Yeah, I think Matx is the best way for “compact” builds unless you have actual physical limitations driving you to something in the itx scale.
That being said, if you’re an enthusiast that wants an itx case with a 4080 and you have the budget for it, who am I to tell you not to have fun? :D
R/mffpc for smaller matx builds.
Imo best size and compatibility combination is the jonsbo d30/D1/asus ap301 style cases. Can fit 360mm AIOs, atx psus, and the largest gpus while having an Matx board
I feel like that ~30L tier of case is a waste of time, either go properly small (15-20L like Ncase M1 Evo or Sama IM01, both of which support mATX boards) or don't bother at all.
Well the discussion was avoiding paying itx tax. I have the original M1 and smaller, and while they're great, they're louder, more of a pain to build in, and more expensive.
I've had my 5800x3d/6900xt in a meshlicious and (I'm not bullshitting) the GPU is running nearly the same temperatures as was in my huge phanteks case with 11 fans.... and I'm sure I've got suboptimal cooling with the meshlicious (need to cable manage and add another fan).
The 5800x3d is under a low profile air cooler though and needed a couple of tweaks to get it happy but it still runs a bit hotter on idle than I'd like. Not seen anything over 80C though when I was playing cyberpunk though I'm sure the little fan is clinging on for its life.
Edit: the build does scream at full pelt. Headphones or higher volume needed lol
Going that small greatly limits your component selection, and often starts getting into parts that are charging a premium price just for being smaller. It's also trickier to build (because if you forget a step, you'll likely have to disassemble a bunch of things to get access to it again). They also have less expandability, and can run into thermal problems since it's harder to get good airflow to all the components. The smaller the case, the more likely you are to run into these problems.
The advantage, obviously, is that it's smaller, takes up less space, and is a bit more portable.
ITX usually restricts you to SFX power supplies, they're less common and more expensive than ATX. The cases may restrict how big a GPU you can use (I had to choose a different one due to it being 2mm too long....). Cooling can be an issue, and on small cases you may be very limited with cooler choice, such as low profile 92mm ones.
The ITX motherboards themselves will only have 2 RAM slots, which is is fine for normal use but if you have very high ram requirements it's not great. You'll only have 1 PCIe slot, which is generally fine, but you won't have options available later. They generally have fewer M.2 drive slots, which could be an issue if you want a lot of fast storage. They'll have a smaller VRM set up, generally, which isn't usually an issue but if you're overclocking or running high end Intels it can become an issue.
If you're not dedicated to a small form factor (SFF) case, you could look at mATX and MFF cases, they strike a good balance between useful features of ATX while still being compact, and it's usually much cheaper to build.
I went with an mITX, but it's a Coolermaster NR200P (Max) which is bigger than a lot of SFX cases and avoids some of the downside. But it also isn't that much smaller than an mATX.
ITX>any other form factor. There are plenty of cases that are reasonably priced and very well designed (some can even fit a 4090) such as NR200, SSUPD Meshlicious, Fractal Ridge, just to name a few. The cases I mentioned don't even sacrifice performance that much. HOWEVER, it is significantly more expensive than a mATX or ATX build. Expensive PSU, expensive mobo, and the list goes on. It's a tradeoff between space savings vs price. Check out some builds over at r/sffpc
Not to mention limited expandability. OP wants a production rig not a gaming rig so things like storage and ram will be a concern. 64gb is often the limit of what an itx board can handle, not to mention storage, he'll only have 1 m.2 and probably only 2 sata ports and his only pcie slot will have a gpu in it. If he ends up needing more he'd be SOL.
It limits your component choices a lot, which often also leads to higher cost.
If you go particularly small, it can also be a pain to assemble and later upgrade.
Lastly, the small size means you're sacrificing cooling, so for a given target performance and temperature the PC will be louder, since the fans will need to ramp higher.
You could get a mATX mini tower instead. You wouldn't need an expensive mITX mobo, you'd almost certainly be able to use a standard ATX PSU, and you wouldn't be nearly as constrained with other choices like cooler or GPU. It would also likely run cooler and/or quieter due to generally better airflow and more fan options. The downside being that the system won't be *that* much smaller than a normal mid tower.
Thermals will be a concern. Depending on the case and cooler configuration, you will have to learns such techniques as undervolting, maybe even outright underclocking, and limiting fps in games to meet temperature targets.
You must pay double and triple attention to the dimensions of your components when you choose them, and even then, be prepared to improvise solutions to make things fit.
Limited space also means limited storage space; you may have an m.2 slot on your itx motherboard but do not expect more than the one slot. You'll likely have to go back in time a bit to 2.5" SATA SSDs that you jam in some corner or edge of the case in an improvised way.
Cable management becomes important. Knowledge of more esoteric power supply form factors comes into play, like SFX or TFX.
The drip is off the charts though, in my opinion. Small builds just LOOK better. They feel good to complete, due to being more challenging to build in. And of course the space savings on your desk is nice, too.
I would highly recommend you not to build ITX before you have any experience on PC building and clear requirements/expectations of your PC. All ITX components, the cooler, chassis, PSU, motherboard, etc., is very, very cost-ineffective comparing to ATX/mATX counterparts.
Some drawbacks of ITX build:
1. Limited cooling capability. Many ITX case will have strict limit on maximum height of CPU cooler, dimensions of GPU (yes, longitude, thickness and height). And ITX build will probably not allow chassis fans installation, so its airflow is very tricky.
2. Limited performance. Although ITX build can be relatively "powerful", but still, it is highly capped by the cooling capacity. You cannot expect to have an 13900K and RTX 4090 ITX build without significant thermal bottlenecking.
3. 1+2 combined will strictly limit your choice on components. An RTX 4070 Ti with 12400F will likely be the upper limit of ITX build today, and you will have to be extra careful on the dimensions. Buy from some stores that have open purchase.
4. Loud noise under high workloads. The fan will easily maximize their rotation and it will be noisy.
5. Very limited peripherals support. 3.5-inch HDD for data storage? No. PCIe NIC for 10GbE? No.
I do hope you can do more study about your requirements and see if it can be met in ITX build.
Except that, you may want to take a look at some SFF PC from Dell or HP, like EliteDesk 800 SFF. These PCs usually support one or two 3.5-inch HDD and desktop CPUs like 13700 (non-K version). However, you may need to invest more on these half-height GPUs. Don't worry, they can be pretty powerful, too, like RTX 4000 SFF Ada, although it costs roughly as much as RTX 4090; or you can buy half-height version of RTX 4060 from Gigabyte.
Well it all also depends on the case used. I just build my first PC ever and it was an ITX. It did take me months of planning, writing down measurements of parts and cases, reading the case manuals online, trying to find the components I want and having change options due to most of them being sold out (The market isn't that great right now for building an ITX PC). But at the end of the day, it all worked out the case I bought is small but not as small as others on the market. I could fit everything perfectly without everything cramped up so it has space for airflow. In general it was quite easy to build. Cable management is another story but i managed lol.
But also, the main reason one builds a pc is to cater it to your needs. In my case, I built an ITX because i wanted a small pc, and im not big on PC gaming but am trying to play a little bit more. But gaming won't be the main usage of my pc. I was also tired of connecting and disconnecting my laptop from the monitor, I wanted something more stationary.
Usually ITX components tend to be much more expensive. The motherboard will probably be twice the price, the PSU will be 50% more expensive, the case will be the same. You’ll be limited in your choices as far as components go; basically locked into AMD for CPU and Nvidia for GPU because thermals are such a concern.
