Opinions on ITX build

Looking seriously at surprising my aunt with a new desktop. She deserves it. With all she's done for me and everyone else, she still uses the same Compaq tower with Windows XP she has for around 6 years.

Never built an ITX system before. They've got mixed reviews. I just worry about the cooling issues common in these compact systems. The Dell Inspiron I got my sister 9 years ago was of the pseudo-ITX variety. And that thing would overheat no matter how many desk fans were trained on it.

This is the case I planned on using (if that matters):
http://www.geeksstore.com/Products/CS6802BK

And motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130786

And CPU: http://www.geeksstore.com/Products/BX80646I34150-BOX

She would only be using this for general purpose computing. Opinions? Condemnations?

 

I'm running a 3570k in my Silverstone Milo ML04B with four 80mm fans and a zalman hunk of copper. Its quiet and never gets hot at all. I've also go a GTX 750 low profile in there so it pushes my 4 monitors easily. When gaming the GPU maxes out at about 70C running 100%.

Zalman just came out with a mini version of my heatsink that will probably fit in your case nicely. My brother uses one of them on his mini-ITX i7-4790k and it does just fine.

If you do go with these heatsinks, then remember to install your ram first and make sure you have clearance, with some motherboards I can't get the ram in after the heatsink is mounted.

 

I like that heatsink. Just not sure if it would make clearance since the zif socket is so close to the ram DIMMS. I'll have to see what else I can find in ITX motherboards which leave some separation between the CPU and RAM.

 

I know it fits on this motherboard. But like I said, I had to install my RAM before the heatsink, and remove the heatsink to get the RAM out later.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...04&cm_re=asrock_itx_ac-_-13-157-504-_-Product

With this RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148558


You could get one from amazon and if it doesn't fit send it back.

On a side note, that ASrock has a pretty nice sound card, I really miss having it but I changed back to a larger board for more PCI slots.

 

Yeah, I figured I could always return/exchange the heatsink if I can't get it to fit. But I don't want to have to compromise on the RAM due to the heatsink.

 

If you jump up to a micro ATX motherboard it will still fit in your case, and it will spread the components out a little more.

 

I thought about a micro ATX. But that severely limits the cases and/or motherboards I can choose from. And I want to keep the case to a mini ITX case. She doesn't have space for a mid tower on her desk. Her current mid tower sits on the floor sucking in every spec of dust available.

 

Not sure what kind of cooling issues you expect with only an i3 in there. You're not planning on GPU, right?

 

I was just going off of the case you linked, which is a Micro ATX case. but either way, you can make those nice heatsinks work on either size board if you pick the right one.

KK1 is right, with an i3 you don't need much for cooling. When I put one of these Zalman coolers on my old i3-3225 I bench marked it with all my fans turned off, including the CPU heatsink fan and the temps never went high enough for me to worry.

At an idle with my i5-3570k my CPU sits about 7-8C higher than ambient temp. At 70% load it is 25C above ambient temp. putting it around 47C.

 

Correct.
Her current mid tower has an inexpensive PCIe GPU that I can use in the new system.

I'll be damned...it is a slimline ATX. I will have a look at mATX boards to see what's out there then. The reason I chose the case I did was because it allows for a 5.25" Optical drive bay as well as separete 2.5" and 3.5" drives.

 

If you're interested, this is the mini ITX case I'm eyeballing at the moment:
http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=706714&fid=5022033&lan=nz

 

That's a nice case (all those cases were nice). But too big for the area on the desk I have to work with. That's why I'm looking more towards ITX towers.

 

If you're worried about space get one of these. I am very impressed with the one I got with the projector inside it. The projector isn't the highest resolution but it works great for young kids who just want a 90" TV.

With the projector on, watching a movie via XBMC off of a 500gb USB drive it used a total of 22 watts from my wall. Can't beat that.

 

For causal user, I would really get a SSF or nuc, stick in a SSD and call it a day.

 

Space on her desk is limited, but not that limited. I worry more about a system that small not being able to handle the 20+ tabs she has open at any given time. And that's just her regular usage.

