Wait to see what Zen delivers or downside to mini-itx?

[MR.awesome1]

So I've fallen in love with the Dan Case A4 SFX since day one, but was scared to back as many probably are with such high failure rates of delivery on indie campaign . So I waiting for the full release. My question to guys would u wait until Zen and see what's up or down size now but keep my i5 4690k? (LGA 1150). 

 

*Note the Dan Case A4 SFX has not been released but I am assuming it will be in North America before Zen releases.

[AresKrieger]

I'd just go with the 4690k since you know how it will perform while zen is a mystery, if Zen launches prior to Dan case they their might be justification in getting it but until then I can't give accurate advice besides keep what you have

[21rkosta]

if you can i would definitly reccomend waiting until zen to upgrade your cpu and mobo and case

[PRTI]

Zen should not be THAT GOOD to make someone change to a hole new platform and pay a premium price for launch

[Mira Yurizaki]

I shall touch on the other side of the question the topic is asking.

 

The downsides to a Mini-ITX system aside from less I/O if you're going for as compact as possible is basically you have to be mindful of the size of everything. For instance, you have to buy low profile CPU coolers if you don't want Intel's stock cooler, you may not be able to fit 5" wide cards, you'll have to get an SFX power supply and you may not even be able to comfortably have an SFX-L one. Another problem is cases that compact won't have case fans, so you may need to be more mindful of your temps, mostly in the CPU area.

 

Oh, and of course building and tinkering in a compact Mini-ITX case can be annoying. In my case (pun intended :D), I have to disassemble basically half the computer before I can get to the GPU.

[MR.awesome1]

2 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I shall touch on the other side of the question the topic is asking.

 

The downsides to a Mini-ITX system aside from less I/O if you're going for as compact as possible is basically you have to be mindful of the size of everything. For instance, you have to buy low profile CPU coolers if you don't want Intel's stock cooler, you may not be able to fit 5" wide cards, you'll have to get an SFX power supply and you may not even be able to comfortably have an SFX-L one. Another problem is cases that compact won't have case fans, so you may need to be more mindful of your temps, mostly in the CPU area.

 

Oh, and of course building and tinkering in a compact Mini-ITX case can be annoying. In my case (pun intended :D), I have to disassemble basically half the computer before I can get to the GPU.

I do agree with all that you have stated and I am ready to basically redo my whole system ... However the reason I am going with the A4 SFX is the ease of getting to your core components if necessary compared to other compact layouts. Thx for the response!

[don_svetlio]

15 minutes ago, MR.awesome1 said:

So I've fallen in love with the Dan Case A4 SFX since day one, but was scared to back as many probably are with such high failure rates of delivery on indie campaign . So I waiting for the full release. My question to guys would u wait until Zen and see what's up or down size now but keep my i5 4690k? (LGA 1150). 

 

*Note the Dan Case A4 SFX has not been released but I am assuming it will be in North America before Zen releases.

Here's what you should do. Wait till you know HOW Zen performs cause last thing you want is to buy a 4690K only to have a similarly priced Zen CPU come out and perform 40% better

[Monkey Dust]

Zen isn't likely to become available until early next year, with no indication when performance MITX might launch. Then again we don't know how long until the Dan case gets general release.

 

I'd wait until the case is available and see what the PC landscape looks like then, rather than committing to a firm plan now.