Small form factor builds

[Brain-ache]

Hi all,

Bit of a general sweeping question, but I'm wondering whether you still have to compromise much in a small form factor build these days? I've always gone atx and mid tower but lately I'm loving the compactness of some itx case builds.

With the nzxt H1 on its way in the UK, I'm wondering if you can still get comparable power in small enclosure when compared to atx? Or is atx still leaps ahead in terms of compatible hardware and performance?

Thanks.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Many SSF builds are not very small as they use relatively massive cases with a large volume. So in that case,you can actually find mATX/ATX cases which are relatively compact.

[[GSV]Trig]

Depends what you want the machine to do..

I'm currently getting rid of my Node 804 mATX server setup and going down the iTX route so I can cut down on footprint.
The iTX board I'm looking at supports 32Gb of RAM which is plenty for my needs and the Node 304 case takes 6 3.5" drives..

However, if you were looking at a high end 4k gaming rig, while 32Gb of RAM would be enough, or 64 from 2x32Gb sticks if your board of choice supports it, but the heat generated by a top end GPU would no doubt create a lot of heat, and power draw across the system would probably also mean a warm CPU and PSU in the box, shifting all of the air needed to cool that lot would be noise, so, it really does depend on what you want to do with the machine and how much built in expansion/upgradablity/lifespan you want from the machine..

[badass]

Hi all,

Bit of a general sweeping question, but I'm wondering whether you still have to compromise much in a small form factor build these days? I've always gone atx and mid tower but lately I'm loving the compactness of some itx case builds.

With the nzxt H1 on its way in the UK, I'm wondering if you can still get comparable power in small enclosure when compared to atx? Or is atx still leaps ahead in terms of compatible hardware and performance?

Thanks.

It depends how you define compromise and how small you want to go. I have a Silverstone SG02-F case which to me is fine and has been for the last 8 years

However compared to my older Antec P180 it's definitely louder. It can take a full sized Graphics card and fit several HDD's/SSD's

The most irritating restriction to me has been that I can't use the fan shroud with many different brands of graphics cards because it starts very close to the top of the metal "holder" of the GFX card with the ports on it. I could remove the shroud but due to it having the fans to extract warm air on it, it actually makes the Graphics cards quieter.

A much smaller case with a Mini ITX board will always compromise the "power" to a degree compared to a full size case, however that can be reduced by using more expensive components such as larger Heatsink/Fans and/or water cooling.

I'd suggest before worrying about that, consider how much power you need. If you are just using it for gaming then it will not be a problem if you select the right components. If you are into meaningless graphs to show off how fast your machine is then you will probably need a bigger case.

[Ulti]

I was once really into ITX as I really liked the idea of powerful performance in a tiny package but in the last few years, I've followed the majority in "showing off" the PC parts with a tempered glass case combined with lots of lighting.

At the same time, I didn't want a gigantic tower so I ended up settling for mATX.

Back to your original question in terms of the performance aspect, I've actually seen some fast 32GB RAM (2x 16GB) cheaper than getting 2 sets of 16GB RAM.

CPU wise, there has been quite a big focus on pushing for lower TDP parts now (well maybe not from the recent Intel desktop parts) and you can get a 65W AMD Ryzen 7 3700X which has 8 cores and 16 threads which is more than enough for most people.

Graphics card wise, multi card setups are rare now and most people just get a single GPU from what I understand so again, no restrictions there.

ITX boards have become pretty good with respect to power delivery and you can easily get the latest WiFi (6) and BT embedded through a M.2 card and some boards will still have up to 2 NVMe slots for super fast storage - there's not much of a need for HDDs IMO nowadays.

Final part would be the PSU and there are again little compromises here - there are some very good quality SFX PSUs which have high efficiency and run relatively quiet.

So all in all, I don't think you have to sacrifice anything going to ITX.

I'm personally wanting to expand the airflow in my set up so I'm planning to get a new case:



Unfortunately it's a Taobao "exclusive" and on preorder at the moment so I'm going to have to look into getting it "dropshipped" to me once there are a few user reviews. The case itself seems to be around £50 from what I gather so I'm hoping I don't have to spent more than £50 for shipping & taxes to get it over here.

As someone on the reddit thread I posted mentioned, it's like the new Mac Pro, NZXT and the Ncase M1 had a baby

My current case (Jonsbo UMX3) only has 1x 120mm and 1x 140mm fan slots with no intake holes on the front or top. My PSU struggles to breathe as there is no exhaust or separate intake for it and my RAM and motherboard feels super hot due to the lack of airflow. I've temporarily shoehorned a 140mm fan at the bottom as an intake and that's "fine" for general use but my PC is definitely running hotter and therefore louder than it was 3 years ago.

The new ZZAW C1 that I'm aiming to buy has a rotated layout which allows a 240mm radiator on the "back" and offers an exhaust for the PSU along with another 2x 120mm intakes from the "front". It is a rather thin case though so there's unfortunately only a 92mm intake on the bottom.

I did some quick calculations when researching for a new mATX case: