New PC build - considering Mini-ITX/mATX
Discussion
It's about time for a new PC build I think, the 3070 FE I got last year is still current but my CPU, motherboard and RAM are a bit older now. My current PC is basically a big empty box - the only PCIe card I have is the GPU so I'm thinking about going to a smaller form-factor this time round.
I guess the reason for the post was fairly general - for anyone who's gone from a full-size build to something very compact, how did that work out over time? Were there things that made you wish you'd stuck with a larger form factor? Availability of things like power supplies etc.? Noise (obviously this is brand/configuration dependent as well)? Do power and cooling requirements restrict component choices etc? Any other considerations to bear in mind?
In more specific terms, I like the NZXT H1 case (https://nzxt.com/en-DE/product/h1), any feedback on that one specifically would be greatly appreciated too.
I guess the reason for the post was fairly general - for anyone who's gone from a full-size build to something very compact, how did that work out over time? Were there things that made you wish you'd stuck with a larger form factor? Availability of things like power supplies etc.? Noise (obviously this is brand/configuration dependent as well)? Do power and cooling requirements restrict component choices etc? Any other considerations to bear in mind?
In more specific terms, I like the NZXT H1 case (https://nzxt.com/en-DE/product/h1), any feedback on that one specifically would be greatly appreciated too.
If you get a H1 make sure it has the new riser card, they should all be fixed by now but it makes sense to check and get NZXT to swap it if necessary.
https://nzxt.com/news/a-message-from-nzxt-s-ceo-re...
https://nzxt.com/news/a-message-from-nzxt-s-ceo-re...
Following this with interest, as I'm wanting to build my first desktop in 25 years in the same form or smaller (probably with a 3080) for living room gaming and was looking to start a similar thread... Am I mad/ going to lose anything other than bank balance by going smaller?
Hope you don't mind the thread jack OP - you're certainly not alone!
Hope you don't mind the thread jack OP - you're certainly not alone!
Ultuous said:
Following this with interest, as I'm wanting to build my first desktop in 25 years in the same form or smaller (probably with a 3080) for living room gaming and was looking to start a similar thread... Am I mad/ going to lose anything other than bank balance by going smaller?
Hope you don't mind the thread jack OP - you're certainly not alone!
I did this last time I built one 5 years ago, a Node 202 case with a gtx 1080, i5, 16gb, sfx 600w psu etc, and it worked out really well, couldn't have fitted anything else in that case. Performance was great, no issues with heat and still even play MS Flight Simulator and lets me play most VR games at a decent rate.Hope you don't mind the thread jack OP - you're certainly not alone!
It did cost more in the end than if I'd gone with the atx stuff, meant a fair bit more research and restrictions on what I could really get.
Reality for me was, I found in the end it's better playing games sitting at a desk, and gaming on the TV wasn't as good as the nice ultrawide g sync monitor I bought after that experiment failed. Obviously will depend on what type of games you play though and your setup.
Now that I'm in the process of building a new machine, I've gone back to an ATX build because it just afforded most flexibility and most of what was in the old one (chosen because of size or form factor) wasn't really reusable. Don't want an sfx psu, or the small noctua cooler, no new gfx card fits in the case etc... so going to sell it in one piece instead and start again from scratch.
maffski said:
If you get a H1 make sure it has the new riser card, they should all be fixed by now but it makes sense to check and get NZXT to swap it if necessary.
https://nzxt.com/news/a-message-from-nzxt-s-ceo-re...
Thanks for that. Is the new riser card a PCIe 4.0 version? My GPU is a PCIe 4.0 card so I presume if I had a motherboard with 4.0 as well then the whole thing would have to step down to PCIe 3.0 with the riser? Or would it just not work at all?https://nzxt.com/news/a-message-from-nzxt-s-ceo-re...
S13_Alan said:
I did this last time I built one 5 years ago, a Node 202 case with a gtx 1080, i5, 16gb, sfx 600w psu etc, and it worked out really well, couldn't have fitted anything else in that case. Performance was great, no issues with heat and still even play MS Flight Simulator and lets me play most VR games at a decent rate.
It did cost more in the end than if I'd gone with the atx stuff, meant a fair bit more research and restrictions on what I could really get.
Reality for me was, I found in the end it's better playing games sitting at a desk, and gaming on the TV wasn't as good as the nice ultrawide g sync monitor I bought after that experiment failed. Obviously will depend on what type of games you play though and your setup.
Now that I'm in the process of building a new machine, I've gone back to an ATX build because it just afforded most flexibility and most of what was in the old one (chosen because of size or form factor) wasn't really reusable. Don't want an sfx psu, or the small noctua cooler, no new gfx card fits in the case etc... so going to sell it in one piece instead and start again from scratch.
Thanks for the input. I play exclusively at a desk already, just the PC currently takes up a lot of space underneath (it's the really big Corsair Carbide Air 540 cube thing) and as it's largely empty it feels a bit like wasted space.It did cost more in the end than if I'd gone with the atx stuff, meant a fair bit more research and restrictions on what I could really get.
