Micro ATX cases are nonstandard and have too many potential limitations to interest me, like how many or what size cards they will take. How many drives a micro case will accommodate "depends."

The advantage of the larger case is, of course, that it will hold more gear. I use a full tower for my DAW. It has space for four internal and six external drives, although I only use two HDs and a DVD writer. It also has accommodation for up to four case fans in addition to the CPU fan and built-in power-supply fan.

Quiet cases are a good idea for a studio, although you have to pay a lot for one that is truly silent. Interestingly, larger fans will move more air at a lower SPL.

The biggest risk of inadequate cooling is that your CPU--the actual chip--will fry.

HTH,

R.


"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."