MSI enters the mITX case market - introduce a new barebones kit called Nightblade

[dmoney1980]

originally found here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7841/msi-nightblade-barebones

official site: http://game.msi.com/us/product/barebone/nightblade

review: http://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/zardon/msi-nightblade-review-dual-ssd-i7-4770k-r9-290x/

My 2 cents: It's ok, a tad over-priced, and a little too flashy, but it is a "gamer" kit. I'm still looking for something between this and the EVGA offering that comes with a solid 600w psu. I think this is a tricky market because some users would want to stuff this with an overclocked 4770k + 780ti / 290x, while others may want a solid cpu at stock and a mid range card. This offering actually has decent thermals as recorded in the review I linked above.

It's all about creating the right look, size, acoustics, and thermals. Some mitx cases like the prodigy offer the best flexibility at the cost of size. I do like what EVGA started with the hadron in that they provided a 1u psu. This will be important moving forward, if they can make a quality 80+ rated 1u psu that can run an overclocked top tiered CPU + GPU.

Your thoughts?

 

[Tristor]

Yeah, I'm really not feeling that. $600 for a barebones is a bit steep. I just finished a mITX build in the Corsair 250D and for the board+PSU+case+cooler (basically what came in this barebones) it cost me $450, and that is a full-sized modular ATX PSU, not the much more limited due to space SFX/mITX PSU they are using. The cooler I fit in the 250D is also an H100i w/ 2x Cougar Vortex FDB PWM fans, much better than the cooler that comes with the Nightblade.

I just don't see this as being a compelling option. If you want to go the SFX/mITX route, the Silverstone Sugo SG05 is a better choice. Regarding the EVGA Hadron, it's pretty impressive, but in that size range I think the Corsair 250D is the better pick (obviously, which is why I went that route).

The one thing the Nightblade has that I really like is the handle/foot, as most of the mITX options out there right now don't have handles. It's almost unnecessary as small as they all are, but a handle is never a bad thing. I'm considering adding an aftermarket handle to my 250D, but haven't got around to planning it out yet while I'm still working on my main system.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It's pretty big and ugly.

Then again, I'm probably just biased. You never forget your first love, after all.