Help move from ATX to Mini ITX or Micro ATX

[bigdavethehorn]

Hello, I’m looking for some suggestions to reduce the size of my desktop PC. Everything in my sig is inside an Antec P182 case, which is now taking up far too much floor space!

I’m thinking about moving to either an ITX or Micro ATX motherboard and case, but I know nothing about either of these.

I’d like to re-use the CPU, RAM and PSU if possible. I don’t game on my PC anymore, so the GPU doesn’t need to be re-used. I’d be happy to use an integrated GPU, as long as it can decode HD content.

My CPU would be reduced from 3.2Ghz to its stock frequency of 2.4Ghz.

Any suggestions, tips, warnings about using a Q6600 in a small case etc would be welcome.

 

[bigdavethehorn]

I can’t figure out how to edit my sig, so here are my current components:

Antec P182 + Corsair HX520
Abit IP35 Pro + Q6600 @ 8*400
TRUE 120 + Scythe S-Flex
4GB OCZ Platinum DDR2-800
EVGA 9800GTX+
1x WD6401AALS, 2x HD204UI, 2x WD6400AAKS
Win 7

 

[Gigantopithecus]

If you're interested in ITX, start here.

Two things I'll note: that Thermalright True won't fit in an ITX case, and five hard drives will require something like a Lian Li PCQ08 - not many ITX cases will accommodate that many drives.

You should probably consider mATX before ITX with your older, hotter components.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Look carefully at the specs of the mATX board you buy -- I have a foxconn G31 chipset board that works great and only cost $35, but it only has 4 SATA ports + 1 IDE so you'd be 2 ports short if you have a SATA DVD drive.

 

[Zap]

I’d like to re-use the CPU, RAM and PSU if possible. I don’t game on my PC anymore, so the GPU doesn’t need to be re-used. I’d be happy to use an integrated GPU, as long as it can decode HD content.

That may be tricky as socket 775 motherboards are becoming rare, plus DDR2 motherboards even rarer.

First question: Do you live near a Micro Center? The reason is that they will combo CPU/mobo with a discount of around $40. One example is a micro ATX motherboard with Core i3 2100 CPU for $120. Second thing is they have 4GB DDR3 for $20 with no rebates. They don't carry much in the way of mini ITX boards though.

For mini ITX, Lian Li makes some mini tower cases that can take a bunch of hard drives. Note that often motherboards will have only a few SATA ports so you may not be able to fit all your drives. Micro ATX boards are more likely to have 5-6 SATA ports (except cheap ones).