Thinking about going down the Micro ATX Route.

[t_aitch]

Im not saying that ive totally lost interest in Enthusiast Computing, but im starting to get annoyed with my big water cooled rig. The endless rattles, the size of the mofo, and the changing of water every now and then, is starting to bore me a little.

Dont get me wrong, i still love tinkering and overclocking, but i dont think i want to stay on the h2o anymore, and while im at it, i dont see why i should keep this massive case of mine (v2000b).

So now im considering downsizing to a uATX form factor, and get a smaller case, like a v300 or a Silverstone Sugo.

I still love to play games, however, and enjoy playing media from my computer and other things. But will the form factor decrease effect this in anyway at all, performance wise? I still wish to oc my 4400+, but obviously im going to have to ditch the DFI board, and go for something smaller, but hopefully ill be able to get something that can perform (i realise not as much as the DFI though)

Any help would be great, thanks guys.

 

[squiffy]

I had similar feelings too, what with onboard sound, lan and even graphics you don't need a full size ATX motherboard anymore. A MATX provides enough slots for a decent soundcard and a PCI-E graphics card.

The biggest problem with MATX boards is space around the CPU, you're limited with stock or something not much bigger. So you won't be able to fit the larger CPU HSF.

I have a Silverstone TJ-08, it's a MATX tower, but it still has plenty of room (although HD fitting and cooling could be better) around the PCI/PCI-E slots and CPU area, unlike Q-Pack and the Sugo.

You'll need to look at DFI for overclocking, my Asus MATX is a lousy overclocker, but that doesn't bother me.

 

[Christo]

I am just moving over to a Sugo from a standard tower setup, and there is very little difference between the 2 really. Especially as the Sugo is large enough to fit even 3 Hard drives, any graphics card (maybe with some modding if the card is huge) and Easily cool a +4400 and indeed overclock like a standard motherboard.

Although be warned the Sugo isnt actually that small, yes its smaller than a standard case but not as small as a Shuttle.

It might be a good idea to have a look in the SFF forum, there is a lot of info on this in there.

 

[t_aitch]

Thanks a lot for the info Chrisp, whats the hard drive enclosures like on the sugo? As im going to be wacking 2 x raptors in there.

 

[Christo]

No probs.

Pretty much the same as a standard ATX, they will get hotter in a more enclosed space like the Sugo however they have added space to fix a fan that blows directly over the HD's.