Is it about the size?

[tech crazy]

Ive always been interested in building a mITX pc but can these little guys pack a punch like a full tower ATX? Cooler Master and Fractal Design have my heart atm when it comes to cases so Im very interested in testing these waters.

 

[Phuncz]

mini-ITX is about the size, but to be more specific: it's about the size-to-performance ratio. An Intel Core i7-3770 with 8GB DDR3-2133MHz RAM and Geforce GTX680 will run about the same speed on an mITX motherboard as on an ATX motherboard but other aspects change:

1. cooling requires much more research, growing exponentially with the reduction of the case size. Not only do you need to take motherboard component placement into consideration, you also need to see if the cooling will fit the case. I'd rather work the other way around: choose a case, look for compatible cooling. This forum has PLENTY of information on many cases and many coolers installed.

2. expansion is limited: no Crossfire or SLI, no 4 slots of memory, no extra PCI-e slots. Then again, you'd not want an mITX for adding cards, that's where mATX is better-suited for. But take this into consideration and buy the max amount of RAM supported so you don't have to pay double later, because almost all mITX motherboards have only 2 memory slots, which means you'd have to replace the 2x 4GB with 2x 8GB if the amount of RAM isn't enough later on.

3. limitations are in effect that you'd rarely encounter with ATX-builds like specific power supply requirements, placement of connectors and the maximum cooling potential. Some cases come with a compatible power supply but check that it meets your hardware. If you need to buy your own power supply, make sure it will fit because most mITX cases don't support a standard ATX-size power supply or a short one (<150mm length). The other main problem is cables in mITX cases might be too short to reach some connectors. This happens when a motherboard manufacturer doesn't take this into account and places, as an example, the 24-pin power connector on the other side of the motherboard.

4. difficulty of installation. Make no mistake: SFF builds aren't for the impatient or clumsy people. Because everything is made to maximise space efficiency, you need to take your time with the hardware and take the time to research if it will fit. You might have to get specific cables (like L-shaped connector S-ATA cables) or decent cable management to not obstruct fans or just to make it fit in the case.

This might all be very frightening, depending on your own skill but it doesn't need to be. You can make it as complicated as you want but you need to realise SFF requires much more research to make sure you are able to fit and use the components without problems.

 

[griffinhart]

I just finished putting together a M-ITX system.

It's really a great little system, but there are a couple of things I would probably do differently next time.

My mini rig is:
Core i7-3770K
16 GB of RAM
120GB boot SSD (Samsung 840)
1.5 TB Seagate 7200 RPM HD
EVGA M-ITX Stinger Motherboard
EVGA 580GTX video board
Corsair 850W power supply (Modular)

It's really a fairly beastly PC on its own but it does run much hotter than my full mid-tower case with similar specs.

I didn't install any optical media in this system. I honestly don't use DVDs very often at all and I have an external drive I keep on the shelf for the rare occasion. Most of my software is delivered via online services, downloads, or ISOs I can mount as a drive.

My initial build used the stock cooler that came with the processor. Don't do that. I changed it out for the Cooler Master Gemin II M4 low profile cooler. It keeps CPU temps about 20c cooler than the stock fan and well worth the $35.

This is the case I am using:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119261&Tpk=coolermaster 120 elite

All in all, the build works great, but It runs hotter than I would like. It's stable, and I can work on it, or game on it for hours without any odd behaviors, but I would make a few changes if I were building this box again.

First the Processor. I opted for the 3770K simply because I got a great deal on it. An i5 would probably be a better choice for this system. It's a little slower, but runs 10 to 15c cooler than the i7.

Then the Video Board. I already had the 580GTX, so I just used it in this system. It's probably a bit hotter than it should be for a box this size, but I didn't want to spend another $300 on a video board when I had one. I think a 660Ti or a 670 would have been a better fit for this case.

I may decide to add a second 120mm fan later, but right now it's a decent box and pretty quiet until the video board really kicks in.

Edit:
Here is a performance review of the Motherboard I am using:
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Mother...Review/Synthetic-and-System-Benchmark-Testing

It performs every bit as well as a full size motherboard.

I should also mention, that if you are not planning to game on such a system, you can just stick with the onboard video that a lot of Ivy-bridge/Sandy-Bridge processors come with. Heat would be even less of an issue in that case.

 

[Zap]

This is the case I am using:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119261&Tpk=coolermaster 120 elite

All in all, the build works great, but It runs hotter than I would like.

That case is known for running hot. Seems as if the intake is restrictive (those vents around the bottom and sides of the front aluminum panel) because some have modded it and gotten really good improvements in temperature.

Here is a performance review of the Motherboard I am using:
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Mother...Review/Synthetic-and-System-Benchmark-Testing

Wow, that's a disappointment in overclocking. As I understand it they tested with liquid cooling, and wasn't even able to hit 4.4GHz. The EVGA board is marketed for overclockers and people are interested because of the layout (CPU farther from PCIe).

I think I'll stick with the ASRock board.

 

[neumein]

is it about the size?

It certainly gives you an advantage, but it's more about how you use it

 

[griffinhart]

That case is known for running hot. Seems as if the intake is restrictive (those vents around the bottom and sides of the front aluminum panel) because some have modded it and gotten really good improvements in temperature.

Interesting... Do you know what mods they made? If they weren't too bad, I'd probably give it a try.

Wow, that's a disappointment in overclocking. As I understand it they tested with liquid cooling, and wasn't even able to hit 4.4GHz. The EVGA board is marketed for overclockers and people are interested because of the layout (CPU farther from PCIe).

I think I'll stick with the ASRock board.

