High end gaming matx builds possible?

bakes0310 · 2 Mar 2016 at 12:49

Sort of playing round with the idea of a smaller sized PC but still have a very high specs inside to play games at max settings. I've never built a matx build before and have only looked at it recently. I've looked at the specs of some rigs on here people have built, sure some have some very nice CPUs but then they have mid range cards like nanos and 970 cards. I would like to put my titan black's (both if possible) in until pascal comes out.

So my general question is can you have a powerful matx build?
Just playing with the idea at the moment but say if I had a budget of £1500 I need everything except GPU, storage, monitor and peripherals, what would I be looking at?

wildman · 2 Mar 2016 at 12:52

I'll be watching this as I really need to downsize without losing power. Having a look around I see you can get mATX X99 platforms, the only issue I could see is depending on how small a mATX case you go for you might not be able to get a GPU with real grunt to physically fit or if it does fit the heat will melt your face off when its at full load ?

bakes0310 · 2 Mar 2016 at 12:56

Would like:
To have corsair h100 or something similar
Case that's smaller than my corsair 950d haha..easy
Be able to fit any graphics card and sli options
Max games out at 3440x1440 and room for me to upgrade to one of these nice 100hz Asus rog wide screen monitors later on.

bakes0310 · 2 Mar 2016 at 13:09

I also own a super flower 1000w power supply I wonder if that can fit in a matx build.

wildman · 2 Mar 2016 at 13:15

bakes0310 said:
I also own a super flower 1000w power supply I wonder if that can fit in a matx build.

Have you thought of using a Parvum mATX case. I think even though they are mATX format they look as though they could take at least 1 x 240mm rad + fans up top and maybe 1 in the front. I don't have any experience with their cases so I could be mistaken.

bakes0310 · 2 Mar 2016 at 13:42

wildman said:
Have you thought of using a Parvum mATX case. I think even though they are mATX format they look as though they could take at least 1 x 240mm rad + fans up top and maybe 1 in the front. I don't have any experience with their cases so I could be mistaken.

Bit too complex and too diy for me. I like the look of the nzxt manta, that seems to meet my requirements, has anyone got one?

bakes0310 · 2 Mar 2016 at 13:52

Think I'm getting myself confused between micro itx and matx. What's the difference and which one should I go for with my requirements?

pastymuncher · 2 Mar 2016 at 14:10

ITX will only give you a single pci-e slot so you can have a gpu and nothing else. I shall be downsizing on my next build but ITX is far too restrictive for me so will be going m-ATX. Another thing that really bugs me with most ITX builds I see on here is what is the point of going for a tiny motherboard with it's associated restrictions and then sticking it in a huge case? The NZXT Manta is bigger than my midi tower case which has a full size ATX board in it!!

bakes0310 · 2 Mar 2016 at 14:13

Thanks for the reply matx it is. And I do like that case very much.

pastymuncher · 2 Mar 2016 at 14:15

It's ITX not m-ATX.

bakes0310 · 2 Mar 2016 at 14:19

pastymuncher said:
It's ITX not m-ATX.

You said I should go matx rather than itx for my needs though?

pastymuncher · 2 Mar 2016 at 15:10

The Manta is only for ITX builds. I was commenting on the ridiculous size of the thing.

bakes0310 · 2 Mar 2016 at 15:23

Ahh OK. I quite like the look of cube cases, but am open to suggestions. Matx case recommendations please.

V4NT0M · 2 Mar 2016 at 17:03

How small are you looking to go? Have a look at the fractal design matx cases, I have built a few and they're small but roomy inside.

ExoMale · 3 Mar 2016 at 19:06

depending on model of board, you can get high end gaming boards in matx form

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming-5 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £139.99
1 x Team Group Elite 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (TPKD432GM2400HC16Q= £129.95
1 x Anidees AI-07MBW Micro-ATX Cube Case - Black Window= £70.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova T2 1600W '80 Plus Titanium' Modular Power Supply= £339.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)= £79.99
1 x LG UH12NS30 12x Blu-Ray Combo Drive SATA (OEM)= £37.99
1 x Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £299.99

Total: £1,111.15
(includes shipping: £12.30)

can get matx boards for £100, but not sure if they gaming type and i know the titans are powerful, but i just threw 1600w in there in case.