Asus Prime AP201 Case Review. All PROS No CONS!

Review of the all mesh Asus Prime AP201 Micro-ATX PC Case.
Products Highlighted (Affiliate Links):
Asus Prime AP201 Black (Amazon). - amzn.to/3CHqq3D
Asus Prime AP201 White (Amazon). - amzn.to/3KDZJyD
Timecodes:
0:00 - Opener
0:35 - Intro / Agenda
1:18 - Specs and Features
3:20 - Build Notes
3:38 - PSU Installation
4:21- AIO Installation
4:47 - Motherboard Fit and Storage Install
5:07 - GPU Fit
5:24 - Cable Management
6:35 - Strengths
7:40 - Needs Improvement
9:33 - Final Conclusion
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[@RafitoOoO]

this is pretty much a MATX, ATX PSU and 360mm AIO compatible NR200 and I'm all for it.

[@gokublack8342]

Yes I have an NR200 and it doesn't look much bigger at all Edit: By bigger I mean taking up Desk Space it seems like a very efficient case

[@jeremyg2236]

@@gokublack8342 by this, you mean the ap201 or nr200?

[@johndavis29209]

I built an AP 201 build for my rx 7800xt and built another rig for a spare 6600 I had using the NR 200 and I would guess that the AP 201 is about twice as big.

[@listenjared]

One of the best case reviews I've watched. Not one minute was wasted!

[@JamieR]

The mesh side panels, same as NR200P works so well with RGB. It just gives it a nice glow. I love putting a led strip around the bottom, back and top on the user side. It gives the case such a cool look during dim lit room lighting. This seems like a fun case to build in too!

[@angryangus3178]

First review I have ever seen by you and I must say it, was very well organised and delivered. I really liked the labelled time stamps so I could skip ahead to the part i was interested in. Very well done sir!

[@stevedeitry4644]

Bro you got the case review down to a fine tuned science. 🔥

[@theshirtlessgamer8628]

you answer every question anyone would ever have about this case, thank you!

[@bryans8656]

Several years ago I really got into SFF builds (my favorite was a build I called the "cube" which was a true gaming PC), so I'm really attracted to cases like the one you reviewed.

[@Paultimate7]

This is not ssf. This is a 30L case. SSF is 20L and under.

[@BrunoLarouche]

Good and very complete review, like always!

[@twhiz2649]

Quality review and coverage. Thank you!

[@richardjones1373]

Happy to provide Like number 1000! Great review of case I'm looking to buy.

[@piotrgo9939]

Great job and excellent review. I'm watching it for the third time, still catching some fine points I missed the previous time. Clear, on topic, super useful for someone who's about to purchase this very case and build some desktop - like me. I love the morphing-like fade-in and outs, detailed walkthrough of all setups and measurements with precise metrics. Simply amazing! Best wishes and regards from me to You.

[@robpriddy2372]

This is a perfect candidate for that Passive build you did a while back, especially if you could find a passive dedicated GPU these days like the XilenX Palit cards.

[@flushfire]

Great review. Love how this case looks.

[@emilemil1893]

Great review, everything important mentioned. I will buy this case.

[@YuriusFarrence]

Great review, convinced me to get one. Was looking for a 14 inch or shorter case that can use a 360 aio.

[@MultiSciGeek]

I actually wanted to build an ITX thing, but since my mb is mATX - this is literally the prefect middle point! Also relatively cheap! Thanks a lot!

[@birdlegs846]

Great thorough case review! I couldn't decide between asus ap201 or the sama im01 pro but at the end I chose the ap201, both are nice cases but I just didnt care for how the power cord came out of the back of the sama im01. I just finished my new build in a AP201 and turned out excellent.

[@zachsilby4569]

Glad I wasn't wrong in my assessment of the Amazon listing. I saw it, recognised the brand name, and saw features I liked. The price was amazing too, for just over 100 canadian dollars.

[@4melina612]

Been searching for a replacement for my atx case since its old and my mobo is a matx mobo and it’s the same 1 as the 1 you are using in the vid this really helped me out to make the decision!

[@liamleech4748]

did a matx build in the case the other day with a i5 14600 and a rtx 4060. Fits so good and looks amazing.

[@KK-fi6ms]

Wow... why is this case not more popular?! This is basically NR200 scaled up a bit for M-ATX. Yes, it is a bit larger, but M-ATX motherboards and ATX power-supplies make up for that with lower price and availability.

[@tokiomitohsaka7770]

I really like how this case looks, and it is compatible with a 360mm radiator which is going to be more important than ever for high end systems these days with increased CPU power consumption and heat output.

[@MikeHedges1993]

360mm is absolutely not needed for most people. Even on top tier cpus unless you are rendering on the system. Which if you are doing work why do you need to have a small case. So the amount of people that will use a 360 in a small case is an insanely low number.

