Gaming mATX PC Build cooling/performance

[Noken]

Hello everyone,

 

First time poster and visitor of linustechtips, 

 

I have built 2 gaming PC's in the past and am gearing up for my third build. I am struggling however because I would like to give a shot at a mATX gaming rig. After the past two weeks I am torn with the question of whether or not I am setting my self up for doom down the road. 

 

I chose mATX because occasionally I will LAN at my friends houses and would like something more easily transportable but don't want to sacrifice performance.

 

My fist question is about the case, I need something with great airflow and have been looking at:

 

-Bitfenix Prodigy M

-Bitfenix Phenom mATX

-Corsair 350d

-Aercool DS (Dead Silent)

 

I want to ensure that during my sometimes marathon LAN gaming sessions with will not cause my PC to overheat to quickly as I have had a problem with that in the past. 

 

Also I have a question about wether an I5 Haswell 4760k build is good enough or should I just upgrade to an I7.

I know many games don't use hyperthreading right now.

 

I mainly play WoW, SC2, DOTA, and some FPS's

 

THank You

[TheSLSAMG]

Get a 350D and the 4670K is fine. BTW, AMD is not a choice seeing as all of the mATX boards are shit.

[MasterJV]

4670K is more than enough for the games you want to play.

I suggest the Corsair 350D and the Prodigy M.

[LogicDeifying]

4670k Get a Arc Mini R2 and be happy with yourself.

OR!You could go ITX get this and get a 670 Mini or a another small card or your choice.

[Noken]

Thank for the replies,

 

So you don't think that there will be an issue with playing on gaming sessions with a mATX style gaming rig either?

[Ryan Leech]

+1 for 4670K and Arc Mini R2

[airdeano]

another +1 for the 4670k and Arc Mini R2

[Cohacq]

Check out the Silverstone SG09. Tiny for an mATX case and nice cooling!

[Noken]

Thank you all for the suggestions.

After reviewing my build I may switch to an mITX mono and case.

I am worried however about me limiting myself with graphis down the road.

I plan on getting a R9 280X or something of the equivalent.

Does anyone have any insight on performance decreases between mATX AND mITX?

[Thecrazyswede]

Goddamn it why are people forgetting the fractal define mini ?

 

Its one of the best mATX chassis out there if you want silent operations.

[Thecrazyswede]

Thank you alDoes anyone have any insight on performance decreases between mATX AND mITX?

 

mATX supports two grapfics cards or other PCI express 8x/16x devices such as sound cards raid cards stream cards ect,ect

 

mITX only has ONE pci lane so you are stuck with that, these days most mITX boards are decent overclockers so its not that big of a difference between any of the sizes.

 

mATX if you want to be able to expand later on

 

mITX if you want small as possible and still have decent preformance.

[BYOGamingPC]

+1 for the Fractal Design Arc Mini R2

 

If you want a silent case then go with the Fractal Design Define Mini. I own and love this Define Mini but the Arc Mini R2 is great also.

[d33g33]

Again for the Arc Mini R2 or 350D

[WoodenMarker]

Get a 350D and the 4670K is fine. BTW, AMD is not a choice seeing as all of the mATX boards are shit.

Only for AM3+ when considering an 8 core.

Thank for the replies,

So you don't think that there will be an issue with playing on gaming sessions with a mATX style gaming rig either?

No.

Check out the Silverstone SG09. Tiny for an mATX case and nice cooling!

It's great for portability. The Newegg crew uses it for their portable editing rig.

Thank you all for the suggestions.

After reviewing my build I may switch to an mITX mono and case.

I am worried however about me limiting myself with graphis down the road.

I plan on getting a R9 280X or something of the equivalent.

Does anyone have any insight on performance decreases between mATX AND mITX?

No performance difference. You just have less expand ability and options. 

 

I recommend reading this: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-reccomendations-please-read-before-posting/

[chunkybean]

Arent those fractal cases too big for a lan pc?

You can go mitx, as it only limits you on pcie slots, meaning you cant add another card for sli/crossfire or a soundcard, but yeah sli is not for everybody and not all games supports it as well, you might wanna get the single most powerful card you can afford and save yourself from all the hassle,

and mitx boards only have two ram slots but who needs more than 16gb for gaming?

But there are really good matx cases for lan parties like silverstone sg09, really small you would think its an mitx case but its not, and has great cooling too.

Forget the prodigy,because the handles break

Phenom is okay...

As for itx cases,

Theres lot of it that can be used as a powerful lan pc like

Evga hadron (which has its own 500w gold psu made by fsp)

Silverstone sg07 sg08 similar to node304

Fractal node 304 stylish and minimalistic

Elite 120/130 but these has bad cooling

Lian li make good cses too, but theres too many to mention here