Is itx worth it for the footprint?

[gdourado]

Hello, how are you?

I am in the process of refreshing my setup.

i finally got a new chair.

Next I am going to get a new desk.

With this, I am thinking about a monitor arm, as my Y27G stand takes a silly amount of space.

my current case is a Haf XB. While being a good case, it has a big footprint hat requires me to have a separate table just for the case.

So I am also thinking about a new case.

i thought about itx and was set on the Phantkes Switch as it still allows good CPU and gpu cooling and some storage options.

but then I cut some measurements on a card to visualize and was somewhat surprised.



it is smaller than a Thermaltake View 31:





but then, comparing it to a smaller atx case like the new Fractal Meshify, the difference in footprint is not that great.









and the fractal can house an atx psu, a 360 or 240 AIO, or a CPU tower cooler up to 170mm.



what do you think? Is it worth the compromises on cooling just for such a small difference in footprint? Would this difference make such a big deal on a desk?



what are your thoughts?



thanks.
cheers!

 

[Phuncz]

Mini ITX is rarely comprimised on cooling because it is small but because the engineers don't know better or are given certain goals to achieve that clash with good thermal performance and volume efficiency.

A few examples with time-specific links talking about performance in SFF cases:


S4 Mini outperforming OPEN-AIR test systems because of good design and component choice.


DANcase A4-SFX not sweating much.

There are many more examples of this, including the Ncase M1 and the few lucky people who have acquired a Kimera Cerberus.
Many of us don't see SFF cases so much as picking a smaller case and make due, but getting us much efficiency (performance per liter, for instance) out of a build for the needs to be met.

 

[Kmpkt]

In my mind it comes down to whether or not you need more than one PCIe slot or plan to do heavy overclocks. If you only plan on using a single GPU and run stock to moderate/automatic overclocks, I'm not sure why you would go for anything but ITX.

 

[gdourado]

My issue is just ability to properly overclock and cool the CPU and also be able to run high end non reference GPU that has open air cooler designs.

I will run just a single M.2 SSD and no other peripherals.

my amp and dac are external and in the computer I just need the GPU.

it is a pure gaming build. no work, just fun!

 

[CC Ricers]

There are SFF cases, and there are cases that simply hold an ITX board. SFF focuses on the small footprint, but if you don't need more than 1 PCIe slot you can buy any mini ITX case at any size.

Take the NZXT Manta, for instance. It supports only ITX boards, but it's not really SFF sized. But then along comes someone that mods the case and crams a mATX board with a custom water cooling system and then the case feels more SFF for the amount of stuff it contains inside.