Would I be content with a Mini-ITX system?

[ManofGod]

I know ultimately only I can answer this. However, I figured I would ask here to see if someone has taken this path before. Ok, I will start by saying I have an FX8350, 16GB ram, Asrock 990FX Extreme 9, Fractal Design R3 case, Thermaltake 850 Watt PS, Bluray drive, 2 x 2TB, 2 x 1TB and 120GB SSD. Oh, and it has an XFX R9 290 reference card and AIO cooler for the CPU.

Now, I picked up an Xbox one in very early January and have been using that almost daily since then. I picked up an Xbox 360 slim 2 weeks ago and also have been gaming on that a lot as well. I, however, probably have only been spending 35 hours a year gaming on my computer which is also hooked up to the same 50 inch Sony Bravia TV.

What I am considering is selling the machine for parts and building an Asrock A88X Mini ITX system with an A10-7850K and 8GB of ram. I have one sitting near me now that has an A10-7700K for my dad and let me say, that is a fast little machine. Game wise on my computer, the highest end game I have is Crysis 3 and BF4. However, I have barely touched BF4 and only got a little ways into Crysis 3.

I am just not certain if I would be content with the Mini ITX system but also, I have not been using the power of my desktop at home really all that much either. What do you guys think? Oh, and I have a PCIe TV Tuner card that I use for over the air tv viewing when the NFL season is going. Otherwise, I am using Netflix most of the time.

 

[hiodie]

You can always build a system with a video card if you're concerned about gaming. Unless you *need* multiple expansion cards, most modern mini itx motherboards will offer the same features as full ATX boards. You will lose a few headers and maybe some overclocking potential, but it usually isn't significant enough for someone who only occasionally uses the system anyways. Most higher end itx boards have 6 SATA headers, so you should be covered for your drives, just need to pick a slightly larger itx case to handle 3 x 3.5 HDDs.

If you do want to proceed, the Small Form Factor subforum has plenty of information.

 

[ManofGod]

You can always build a system with a video card if you're concerned about gaming. Unless you *need* multiple expansion cards, most modern mini itx motherboards will offer the same features as full ATX boards. You will lose a few headers and maybe some overclocking potential, but it usually isn't significant enough for someone who only occasionally uses the system anyways. Most higher end itx boards have 6 SATA headers, so you should be covered for your drives, just need to pick a slightly larger itx case to handle 3 x 3.5 HDDs.

If you do want to proceed, the Small Form Factor subforum has plenty of information.

Cool, thanks, I will go look into the SFF subforum.