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Mini-ITX Build Needs a Good Case

G

GalleyBeggar

n00b
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Messages
15
Goodday, Everyone!

I've been ghosting the site for a week and taking in what I could from your builds and views, and now am putting together my own Mini-ITX build with possibly the most difficult question: What case to put it in?

Of course, as my first build, I would also like some feedback on the parts I have come to believe good for this SFF Powerhouse, so any review would be appreciated.

THE BUILD:_______________________________________
Going for a gaming computer since my current one is frying itself after I tormented it with Bioshock Infinite, so I'm planning for something with enough OOMPH! to last me quite some time while keeping it nice and small.

Budget: ~$1500, flexibility of $250

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VI Impact ~$200 (with Microcenter combo)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...ocket_LGA_1150_Z87_mini_ITX_Intel_Motherboard

CPU: Intel 4770k ~$280 (Again, thankyou Microcenter)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413248/Core_i7_4770K_35GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor

Liquid Cooling: H60 ~$80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181030

GPU: MSI Geforce GTX 760 ~$270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127772
-Better is always better, so if you have a preference, please share

Hard Drive: Seagate Hybrid 2 TB SSHD ~$130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178380
-Haven't seen much review for these, so feel like trying it out. Worst case scenario, 2TB harddrive and a loss of $25

SSD: Future prospects

RAM: I'll find a good deal somewhere ~$150

Case: See below

PSU: Case dependant, >450W & modular
__________________________________________________________________Total: $1150 + Case + PSU

And here is where I get annoying: I have been looking at possible cases for about a week now, eyeballing what is out there and having difficulty deciding. As a mini ITX, I want it to be small and powerful with good cooling, and as a liquid cooling fan, I would like to keep that aspect. What actually brought me here to HardForum was that nifty NCASE M1, and man am I sad I missed out on that beauty. Getting over that (or waiting for the possible second production), here is my current list of candidates:

Cooler Master Elite 130 ~$50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119286
Neat, cheap, and from I can tell a good case that supports my needs and desires. Being cheaper than its opponents, the Elite 130 currently sits at the top of the list since I can always replace it without much loss.

EVGA Hadron Hydro ~$200 (PSU Included)
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=110-MW-1002-K1
A different watercooling kit is required, but a necessary sacrifice for this beauty. From what I've seen, the interior gets a little messy with cables and the vinyl coating is strange, but generally a case that I wouldn't mind on my desk. (Willing to compromise to Hadron Air)

SilverStone FT03-mini ~$125
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-T...095&sr=1-1&keywords=silverstone+fortress+mini
Neat and contained, the Fortress Mini looks like it would be a nice case and has better ventilation than the Hadron since it pushes the air instead of pulling. Main drawback is the 10" limit on GPUs and preference for rear exhaust instead of cooling fans, but this is easily manageable.

Looking for feedback and opinions on these three cases, and open to any other suggestions.
* I know the Prodigy is really popular, but it just seems too big to me.
* I would prefer a case that will fit normal sized GPUs.
* I like watercooling
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks for the suggestion, Mystic, but it seems a little fatty for what I've seen in mini-ITX. It is quite a bit bigger than the others I had in mind, and would prefer to stay on the smaller size where I cut my hands trying to piece it all together.
 
What resolution do you game on? Unless you have a real need for top-of-the-line CPU power I'd drop down to a 4670K and spend the difference on an upgrade to the 770.
 
This is where my ignorance occurs. I'm just on a 1440x900 19" monitor for now, may upgrade later, but it works just fine. I kinda just went for the 4770k because it seemed like a solid performer, and as an engineer I deal a lot with AutoCAD and MatLAB, which need processing power.
 
What's your current system and how well does it run the aforementioned programs?
 
You're not going to notice the real world CPU performance difference between a 4770(K) and a 4670(K).

Buy a cheaper one and upgrade the GPU. A lot of CAD apps can use the GPUs for calculations and you'll see more performance gained from a better GPU than you would a better CPU.

As for the SSHDs they work perfectly fine. But they're not a game changer. If you really want some kick splooge on the Western Digital Black2 drive (I assume you only have room for 1 HDD?) or go SSD / HDD split. Trust me I have 8x of those 4TB SSHDs...they are good for medium use storage but not high use / high demand.
 
Thanks for the reassurance. I'll look into the 4670K, especially since the Microcenter in my area has them for $200.

