Image: Jonsbo
Small form factor PC builds are as popular as they’ve ever been, maybe more so. But it’s become pretty rare to see a case that’s actually designed to take advantage of the small size and let you carry it around. The new Jonsbo T6 does just that, and adds in some practicality for when it’s sitting on your desk, too.
Jonsbo is a smaller China-based case manufacturer that doesn’t pop up much here in the west, but I’ve admired some of its unique designs, like the D41 that puts a case-mounted screen somewhere it might actually be useful. The T6 is more about trending wood aesthetics and teeny-tiny mini-ITX sensibilities, but it’s also got a few ideas that make it more useful than the standard SFF design. The top-mounted handle not only matches the front wood finish, it makes this thing “luggable” in the old-fashioned sense.
“But Michael,” I hear you cry, “I haven’t been to a LAN party since 2003. After I build my fabulously stylish mini-ITX PCs, they sit on my desk until I build another one.” I’m glad you pointed that out, convenient strawman reader. If you prefer your SFF builds a little more sedentary, you can move that handle to the front of the case where it makes a perfect headset holder. You can even put it on the side to…hold tiny figurines, apparently. Of course if you prefer a cleaner look, you can just leave the handle off entirely.
Jonsbo
Jonsbo
Jonsbo
The T6 comes in black and silver models, both with a glass panel on the right side of the case in a bit of a departure from the standard; the motherboard is mounted to the left side. The entire bottom is taken up by space for a 140mm-long power supply (looks like a tight fit for modular cables), with two 2.5-inch drives mountable above it. As Tom’s Hardware points out, you might want to opt for an SFF PSU just to be on the safe side.
It has plenty of room for an air-cooled CPU with a 160mm of cooler clearance, but if there’s an Achilles heel it’s the GPU support. You can only get a 215mm length card in there, severely limiting your options. Even with Nvidia’s new SFF standard, that’s going to max out your power at approximately the RTX 4070 level (if you’re lucky).
Jonsbo
Jonsbo
Jonsbo
Even so, I bet there will be plenty of builders eager to try out this new design. It has that trendy cottagecore wood aesthetic with the good old “maximum power, minimum footprint” feel. There’s no indication of how much it’ll cost or when you can buy it, but Jonsbo cases tend to be on the more affordable side of the market.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he’s the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop “battlestation” in his off hours. Michael’s previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he’s covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he’s always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.
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