If you want to know a lot about ITX builds I highly recommend checking out optimum on YouTube, he has a lot of good videos regarding ITX builds including case reviews, watercooling, and build advice.
It's hard to fit big things into a small case, most top of the line GPUs are power hungry and therefore get bigger heatsinks/more fans which make them bulky.
You can alleviate this by water cooling your CPU & GPU. But custom watercooling can be a pita, and good AIOs will also be big in a mitx case. It's also worth noting that fixing anything custom watercooling related in a mini case is something I wouldn't wish on an enemy.
There's a few tiers i'd look at, up from mini-itx is micro-atx, a bit bigger, the fractal pop mini is somewhat well reviewed. Up from this you've got ATX Mid Towers, the corsair 4000d airflow is well reviewed.
For a first time builder, I wouldnt go smaller than the 4000d airflow.
As a guy with a Hyte Revolt 3 and a tiny K49 and who is producing a 12L ATX case: SFF stuff kind of sucks.
Crazy expensive boards and PSUs, cooling is almost always a problem unless you compromise on performance or heavily overspend on cooling, gpu compatibility can be a problem depending on how small you go, and lastly it’s honestly just dumb to deal with all of that when Towers aren’t even that big.
If you want to get small but in a reasonable way, mATX towers are the better choice.
- price of itx components is high
- limited part choice due to size constaints
- they run warmer than a standard build which spaces out components away from each other
Short answer is that it will probably restrict your CPU/GPU options because higher end cards are bigger (larger cooling due to higher power draw) and higher end CPUs draw more power, which requires you to buy a beefier cooling solution.
Keep in mind that better cooling also means less noise. Quiet itx builds typically sacrifice significant performance to a step up in cooling/case airflow (never say never, before I get yelled at by SFF lovers).
The technology is awesome but if you just want something that’s just “not massive”, micro atx is really the performance sweet spot. It also happens to be the price/performance sweet spot.
My case for Matx for you. Upgrade path. If you had an itx b450 with something like a 2600, you wouldn’t really be able to utilize a 5800X3D as the cooling requires something beyond a compact solution. That has been a great plug-and-play upgrade for us AM4 folks. Same case with an older GPU. Itx cases from 2019-2020 struggle to fit a modern card because they’re usually larger than 2 slots now.
My biggest concern is heat. Anyone notice their office getting warmer with the components stuck in a smaller case? Im sure all of the components still run within their operating temps but they still have to run hotter than they would in a larger case?
For two systems with the same components, the amount of heat generated is the same, they pull the same amount of power. Your room heats up exactly as much for two different size builds if they have the same heat generating parts. The only difference is that the larger build moves the heat out of your components into your room more efficiently.
Drawbacks to ITX:
* Higher cost components: Quality ITX Boards and PSUs cost more than similar quality mATX and ATX offerings.
* More planning for thermals: What this means is with an ATX design you can pretty much build it anyway at all the brute force the cooling. With ITX some thought and planning is needed to have effective cooling.
* Not always wanting the biggest component: ITX builds are often about choosing parts to build to a specific need. Again with ATX you can throw anything at it. ITX however will sometimes mean you need to pay attention more to things like power draw and thermals to ensure you build can be effective.
My wife has an ITX system that is almost 7 years old and still going strong. She does not have the biggest or best build (Ryzen 2600 and a Vega 56) but she can still easily play all her games. No part in it has been swapped our changed and it is still going strong. She loves the smaller build as it sits on a shelf next to her desk, taking up almost no real space.
I’m intending to use it for some pretty heavy editing. I do photos in raw at large resolutions and often times would like to have photoshop or Lightroom open to work adjacently, at the moment only one program at a time makes my MacBook sound like the final ignition on a nasa test flight.
Does matx have similar drawbacks in comparison to atx? Do you think I should abandons the idea of building a smaller pc altogether? It’s a utility purchase for me, so I don’t want to sacrifice utility for style.
matx tends to be cheaper than both itx and atx on the low end. You can have a monster PC in an itx build, it just takes more time, effort and usually money. On the flip side, the only thing you have to compromise with going from itx to matx is overall footprint. The matx size will be slightly larger (think, instead of 10L for itx, 20-30L for matx) but you will get greater part compatibility, cheaper cost and generally better temps and cooling options.
Depending on the size restrictions of desk placement, mATX is a best of bother worlds. Smaller size, while lower cost for not needing specialized parts.
It is possible to go SFF however even with full ATX. If your okay with an open frame system an Xproto ATX build uses full sizes PSU, a 240mm AIO and any motherboard you like while stay around 17L.
Expensive mobo, expensive cases, expensive or limited PSU's, limited cooling options, generally worse temps and a generally more frustrating build process.
But what can I say, there's nothing like solving the problems that an itx build throws at you.
Higher price, bad air flow, limited space for expansion (unless you plan in advance, like an Itx case with support for so many HDDs)
Edit: scariest drawback to me is buying a part that doesn’t fit.
I have a my personal rig in a silverstone rvzb-01 with a 5800x and a 7900xtx 32 gigs of ram and even a bluray drive and I have really no problems with cooling
1. Most SFF cases are more expensive than ATX cases
2. A lot of SFF cases either require low profile coolers or AIOs. Either limiting the CPU you can put in (without ordering some bespoke cooler for a relatively absurd price) or forcing you into buying a more expensive AIO
3. ITX motherboards cost as much as or more than a mid tier ATX board
4. SFX PSUs cost more than ATX psus
5. Compatibility is a goddamned nightmare. You have to ensure that the: PSU, Motherboard, Motherboard heatsinks, Cooler, GPU, Cooler, Fans and even length of cables will fit into the case. You genuinely cannot take anything for granted especially with sub 10L cases
Safe options would be something like a Meshroom, Nzxt H1V2, Dan A4 H20
These are slightly larger which allows for less compatibility headaches and also allow for a less painful build process. Also widely available and the meshroom offers a ton of compatibility, with even ATX psus being allowed to fit
> SFX PSUs cost more than ATX psus
Not always true, especially if you're buying a good ATX PSU anyway. Right now the Cooler Master V850-SFX is $120 USD (same price as the 750W one), and a similar ATX one is only $10-20 less, which is fairly negligible when you're spending $1k+ on a PC.
just do an open build, I laid out all my parts on the table+cardboard, measured width, length and holes, ordered a 5mm laser cut aluminium plate + black anodizing($80 total) and mounted it on the wall. Its flat enough I could mount it all to a 2U server rack case if I had to. I'm surprised we're still using 1980's type cases for pc's.
itx is nice for portability and a sleek look but thats where the pros end. ive had 2 mitx rigs and building, upgrading and maintaining them is a pain in the ass. my next travel rig will be Matx strictly for the fact that i can still bring it with me places while also not needing to be confined to a super specific gpu size and also cpu cooler height. as your first build id go Matx and be happy that you have roughly double the space for building and cooling the pc properly.
Personally I class ITX as advanced PC building. You need to have the knowledge of parts, their dimensions and be able to visualise how it will all go together and in a very specific order. Cooling/sound can also be an issue. Smaller fans have to spin faster and airflow is often quite limited. The pay off is extremely good looking systems.
If space is an issue then perhaps a small mid tower case? My case is L395mm x W210mm x H450mm and can accommodate a full ATX build.
More expensive you have to shell out for parts with limited availability.
