Positives and negatives to ITX?

or you could make the storage external (with a NAS)

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If you want external stuff then it doesn’t matter. Get any case.

But if you’re going to clutter your workspace with a billion external devices and enclosures why even bother getting a small PC in the first place? You’re not saving any room

Tbh even the savings of miniITX out side of extreme almost non usable cases is minimal

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I’d really rather not. As stated, I don’t have space. So much in fact I literally have an ethernet out my window and down the side of the house to the router below me lol.

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Find the NASferatu video, I believe that used the Node 304. Not the smallest case in the world, but it can fit 6x 3.5" drives.

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My NAS is in a node 304. It’s a good case for it for sure

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My use case is stacking machines that I build on top of each other, the max being 3 cases total. So for that to be in one spot on a table or on the floor is major A+ for me.

It shall be considered highly then.

If my workhorse wasn’t ATX I’d be using a Node 304 for sure. But I just get to try and mod a Node 605 or S340 instead.

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I see…

Well I’m leaving this thread now. Bye

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Enjoy.

May I ask a question: Do you have no space anywhere or no space on your desk? I once had my PC in the neighbouring room and had USB, Ethernet and HDMI routed through the wall. worked great!

Hang on a moment I have a picture.

Right so that mac pro is my machine currently. I need the dresser its currently on out of the room and there will be space for a .8 meter square table there. Space is limited enough there that I actually have a second desk off to the left of that image that houses my 2 dev machines.

Optimally those will be on another desk, but at my main desk pictured, the space is used for MANY MANY things. That eMac is a testbed for linux ports I make, the amiga is used for data recovery work that I am doing right now, and I have a few consoles that are going to get shoved under those monitors.

I’m probably going to sell that mac pro, or at least an older one I have, for space reasons. But at the moment I am dealing only with that space and in near-future will be that desk with a .8 meter squared space directly left. There will be even less room soon.

I got rid of my bed and sleep on a folding cot for more workspace.

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Well, theres your problem: You clearly can get rid of the two Macs :wink:

Edit: I think you need a shelf and a KVM switch.

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Mitx is just a pain in the ass to build in, if you really want a small footprint you’re limited on number of storage devices as well as gpu length (a real problem for older cards)

I think youd be better served with some clever rearranging and a smaller atx tower or matx if you’re one of those weirdos

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mATX isn’t off the table, I’m just thinking as outside the box as possible, so to say.

Stackable cases friend.

And I’ve been looking at KVM’s recently. That absolutely the route I am going.

Some itx boards beat this by having a slot on the back of the board as well as the front. Not the most elegant solution, but it’s a solution and it works.

As for OP’s question, It’s already been mentioned.

Pro’s are the small size.

Con’s are… the small size.

If you just need a simple system for gaming, or htpc, or workstation, or literally anything that doesn’t need an additional pcie card or extreme amounts of RAM it’s a great way to go. If you’re someone who takes advantage of all the pcie lanes and/or is hitting the cpu’s ram limit with a workstation, then look elsewhere. I could be wrong on the ram front since I’ve not looked at itx boards in a while, but last I knew they didn’t have ones with 8 ram slots.

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I at most need 48GB of ram at a time. Last memory serves that 64GB is the current standard lol.

I was going to get an AIO cooler for this machine. Any cases that support a 240MM? If not a 120 will do fine too I guess. And if not an AIO I can work something else out as well.

With that, replacing the fans with those crazy 110 CFM 120mm fans from scythe.

Like with most things, the pros and cons vary depending on what you are building it for, and what nifty Mobo you get to satisfy the needs of the build.

So, it all boils down to these two points.

Pro: It’s Small
Con: It’s Small

Some manufacturers have great success building machines that fit the form factor, yet pack a serious punch. But again, depends on the use case. Asrock has a really great NAS board, but otherwise the board isn’t that impressive.

The inverse could be said about an EATX board.

Without reading everything, is there a specific use case you are looking into?

There are some nifty cases that are really small, but won’t be able to fit a bunch of storage in them.
Others are closer to 11L in volume, which will be much larger, but will give you more options.

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Pros:
Small

Cons:
Small

*Edit
@DeusQain beat me to it!

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