Anyone else constantly torn between building a tiny ITX and a massive EATX system?

DoubleTap

DoubleTap

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I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, but I'm constantly looking at new SFF cases coming out and I'm also excited by all the super towers that can hold everything - even a second system.

I feel like I could easily squeeze my system into an Ncase M1 but I also want to be able to add a second GPU (don't start with me) or maybe a sound card (shush). I want big quiet fans and I want a system that sits on the desk like a little puppy.

The good news is that I think I'm over mATX.
 
I’m in the club thats why I have a smaller mid tower for my main rig and a behemoth for my storage rig, best of both.
 
Was thinking about this yesterday actually. Currently in a mid tower (Corsair 550D) using one PCI-e video card, a PCI soundcard, 2 3.5" hard drives and 2 2.5" SSDs plus a bunch of fans and an NH-D14 coolers. New system will have 1 GPU (full size), likely just 1 NVMe SSD and maybe 2 3.5" HDD. Not sure even a mid tower is justified, but you do get the cooling performance and space for a nice big CPU heatsink to OC with.
 
The probem I've had with ITX builds is cooling. It's just harder to keep them cool. To me, ITX is a good fit when you're building something that will have less power draw and cooler components. For higher end GPUs and CPUs, just easier to use a larger case, especially if you want to also try to keep things a bit quiet.
 
I've done SFF a few times with flexible components, and the smallness can be really frustrating at times; combined with the difficulty of getting replacement parts from local stores. I've moved towards fully built systems where small is desired, using chromebox, NUC, and similar for HTPC and kitchen computers, and towers for everything else servers, main gaming system, etc.
 
After years of wasting money going though cases large and small I went big for my main desktop. I bought my gigantic Mountain Mods Ascension + Pedestal dream tower about 10 years ago and it cured my case upgrade itch.

My experience has been that the space savings of SFF PCs generally aren't worth the trade offs for gaming machines. Its a useful form factor for lower-power parts in situations where you want silence rather than the portability of a laptop (HTPCs, basically).
 
DoubleTap said:
I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, but I'm constantly looking at new SFF cases coming out and I'm also excited by all the super towers that can hold everything - even a second system.

I feel like I could easily squeeze my system into an Ncase M1 but I also want to be able to add a second GPU (don't start with me) or maybe a sound card (shush). I want big quiet fans and I want a system that sits on the desk like a little puppy.

The good news is that I think I'm over mATX.
Click to expand...

There are some really good mATX cases that will allow you to use big quiet fans and sits on the desk like a little puppy too. Don't give up on it!
 
Nope, never. The fact is, I generally build both. My girlfriend gets the mini-ITX and I get the big E-ATX systems.
 
My fingers laid down the law to me several years ago; no more small cases of any type.

Building a PC in a full or mid tower is just so much easier and gives better cooling.
 
In the last 8ish months I have gone from an RV03 to an air 240 to an air 540 to my current Tower 900.
 
Yes.

And then I build ATX every time, because that's the best compromise between size, cost, performance, and noise.

I like the idea of ITX right up until you have to spend more to get less performance and more noise. I like the idea of EATX and accompanying server- or HEDT-class parts.

Unless you need compactness or support for workstation hardware, neither are economical for gaming.
 
As someone who owns a 2080ti worth of boutique ITX chassis you know where my vote is.. BUT--ATX is easier and usually less expensive and if one is shooting for pure performance per dollar than its tough to beat the ole ATX mid tower builds.
My current daily driver is in a Thermaltake G3 which is a smallish ATX box that is also pretty cheap. There are ways to get smaller and still have the pluses of ATX boards. The Cerberus X from Sliger/Chimera is by far the best small ATX tower out there but is spendy. (have 2...and a case buying problem apparently!)

Cheers.
 
I suggest a case that holds TWO systems in it. Or maybe hanging a NUC or something similar (Nano, Pi) off the back of the EATX case.
 
I have enough parts to do either, or buy a case and throw a 2 in 1.

I should just sell more parts.

I have a work Mac in the HDMI ports of a X34 and 271hu. I shuffle my laptop into the X34 occasionally. Gaming I'm mostly in the 271hu for framerate.

There's an ROG 24" 180hz on the floor.
 
Did my first ITX build at start of the year, 2600x, 290x and it worked out pretty good. Only peeve is no spare header or riser or two for a PCI-e attachment. Then it would be perfect for an extra expansion card. I don't need all 5 slots of an ATX but I also need more than one that's on a ITX.