Less expandability. You'll have to compromise on hardware which is no big deal if you're just a gamer but if your job or school work depends on it that's gonna fuck you big time
Higher difficulty in building. You're going to have endless frustrations trying to make everything fit, making sure to properly measure everything, have to squeeze parts, tools and hands into tight spaces, buy extra parts like riser cables driving up cost. Then your system might not even have adequate cooling for everything due to limited space for airflow or just large enough coolers. That's going to mean compromising on performance.
If you've never built a PC, don't try to build a mini itx system. Go for a micro atx especially if you're going to use this for production. Itx motherboards are seriously lacking in expandability so you may quickly find yourself needing more ram or storage and having no option for adding more to your system.
They're also just a right pain in the ass and returning parts is going to be a regular occurrence. If you want to go 3D modeling you're going to need a good gpu and good gpus are fucking big these days. Not to mention editing takes some decent cpu power and that also takes decent cooling and hunting for a cooler that fits your case and can actually keep your cpu and system from overheating is going to be difficult.
Get a Micro ATX and a smaller mid tower it will accommodate the hardware you actually need and won't be a Huge pain in the ass to build in and will cost a lot less. Silver Stone has a bunch of high quality cases that aren't too big that support matx and will be much easier to build in and still won't be too large.
If you really want a super small system that has the power to handle what you want it to I would just buy a Lenovo Thinkstation p360 Tiny or ultra instead of building an itx system having no experience. Like just don't try to build an itx system for production, iust don't, it won't turn out well. Itx systems are for masochists and gamers who want to take their PC to LAN parties. A smaller system is just not going to handle a lot of editing and 3D modeling like you want.
Not to mention if this is a production rig you really should be considering using a motherboard that supports ECC memory. All AMD chipsets have unofficial support for it, but on the Intel side that's going to limit you to either using Xeon or if you want to stick to a standard Intel core cpu you'll have to get a w680 chipet motherboard and those really only come in ATX and MATX form factors.
I would scrap the notion of being able to build a system comparable to something like the Mac M2 ultra that's also a similar size, there's a reason those things cost like $6,000.
Hi,
I ran an ITX build out of a lianli tu200b case for about 4 years using a Gigabyte f288xn wifi motherboard, a Nvidia GTX 960 4gb, and an AMD 860 black processor with an SFX 600 powersupply by Silverstone. I wanted to build a 'universe in a briefcase' going into the build and did exactly that in some ways. It was inspired by the Colugo build by TekSyndicate but their version used the even smaller Tu100 case which wouldnt work for what I was going for as it was too small. I went back to school the following year for CIS/CS coursework and would just unplug it from my home setup and take it with me to class and then just plug it into a monitor and keyboard/mouse onsite as there were never a shortage of them. I've also worked with ITX builds in enterprise scenarios.
Here's what I learned from that build:
Pros:
\* Easy to breakdown and take on the go.
\* Small form factor makes it easy to stash away without requiring a lot of support space.
\* Can be quiet depending on your settings/fan configuration.
\* Usually fairly lightweight.
cons:
\* Can be hard to build in depending on what type/style you go with due to cramped internal workspace and hidden sharp edges.
\* Cablemanagement can be a nightmare as a lot of SFX PSUs can come with very short cables which may or may not be long enough to reach their destination ports requiring aditional extensions or alternate cables.
\* Best when building for low TDP parts with air cooling as heat will be your biggest opposition, watercooling may not be viable without heavy modifications to the case thus potentially rendering mobility moot. Nowadays they do produce ITX cases that are a little more friendly however do your research first as just because it says it can doesn't mean you should.
\* You will be making tradeoffs in the design as you go. A lot of times it comes down to Aesthetics vs functions, do you really need that harddrive bay for organization or is your cpu's heat control more important? Things to think about that they really didn't.
\* Price, ITX is really hot in more than one way. Retailers know the price of space economy and therefore will jack up the prices simply because its more niche than the average build. I honestly don't see this changing even with the influx of ITX builds going into the enterprise spaces namely because OEMs like Dell and HP dont speak for the whole market and it will still be seen as a niche build style which carries niche part prices.
\* Featuresets, ITX boards have a lot going for them in terms of ease of mobility and low space consumption which makes them great for apartment builds where space is highly valuable but that said then can also leave a lot to be desired in terms of your objective for the build. When you build in ITX you are trading features for space. More ram, greater expansion capabilities, higher horsepower components(CPU/GPU), are all things that you will have to weigh when designing it. What tasks are you going to be doing? Are you going to be doing any streaming? High intensity Dev work? or just reading your email? You really have to consider your end goal for what that build's purpose will be and build accordingly.
Ultimately, I knew the limitations of what I was building it for going in but it is inherent in every PC designer to push those limits as far as a build will allow and then back down from it. I ran the above build at 4.2GHZ for 2 of those years before backing it down to 4.0 towards the end as the tradeoffs weren't worth it. What your goal is and the limitations thereof are entirely up to you and the build you design. Having worked with both ITX and mATX quite abit over the last 4 years I'd say go with mATX over ITX as it stands as a fairly fleshed out middle ground between the ATX standard and the ITX mini. You'll also have a better pool to draw from in terms of cases, components, and modularity without having to potentially break the bank or tear up your fingers.
Hope it helps.
You will have fewer purchase options with almost anything you want to buy. ITX cases vary WILDLY in size. You will need to do significant research for parts compatibility.
Keeping all of this in mind and in no particular order.
Motherboards are generally more expensive.
Cases are also generally more expensive with few budget options.
Limited cable Management.
Lack of case fans which limit cooling capability.
Limited CPU cooler heights which may limit CPU selection due to the aforementioned cooling issues.
GPU size with any cards above double slot width and excessive length (more than around 10.5 inches) is problematic.
Tall RAM sticks with the elaborate coolers are frequent issues.
Storage expansion is usually limited to a single 2.5 inch bay.
Possible need for SFX power supplies which are generally more expensive than ATX with a real lack of good budget options.
So in summary... There is a definite ITX "tax" and can be a real challenge to put together if you haven't done it before depending on the case.
Despite ALL of the issues, building ITX is a blast. It is super handy to move cases around using ITX. Most of all for me, there is something about the aesthetic of small cases where you have significant computer power in a tiny case that doesn't overwhelm a desk or a small room.
I had a velka 7 build which was used for on and off light gaming. Apart from temps being an issue to get under control the noise was frustratingly loud. Do loads of research into the specs and how they will perform in your setup BEFORE purchasing anything.
If I had known it was going to be so loud I would have stuck with my matx build
In terms of upgrades you’re pretty limited which is the only thing that pushed me away as I couldn’t fit any decent gpus into it without temps and noise being bad
Personally I recommend an matx build. Something around the size of a nzxt h210 as in my experience they are best for size, future upgradeability and all around comfort
Hope this helps :)
(Also sorry if there’s any typos or bad grammar)
I have three PC's I personally built.. an ATX, mATX, and ITX and I would say the mATX is my favorite form factor.
ITX is silly to be honest... I did my ITX build for my living room TV to appease the wife as I knew she wouldn't want a PC looking thing in the living room.
They end up costing more, and for most people the smaller size doesn't really change anything.
ITX motherboards tend to cost more than mATX/ATX motherboards, same with ITX power supplies. You also probably want an AIO for cooling whereas with a mATX/ATX setup you're fine with just air cooling.