[@MikeHedges1993]

@@Hughjundys I like this guy!

[@bombacimulayim1453]

i bought this case to install my sapphire toxic extreme edition 6900xtxh which has 360 aio. With an matx mainboard it works great and compact gaming machine. Only drawback is dust and sound.

[@BusAlexey]

Neat small case for matx, thanks

[@genesavcell]

I ordered the black, tempered glass version of this case for my new build and the parts are arriving today. It was hard to find a micro-ATX case with a front panel USB-C connector, so thank you Asus! I always build with Asus motherboards and so I'll be plugging the USB-C front panel cable into the USB-C connector on the Asus Prime Z790M-Plus motherboard I'm using in my build. It seems strange to be mounting the power supply in the front, that's no big deal. Also, this will be my first tower without any 5.25 or 3.5 inch front panel openings. But I really don't need them. I have an external DVD-RW I can use for the very rare times I use an optical drive these days. Looking forward to getting this build going!! 🙂

[@elteacher0223]

I feel like building a passive build inside that full mesh case ❤

[@lithyveronica1407]

Great review. This is a great alternative to Sama im01.

[@Toumasu]

its a terrific case, got the white one

[@steveelpro]

I would've liked to see the installation of the HDD and the SSD in the back, but very nice to see them actually installed since every single video build I could find didn't use them

[@justeddm]

Please recommend PSU extension cables for this particular case... I want to avoid cable manager issues while building in this, thanks.

[@solasakarhys]

i love microatx, cant wait to build my next pc with this case whenever that may be lol

[@Vermilicious]

The effect with the RGB lights inside was really neat, I think. The build quality also seems good.

[@zenastronomy]

does it fill up with dust or does the mesh protect it enough? might be a deal breaker if it fills up with dust

[@xrosnero]

advise for fan config? worrying on the dust it might build

[@MichaelBertolino]

4:09 This was something I mentioned to the NA ASUS reps and they didn't comment on it. I was very disappointed as some of the best PSUs on the market use this angled cable port. Do you know if you can simply switch the orientation using the two screws on the PSU?!

[@acelious]

hey could you reccomend something like this that supports full atx boards and 360mm radiators

[@sgonzo5572]

This case looks good if you want direct no ribbon cable set up. I just wish it was a bit longer for the 4000s series cards. Like a 4090

[@HuntaKiller91]

I hope they do atx for this Hate the limited nvme slot for future proofing

[@Rokkit.]

Is it possible to mount a vertical gpu mount in this case? If so what brand would you recommend that would fit best?

[@PaulJPerez-eh9cc]

What about using a nh-D15 and 2 140 mm fan at the top to cool an i7 12700K? Do you think it is better than using a 280 mm or 360?

[@rexdink]

Building a few new PC's next month, and this will be the case for one of them. After a paint job.

[@colororb4105]

Hope it's not an apples-to-oranges comparison, but do you prefer this case or the Deepcool ck560? Which one do you think would be the quietest? Thanks!

[@HarrisonKillianAnimation]

Thank you so much for the awesome reviews! You save me a lot of research and have far better information than other videos. I’m producing a hyper-real animated film using Blender. I’m trying to maximize the realism and am open to switching to another software capable of more realism. Can you recommend any? I’m also 3d scanning head sculpts I do so looking to incorporate that

[@ElevatedSystems]

Zbrush for asset creation, and Maya for rigging and animation. Look into the Rokoko Motion Library to simplify animation sequences. Then Nuke or After Effects for final compositing.

[@HarrisonKillianAnimation]

@@ElevatedSystems wow thank you so much for your time and info! It’s funny you say that, I’m about to purchase a mo cap suit. Ye those sound really good, I think I’m going to make the switch. Wondering if the same principle in blender apply to Maya and Zbrush. Hopefully I can make that learning curve quickly

[@ElevatedSystems]

@@HarrisonKillianAnimation Rokoko has a mocap suit that records motion without the need of a camera. It's not cheap but also works well with Unreal Engine so that opens the possibility a of real time pipeline. You can definetly get some hyper realism from Unreal 5.

[@HarrisonKillianAnimation]

@@ElevatedSystems yes that’s the one I’m getting! I had an amazing demo from them and was blown away. If you get a chance I’d be honored if you could look at my most recent video, a bump pitch I did for Adult Swim, all work and music by me. More vids like that on here and Instagram. Can I get that sort of realism or higher from unreal 5? My last animated short won 22 film festivals globally.

[@keremgo3d]

Would you please review MSI MAG FORGE M100A too? Especially how to take the front panel off? Thanks in advance!

[@spektrumB]

Is it the first Asus case that's more function over looks, and prices reasonably? It's a good try. Hope the trend continues for Asus.

[@Alexandru1996_]

This case could work nicely with a founders edition nvidia gpu. Like a 3080. It pushes air from bottom to the top so it could help with such a configuration. Though it is not ideal.