Other than that, for portability and power, you can't beat it. Might make one for the bedroom/travelling... we'll see.

edit and yes they can be quiet if you design them well :) that said not gamed much on this.
 
Never. Mini-ITX from here on out. My last case had freakin' wheels and I have no idea why. I only have a single GPU and a few SSD's so there isn't a need for anything more than Mini-ITX.

When you really think about what you need/benefit from, this decision is easier. And nothing stupid small either making cooling difficult.
 
Anyone else constantly torn between building a tiny ITX and a massive EATX system?
Click to expand...

I will likely build both in the next year or two.
 
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Tony Ou said:
There are some really good mATX cases that will allow you to use big quiet fans and sits on the desk like a little puppy too. Don't give up on it!
Click to expand...

Thanks Tony - one of my favorite cases was my Titanium FT03 - it sat right on my desk and ran GTX 780 SLI easily. It was a little loud at load, but nothing beats the footprint to power ratio of that case.

What I see recently is that most of the best motherboards are full size ATX or a little bigger. Some of the ITX boards are really well made, but recent mATX boards seem to be mid tier gamer boards. It's too bad because the era of dual GPUs is virtually at an end and a good mATX system that lets you have a big 3 slot card and another expansion slot would be a nice value add over mITX.


criccio said:
Never. Mini-ITX from here on out. My last case had freakin' wheels and I have no idea why. I only have a single GPU and a few SSD's so there isn't a need for anything more than Mini-ITX.

When you really think about what you need/benefit from, this decision is easier. And nothing stupid small either making cooling difficult.
Click to expand...

I'd love a tiny system that sits easily on my desk. Where to put my big tower is kind of a hassle at the moment - I don't like it on the floor and it barely fits on the desk.

For me, it's not that I need all that room, but I wanted to
1. have the capacity for 2 GPUs if needed (it's looking less and less like this will make sense) and
2. I have an OC 7700K and 1080Ti and the system is dead silent - inaudible even at load. As much as I want to go small, I don't think I want to give up true silence.
 
You know, I should mention that I do have a Cryorig Taku- which takes an ITX board in a flat form-factor built onto rails, and has room for several full-size HDDs and a full-size GPU.

So it's not really ITX, but it is cool ;).


[except that it's not really cool, cause in limited vertical space, cooling isn't easy...]
 
IdiotInCharge said:
Yes.

And then I build ATX every time, because that's the best compromise between size, cost, performance, and noise.
Click to expand...
^This.
I started out always ATX, then went down to uATX. Now back at ATX. I love the idea of a tiny box you can almost put in your pocket. But then the possibilities that E-ATX has! So ATX it is lol.
 
I just wanted a cube case and it happens to support E-ATX. I would not mind a mini, but I like the airflow and quiet of having a roomy case.
 
I can’t believe this is a thread topic because I was just thinking about this. And my last two builds I’ve settled on mATX because of this conundrum.

I’ve built a full size and mATX but never a mini ITX rig yet and I really want to but haven’t brought myself to do it. I think it’s going to happen in the next month, possibly with Ryzen 3, which would be my first AMD build in about 12 years.
 
DoubleTap said:
Thanks Tony - one of my favorite cases was my Titanium FT03 - it sat right on my desk and ran GTX 780 SLI easily. It was a little loud at load, but nothing beats the footprint to power ratio of that case.

What I see recently is that most of the best motherboards are full size ATX or a little bigger. Some of the ITX boards are really well made, but recent mATX boards seem to be mid tier gamer boards. It's too bad because the era of dual GPUs is virtually at an end and a good mATX system that lets you have a big 3 slot card and another expansion slot would be a nice value add over mITX.




I'd love a tiny system that sits easily on my desk. Where to put my big tower is kind of a hassle at the moment - I don't like it on the floor and it barely fits on the desk.

For me, it's not that I need all that room, but I wanted to
1. have the capacity for 2 GPUs if needed (it's looking less and less like this will make sense) and
2. I have an OC 7700K and 1080Ti and the system is dead silent - inaudible even at load. As much as I want to go small, I don't think I want to give up true silence.
Click to expand...

I agree. The FT03 has the same footprint as a SG05/06/13 shoebox mITX case. I think I have a photo somewhere directly comparing the two. However, I still feel the FT03 is somewhat space-inefficient. Not nearly as bad as the later FT03mini, however.

Nowadays, I am running a Dan A4 SFX. It's quiet at idle, but not under load. However, that's largely because noise is amplified by its location: right into front of me, just below my monitor.