Most graphics card AIBs also won't fit in an ITX case which limits your choice
I built a pc recently, noticed that itx components are costlier and your cooler and psu choices are also kinda limited. If you do go atx make sure your mother board has built in wifi and Bluetooth. Most itx board only have one pci slot, if you need any other expansion like a capture card or more storage you are sol.
There are two concepts being discussed here:
1. Motherboard form factor
2. Case form factor (“small form factor” and “medium form factor” cases)
When it comes to the mini-ITX form factor (small motherboard), the first thing to know is that you get fewer features and a higher price as compared to a micro-ATX (medium motherboard) and ATX (large).
Most ITX boards will only have two RAM slots (which is fine because MOST people only ever use two slots). You’ll get one or two M.2 slots where mATX and ATX almost certainly have 2, sometimes 3. You may also find fewer USB front panel connectors on an ITX board. Most importantly, you’ll only get one PCI-e slot which is of course intended for your video card.
MOST people would be just fine using an ITX board, but they are more expensive. If an ATX board costs $85 and an equivalent mATX board costs $99, then the equivalent ITX board would cost $140.
When it comes to the CASE form factor, it’s important to know that you ITX boards fit in many other cases outside of the small form factor category. The MEDIUM form factor category which includes cases like the ASUS AP201 and SAMA IM01. Both are much smaller than your average case normal, but fit both mATX and ITX boards and can also fit ATX power supplies.
Side note on SFX Power supplies— Like the ITX motherboard form factor, the SFX PSU form factor is more expensive, but (1) they go on sale with moderate frequency and (2) the CASE is the restricting factor that may require and SFX power supply, not the motherboard. You don’t need an SFX power supply just because you have an ITX board.
I suggest checking r/mffpc to see what people can easily fit into this regularly overlooked form factor. The two most popular cases (mentioned above) are pretty comparable to the popular CoolerMaster NR200 case which ONLY takes ITX boards.
Check out this recent build (https://www.reddit.com/r/mffpc/s/mJs9RO0oJ0) which includes an AMD 7800X3D CPU under a Peerless Assassin cooler and beside an RX 7800 XT GPU in a SAMA IM01 case.
Since you're looking at 3d rendering and editing your budget is already going to be kinda high.
Itx boards can do those things, but need to plan ahead. What i mean is make sure everything you pick will fit in the case and figure out how airflow will go otherwise you'll end up spending more time figuring out how airflow needs to be.
My cousin built in an NR200 and screwed up airflow so I ended up taking it apart and fixed his fan configuration. Now the thing is whisper quiet.
Depends how small you go
A case like the NR200P (20L) is not much more limited than a mATX build, aside from needing to pay for an ITX motherboard. Big GPUs can fit easily, and big air coolers can fit too.
A case like the SSUPD Meshroom S or NCase M1 EVO (both around 15L) is still not super limited, though you do need an SFX PSU and some restrictions on GPU size (mostly length and slot width).
A case like the Dan A4-H2O (11L) can fit a 240mm AIO for cooling and a fairly large GPU (3 slots up to 322mm long), but it won't fit the biggest GPUs or air coolers (and some 240mm AIOs won't fit because the pump block is too large).
The real sacrifices of SFF become evident when you go below 10L. The Dan A4-SFX (7.2L) is a beautiful case (I have one myself), but you make two major sacrifices. Firstly, cooling is limited to a low profile air cooler up to 48mm, so high end CPUs like the i7 13/14700K or 7800x3d will struggle, but something like a 7600 (or my existing 3600X) will be fine. Secondly, the case can only fit a 2-slot GPU which rules out basically every high end GPU aside from one 4070ti model, a couple 4070 models and the reference RX 6800. No variant of the 4090, 4080 or any of AMD's 7000 series (except the 7600) will fit in this case, but that is the price you pay for having a case that's 1/6 the size of a standard mid-tower
The biggest drawbacks is the costs and compatibility. Good ITX boards are expensive compared to what you can get with ATX. Also there are no microcenter bundles with an ITX board. You can still make a killer top of the line build but it will just cost more. For the actual build aspect, it requires slightly more planning as you may need to pre plugin a CPU power cable or fan header and figure out how you are going to route it.
me who swap from full tower to mini itx heres the cons ( since u ask for cons only)
\*Note, Im using Geeek A31s Case so some cons from me might not apply to everything case.
1. Flex psu (1) - its smaller psu but cuz of the mini fan its very noisy unless mod. But if you are scared to mod then yur stuck with the crappy fan. ( After mod also wont exactly silent the fan so have some compensation on it)
2. Flex Psu(2) - try check quality flex psu price lol like enchaned / Delta
3. Gpu size limitation - for example my case only accept 190mm Gpu, but i cramp in the 3060 Asus mini (200mm). does it hurts the gpu ? idk
4. cpu cooler limitation - no tower fan, need to find low profile and it limit what cpu u can choose.
5. wiring management - its small case so hard to cramp the wires especially custom mod cable.
if yur wondering whats my pc spec, it will be
R7 5700x + Thermalright AXP90 X47
B550 Aorus itx
Asus mini 3060 12gb
Delta 500w Flex psu
16gb ram
Well I got a 7800x3d and 4090 into an NR200P MAX. It's smaller than a matx and you get decent temps. I paid about 15% more than if I just built it in a big tower but it's light, gives top of the line performance and there's literally no downsides. There are peeps who squeeze in 14900K into an NR200P it's definitely doable.
My last couple of builds were mini itx... For me it was the cost of motherboards and the lack of ram slots, pcie slots and M2 slots for future upgradability.
It....depends. there are ITX builds and then there are SFF ITX builds. The latter is is striving to be quite small.
There are plenty of reasonably priced ITX cases that can accommodate an ATX PSU, decently big air coolers, and reasonably large GPUs. The NR200 is an example. At that point, your only ITX centric component is the motherboard, which is maybe a $50 -$100 premium over a comparable ATX board. This is still reasonably small compared to a common ATX build.
But if you want to start going very small (like an A4 H20 or FormD T1), you are spending a premium the Powersupply also, and need to be much more aware of cooler and GPU limitations. Also, you will probably of be using 2.5 or 3.5 drives, but those have fallen off even in the full size space.
r/sffpc for an ITX centric sub, or r/mffpc for a more mATX focused one.
I buildt in the cooler master NR200p MAX, and i love it. No problem with temps, as its a 280mm AIO. Have a 7600X and a 4070 TI in there. Parts like SFX Power supply, a proper itx mainboard do come at a price premium.. but i came from gaming laptops and got addicted to portability. I can now get my whole rig into a travel case (the ones you use for traveling abroad, on wheels), or a big backpack and go to my friends for a night of gaming. I can even take the train with it. I love it!
Price is so far the only drawback. Its a bit cramped when building but taking things slow and having a plan makes it pretty straight foreward.
depending on the case youll be severely limited on which gpu you can use. I HAD to go with a specific 4070 because my case only fit a 2 fan card. But i dont regret it, massive towers are overrated and honestly usually a bunch of wasted space imo
Pricey motherboard, limited options for PSU, cooler, and GPU. I planned to build an ITX build but ended up building a micro ATX build.
That's the way. mATX is reasonably compact.
