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I want to buy a gaming PC to place next to my TV. To give it the best air intake, and given the (little) space available in the room I have decided to buy a case that I can place vertically.

Ideally, its width would be under 14cm (5.5in). I don't have a restriction on height, and the depth should be under 50cm (~19in).

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    home theater PC? This would be the name for the class of computers, if you're asking for a form factor (like ATX and ITX) this can get more tricky.
    – SEJPM
    Sep 12, 2015 at 19:49
  • Yes, I'm looking for the form factor that would best fit the description above.
    – wip
    Sep 12, 2015 at 19:53
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    ATX mainboards should fit. Your only problem would be the case then, it may not fit 3.5 inch (HDD) drives and will most likely not fit 5.25 inch (optical) drives. Apparently your best hit would be thin "mini ITX cases". You may consult your favorite pc search engine for specific cases.
    – SEJPM
    Sep 12, 2015 at 20:15

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If you're not planning to add more than one expansion card (say, a TV tuner card) to your system, a mini-ITX board in a low profile or home theater case fits your needs. If you want two to four cards (tuner card, dedicated graphics card, dedicated network card, etc), a microATX board in a low profile case will work.

Note that a low-profile case uses narrow "low-profile" expansion cards with a special bracket; normal expansion cards won't fit. Most home theater cases have a right-angle riser that lets you use a standard expansion card. In both situations, you may need a power supply sized for the case rather than a standard ATX power supply.

Many smaller cases have bays for laptop (2.5") hard drives and slimline laptop optical drives instead of desktop-sized drives, so make sure you check this when selecting your parts.

In theory, you could fit a full-sized ATX board in the available space, but the logistics of placing the power supply, cooling system, expansion cards, etc. means you probably won't be able to find a case that can do the job.

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  • As an additional comment, the form factor that most fitted my needs was referred to as "Slim / Compact Towers" by the maker.
    – wip
    Sep 14, 2015 at 2:23
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The Fractal Design Node 202 is a very small form factor PC case (console size), with support for a full size graphics card. A link to the fractal design page for all their node series cases is here, and I suggest you check them out. It will come out soon and uses mini-ITX boards.

In addition, the Cooler Master Obsidian series has some very small form factor cases that would be a good fit for a home theater.

Silverstone also makes some very small form factor mini-ITX cases. A link to the Amazon page for the Silverstone Raven Z is here.

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