Curse

Lourens · Oct 05, 2010, 12:41 PM // 12:41

Hey guys im thinking of building myself a micro atx system anything I need to pay attention to ??
And the newest graphical cards do they fit into a micro atx case??

Thanks A lot !

Elder III · Oct 05, 2010, 01:33 PM // 13:33

Well, the smaller ones do fit, but don't expect to fit a GTX 480 in there.

What do you want to use the system for? ie: how powerful does it need to be? & What's your budget?

Lourens · Oct 05, 2010, 02:20 PM // 14:20

Id like to get the performance of a gtx470/hd5870 and an amd hexacore ... Im planning on using it for lanpartys where we play cod mw 2,starcraft wings of liberty and battlefield bad company 2 and future games

Quaker · Oct 05, 2010, 02:57 PM // 14:57

mATX motherboards are only a little smaller than full ATX and they can fit into full size ATX cases.
mATX cases cover a broad range of sizes. On the larger end (mini tower) they are only slightly shorter than full ATX cases and can take all the same components as full ATX. On the smaller end (SFF - small form factor), there can be, depending upon the particular case, a few things to keep in mind:

1. some SFF cases have non-standard power supplies which can't be easily upgraded, so make sure that the PS is hefty enough to run the components you want to use. It may be hard to find an SFF case with a non-standard PS that can handle a GTX470 or HD5870.

2. some SFF cases can only handle low-profile cards. That can limit your choice of video card. Even some cases that can take full height cards, are resticted in the length of cards they can accept. It's unlikely that a GTX470 or HD5870 would fit in any SFF case.

3. Cooling. Maintaing proper air-flow is important. Many SFF (and regular) cases come with fans and shrouds specifically designed to assist the airflow in the particular case. Make sure that cables and other things don't block vents, etc.

4. In some SFF situations there can be unexpected component alignment problems. Several times I've had cases where some component has had problems properly fitting over the front panel connector block, once the connections are made. I've also had optical drives hitting against motherboard components. It's difficult to know in advance what sort of these problems may come up.

Genrally speaking, if you want to go to the smaller/SFF end of the size spectrum, you will have to compromise on performance. You may want to stick to the larger, "mini-tower" end of the size range to fit the components you want.

Btw, many of the latest SFF cases are designed to take only even smaller ITX motherboards. These systems are generally on the low-power end of things.

Lourens · Oct 06, 2010, 06:17 AM // 06:17

What about something like this ?

Elder III · Oct 06, 2010, 12:43 PM // 12:43

hmmm, is that a lanbox/shuttle? A link to some specs would be helpful.

Actually, do you have a size limit? If you have a particular spot on a shelf or something then we would need to know the dimensions of the space available. Another thing, if this is for LAN Parties away from your own house, I'd highly suggest finding a case with a handle on it, much easier to carry with one hand whilst lugging the other goodies with the other....

Lourens · Oct 06, 2010, 04:45 PM // 16:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elder III

hmmm, is that a lanbox/shuttle? A link to some specs would be helpful.

Actually, do you have a size limit? If you have a particular spot on a shelf or something then we would need to know the dimensions of the space available. Another thing, if this is for LAN Parties away from your own house, I'd highly suggest finding a case with a handle on it, much easier to carry with one hand whilst lugging the other goodies with the other....

Haha ok .. maybe a laptop would be cheaper? what you think of that new msi gt663? yes im gonna use it for lanpartys

Elder III · Oct 06, 2010, 08:47 PM // 20:47

I think you can build a shuttle box for far less than $2500 and perform better without getting as hot as a barbecue pit either.

cebalrai · Oct 08, 2010, 09:20 AM // 09:20

I went mini-ITX for my itty-bitty AMD desktop. It makes M-ATX look like a whale.

- ASUS AM3 mobo with full overclocking options
- Athlon X3 @ 3.0 ghz, 4th core unlocked and OC'd to 3.7 ghz
- 4 GB Kingston Hyper-X DDR 1333
- Radeon HD 5770
- Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid HDD
- Windows 7 64-bit

The tiny Lian-Li case fits a full-sized GPU and PSU.

Lourens · Oct 15, 2010, 06:02 AM // 06:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

I went mini-ITX for my itty-bitty AMD desktop. It makes M-ATX look like a whale.

- ASUS AM3 mobo with full overclocking options
- Athlon X3 @ 3.0 ghz, 4th core unlocked and OC'd to 3.7 ghz
- 4 GB Kingston Hyper-X DDR 1333
- Radeon HD 5770
- Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid HDD
- Windows 7 64-bit

The tiny Lian-Li case fits a full-sized GPU and PSU.

Very nice and I think its AM3 so you can even put a x6 AMD in it sweet