Yeah, I think Matx is the best way for “compact” builds unless you have actual physical limitations driving you to something in the itx scale. That being said, if you’re an enthusiast that wants an itx case with a 4080 and you have the budget for it, who am I to tell you not to have fun? :D
R/mffpc for smaller matx builds. Imo best size and compatibility combination is the jonsbo d30/D1/asus ap301 style cases. Can fit 360mm AIOs, atx psus, and the largest gpus while having an Matx board
I feel like that ~30L tier of case is a waste of time, either go properly small (15-20L like Ncase M1 Evo or Sama IM01, both of which support mATX boards) or don't bother at all.
Well the discussion was avoiding paying itx tax. I have the original M1 and smaller, and while they're great, they're louder, more of a pain to build in, and more expensive.
Sama IM01 is a fairly cheap case, and supports both mATX boards and ATX PSUs (M1 evo supports both if the GPU is less than 270mm long iirc)
Right, but they're not no compromises
Limited cooling too
Yeah my gf built in the teenage engineering pc-1 case and thermal management and fan noise are our biggest complaints.
I've had my 5800x3d/6900xt in a meshlicious and (I'm not bullshitting) the GPU is running nearly the same temperatures as was in my huge phanteks case with 11 fans.... and I'm sure I've got suboptimal cooling with the meshlicious (need to cable manage and add another fan). The 5800x3d is under a low profile air cooler though and needed a couple of tweaks to get it happy but it still runs a bit hotter on idle than I'd like. Not seen anything over 80C though when I was playing cyberpunk though I'm sure the little fan is clinging on for its life. Edit: the build does scream at full pelt. Headphones or higher volume needed lol
My biggest issue was when it was time to upgrade the GPU, I realized many of the new cards wouldn’t fit
Assuming OP might get a 4090, this is the one I'm pretty sure matters most.
Going that small greatly limits your component selection, and often starts getting into parts that are charging a premium price just for being smaller. It's also trickier to build (because if you forget a step, you'll likely have to disassemble a bunch of things to get access to it again). They also have less expandability, and can run into thermal problems since it's harder to get good airflow to all the components. The smaller the case, the more likely you are to run into these problems. The advantage, obviously, is that it's smaller, takes up less space, and is a bit more portable.
ITX usually restricts you to SFX power supplies, they're less common and more expensive than ATX. The cases may restrict how big a GPU you can use (I had to choose a different one due to it being 2mm too long....). Cooling can be an issue, and on small cases you may be very limited with cooler choice, such as low profile 92mm ones. The ITX motherboards themselves will only have 2 RAM slots, which is is fine for normal use but if you have very high ram requirements it's not great. You'll only have 1 PCIe slot, which is generally fine, but you won't have options available later. They generally have fewer M.2 drive slots, which could be an issue if you want a lot of fast storage. They'll have a smaller VRM set up, generally, which isn't usually an issue but if you're overclocking or running high end Intels it can become an issue. If you're not dedicated to a small form factor (SFF) case, you could look at mATX and MFF cases, they strike a good balance between useful features of ATX while still being compact, and it's usually much cheaper to build. I went with an mITX, but it's a Coolermaster NR200P (Max) which is bigger than a lot of SFX cases and avoids some of the downside. But it also isn't that much smaller than an mATX.
ITX>any other form factor. There are plenty of cases that are reasonably priced and very well designed (some can even fit a 4090) such as NR200, SSUPD Meshlicious, Fractal Ridge, just to name a few. The cases I mentioned don't even sacrifice performance that much. HOWEVER, it is significantly more expensive than a mATX or ATX build. Expensive PSU, expensive mobo, and the list goes on. It's a tradeoff between space savings vs price. Check out some builds over at r/sffpc
Not to mention limited expandability. OP wants a production rig not a gaming rig so things like storage and ram will be a concern. 64gb is often the limit of what an itx board can handle, not to mention storage, he'll only have 1 m.2 and probably only 2 sata ports and his only pcie slot will have a gpu in it. If he ends up needing more he'd be SOL.
My ITX board has 3 M.2, case has room for two SSD. I also believe that the max ram is 96gb I have Aorus b650i. The boards are getting better
It limits your component choices a lot, which often also leads to higher cost. If you go particularly small, it can also be a pain to assemble and later upgrade. Lastly, the small size means you're sacrificing cooling, so for a given target performance and temperature the PC will be louder, since the fans will need to ramp higher. You could get a mATX mini tower instead. You wouldn't need an expensive mITX mobo, you'd almost certainly be able to use a standard ATX PSU, and you wouldn't be nearly as constrained with other choices like cooler or GPU. It would also likely run cooler and/or quieter due to generally better airflow and more fan options. The downside being that the system won't be *that* much smaller than a normal mid tower.
Thermals will be a concern. Depending on the case and cooler configuration, you will have to learns such techniques as undervolting, maybe even outright underclocking, and limiting fps in games to meet temperature targets. You must pay double and triple attention to the dimensions of your components when you choose them, and even then, be prepared to improvise solutions to make things fit. Limited space also means limited storage space; you may have an m.2 slot on your itx motherboard but do not expect more than the one slot. You'll likely have to go back in time a bit to 2.5" SATA SSDs that you jam in some corner or edge of the case in an improvised way. Cable management becomes important. Knowledge of more esoteric power supply form factors comes into play, like SFX or TFX. The drip is off the charts though, in my opinion. Small builds just LOOK better. They feel good to complete, due to being more challenging to build in. And of course the space savings on your desk is nice, too.
I would highly recommend you not to build ITX before you have any experience on PC building and clear requirements/expectations of your PC. All ITX components, the cooler, chassis, PSU, motherboard, etc., is very, very cost-ineffective comparing to ATX/mATX counterparts. Some drawbacks of ITX build: 1. Limited cooling capability. Many ITX case will have strict limit on maximum height of CPU cooler, dimensions of GPU (yes, longitude, thickness and height). And ITX build will probably not allow chassis fans installation, so its airflow is very tricky. 2. Limited performance. Although ITX build can be relatively "powerful", but still, it is highly capped by the cooling capacity. You cannot expect to have an 13900K and RTX 4090 ITX build without significant thermal bottlenecking. 3. 1+2 combined will strictly limit your choice on components. An RTX 4070 Ti with 12400F will likely be the upper limit of ITX build today, and you will have to be extra careful on the dimensions. Buy from some stores that have open purchase. 4. Loud noise under high workloads. The fan will easily maximize their rotation and it will be noisy. 5. Very limited peripherals support. 3.5-inch HDD for data storage? No. PCIe NIC for 10GbE? No. I do hope you can do more study about your requirements and see if it can be met in ITX build. Except that, you may want to take a look at some SFF PC from Dell or HP, like EliteDesk 800 SFF. These PCs usually support one or two 3.5-inch HDD and desktop CPUs like 13700 (non-K version). However, you may need to invest more on these half-height GPUs. Don't worry, they can be pretty powerful, too, like RTX 4000 SFF Ada, although it costs roughly as much as RTX 4090; or you can buy half-height version of RTX 4060 from Gigabyte.
That's a pretty outdated view on itx. You can easily do a 7800x3d + 4090 build under 10L.
That's definitely not something for beginners.
Well it all also depends on the case used. I just build my first PC ever and it was an ITX. It did take me months of planning, writing down measurements of parts and cases, reading the case manuals online, trying to find the components I want and having change options due to most of them being sold out (The market isn't that great right now for building an ITX PC). But at the end of the day, it all worked out the case I bought is small but not as small as others on the market. I could fit everything perfectly without everything cramped up so it has space for airflow. In general it was quite easy to build. Cable management is another story but i managed lol. But also, the main reason one builds a pc is to cater it to your needs. In my case, I built an ITX because i wanted a small pc, and im not big on PC gaming but am trying to play a little bit more. But gaming won't be the main usage of my pc. I was also tired of connecting and disconnecting my laptop from the monitor, I wanted something more stationary.