Plus it has to run dual monitors, and no less than 4 USB peripherals simultaneously.

 

My little projector can run Dual monitor. I think it can run dual monitor AND the projector but I haven't actually tried it yet. 20+ tabs are all on the ram, those little i3 CPU's keep up with that plenty well, put 4 or 8 gb of ram in there and you're set.

I just wouldn't be that worried about it being under powered. As long as you aren't gaming or encoding with it then it should be plenty fine. These new processors put off so little heat you can run them passively too, no fans needed if you do it right.

 

i3 is way more than enough for 20+ tabs. As long you have RAM it would fine.

There're also more powerful mini PC models if needed.

 

Here are the straight requirements:

-support for 2 monitors. She has a wide screen and a regular (4:3) screen monitor. She refuses to get another wide screen monitor...don't ask why. So the little mini PC has to have a Dual-DVI port to connect to both monitors.

-built in Wi-Fi. Non negotiable. I'm not running a network cable clear across the house.

-The internal storage needs to have at least 256GB. She saves a lot of stuff to her desktop. It will take some registry tricks to get her documents folders to default to an external drive or NAS.

-Minimum of 4 USB ports

-8GB of ram. She's got 4GB right now so I want to up it in this new system.

You all know of any mini PCs out there that meet these specs?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...15&cm_re=gigabyte_brix-_-56-164-015-_-Product

Supports 2.5" and msata drives, has 4 usb ports built in wifi/bluetooth, 2 ram slots, HDMI and miniDP out to support dual monitor (will work with proper adapter).

 

Wow. Those things have some good benchmarks. But for that price, I could build the ITX system with SSD included in the price...and I don't have to worry about getting an external enclosure for the optical drive or buy an NAS enclosure for her current HDD.

Yet, those things are sooooo tiny...

Decisions, decisions.

 

Yeah, for the price you can usually beat them building something a bit larger, but they are impressive for the size. I didn't look around for a good deal or even the most valuable system, I just posted the first one I saw that actually met your requirements, more as a FYI.

 

How's this case?
http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mini-itx-elite-series/elite110/

Would it meet your requirements?

 

Wow. I really like that Cooler Master.

But in talking with the killer of macbooks, she and I agree her mom can't go without the optical drive. She uses it quite frequently. Burns a lot of CDs, so I don't feel good about putting it in an external enclosure, even if I were to glue that enclosure to the top of a case...

 

I have a soft spot for the Bitfenix Prodigy cases which comes in both Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX form factors, reminds me of a shrinked up Power Mac.

They look cute, comes in different colors and styles yet the things you can pack in there is insane (SLI setups is doable). Oh and you can integrate a desktop DVD drive in there as well if you wish.

This is how it will roughly look when on the desk with a monitor, just not sure if it a tad too big for your requirements though?



Oh and I agree the Gigabyte BRIX is really tiny, my sister has one and she loves it.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, Hearstie.

The optical drive is a must have for this system. I just don't trust slot loading drives, and a notebook tray loading dive she'd probably break.

I do like those little BRIX boxes, but I worry about how to make sure she keeps access to her files.

 

I have a mini ITX case called the Obsidian 250D. It has space for an optical Drive, plenty of USB ports if you get the right motherboard, excellent cooling complete with magnetic and removable dust filters underneath the power supply. The case is great but expensive.

If I was going for a gift, I wouldn't hesitate. Check out a review here.

 

I think that Obsidian 250D case will be the winner when the time comes. I has enough room with the miniITX to get some good airflow...

 

You are going to love that case, everyone says it is a lot easier to build with too. You will wonder how you did without dust filters after seeing how useful those are too.

It feels like a more complete system with the full sized DVD drive. I highly recommend the Asus motherboards similar to the one I use in my sig. That's a gaming one so you will no doubt be going for a different one.

This motherboard for example is a very good price and has everything you need. It was one of the 3 build options for my rig. I got mine custom built from Pcspecialist (yes I'm lazy). I don't think it has built in Wifi, you would need to add the card to it I think.