I've never been an overclocker myself. It was going to be this board or the ASUS board. I have always had good luck with EVGA and ASUS, so I tend to stick to them. The EVGA won out in the end simply because that riserboard on the ASUS was in a bad location for the Cooler Master case and it had an extra fan header.

I've heard good things about ASRock, but I haven't tried them yet.

 

[Zap]

Interesting... Do you know what mods they made? If they weren't too bad, I'd probably give it a try.

Basic mod is opening up the front ventilation. You can see that the front 120mm fan sucks air through some slits on the bottom and bottom half of the sides of the aluminum front panel. One person just replaced it with one that he drilled a bunch of holes into, and reported much better temperatures. Of course if not overclocking you probably don't have to worry about that.

I've never been an overclocker myself.

But overclocking's the whole point of the more expensive boards! You could have gotten by with a $100 H77 board from Asus or ASRock. What does the extra $100 you paid for that EVGA give you over those since you aren't overclocking?

 

[xyexz]

Basic mod is opening up the front ventilation. You can see that the front 120mm fan sucks air through some slits on the bottom and bottom half of the sides of the aluminum front panel. One person just replaced it with one that he drilled a bunch of holes into, and reported much better temperatures. Of course if not overclocking you probably don't have to worry about that.



But overclocking's the whole point of the more expensive boards! You could have gotten by with a $100 H77 board from Asus or ASRock. What does the extra $100 you paid for that EVGA give you over those since you aren't overclocking?

You can also just throw the hdd bay away in the CM Elite 120 and throw in a CLC for the processor with push pull, I'm running my CM Elite 120 with stock faceplate and a rad behind it without issue on my cpu/gpu combo on the same rad.

Again mITX is all about taking your time and figuring out what you truly need in a system, figuring out wattages and space constraints.

I slightly disagree with comments made about choosing case first and then tailor everything to the chosen case; it's easier to pick components that are near universally compatible.

The ASRock board is a great one if you're going to use CLCs, if you're going air cooling then you'd want to shell out a bit more for the ASUS board as it's cpu socket placement is way better.

Secondly, almost always use a blower style gpu, saves on a ton of heat on the inside.

Most people are running a giant ATX case with a single gpu in them, cpu and a couple of hdds, all which can be stuffed in a mATX or mITX enclosure very easily.

 

[griffinhart]

Basic mod is opening up the front ventilation. You can see that the front 120mm fan sucks air through some slits on the bottom and bottom half of the sides of the aluminum front panel. One person just replaced it with one that he drilled a bunch of holes into, and reported much better temperatures. Of course if not overclocking you probably don't have to worry about that.

I use a 580GTX, and everything runs fine, it's just hotter than I like.

But overclocking's the whole point of the more expensive boards! You could have gotten by with a $100 H77 board from Asus or ASRock. What does the extra $100 you paid for that EVGA give you over those since you aren't overclocking?

More features. Often times the higher end boards use better parts as well. In this case, I wanted the z77 chipset, not the h77. The h77 board doesn't have eSATA, mPCIe or Bluetooth built in either.

I have also found in past that higher end boards tend to have more user configurable options in the BIOS that aren't OC related.

 

[Zap]

More features. Often times the higher end boards use better parts as well. In this case, I wanted the z77 chipset, not the h77. The h77 board doesn't have eSATA, mPCIe or Bluetooth built in either.

I have also found in past that higher end boards tend to have more user configurable options in the BIOS that aren't OC related.

Are all those things you actually need? For instance I have had Bluetooth for a while now (Asus P8P67 Pro in my main rig) and the only time I've used it was a couple weeks ago when I associated my phone with it. Still haven't done anything with that link. Also, I've had those tiny $5 dongles to use with notebooks because I had a BT notebook mouse. Very easy to add on, and looks eerily similar to the one that is permanently affixed to my motherboard.

I'm just saying that 2x the cost is a lot of money to pay for "just in case." I've known a number of gamers who bought SLI motherboards "just in case" who NEVER went that route. I'm talking back with socket 775 where you had to go with expensive Nvidia chipset boards, not to mention higher wattage PSUs to go with it. Only ones I knew who used SLI were those that did it when they initially built the system. NONE of the "just in case" ever did.

 

[griffinhart]

Are all those things you actually need? For instance I have had Bluetooth for a while now (Asus P8P67 Pro in my main rig) and the only time I've used it was a couple weeks ago when I associated my phone with it. Still haven't done anything with that link. Also, I've had those tiny $5 dongles to use with notebooks because I had a BT notebook mouse. Very easy to add on, and looks eerily similar to the one that is permanently affixed to my motherboard.

The Bluetooth was a nice to have. But eSATA was 100% required. I use an eSATA HD Dock frequently.

Plus one of the goals of this build was to have as few dongles, and cables as possible. Keep in mind, when building a small system that is going to have extremely limited expandability, having these extra features can be important to many of us. A single expansion slot is extremely limiting, so at least I have that mPCIe slot if I need to add Wifi with a decent antena on it without a dongle.

I'm just saying that 2x the cost is a lot of money to pay for "just in case." I've known a number of gamers who bought SLI motherboards "just in case" who NEVER went that route. I'm talking back with socket 775 where you had to go with expensive Nvidia chipset boards, not to mention higher wattage PSUs to go with it. Only ones I knew who used SLI were those that did it when they initially built the system. NONE of the "just in case" ever did.

I have gone the cheap route in the past and have always been dissapointed. Either the quality of the product was much less or the feature set was seriously lacking. I'd rather pay $200 for a brand I trust with the features I want with some extras than $100 for a lower end board without the features I want.