• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Should I convert to mATX?

P

Phishy714

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
1,992
Hey guys, I am tempted by the mistress that is Lian Li. As alot of you know, they are having a 20% off sale on some really nice cases and I am tempted to get the LIAN LI PC-V354B case. My current setup is in my sig - basically I would just need to get a new mATX board and I should be fine, but my problem is - IS IT WORTH IT?

I know that this case looks awesome, but I don't know about cooling or how loud it will be. I have my 600t SE underneath my desk cause it was taking up alot of space, and its pretty darn quiet down there. What do you guys think? Worth it to spend around $200 to go to this case?
 
Are you going to benefit anything from going down to a mATX case?

EDIT

When you say "Is it worth it?" what do you mean? What are your needs? If the 600T is making you happy, just keep it and use the $200 towards something else.
 
This is just an upgrade itch I believe. We always want to get something new and exciting. You don't really need that extra space lol. Your cooling performance will also degrade I think.
 
Benefit anything? No, probably not - just a smaller, better looking case I guess.

:(
 
Things to consider:
  • first expansion slot is where you want your gpu so it'll be closer to your CPU which means some coolers won't fit. ATX usually has the fastest PCI-E on the second slot.
  • SLI/CFX will be cramped, air intake suffers on standard cards and aftermarket cooling solutions won't work.
  • space you really save is ~60mm/2.5" heightwise. It's not the mobo that saves the space, it's the case.
  • airflow can be compromised for smaller cases.
 
My cooling is comparable to a full tower case, and I'm using a stop gap GTX 480. 825 OC @ 82C - 75% fan.
If it's planned correctly, any build will give optimal results. Components are getting smaller and running cooler. No need for large cases, unless your going extreme.
 
If you want a new toy and were looking at the Lian Li V-354, do what I'm doing - pick it up to build a small, attractive, unRaid based NAS.
 
I just did this. However I picked up an mATX mobo at 50$ off and snagged a 3570k to go with it and a new modular psu.. coming from an i7 930.

I was essentially rebuilding so I figured cooler CPU and smaller case running on an h60 should be pretty sweet. It has room for plenty of drives.. and is MUCH MUCH smaller and lighter than my HAF 932..

Some people really WOULD like the space back.

I'm going from:

9.00" x 21.50" x 22.70 (W x H x D) and 29.1 lbs. to 9.65" x 13.60" x 16.54" (W x H x D) 9.2 lbs.

I'm going half an inch wider and shaving 8 inches off of height, 6.2 inches off of depth and dropping 20 pounds..... Moving it around will be MUCH easier, not only because of the weight difference but the case will be more dense so the weight will be easier to manipulate than a giant ass case.
 
Yeah, I guess I should just save the money - probably not worth it. Its just a shame that I spent a good amount of money on a case that is just sitting under my desk NOT being shown off :(
 
Phishy714 said:
Yeah, I guess I should just save the money - probably not worth it. Its just a shame that I spent a good amount of money on a case that is just sitting under my desk NOT being shown off :(
Click to expand...

Hell, just having a window on the side of your case is a fucking mind blower for 99.999% of the human population.
 
I have a whole room of the house to myself as my home office and I still decided to scale down.

A big full tower case made sense last year when I wanted to run overclocked 480 SLI and keep them cool and mostly quiet - but this case is a beast and there is no good place to put it.

With the new Nvidia cards running so much cooler, I think it's reasonable to consider an mATX or mITX case if you want some space back.


Being an enthusiast is all about exploring your curiosity and ideas - sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't, but you always learn things.

Money can be a consideration - everyone's situation is different, but in a lot of cases, you sell your previous gear, buy the new gear and the net cost is often not that much.

I'm converting from a Level 10GT to an FT03 and I have no idea how it's going to work for me - it might turn out to be a hot, loud mess or it might be great but that will all be based on my personal experience and personal preferences.

There is nothing wrong with making a practical decision that it's not "worth it" but if it's really your hobby and you want to do it then just do it - that's all the justification you need.

Unless you're married.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top