And with any case I pick I'll have room for at least 1 HDD and 1 SSD. If the SSHDs aren't too astounding, I'll probably look into the SSD/HDD split since that's the route I want to go anyway.
 
No cad application can use a consumer GPU for acceleration. Only professional GPUs can be used for that.
 
For cases there is also the Fractal Design Node 304 and the Silverstone SG08


MysticRyuujin said:
Buy a cheaper one and upgrade the GPU. A lot of CAD apps can use the GPUs for calculations and you'll see more performance gained from a better GPU than you would a better CPU.
Click to expand...

That absolutely depends what you are doing in AutoCAD. It's not like a game that has constant FPS. You usually only need the processing power when loading a drawing, transforming, 3D-previewing or 3D-rendering. Even those last two aren't so impressive on a Geforce as on a proper Quadro. It could very well be that you see more benefit spending $100 extra for the i7-4770K than spend $200 to go from GTX 760 to GTX 770. If you can describe a bit what you are doing in AutoCAD, then I can ask my colleagues from the technical drawing dept what hardware they would recommend.

Similar with MatLab, which can use Cuda, but it's not automatic. IIRC you have to re-write your programs to explicitly use GPU arrays. That's presuming you are doing array based calculations anyway.

Another thing you might consider: memory. Mini ITX is limited to two slots of RAM, so 16GB is the limit.

nlancaster said:
No cad application can use a consumer GPU for acceleration. Only professional GPUs can be used for that.
Click to expand...

Geforce are crippled (in hardware and in drivers) compared to Quadro, but they can still run CUDA just fine.
 
Thanks, WiSK! 3D-rendering is actually one of the main tools we use for modelling, but mostly (about 3/4) of my work is just in 2D sketches and drafts. I would like to be able to use the 3D parts compiling whenever I like because I get bored and enjoy engineering things, so if a better processor is required, I don't mind the extra cash. Knowing it is limited to 16GB, I'm hoping not to have to do much work at home but be able to use it well if needed.

On a side note, has anyone used the Lian Li TU100A? It seems kind of neat, but is a bit limiting on space.
 
GalleyBeggar said:
Thanks, WiSK! 3D-rendering is actually one of the main tools we use for modelling, but mostly (about 3/4) of my work is just in 2D sketches and drafts. I would like to be able to use the 3D parts compiling whenever I like because I get bored and enjoy engineering things, so if a better processor is required, I don't mind the extra cash. Knowing it is limited to 16GB, I'm hoping not to have to do much work at home but be able to use it well if needed.

On a side note, has anyone used the Lian Li TU100A? It seems kind of neat, but is a bit limiting on space.
Click to expand...

I have been looking at this case quite a bit, and from what I've seen it works fine if you don't plan on overclocking https://teksyndicate.com/videos/colugo-our-new-itx-gamingediting-rig-build-video these guys did a great build! I was thinking of adding some mesh mods for better airflow and making the intake a 120mm radiator/exhaust of the case, so I'm not limited by the CPU cooler height of 60mm. I love the size, but the issue is the cooling my next choice would be the node 304, pctu200 or the FT03 mini.
 
teksyndicate is actually why I ended up asking about it; Looks like a solid mini ITX case so long as you use the ITX GPUs. The TU-200 is about the size of my guitar amp, so I'm familiar with transporting its dimension. If I can get smaller, I'll generally take it though. Damn debate over performance and space!

The Node 304 looks pretty nice, but I'd probably take the CoolerMaster Elite 130 over it since it is cheaper and appears to have better airflow. And you listed the FT03 Mini which I may end up getting and modding since I think the top "cable storage" gives it too much unnecessary height - cut it down and make the power button island into a handle if I can.

I'm also not experienced at all with overclocking, but I opted for an overclockable processor if I get the itch to play around with that.
 
GalleyBeggar said:
I'm also not experienced at all with overclocking, but I opted for an overclockable processor if I get the itch to play around with that.
Click to expand...

The Asus Impact BIOS has pre-set overclocked settings, so that makes it extremely easy.
 
medeyer said:
The Asus Impact BIOS has pre-set overclocked settings, so that makes it extremely easy.
Click to expand...

Whoohoo! +1 for that motherboard. Honestly I picked it out because it seemed to pack more into itself than the MSI or Asrock counterparts, though is a little more expensive.
 
I am pretty much in the same boat as you and have been looking at the Elite 130, 250D, SG08, and a few others. This just came up: the Antec ISK600, but my google fu shows no reviews except for a couple on newegg.
 
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