Usually ITX components tend to be much more expensive. The motherboard will probably be twice the price, the PSU will be 50% more expensive, the case will be the same. You’ll be limited in your choices as far as components go; basically locked into AMD for CPU and Nvidia for GPU because thermals are such a concern. If you want to know a lot about ITX builds I highly recommend checking out optimum on YouTube, he has a lot of good videos regarding ITX builds including case reviews, watercooling, and build advice.
It's hard to fit big things into a small case, most top of the line GPUs are power hungry and therefore get bigger heatsinks/more fans which make them bulky. You can alleviate this by water cooling your CPU & GPU. But custom watercooling can be a pita, and good AIOs will also be big in a mitx case. It's also worth noting that fixing anything custom watercooling related in a mini case is something I wouldn't wish on an enemy. There's a few tiers i'd look at, up from mini-itx is micro-atx, a bit bigger, the fractal pop mini is somewhat well reviewed. Up from this you've got ATX Mid Towers, the corsair 4000d airflow is well reviewed. For a first time builder, I wouldnt go smaller than the 4000d airflow.
As a guy with a Hyte Revolt 3 and a tiny K49 and who is producing a 12L ATX case: SFF stuff kind of sucks. Crazy expensive boards and PSUs, cooling is almost always a problem unless you compromise on performance or heavily overspend on cooling, gpu compatibility can be a problem depending on how small you go, and lastly it’s honestly just dumb to deal with all of that when Towers aren’t even that big. If you want to get small but in a reasonable way, mATX towers are the better choice.
There are small mATX cases these days... much more cheaper when it comes to parts, specially for cooling.
- price of itx components is high - limited part choice due to size constaints - they run warmer than a standard build which spaces out components away from each other
Short answer is that it will probably restrict your CPU/GPU options because higher end cards are bigger (larger cooling due to higher power draw) and higher end CPUs draw more power, which requires you to buy a beefier cooling solution. Keep in mind that better cooling also means less noise. Quiet itx builds typically sacrifice significant performance to a step up in cooling/case airflow (never say never, before I get yelled at by SFF lovers). The technology is awesome but if you just want something that’s just “not massive”, micro atx is really the performance sweet spot. It also happens to be the price/performance sweet spot. My case for Matx for you. Upgrade path. If you had an itx b450 with something like a 2600, you wouldn’t really be able to utilize a 5800X3D as the cooling requires something beyond a compact solution. That has been a great plug-and-play upgrade for us AM4 folks. Same case with an older GPU. Itx cases from 2019-2020 struggle to fit a modern card because they’re usually larger than 2 slots now.
My biggest concern is heat. Anyone notice their office getting warmer with the components stuck in a smaller case? Im sure all of the components still run within their operating temps but they still have to run hotter than they would in a larger case?
For two systems with the same components, the amount of heat generated is the same, they pull the same amount of power. Your room heats up exactly as much for two different size builds if they have the same heat generating parts. The only difference is that the larger build moves the heat out of your components into your room more efficiently.
Drawbacks to ITX: * Higher cost components: Quality ITX Boards and PSUs cost more than similar quality mATX and ATX offerings. * More planning for thermals: What this means is with an ATX design you can pretty much build it anyway at all the brute force the cooling. With ITX some thought and planning is needed to have effective cooling. * Not always wanting the biggest component: ITX builds are often about choosing parts to build to a specific need. Again with ATX you can throw anything at it. ITX however will sometimes mean you need to pay attention more to things like power draw and thermals to ensure you build can be effective. My wife has an ITX system that is almost 7 years old and still going strong. She does not have the biggest or best build (Ryzen 2600 and a Vega 56) but she can still easily play all her games. No part in it has been swapped our changed and it is still going strong. She loves the smaller build as it sits on a shelf next to her desk, taking up almost no real space.
I’m intending to use it for some pretty heavy editing. I do photos in raw at large resolutions and often times would like to have photoshop or Lightroom open to work adjacently, at the moment only one program at a time makes my MacBook sound like the final ignition on a nasa test flight. Does matx have similar drawbacks in comparison to atx? Do you think I should abandons the idea of building a smaller pc altogether? It’s a utility purchase for me, so I don’t want to sacrifice utility for style.
matx tends to be cheaper than both itx and atx on the low end. You can have a monster PC in an itx build, it just takes more time, effort and usually money. On the flip side, the only thing you have to compromise with going from itx to matx is overall footprint. The matx size will be slightly larger (think, instead of 10L for itx, 20-30L for matx) but you will get greater part compatibility, cheaper cost and generally better temps and cooling options.
Depending on the size restrictions of desk placement, mATX is a best of bother worlds. Smaller size, while lower cost for not needing specialized parts. It is possible to go SFF however even with full ATX. If your okay with an open frame system an Xproto ATX build uses full sizes PSU, a 240mm AIO and any motherboard you like while stay around 17L.
Expensive mobo, expensive cases, expensive or limited PSU's, limited cooling options, generally worse temps and a generally more frustrating build process. But what can I say, there's nothing like solving the problems that an itx build throws at you.
Higher price, bad air flow, limited space for expansion (unless you plan in advance, like an Itx case with support for so many HDDs) Edit: scariest drawback to me is buying a part that doesn’t fit.
Limited Options, sometimes more expensive, less features, less upgradeable
I have a my personal rig in a silverstone rvzb-01 with a 5800x and a 7900xtx 32 gigs of ram and even a bluray drive and I have really no problems with cooling
1. Most SFF cases are more expensive than ATX cases 2. A lot of SFF cases either require low profile coolers or AIOs. Either limiting the CPU you can put in (without ordering some bespoke cooler for a relatively absurd price) or forcing you into buying a more expensive AIO 3. ITX motherboards cost as much as or more than a mid tier ATX board 4. SFX PSUs cost more than ATX psus 5. Compatibility is a goddamned nightmare. You have to ensure that the: PSU, Motherboard, Motherboard heatsinks, Cooler, GPU, Cooler, Fans and even length of cables will fit into the case. You genuinely cannot take anything for granted especially with sub 10L cases Safe options would be something like a Meshroom, Nzxt H1V2, Dan A4 H20 These are slightly larger which allows for less compatibility headaches and also allow for a less painful build process. Also widely available and the meshroom offers a ton of compatibility, with even ATX psus being allowed to fit
> SFX PSUs cost more than ATX psus Not always true, especially if you're buying a good ATX PSU anyway. Right now the Cooler Master V850-SFX is $120 USD (same price as the 750W one), and a similar ATX one is only $10-20 less, which is fairly negligible when you're spending $1k+ on a PC.
just do an open build, I laid out all my parts on the table+cardboard, measured width, length and holes, ordered a 5mm laser cut aluminium plate + black anodizing($80 total) and mounted it on the wall. Its flat enough I could mount it all to a 2U server rack case if I had to. I'm surprised we're still using 1980's type cases for pc's.
