ATX to ITX my new found love

S

stupar

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No real purpose to this person thread other than to share my PC rethinking. There are are few of us on here that enjoy PC's so hopefully the read is enjoyable to some.

So having spent the last few years running an ATX case with RGB overload, I have decided to downsize and lose some of the lary colours with my PC.

It's only when you fully downsize that you really start to o appreciate the differences between ATX and ITX.

So my Phanteks eclipse P400s with Gigabyte Z170x gaming 7 motherboard is now a Fractal design core 500 with Asus B150i

All other major components have remained the same.
The only other change I have made is to go from water cooling back to air.

As for the Fractal case, the size is so small yet it still accommodates a full size PSU, upto 280mm radiator and 170mm tall air cooler.
It is a truly remarkable case for space.

As I continue to build the PC back up I will share my progress and as this is a photography forum here's a few images to get going with.


Little and Large by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr

Little and littlest by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr

ITX mobo by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr
 
I have always quite liked the idea of the ITX sized cases but the lack of the HDD space has put me off going to them :(

Just how many HDD's can fit in that one? And indeed, how many drive headers on that ITX board?
 
Box Brownie said:
I have always quite liked the idea of the ITX sized cases but the lack of the HDD space has put me off going to them :(

Just how many HDD's can fit in that one? And indeed, how many drive headers on that ITX board?
Click to expand...
The case can fit up to 6 drives (depending on final internal configuration) and the board has 4 Sata headers and one M. 2 slot on the rear too
 
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stupar said:
The case can fit up to 6 drives (depending on final internal configuration) and the board has 4 Sata headers and one M. 2 slot on the rear too
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info......I have also gone 'looking' and it does seem an interesting 'build' basis, though with only a single extraction fan but others installible I cannot readily see how to push air over the HDD's and that IME is a must do whenever possible ;)

I look forward to your updates :)
 
Box Brownie said:
Thanks for the info......I have also gone 'looking' and it does seem an interesting 'build' basis, though with only a single extraction fan but others installible I cannot readily see how to push air over the HDD's and that IME is a must do whenever possible ;)

I look forward to your updates :)
Click to expand...

I've never worried about pushing air over my hard drives back in my Phanteks days (2 x SSDs behind mobo and 3.5 HDD in cage at bottom of case)

I will let you know how I get on as I will be running hopefully 2 x 140mm fans up top pulling air in and a push/pull air cooler for the CPU. I've removed the rear exhaust fan due to the push/pull cooler
 
I've gone ITX (and 'T' 35W CPUs) for everything except my main PC which is MATX. I was going to downsize that too but I'm still using the two external 5.25" slots so re-used the old case for the new build. It also let me keep a large heatsink poking up between front and back fans so the CPU is passively cooled.
I no longer have HDDs in any of my PCs, only in my NASs.
 
I had a Shuttle PC years ago and liked it a lot. Had it for quite a while too, maybe ten-years or so.
 
GeeJay57 said:
I had a Shuttle PC years ago and liked it a lot. Had it for quite a while too, maybe ten-years or so.
Click to expand...
I've always liked shuttle PC's but never built one as back when I started building PC's it was cheaper for me to go down the mATX route.

Guess I'm living the dream now.
 
stupar said:
I've always liked shuttle PC's but never built one as back when I started building PC's it was cheaper for me to go down the mATX route.

Guess I'm living the dream now.
Click to expand...
:)
 
I’ve had ITX for at least five years now. No compromises whatsoever.

AIO Water cooled, 2700x, 2 x m.2 ssd’s and up to four sata ssd’s. RTX 2080 and 32GB ram.
 
Brazo said:
I’ve had ITX for at least five years now. No compromises whatsoever.

AIO Water cooled, 2700x, 2 x m.2 ssd’s and up to four sata ssd’s. RTX 2080 and 32GB ram.
Click to expand...

Nice spec. What case are you using?
Another reason for me choosing the Fractal core 500 was the ability for GPUs upto 310mm in length.
 
I was using a bitfennix prodigy but it was too short for my Zotac amp extreme. So I bought a case which is noticeably smaller but longer! The http://metallicgear.com/products/Neo-G-Series-mITX actually allows an even longer gpu than what I now own.

It will take a 280mm aio but the current length of my gpu only allows a 240mm. As soon as the 3900x is available to buy (in stock) and it’s bios issues have been resolved that’s going to be dropped in.
 
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Brazo said:
I was using a bitfennix prodigy but it was too short for my Zotac amp extreme. So I bought a case which is noticeably smaller but longer! The http://metallicgear.com/products/Neo-G-Series-mITX actually allows an even longer gpu than what I now own.

It will take a 280mm aio but the current length of my gpu only allows a 240mm. As soon as the 3900x is available to buy (in stock) and it’s bios issues have been resolved that’s going to be dropped in.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan.
As for that case - that's really nice!
 
Well the ITX PC is built.
Everything fitted like a glove, the only difficult part is having room for hands to work in such a confined space - that's the joys of ITX though.

Did as much cable management as possible but without a fully modular or SFF PSU there is always going to be those cables that just don't tuck away.

As for thermals and sound, this thing is cool and quiet at idle thanks to quiet fans and a GPU that doesn't spin the fans up until required.

Even when at full chat playing Dirt Rally you could hardly hear it.
Overall I am chuffed and believe ITX is where I will stay going forward.

Again this is a photo forum so here's some shots to show how it looks and performs.

2019_0910_18481600-01 by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr

2019_0910_18484100-01 by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr

2019_0910_18492200-01 by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr

2019_0910_19282800 by Stuart Pardue, on Flickr
 
Interesting thread. I like the idea of smaller computers as long as there are few compromises which need to made. I have a large case, not really pushed for space, and am not about to throw anything away that still works, but if I were to lose this computer somehow, it would be something to consider.

I mainly just wanted to say well done with the pics. Good lighting and composition showing everything you wanted to show. Depth of field a touch too shallow on the mother board pic, but overall. :clap:

Btw, what are the gold sockets on the motherboard? It looks like it says 'WiFi Go!' Are they two WiFi antennas?
 
redhed17 said:
Interesting thread. I like the idea of smaller computers as long as there are few compromises which need to made. I have a large case, not really pushed for space, and am not about to throw anything away that still works, but if I were to lose this computer somehow, it would be something to consider.

I mainly just wanted to say well done with the pics. Good lighting and composition showing everything you wanted to show. Depth of field a touch too shallow on the mother board pic, but overall. :clap:

Btw, what are the gold sockets on the motherboard? It looks like it says 'WiFi Go!' Are they two WiFi antennas?
Click to expand...

Cheers fella
Other than a motherboard and case change I kept all my other parts.
The sale of my old Z170x board and phanteks case paid for the ITX board and Fractal case so it was an easy and cost free downsize.

Yeah board has built in wifi and bluetooth
 
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