[@joshfetil6059]

hi sir if your gonna choose between the asus ap201 or inwin a3

[@MegaRockfever]

i think we can fit the ATX motherboard in it if we do not use radiator in the top but only slim fans..

[@Official_CAMPANELLA]

good review!

[@user-lh4vb1nc8v]

Heads up if you use a 280 rad on top it is impossible with mother boards with big coolers on the upper motherboard chipsets as they will prevent cpu cooler rad from matching with mounting screw holes. biggest you can use is a 240 rad setup width wise or the narrow 360 rad cooler.

[@TLM-Nathan]

This would be great for a custom loop. 240mm & 360mm rads.

[@TheShortStory]

Very happy with this case. After upgrading from an old similarly-sized Cooler Master Silencio something, this feels like a premium product. Got two bottom fans constantly blowing air through the filter at the GPU and hopefully introducing positive air pressure most of the time to reduce dust, an exhaust fan behind the tower cooler and a couple of top exhaust fans for when things get too steamy. Cable management wasn’t easy, but with a modular PSU you should be able to hide the clutter. The case is easy to build in and maintain thanks to the convenient pop-out panels. Even with the panels off it feels solid. I’d go so far as to call it pretty good value, though the discerning buyer will consider the included exhaust fan close to e-waste. Expecting this will last decades.

[@jamesfreeman1530]

what's your specs and thermals? load and idle

[@TheShortStory]

@@jamesfreeman1530 12700K & 5700XT. With a bunch of office software and browser tabs running, it's idling about 31C core with lows of 27C. (22C ambient) I have an ever so slightly underpowered CPU cooler (NH-U12A, but with a Thermalright CPU contact frame) so I can force it to throttle if I run cinebench and furmark at the same time.The GPU hits 67C. But in real-world use cases like rendering or gaming I've never had the CPU throttle and GPU temps are not an issue. In gaming the CPU rarely goes above 60C.

[@goobernoodles]

Do you still like the case 7 months later?

[@TheShortStory]

@@goobernoodles I do. No complaints. In my configuration it hasn't gotten particularly dusty as the continuous air pull from below goes through a filter. I've made some adjustments and still find it easy to build in. And it looks darn good still. It also survived an international flight while full of components, so it's certainly solid.

[@goobernoodles]

@@TheShortStory Cool, thanks - that was my concern. Appreciate the reply.

[@antm]

what are some good 750w/850w PSU that would allow for the fan to face the front ?

[@bfg9k_]

With the PSU mounted so strangely, how does the power cable attach?

[@deeeich267]

I fit an msi rtx 4080 gaming trio and a 480 ml aio in this case. Love it.

[@lrojas26]

What is the actual measurements of the psu shroud? Not what psu size it can handle, the actual size of the shroud.

[@danielkarlsson397]

good review. As for fans i think its better if chassis come totally without them and you get it cheaper

[@VaultTecAi]

I want to put a ryzen 9 5900x in the I currently have a h200i and my cpu gets HOT would the extra airflow really help cool it and keep my room from being hot as hell or save the money and stick with my case?

[@rtx-deewana467]

I think it's best .where we can install 360mm aio liquid cooler..And mesh body for airflow .

[@jaycollett2853]

what is the 90 degree cable you have? mine is just the regular one so it wont fit

[@sfa22]

5:07 “rtx 60 700 xt” Is that an nVidiAMD card?

[@mikepawlikguitar]

The question I have now for my 5600 + 7800 XT build is "is this the case, or should I just stick to my original plan of the Pop Mini Air". A lot of people out there are saying the Pop Mini's airflow and GPU temps suck due to the shroud being so close to the bottom plate inside the case. This is why I'm looking at the AP201. I just don't like the wacky PSU layout. And, the Pop Mini comes with 3 fans, whereas this only comes with 1 exhaust. Cannot decide!

[@EL-gu1oy]

I like the fact that its all mesh

[@d_dadang5467]

how about put 3 fan 140mm in the top, can u do this? thanks

[@philharmonic2251]

Good to see white Mike landed ok after the Wire ended.

[@ElevatedSystems]

🤣🤔

[@henryp3114]

Can you fit a 140mm fan on the back off that case??

[@MrMainA]

How do you clean the tight spaces?

[@rootcao1360]

does it have enough space for 4070Ti and Live Gamer PCIe capture card?

[@wilfredpapaya4739]

Any chance they would come out with an updated version of this case in late 2024? Looking to downsize my case for desk space.

[@ElevatedSystems]

Not Sure. Asus doesn't release many cases and they don't actually make their cases so a refresh isn't likely.

[@cremonster]

Is there a part list for this?

[@tweakmixbuilds]

How about the dust?

[@KurozawaOfficialyy]

Hey boss do you think msi mag ab550n can fit in this?

