- Jul 2, 2004
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So I've been kicking around these upgrade ideas for awhile now. I was originally going to just upgrade my current system's RAM and video card, but now after getting some suggestions and looking at all the newer stuff out there I can't shake the itch to build new. After all, it's been 5+ years with 0 upgrades, I don't think an upgrade is unreasonable at this point. 
I've basically decided on building my system around an i7 920 CPU, and I was going to go with the ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 mobo. Then I saw this new MSI X58M Micro-ATX board. That got me thinking, maybe I could do this i7 system in Micro-ATX... hmmm... The board is very reasonably priced, has a nice feature set, and it got some decent reviews. I thought I might use an Antec Mini P180 for the case. Would this give me sufficient airflow, or does anyone have any other Micro-ATX case suggestions?
I guess my question is this: If I do go this route, does anyone see any major issues assuming I get a decent case with good airflow and a good cooler that will fit the case? I'd guess it may limit my OC'ing options somewhat since it will be more difficult to keep cool, but that's OK. Bottom line, will I be "Selling myself short" so to speak by going with Micro-ATX on a higher end system like the i7?
Oh, and the build will be used for: Gaming (WoW, Fallout 3, Oblivion and eventually SC2 and D3), Video Editing / Encoding (Reason I'm going w/ i7 over an AMD), HTPC, E-Mail/Web, etc on a 1920 x 1080 HDTV.
I've basically decided on building my system around an i7 920 CPU, and I was going to go with the ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 mobo. Then I saw this new MSI X58M Micro-ATX board. That got me thinking, maybe I could do this i7 system in Micro-ATX... hmmm... The board is very reasonably priced, has a nice feature set, and it got some decent reviews. I thought I might use an Antec Mini P180 for the case. Would this give me sufficient airflow, or does anyone have any other Micro-ATX case suggestions?
I guess my question is this: If I do go this route, does anyone see any major issues assuming I get a decent case with good airflow and a good cooler that will fit the case? I'd guess it may limit my OC'ing options somewhat since it will be more difficult to keep cool, but that's OK. Bottom line, will I be "Selling myself short" so to speak by going with Micro-ATX on a higher end system like the i7?
Oh, and the build will be used for: Gaming (WoW, Fallout 3, Oblivion and eventually SC2 and D3), Video Editing / Encoding (Reason I'm going w/ i7 over an AMD), HTPC, E-Mail/Web, etc on a 1920 x 1080 HDTV.