More compact PC cases supporting motherboards up to the Micro ATX format are relatively rare—especially at lower prices, as is the case with Endorfy’s new models, the Signum M30 Air and Signum M30 ARGB. Both models come equipped with three efficient fans, but the more expensive—though still fairly affordable—variant also features colorful lighting. And there is more that makes these cases worthy of your attention.
Let’s take it step by step. Endorfy has expanded its case portfolio with two Signum M30 models designed for Micro ATX motherboards (up to 244 × 244 mm) and smaller formats (Flex ATX and Mini-ITX). Categorically, considering the volume of around 32 liters (dimensions are 387 × 205 × 401 mm), they can be described as mini-towers.
Despite the smaller physical dimensions, large components are supported. Inside, you can fit a graphics card up to 345 mm long (thickness is not really a limitation, as there is plenty of space toward the bottom) as well as an ATX power supply up to 180 mm in length. Maximum CPU tower cooler height is 159 mm, and there are mounting positions for two 240 mm radiators—one at the top and one at the front.
The Signum M30 case—or rather cases (as there are two variants)—comes with three 120 mm fans. In the “Air” variant, these are Stratus 120 PWM models, while the “ARGB” version uses Stratus 120 PWM ARGB.
Two fans are preinstalled at the front (intake) and one at the rear (exhaust). A perforated front panel with a hexagonal structure is present on both variants. This means that regardless of which one you choose, high cooling efficiency is promised. The used Stratus 120 PWM (ARGB) fans are affordable yet aerodynamically attractive, as also shown in our tests.
Yes, low price is what makes the Signum M30 cases stand out. The version with RGB fans (EY2A020) has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of 72 EUR. The Signum M30 Air (EY2A019) with “dark” non-RGB fans is 7 EUR cheaper (65 EUR).
The front panel includes three USB ports—two Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1, 5 Gb/s) and one Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, 20 Gb/s). There are also two separate 3.5 mm audio jacks for stereo output and microphone input. In addition to the power button, a Reset button is also present on the front panel.
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
times when uATX were small passed long ago, nowadays you could squeeze 3 decent machine in one case like that
the issue is noone makes decent mITX cases, you either get an uATX volume with internals prohibiting uATX installation or a pancake that’s still as long as uATX case
just make a proper cube for D15G2 and iGP or around 20cm card, preferably for pico PSU too
You’re right—there are also smaller cases whose motherboard support ends at Micro ATX. You don’t even have to look far; just take a look at the lineup from SilverStone, for example.
However, many of those cases cannot accommodate a more powerful air cooler, whose support requirements significantly increase the overall volume. And even if such a cooler fits, the configuration options tend to be more limited.
I certainly agree that the Endorfy Signum M30 is relatively larger, but besides a high-performance cooler, you can also install a large graphics card in it. Configurations using a picoPSU look quite different from those built around a standard ATX power supply.
Truly compact SFF cases are also a specialty of Akasa, but their passive solutions are optimized for somewhat different components than these Endorfy models, which place virtually no limits on using even the most powerful processors.
Of course, such a pairing is relatively unlikely—users buying expensive, power-hungry CPUs will probably choose a case from a different price segment—but the option is there. 🙂
If you have specific suggestions on what could be improved to achieve a more attractive result, feel free to share them. It’s quite possible that Endorfy’s development team will see them and implement what they find reasonable.
the market simply isn’t making what I would specifically want, but I had a relatively good experience with Raijintek cases: Styx and Metis Plus
they are tight, they have terrible cable management and their airflow is bizarre, but with carefully chosen PSU and some modding they are much more capable than you’d expect
also Metis Plus has also a Chinese market only brother with dual top fan space that would improve the situation further
Currently I’m using my Metis Plus with 90* rotated U12A fanswapped to G2, intake cut out in the bottom of the case.
Fan speeds are low as expected, temps are usual for AM5 but performance remains stable and expected. I also used it with A2000 SFF with Accelero S3 mounted on and the bottom-top flow during gaming (so much lower CPU heat) was enough to keep the card cool
also also, there was a time when I had NH-P1 in this very case, but that I can’t recommend unless you use pico PSU
note than I use PCIE powered cards if any and no SATA drives at all, so many potential drawbacks of the case never affect me
Haha, I remember the Raijintek Metis (Plus) cases very well. At one point, there was an attempt to squeeze a GTX 970 inside—and even with an Accelero cooler, aiming for near-silent operation. 🙂
There was a question in the Slovak version of this site about how to improve this case without making it much more expensive, and this is what I think:
1. Perforations next to PCIE slots for more air for the GPU if it would not make the case structurally weak. It shouldn’t be too expensive and lots of cases have this, but I’m not sure if they can have it because they use thicker metal sheet or if it is possible to do also with this cheap case.
2. Perforations (together with dust filter) at the bottom and/or side panel for more air for the GPU. You can put fans on the GPU shroud but there is nowhere they can get fresh air from. Although not sure if it would help sell more cases as most people think only about aesthetics 😀
3. 2x USB-C, because that is a thing that can potentially distinguish it from other (not only budget) cases and help sell it. Of course it needs to be with a splitter because I don’t even know any motherboards which have more than 1 internal USB-C port, maybe some over 500€. It shouldn’t be too expensive, I can see USB-C female connectors sold for 0,50€ to end users so should be even cheaper wholesale + of course some extra for work and cable, but shouldn’t be too expensive overall and would be something no other case in this price has.
But at least it has 1xUSB-C + 2xUSB-A, not too long ago budget cases (including my BeQuiet 500DX) had 1xUSB-A and 1xUSB-C and that is really stupid.
4. Rubber grommets for cables. It used to be only in more expensive cases, but is becoming more common even in budget ones, for example Montech XR for 60€ has them and they shouldn’t be expensive, I can see some for around 0,05-0,2€ per piece on Alibaba.
5. GPU support/anti-sag, even something simple and cheap like in Zalman P10 would be nice. Or some simple adjustable pillar with company logo that can be cheap because it would be standardized and could be in every case model without modifying all the cases to have something integrated. Of course something more fancy with aRGB could be sold separately 🙂
Thank you for your contribution. The questions have been forwarded to Endorfy. Once they get to them, they’ll respond. 🙂
Hello!
About 2x USB-C:
A single 20-pin shielded header (so called “Type-E”) can’t be passively split into any combination of USB ports in a way that would be compliant with USB standards and not confusing to the customer. If we ignore the standard, we could split it into one USB-C with 3.2 Gen 2 speeds but without full USB-C features (alt modes, USB 2.0 or reversibility) plus one USB-A with USB 2.0 speeds. Some manufacturers take that route (i.a. some Phanteks cases have a single-direction USB-C, not documented anywhere), but we decided to stay away from non-compliant implementations and not to add to the USB-C misinformation hell as long as there’s still time to undo the damage.
Meanwhile if we use an active hub to offer more from one USB-C header, we will be standard-compliant, but we achieve the same as the user buying their own hub – except we took away the customer’s choice and probably some money (since we’re not in the USB hub business, we will not compete on price with 3rd party vendors).
It feels to me like this problem is best solved not by the case, but somewhere else in the chain of connections between the CPU and whatever device might be on the other end.
About rubber grommets: this is mostly a cost vs benefit question, but specifically in Signum M30 it’s harder than in other cases. Grommets along the vertical edge of the motherboard take a few mm of the cable management space, to the point where these grommets are sometimes an anti-feature.
I will check with our chief designer if there’s anything he wants to say about your other suggestions 🙂
Thank you! 🙂