MajorYikes said:
I can’t believe this is a thread topic because I was just thinking about this. And my last two builds I’ve settled on mATX because of this conundrum.

I’ve built a full size and mATX but never a mini ITX rig yet and I really want to but haven’t brought myself to do it. I think it’s going to happen in the next month, possibly with Ryzen 3, which would be my first AMD build in about 12 years.
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Same. I eventually moved to mITX and never looked back. There are some things I would like, such as decent multi-gig ethernet options, multiple M.2 slots, etc that are in short supply on many mITX boards. The sheer cost doesn't help either.

The upside of mITX is there are many decent mITX cases that focus extremely sharply on space efficiency (small, but with great potential inside). mATX, not so much. There are probably two? Maybe only one?
 
jeremyshaw said:
Same. I eventually moved to mITX and never looked back. There are some things I would like, such as decent multi-gig ethernet options, multiple M.2 slots, etc that are in short supply on many mITX boards. The sheer cost doesn't help either.

The upside of mITX is there are many decent mITX cases that focus extremely sharply on space efficiency (small, but with great potential inside). mATX, not so much. There are probably two? Maybe only one?
Click to expand...

My big drawback with mITX is my limitation on boards with more than one m.2 slot. Other than that, like you said, I think there are even better options for mITX cases than even standard ATX as far as innovation goes. Besides the obvious small footprint I love build options with itx
 
I really only want to got ITX for an APU system.

If I am going for a GPU, then I want room to work and cool it, without a ton of noise.

Ideally I would have a silent passively cooled APU ITX system, and a big quiet system with GPU.
 
Lol, yeah I'm doing this right now. I have a 7940x in an x299 dark and a small ITX server with a 6950x inside of it. I tend to tinker more with the ITX system for fun but I just found a "thin-EATX" case and I may be relocating the 7940x into that.
 
I have moved on now from larger towers. Building a new ITX with R5 3600 and carry over from my current rig a 1070ti. I have 1 M2 drive, 1 2.5 sata SSD and thats it. USB 3.0 Wireless, onboard sound card. All I need. The case is small by ATX standards but its still not small like some of these expensive ITX cases. Perfect amount of room and allows for plenty of flow with CPU heatsinks as tall as 160mm.
 
It's probably why I have a mitx with full size video card in one room and a 2x Xeon server in the other. Different uses but both useful!
 
Tony Ou said:
There are some really good mATX cases that will allow you to use big quiet fans and sits on the desk like a little puppy too. Don't give up on it!
Click to expand...

Tony, I was all set to buy an M1 (but they are out of stock for a while), when I saw the RL08 - obviously bigger than the M1, but still a very nice size to sit on a desk and let me use my DH15s and 600W fanless PSU and it looks to have solid airflow and filtration.

Are you guys still planning on the version with the little OLED screen in the bezel?

I hope more reviews are coming, so far, I can only find this one:

 
vegeta535 said:
Bigger is always better.
Click to expand...

Indeed it is. I redid my system recently, and going back to a custom loop makes me glad I had the extra space.

Old setup:
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New Setup:
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The red doesn't look that good on camera, so I changed it to white.

yeeryEdl.jpg


I am not super fond of the hose routing, but it works. I plan on going to hard tubing once I get the GPU water block and another radiator.
 
I have both

Watercooled m-itx in a Ncase M1

Currently looking for a case for my eatx 7700k setup for 480mm watercooling
 
I was in the same boat before pulling the trigger on my EVGA DG-87 (obviously decided to go huge with it), for the main reason of expansion and plenty of room to attempt my first watercooling loop whenever that ends up happening.

Best bet is to just build 2 systems to scratch both of those itches :ROFLMAO:

Up next for me will be a small Ryzen system for HTPC/Ark Server hosting duties. Should be fun.
 
AlphaQup said:
I was in the same boat before pulling the trigger on my EVGA DG-87 (obviously decided to go huge with it), for the main reason of expansion and plenty of room to attempt my first watercooling loop whenever that ends up happening.

Best bet is to just build 2 systems to scratch both of those itches :ROFLMAO:

Up next for me will be a small Ryzen system for HTPC/Ark Server hosting duties. Should be fun.
Click to expand...
baller...

My servers are old and cheap:
NAS: HP micro NL-36 server with 5 4TB running freenas. It's 8 years old and it's still does what I need it to do :)

Plex/downloader
5 year old ITX system with a haswell Celeron and 8gb ram. Have a nice 4450s upgrade I got off of eBay to add a true quad core. To many remote ppl accessing my Plex server remotely now
 
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