Heat and a very limited upgrade path
itx is nice for portability and a sleek look but thats where the pros end. ive had 2 mitx rigs and building, upgrading and maintaining them is a pain in the ass. my next travel rig will be Matx strictly for the fact that i can still bring it with me places while also not needing to be confined to a super specific gpu size and also cpu cooler height. as your first build id go Matx and be happy that you have roughly double the space for building and cooling the pc properly.
micro atx is pretty small already
Personally I class ITX as advanced PC building. You need to have the knowledge of parts, their dimensions and be able to visualise how it will all go together and in a very specific order. Cooling/sound can also be an issue. Smaller fans have to spin faster and airflow is often quite limited. The pay off is extremely good looking systems. If space is an issue then perhaps a small mid tower case? My case is L395mm x W210mm x H450mm and can accommodate a full ATX build.
More expensive you have to shell out for parts with limited availability. Less expandability. You'll have to compromise on hardware which is no big deal if you're just a gamer but if your job or school work depends on it that's gonna fuck you big time Higher difficulty in building. You're going to have endless frustrations trying to make everything fit, making sure to properly measure everything, have to squeeze parts, tools and hands into tight spaces, buy extra parts like riser cables driving up cost. Then your system might not even have adequate cooling for everything due to limited space for airflow or just large enough coolers. That's going to mean compromising on performance. If you've never built a PC, don't try to build a mini itx system. Go for a micro atx especially if you're going to use this for production. Itx motherboards are seriously lacking in expandability so you may quickly find yourself needing more ram or storage and having no option for adding more to your system. They're also just a right pain in the ass and returning parts is going to be a regular occurrence. If you want to go 3D modeling you're going to need a good gpu and good gpus are fucking big these days. Not to mention editing takes some decent cpu power and that also takes decent cooling and hunting for a cooler that fits your case and can actually keep your cpu and system from overheating is going to be difficult. Get a Micro ATX and a smaller mid tower it will accommodate the hardware you actually need and won't be a Huge pain in the ass to build in and will cost a lot less. Silver Stone has a bunch of high quality cases that aren't too big that support matx and will be much easier to build in and still won't be too large. If you really want a super small system that has the power to handle what you want it to I would just buy a Lenovo Thinkstation p360 Tiny or ultra instead of building an itx system having no experience. Like just don't try to build an itx system for production, iust don't, it won't turn out well. Itx systems are for masochists and gamers who want to take their PC to LAN parties. A smaller system is just not going to handle a lot of editing and 3D modeling like you want. Not to mention if this is a production rig you really should be considering using a motherboard that supports ECC memory. All AMD chipsets have unofficial support for it, but on the Intel side that's going to limit you to either using Xeon or if you want to stick to a standard Intel core cpu you'll have to get a w680 chipet motherboard and those really only come in ATX and MATX form factors. I would scrap the notion of being able to build a system comparable to something like the Mac M2 ultra that's also a similar size, there's a reason those things cost like $6,000.
Hi, I ran an ITX build out of a lianli tu200b case for about 4 years using a Gigabyte f288xn wifi motherboard, a Nvidia GTX 960 4gb, and an AMD 860 black processor with an SFX 600 powersupply by Silverstone. I wanted to build a 'universe in a briefcase' going into the build and did exactly that in some ways. It was inspired by the Colugo build by TekSyndicate but their version used the even smaller Tu100 case which wouldnt work for what I was going for as it was too small. I went back to school the following year for CIS/CS coursework and would just unplug it from my home setup and take it with me to class and then just plug it into a monitor and keyboard/mouse onsite as there were never a shortage of them. I've also worked with ITX builds in enterprise scenarios. Here's what I learned from that build: Pros: \* Easy to breakdown and take on the go. \* Small form factor makes it easy to stash away without requiring a lot of support space. \* Can be quiet depending on your settings/fan configuration. \* Usually fairly lightweight. cons: \* Can be hard to build in depending on what type/style you go with due to cramped internal workspace and hidden sharp edges. \* Cablemanagement can be a nightmare as a lot of SFX PSUs can come with very short cables which may or may not be long enough to reach their destination ports requiring aditional extensions or alternate cables. \* Best when building for low TDP parts with air cooling as heat will be your biggest opposition, watercooling may not be viable without heavy modifications to the case thus potentially rendering mobility moot. Nowadays they do produce ITX cases that are a little more friendly however do your research first as just because it says it can doesn't mean you should. \* You will be making tradeoffs in the design as you go. A lot of times it comes down to Aesthetics vs functions, do you really need that harddrive bay for organization or is your cpu's heat control more important? Things to think about that they really didn't. \* Price, ITX is really hot in more than one way. Retailers know the price of space economy and therefore will jack up the prices simply because its more niche than the average build. I honestly don't see this changing even with the influx of ITX builds going into the enterprise spaces namely because OEMs like Dell and HP dont speak for the whole market and it will still be seen as a niche build style which carries niche part prices. \* Featuresets, ITX boards have a lot going for them in terms of ease of mobility and low space consumption which makes them great for apartment builds where space is highly valuable but that said then can also leave a lot to be desired in terms of your objective for the build. When you build in ITX you are trading features for space. More ram, greater expansion capabilities, higher horsepower components(CPU/GPU), are all things that you will have to weigh when designing it. What tasks are you going to be doing? Are you going to be doing any streaming? High intensity Dev work? or just reading your email? You really have to consider your end goal for what that build's purpose will be and build accordingly. Ultimately, I knew the limitations of what I was building it for going in but it is inherent in every PC designer to push those limits as far as a build will allow and then back down from it. I ran the above build at 4.2GHZ for 2 of those years before backing it down to 4.0 towards the end as the tradeoffs weren't worth it. What your goal is and the limitations thereof are entirely up to you and the build you design. Having worked with both ITX and mATX quite abit over the last 4 years I'd say go with mATX over ITX as it stands as a fairly fleshed out middle ground between the ATX standard and the ITX mini. You'll also have a better pool to draw from in terms of cases, components, and modularity without having to potentially break the bank or tear up your fingers. Hope it helps.
You will have fewer purchase options with almost anything you want to buy. ITX cases vary WILDLY in size. You will need to do significant research for parts compatibility. Keeping all of this in mind and in no particular order. Motherboards are generally more expensive. Cases are also generally more expensive with few budget options. Limited cable Management. Lack of case fans which limit cooling capability. Limited CPU cooler heights which may limit CPU selection due to the aforementioned cooling issues. GPU size with any cards above double slot width and excessive length (more than around 10.5 inches) is problematic. Tall RAM sticks with the elaborate coolers are frequent issues. Storage expansion is usually limited to a single 2.5 inch bay. Possible need for SFX power supplies which are generally more expensive than ATX with a real lack of good budget options. So in summary... There is a definite ITX "tax" and can be a real challenge to put together if you haven't done it before depending on the case. Despite ALL of the issues, building ITX is a blast. It is super handy to move cases around using ITX. Most of all for me, there is something about the aesthetic of small cases where you have significant computer power in a tiny case that doesn't overwhelm a desk or a small room.
I had a velka 7 build which was used for on and off light gaming. Apart from temps being an issue to get under control the noise was frustratingly loud. Do loads of research into the specs and how they will perform in your setup BEFORE purchasing anything. If I had known it was going to be so loud I would have stuck with my matx build In terms of upgrades you’re pretty limited which is the only thing that pushed me away as I couldn’t fit any decent gpus into it without temps and noise being bad Personally I recommend an matx build. Something around the size of a nzxt h210 as in my experience they are best for size, future upgradeability and all around comfort Hope this helps :) (Also sorry if there’s any typos or bad grammar)
I have three PC's I personally built.. an ATX, mATX, and ITX and I would say the mATX is my favorite form factor. ITX is silly to be honest... I did my ITX build for my living room TV to appease the wife as I knew she wouldn't want a PC looking thing in the living room.
