Mini-PC/mini-ITX vs Full size tower

[delmontebanana1]

Hi all,

I'm planning to rebuild a new pc and have been toying with the idea of a mini-PC or mini-ITX form factor (the Cooler Master Elite 110 case specifically). The only concern is the CPU and GPU horsepower and restricted overclocking capabilities due to the limited space for cooling.

My current build is this: ...
Intel Core i5-2500k 3.30GHz
zalman vnf100 fanless cooler
Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68
3 x 4GB (16GB) DDR3 1600Mhz G.Skills RipJawsX
1tb Samsung F3 - 7200rpm (crap)
GeForce GTX 560Ti 900MHz 1GB PCI-E HDMI OverClocked
Corsair 750W PSU

Does anyone have experience with either of these 2 form factors and does it severely limit your ability to play the latest games/use demanding software?

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

I know your CPU will overclock nicely with a better cooler. In an miniITX, not exactly ideal. I'd overclock it outside of the case but that's just me, that GPU will over clock I just never used it so can't give advice on it.

 

[Charlie98]

Just FYI, that GPU is a pretty hot card, depending on which model it is... If you do go mITX, you might consider updating the card to a more energy efficient (therefore cooler, in theory) card. As far as mITX cases, biggest problem you will have is finding a suitable CPU cooler that will fit in an mITX case. This is where I think mATX holds up pretty well, but no one really makes a 'SFF' mATX case.

 

[ElFenix]

Just FYI, that GPU is a pretty hot card, depending on which model it is... If you do go mITX, you might consider updating the card to a more energy efficient (therefore cooler, in theory) card. As far as mITX cases, biggest problem you will have is finding a suitable CPU cooler that will fit in an mITX case. This is where I think mATX holds up pretty well, but no one really makes a 'SFF' mATX case.

iirc, bitfenix makes a pair of uITX mDTX and mATX cases that are exactly the same exterior dimensions, but vary in internal layout. then again, both are much larger than an elite 110.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

See sig rig.

It doesn't limit my ability to play games or do demanding software too much, it's just one of those 80/20 split things. Sure, I could build up a full ATX tower, use a $100 cooler and a $200 motherboard, and OC my CPU to 4.5GHz or so. But for 15% improvement that I'd be hard-pressed to notice? Meh. I'd rather dump $300 into my Steam wallet.

Same with the GPU. A big ATX case has room and cooling capacity for multiple high end video cards that I couldn't afford anyway, but a single midrange GPU at stock speeds with a blower fan is happy as a clam in a uATX or mITX case. And it'll run most titles at 1080p and medium setting anyway.

Speaking of blower fans, I notice you're using a fanless CPU cooler. That's not really an option in this size class.

Otherwise, looking at the rig in OP, I see a reasonable bang-for-the-buck midrange gaming rig. A more modern equivalent (4670K w/ mild OC on stock HSF and GTX 960/970) would have similar power and cooling requirements to what I'm running now, which means it would be perfectly fine in a tiny case.

And in all honesty, you could just swap a new GPU into the rig you've got, drop in a cheap active HSF, OC to 4GHz, and be done. Moving to a mITX rig would involve replacing your motherboard, but the rest of your components could move over. So there's some recyclability there.

But if you're trying to move upmarket (LGA2011?) by building a s00p3r l337 OC'd g4m1ng r1G!, then you'll probably want a bigger box. (The Node 804 micro-ATX case I built my home server into is actually ideal for this. Big, quiet, lots of room for water cooling setups, and there are plenty of uATX boards that support SLI/CrossFire.)

 

[melloyellow]

i actually managed to fit a matx mobo into the cm elite 110. Doesn't really provide any extra features to do that, just lets me get a cheaper matx mobo.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37006232&postcount=5

basically limitations of mitx are:
- single gpu
- 2x memory slots
- low profile CPU HSF or AIO watercooling

I also built a 4790k at stock speeds with a zalman CNPS8900 low profile cooler in a CM elite 130, and it never has had to really ramp up the fan speed, so there's probably plenty more cooling capacity there that hasn't been used yet. It could probably handle a reasonable level of overclocking, but I haven't tried personally. At stock speeds, I wouldn't really have any cooling concerns for CPU or GPU. How much overclocking are you looking to do? Are you looking to increase voltage also? Your i5-2500k is listed at stock speeds - are you looking to overclock this or start a new build?