI-6 does a decent job with CPU temperatures, If you are looking to run overclock-able high end chips like the 8700k you will undoubtedly run into some issues.

GPU temps were excellent, the vented side and top panels do a good job allowing cool air to get to graphics cards. I had no issues cooling my 1080 Mini, even though there is no direct exhaust port to the rear of the GPU.

CPUGPU
Idle33C35C
GAMING68C78C
100% LOAD90C81C

Conclusion

ccd mi-6 case on deskThe CCD MI-6 is an awesome case. It achieves its goals and would be an excellent case for a HTPC or compact gaming rig. The $210 price point falls right in line with other limited run compact cases. Just be aware of the CPU cooling limitations.

1 COMMENT

  1. Very nice, compact and powerful build.
    Did you try to mount the Noctua NH-L12S with heatsink fins rotated by 90 degrees? Probably the bottom fan could push more air between them with the air flow that will exit from the top of the case.

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