Positives and negatives to ITX?

then why are you asking about itx and not atx mid or full towers

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… because they’re too fucking big?

I’m after vertical space for many machines, not vertical space for one machine. ATM I’m starting with one, so my current constraints are just to that.

Stack like 3 of these things?

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ITX main benefits is its size unfortunately this has been compromised lately by the recent trend in case design that made itx cases the size of freaking mid tower atx cases …

so unless you you can find the older actually tiny itx cases there is no benefit anymore.

and your better served with decent matx mother board and a space saving case .

with that said and a lil extra cash to experiment with you may be able to build your own custom all in one with certain special itx cases but they all seem limiting in some form or fashion .

basically itx is something i stay away from unless a decent appropriately sized itx case is on the market.

Yep,

There are plenty of new itx cases that are actually small


http://www.sliger.com/products/cases/

You just cant really go main stream products for it to still be small (there are exceptions)

if we had more selection and variety like that a4 i probably would have reconsidered my statement . the selection is still lackluster compared to what it was a few years ago …

but its good to see the these alternatives albeit pricey , still its nice to know there is more options.

What cases are those?

Also there is more then Dan on that SFF site there is 2 others

off the top of my head is the xigmatech eris

was nice 7" x 8" case that could hold a decent pc inside of it

of course the silverstone sugo but i found those rather limiting

lian li had a nice cube case still a lil big but considering what it could hold it was a nice compromise for a small itx build

if i find the make of the lian li i post it here

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Xigmatek Eris EN6305
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SilverStone SG13B-Q (Currently Available) ($45)

Honestly there are plenty of options now, just there are bloated ones you see in the list as well

nice google work their, while that sg13 is compact still lacks a optical bay.

so yeah there are options, its in my opinion from my experience that the choices have diminished and the time it takes to find a what i consider decent itx case has become more of chore then what it used to.

the 7x8 small itx with optical, expansion, and atx power has become a rare breed

of course you can compromise further but in my personal war against usb device clutter i try and get as much storage and accessories i can into the case and keep it compact when that need arises.

Get an external most people dont need it (I have an external not a big deal)

ODD is dead sadly and if its a HTPC there are plenty of nice cases for that with 1 ODD slot

but why ?? when there is was the ability to do it in the case… i mean small form factor should be that small and less clutter. i know its trival this day and age but it irks me to have a an itx build with external devices hanging off of it just seems shoddy .

Because no one used optical media for anything but media for the most part and most people are happy to just use a streaming service. People dont want physical media except the people who want to make backups. The only reason Blu-Ray etc exist is there are still media players. Windows does not play them so people dont bother.

if that was true, but i still have people trying to view there medical images documents family tress etc etc etc on their optical-less desktops… despite the industry attempt to eliminate its still needed.

Most prefabs have ODD, if you are buidling custom get an Ncase M1 has a slim top loader option, there are options but the vast majority do not need it. There are options for ODD on COTS stuff
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I know they’re expensive, but the L1 KVM is really top notch.

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I built a mITX Ryzen system earlier this year and no mITX motherboards could handle more than 32GB of RAM at the time. That might be a deal-breaker for you — unless things have changed.

Contrary to what some others have said, power delivery for an 8-core 2700X-ish CPU is adequate on B450 and better motherboards. The only people that need better power are overclockers. Since you’ve previously said “I’m not really after OC” that means you would be fine if you went down that route.

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I’ve built and owned 3 ITX systems over the past 5 years or so. If you need a case that can hold big GPU’s and proper PSU’s there are virtually no pro’s to ITX. You might just find a case you like the look of.

Most ITX cases of this type can support 2 x 3.5" drives and 2 x 2.5" drives which is usually more than adeqaute. The last case of these 3 pictures was unusal and could support 4 x 3.5" disks and 2 x 2.5" disks but cable routing was a PITA (I used it as a NAS for a while).

My current desktop was deliberately built with a Fractal Design Define Mini (MATX). It’s footprint is smaller than the three above cases and it is narrower. It’s perhaps a CM or two taller. Mobo MATX mobo choices might be limited although an ITX board will fit. I’ve just found it better for my needs, although it does look more boring compared to some of my old ITX builds.

Shame that there are no Mac Mini’s that support 64GB Ram and can be had for cheap… it sounds like one of those would be perfect for (some) of your needs.

Your desk is a reminder why emulation is a good thing :smiley:

Ugh that would be horrible.

Too bad I need the actual hardware for the work I do :stuck_out_tongue:

This might sound weird Aremis, but follow me on it ok?

What are the height restraints? Because you could just buy some mATX cases, with mATX machines, and lay them on their sides, and stack them that way?

I used to run two servers like that. I didn’t have much space vertically with two mid towers, but was able to shrink their size by laying them on their sides. I eventually got to 3 cases and it was just as tall as one mid tower.

Then again I could just be wrong. But thought that idea might help.

Or you could look into older desktop cases. That lay flat, and use those. You’d have to mod them, but some of them are not to tall, and not to wide. That may work too.

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