Going ITX...

Biz.Kid09 · 10 Jan 2011 at 20:13

Guys, was looking at getting Intel Sandybridge to get ITX. Now i am just thinking to build a ITX with my current setup.
Now i have a Phenom II 720 which is 95w. The motherboard im looking at is J&W Minix 785G-SP128MB which supports a max of 65w. Is it at all possible to put my cpu to this? or is not possible?

JonJ678 · 10 Jan 2011 at 20:46

I asked much the same question a little while back. The consensus was that it was a bad plan. I'm still convinced it'll work though. The 65W limit is related to the power circuitry, so if you put a 95W chip in and stress test it, the board will probably die. If you put a 95W chip in, undervolt and possibly underclock it, then stress test then it should be fine.

I've got a 7750BE, and spent a while looking at exactly that motherboard with much the same plan in mind. Haven't gone through with it yet though, so don't have any first hand experience to offer I'm afraid.

edit: The 95W refers to worst case thermal envelope, just in case you were unaware of this. So it's a crude measure at best.

Biz.Kid09 · 10 Jan 2011 at 20:51

Thanks Jon, well im looking now at just going for a small micro atx case as going itx might be more trouble than its worth. Thanks for the info though.

JonJ678 · 10 Jan 2011 at 21:01

Every few months I come very close to changing to mini-itx, and then conclude that it isn't worth it. m-atx on the other hand is excellent, my amd chip is currently in a m-atx system. It's the power supply which gets me, either you have to fit an atx supply in, which makes the case big anyway, or you have to put your faith in a pico psu / free-with-case supply. I can't bring myself to do the latter, so will probably be with m-atx for a long time yet.

Marine-RX179 · 10 Jan 2011 at 21:07

I've been playing with the idea of planning a Mini-ITX build...but after looking at the parts, I really don't think it's worth it as you'd have to 'pay more for less' for most things...motherboard, mini-ITX case, slim optical drive (less than half the speed of standard drives, but cost twice as much), 2.5" HDD (£50+ for a 500GB HDD!)...all of these together can easily cost £100 more in total than the bigger counterparts build

Biz.Kid09 · 10 Jan 2011 at 21:08

Well i am on Micro Atx at the moment but my pc is too loud

, I think i may just spend my money on a ssd and a new case to refrain me for a few months.

JonJ678 · 10 Jan 2011 at 21:11

Quiet and m-itx is probably harder to achieve than quiet and m-atx, unless the computer's low power enough for a pico. Sandy bridge could be, but amd2+ probably wont.

Marine makes a good point too.

edit: The Silverstone ST45SF looks like a solution to my psu concerns. Review.