Reality for me was, I found in the end it's better playing games sitting at a desk, and gaming on the TV wasn't as good as the nice ultrawide g sync monitor I bought after that experiment failed. Obviously will depend on what type of games you play though and your setup.
Now that I'm in the process of building a new machine, I've gone back to an ATX build because it just afforded most flexibility and most of what was in the old one (chosen because of size or form factor) wasn't really reusable. Don't want an sfx psu, or the small noctua cooler, no new gfx card fits in the case etc... so going to sell it in one piece instead and start again from scratch.
So are you saying that mATX/mini-ITX specifc stuff like cases, PSUs, motherboards etc, are generally more expensive then?
The nzxt h1 issue was with the riser cable not sufficient in some way and getting a bit smokey under load if I remember well.
Gamers nexus channel has done videos about it on YouTube.
Will follow this because I wanted to do a similar build for the front room for VR so needs to be small and stealthy but decently specced!
Gamers nexus channel has done videos about it on YouTube.
Will follow this because I wanted to do a similar build for the front room for VR so needs to be small and stealthy but decently specced!
mATX makes a lot of sense these days, I've gone from a load of drives and cards to just a single GPU plugged in and a NVMe SSD on the motherboard. Used to have separate soundcard, NIC, etc - no point now. I plug in a USB DVD-RW drive on the odd time I need one. Silly to have a massive ATX case for things you probably won't need. Even the mATX tower I have is mostly empty space.
I keep eyeing up mini ITX but it's a hefty price increase on everything - as it's a niche within a niche equivalent motherboards cost more, most cases are at the premium end, you're into different power supplies, maybe compromising on component sizes to make enough room.
If you really want small and don't mind paying for it then the non-standard (Intel NUC, etc) stuff gets even smaller because they're not constrained by a standard motherboard and layout.
I keep eyeing up mini ITX but it's a hefty price increase on everything - as it's a niche within a niche equivalent motherboards cost more, most cases are at the premium end, you're into different power supplies, maybe compromising on component sizes to make enough room.
If you really want small and don't mind paying for it then the non-standard (Intel NUC, etc) stuff gets even smaller because they're not constrained by a standard motherboard and layout.
I'm still quite proud of my Ikea compatible build from 4 years ago.
Bitfenix Phenom case (with feet removed) fits within the standard Kallax 33x33cm bookcase space.
Micro-ATX ASUS Tuf B350M MB with AIO cooled 1600X CPU and aircooled RX580 GPU.
No compromise on PSU size either, PSU exhaust airflow is quite compromised to the 3mm gap underneath though but I can't say its ever caused a problem.
It is quiet until games load up that GPU and its fans start to howl.
I've recently improved the airflow (and filtering) a bit with magnetic mesh from Amazon replacing the front and top covers. It's now a very anonymous black box in a shelf next to my desk.
Not sure what size modern GPU would fit around the modular PSU cables that are restricting GPU length, a triple slot height cooler might fit. A project is to someday fit lqiuid cooling to the GPU or a custom loop.
Bitfenix Phenom case (with feet removed) fits within the standard Kallax 33x33cm bookcase space.
Micro-ATX ASUS Tuf B350M MB with AIO cooled 1600X CPU and aircooled RX580 GPU.
No compromise on PSU size either, PSU exhaust airflow is quite compromised to the 3mm gap underneath though but I can't say its ever caused a problem.
It is quiet until games load up that GPU and its fans start to howl.
I've recently improved the airflow (and filtering) a bit with magnetic mesh from Amazon replacing the front and top covers. It's now a very anonymous black box in a shelf next to my desk.
Not sure what size modern GPU would fit around the modular PSU cables that are restricting GPU length, a triple slot height cooler might fit. A project is to someday fit lqiuid cooling to the GPU or a custom loop.
Been tempted to make an ITX case, https://www.youtube.com/c/OptimumTech/videos this guy does some very good builds and reviews of cases may worth a watch.
Baron Greenback said:
Been tempted to make an ITX case, https://www.youtube.com/c/OptimumTech/videos this guy does some very good builds and reviews of cases may worth a watch.
KitTechGuru also like the Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P.sjg said:
I keep eyeing up mini ITX but it's a hefty price increase on everything - as it's a niche within a niche equivalent motherboards cost more, most cases are at the premium end, you're into different power supplies, maybe compromising on component sizes to make enough room.
I built my first PC on a mini-itx board. I really liked the form factor of shuttle style cases, so used a cooler master elite 130. Other than the motherboard all the other components are standard ATX. When I replaced the graphics card I had to remove the 5.25" bay as the card was too tall (not too long).I'm now looking to make some changes though, and I fancy a change in case, so would probably go with a mini tower that suits a micro ATX board just because they are cheaper.
ETA - as a novice, I should have gone for a case with easier cable management, although no one has to look inside the case, and it's not impacted air flow.
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