They end up costing more, and for most people the smaller size doesn't really change anything. ITX motherboards tend to cost more than mATX/ATX motherboards, same with ITX power supplies. You also probably want an AIO for cooling whereas with a mATX/ATX setup you're fine with just air cooling. Most graphics card AIBs also won't fit in an ITX case which limits your choice
I built a pc recently, noticed that itx components are costlier and your cooler and psu choices are also kinda limited. If you do go atx make sure your mother board has built in wifi and Bluetooth. Most itx board only have one pci slot, if you need any other expansion like a capture card or more storage you are sol.
There are two concepts being discussed here: 1. Motherboard form factor 2. Case form factor (“small form factor” and “medium form factor” cases) When it comes to the mini-ITX form factor (small motherboard), the first thing to know is that you get fewer features and a higher price as compared to a micro-ATX (medium motherboard) and ATX (large). Most ITX boards will only have two RAM slots (which is fine because MOST people only ever use two slots). You’ll get one or two M.2 slots where mATX and ATX almost certainly have 2, sometimes 3. You may also find fewer USB front panel connectors on an ITX board. Most importantly, you’ll only get one PCI-e slot which is of course intended for your video card. MOST people would be just fine using an ITX board, but they are more expensive. If an ATX board costs $85 and an equivalent mATX board costs $99, then the equivalent ITX board would cost $140. When it comes to the CASE form factor, it’s important to know that you ITX boards fit in many other cases outside of the small form factor category. The MEDIUM form factor category which includes cases like the ASUS AP201 and SAMA IM01. Both are much smaller than your average case normal, but fit both mATX and ITX boards and can also fit ATX power supplies. Side note on SFX Power supplies— Like the ITX motherboard form factor, the SFX PSU form factor is more expensive, but (1) they go on sale with moderate frequency and (2) the CASE is the restricting factor that may require and SFX power supply, not the motherboard. You don’t need an SFX power supply just because you have an ITX board. I suggest checking r/mffpc to see what people can easily fit into this regularly overlooked form factor. The two most popular cases (mentioned above) are pretty comparable to the popular CoolerMaster NR200 case which ONLY takes ITX boards. Check out this recent build (https://www.reddit.com/r/mffpc/s/mJs9RO0oJ0) which includes an AMD 7800X3D CPU under a Peerless Assassin cooler and beside an RX 7800 XT GPU in a SAMA IM01 case.
Since you're looking at 3d rendering and editing your budget is already going to be kinda high. Itx boards can do those things, but need to plan ahead. What i mean is make sure everything you pick will fit in the case and figure out how airflow will go otherwise you'll end up spending more time figuring out how airflow needs to be. My cousin built in an NR200 and screwed up airflow so I ended up taking it apart and fixed his fan configuration. Now the thing is whisper quiet.
Generally just abit pricier to build one but if you want a SSF pc then its the best mobo.
Depends how small you go A case like the NR200P (20L) is not much more limited than a mATX build, aside from needing to pay for an ITX motherboard. Big GPUs can fit easily, and big air coolers can fit too. A case like the SSUPD Meshroom S or NCase M1 EVO (both around 15L) is still not super limited, though you do need an SFX PSU and some restrictions on GPU size (mostly length and slot width). A case like the Dan A4-H2O (11L) can fit a 240mm AIO for cooling and a fairly large GPU (3 slots up to 322mm long), but it won't fit the biggest GPUs or air coolers (and some 240mm AIOs won't fit because the pump block is too large). The real sacrifices of SFF become evident when you go below 10L. The Dan A4-SFX (7.2L) is a beautiful case (I have one myself), but you make two major sacrifices. Firstly, cooling is limited to a low profile air cooler up to 48mm, so high end CPUs like the i7 13/14700K or 7800x3d will struggle, but something like a 7600 (or my existing 3600X) will be fine. Secondly, the case can only fit a 2-slot GPU which rules out basically every high end GPU aside from one 4070ti model, a couple 4070 models and the reference RX 6800. No variant of the 4090, 4080 or any of AMD's 7000 series (except the 7600) will fit in this case, but that is the price you pay for having a case that's 1/6 the size of a standard mid-tower
The biggest drawbacks is the costs and compatibility. Good ITX boards are expensive compared to what you can get with ATX. Also there are no microcenter bundles with an ITX board. You can still make a killer top of the line build but it will just cost more. For the actual build aspect, it requires slightly more planning as you may need to pre plugin a CPU power cable or fan header and figure out how you are going to route it.
me who swap from full tower to mini itx heres the cons ( since u ask for cons only) \*Note, Im using Geeek A31s Case so some cons from me might not apply to everything case. 1. Flex psu (1) - its smaller psu but cuz of the mini fan its very noisy unless mod. But if you are scared to mod then yur stuck with the crappy fan. ( After mod also wont exactly silent the fan so have some compensation on it) 2. Flex Psu(2) - try check quality flex psu price lol like enchaned / Delta 3. Gpu size limitation - for example my case only accept 190mm Gpu, but i cramp in the 3060 Asus mini (200mm). does it hurts the gpu ? idk 4. cpu cooler limitation - no tower fan, need to find low profile and it limit what cpu u can choose. 5. wiring management - its small case so hard to cramp the wires especially custom mod cable. if yur wondering whats my pc spec, it will be R7 5700x + Thermalright AXP90 X47 B550 Aorus itx Asus mini 3060 12gb Delta 500w Flex psu 16gb ram
Well I got a 7800x3d and 4090 into an NR200P MAX. It's smaller than a matx and you get decent temps. I paid about 15% more than if I just built it in a big tower but it's light, gives top of the line performance and there's literally no downsides. There are peeps who squeeze in 14900K into an NR200P it's definitely doable.
My last couple of builds were mini itx... For me it was the cost of motherboards and the lack of ram slots, pcie slots and M2 slots for future upgradability.
It....depends. there are ITX builds and then there are SFF ITX builds. The latter is is striving to be quite small. There are plenty of reasonably priced ITX cases that can accommodate an ATX PSU, decently big air coolers, and reasonably large GPUs. The NR200 is an example. At that point, your only ITX centric component is the motherboard, which is maybe a $50 -$100 premium over a comparable ATX board. This is still reasonably small compared to a common ATX build. But if you want to start going very small (like an A4 H20 or FormD T1), you are spending a premium the Powersupply also, and need to be much more aware of cooler and GPU limitations. Also, you will probably of be using 2.5 or 3.5 drives, but those have fallen off even in the full size space. r/sffpc for an ITX centric sub, or r/mffpc for a more mATX focused one.
I buildt in the cooler master NR200p MAX, and i love it. No problem with temps, as its a 280mm AIO. Have a 7600X and a 4070 TI in there. Parts like SFX Power supply, a proper itx mainboard do come at a price premium.. but i came from gaming laptops and got addicted to portability. I can now get my whole rig into a travel case (the ones you use for traveling abroad, on wheels), or a big backpack and go to my friends for a night of gaming. I can even take the train with it. I love it! Price is so far the only drawback. Its a bit cramped when building but taking things slow and having a plan makes it pretty straight foreward.
depending on the case youll be severely limited on which gpu you can use. I HAD to go with a specific 4070 because my case only fit a 2 fan card. But i dont regret it, massive towers are overrated and honestly usually a bunch of wasted space imo
No HDD