[@xrosnero]

are the panels with mesh filters?

[@burneyzhang1558]

Great video! Quick question: This case can be fitted into a carry on luggage or not?

[@4kpoison784]

No!

[@gencoserpen1260]

If you want cases that can fit into a carry on luggage the 3 most popular options are Fractal Terra, Form D T1 and Dan A4 H20. The Form D may also fit into a backpack. Larger 14-15 liter cases such as Lian Li Q58 or SSUPD Meshroom S/D may also fit into carry on luggage but it will be tighter. The AP201 is too big.

[@r.s.4174]

Where does the power cable come out?

[@chankabeast]

Will the psu be ok? Having it in the front

[@GroundGame.]

This is cool, I hope MSI comes out with an equivalent.

[@S3agrass]

so i have this one and i like it but freezer ii 280mm and z690-I will have some problems

[@AdrianLiranRoll]

Hello! Thanks for the video, I want to get this case but I have and Arctic 280 LF2 (height of 65mm with fans, yeah is thiccck) and also a ASUS B650M TUF Gaming Plus do you if it will fit?

[@Theorica]

65mm total is a 40mm rad with 25mm fans. Yes, it will fit. The mount is offset as well to allow for this.

[@fangxu2]

Can those four stands at the bottom be removed?

[@gokublack8342]

Seems like a good case to me good airflow, good size(love the CoolerMaster NR200 for example (Cant stand wasted space NZXT H510 for example that case also isnt good for airflow but it was my first case and i was a noob) and compatible with alot of different things youll also save money not having to buy itx parts 😂

[@cakeisalie]

4:09 you can flip the PSU power connector, just loosen those 2 screws

[@TurboD16z6]

It's between this and Jonesboro d31 but the d31 can do 140mm fan. There's your answer

[@Green_House]

Thanks for using metric units. ✔️ 👍 🙂 Well done!

[@insultedegg]

Hi. Just want to ask. I have Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 (63mm thick w/ fans installed) and a TUF B450M Pro II with a thick top vrm heatsink (about 33mm). I wonder if the aio will hit the vrm heatsink? Thank you in advance.

[@somestudent5253]

240mm aio wont hit the heat sink but a 280mm aio has a chance to hit it

[@user-op8hv1tz4p]

considering that this is an all mesh case. is it possible to set all the fans as intake fans and just allow the hot ear to come out of the mesh sides from positive pressure? or do you still need at least one exhaust for efficiency?

[@Pato-sp2pr]

probably best to have the top fans as exhaust and everything else as intake

[@IrenicCherri]

How would I do my airflow in this though

[@matthewqtran1318]

hi which Deepcool 360 aio is that? i dont have many choices so looking at a 240 or 360 Deepcool for my 13400f build in the same case. would the bigger aio make a difference or just stick with the 240?

[@SAVIARs]

It is LS720, but you may consider LT720 too.

[@slmonbhoi2246]

5:05 RTX 6700 xt 😂😂 that was a good one 👍

[@extrahassig3438]

so a 20cm long psu will not fit?

[@PastorHan1776]

Can you invert this case?

[@juanduque7983]

wish it came with a 5.25 front bay

[@user-nx7ug1pi3p]

Can it fit 3 HDD?

[@KurozawaOfficialyy]

Also why is the power button blinking 4:42

[@xvnbm]

A good case without glass? Finally.

[@gabenght9316]

Cool case(pun unintended), not all so compact if you think the footprint is of regular mid tower case. You save some height though which is not practically so important in most cases(pun unintended), but looks better though.

[@MarkoVuckovic32]

Well I'm actually considering this case exactly because of how short it is. I have a bookshelf above the desk where I plan to place my build and it limits the height of the case to 380mm. Most matx cases are 400+mm which is too tall for me while this one is definitely short enough. Also I don't want to use an itx simply because it gets more expensive.

[@gabenght9316]

@@MarkoVuckovic32 I build PC like 2 weeks ago and choose this case, I am very happy with it.

[@shanksisnoteventhatstrongbruh]

i really like this case, just imagine an all black custom loop setup is this 🤤

[@Digmen1]

Can anyone recomend a basic case with no tempered glass, some dirve caddies like the Coolermaster ones a,d no rgb fans.

[@OutlawJJ80]

I wonder if this will suck up Pet hair and dust much??

[@daviddamasceno6063]

Looks like a good case. But I'm concerned about the dust. Wish it had more protection.

[@ElevatedSystems]

This is the case I've kept as my use for my gaming rig. I just keep my fan curve set to maintain slightly positive pressure and I've had no problems with excessive dust.

[@RIAU-df3fy]

this design reminds me of gamemax spark, which one is better? i think asus did better but also come with the price.

[@ElevatedSystems]

The gamemax has no mesh at all and not great stovepipe ventilation.