mini ITX recommendations (migrating i7 system into one)?

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

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Hi all I currently have a Lian Li midi tower case and ive been thinking for a while about down sizing my rig into a small form factor. 1) purely to save space and 2) for more ease of portability.

My rig at the moment houses....

Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
i7-2700k
16GB DDR3 RAM (4x4GB RAM)
256GB SSD
1TB HDD
768MB GeForce GTX460

Is it going to possible to shufty all this (bar the mobo, ofc) into a very small mini ITX case and still get the most out of everything? I'm aware that i'll need to purchase some different RAM if I want to keep with 16GB as most ITX boards only have 2 slots (and potentially SODIMM slots at that).

Are the mini ITX motherboards just as good as their full size ATX counterparts? What are the tradeoffs?

Is this doable? Anyone any recommendations for boards/cases (pref with a PSU?)

Thanks!
 
Tradeoffs... No sli, Less HDD racks and ssd mounts, No expandability, Heat and limited cooling capabilities. Looked at something like a Prodigy M or the Aerocool dead silence? Or are you hoping to go even smaller?
 
Ive not really looked into many cases but I was hoping for something Shuttle sized?

I don't really want to expand my hardware really, i'm happy with what I've got, I won't need SLi or more HDD's, the GFX suits me fine as I do very little gaming so it can all stay the same pretty much. I don't do any overclocking or water cooling its just used as is! It's more of a studio music PC!

My main concern is would I be able to move all my gear (CPU, RAM, GPU, SSD and HDD) into an ITX mobo and case? Id probably be looking at something no bigger than the Prodigy Mini-ITX cases - hopefully something smaller if poss.
 
Tradeoffs compared to an ATX system are as you'd expect: less space for components. No SLI, no soundcard, GPU and CPU cooler size limitations. You can get some good ITX motherboards these days, though, so you won't be giving up much in terms of performance.

Some compact cases (i.e. smaller than a Prodigy):

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA Hadron Air Mini-ITX Case - including 500W Gold Power Supply - Black £179.99
1 x Silverstone Fortress FT03 Mini Case - Silver (SST-FT03S) £99.95
1 x Cooler Master Elite 130 RC-130-KKN1 Mini ITX Case - Black £45.95
Total : £335.48 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Just seen the Silverstone SG06 cases which look hella' nifty too. I take it with these though i'd also have to buy a new PSU as my standard sized one will be too big.

They're even smaller than the Coolermaster though! Hmmmmm, decisions decisions! Don't know what to go for. The Coolermaster will fit everything I have in it from looking at it with ease, CPU + HSF, PSU, DVDRW, SSD and HDD, however the Coolermaster is even smaller further still and will require me to buy a different PSU however it should take all of my other components the same as the Coolermaster.

Do I want to spend the extra on a different PSU and have a slightly smaller case or do I save a bit of dollar and go for the Coolermaster?
 
The Cooler Master is also a fair bit cheaper - that would win it my vote over the Sugo. It would be a moot point, though, as I'd be unable to resist the charm of that adorable FT03 Mini. So cute.
 
Worth checking the length or GTX460 and dimensions of CPU cooler as that will be deciding factors on size of case.

Something to bear in mind with a mini-ITX is you normally have case closer to you, on the desk for convenience of using USB ports, etc. So you will notice noisy components more readily.

I personally like the SG05/06 range and use that as a benchmark when comparing other cases. Due to the positive filtered pressure (although you need to open case to get front off to clean filter), and overall smaller dimensions compared to other brands. Still haven't bought one for myself though.
 
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