Biggest advantages of mATX over ITX?

[Deivan8]

What, in your opinion, are the biggest drawbacks of ITX format compared to mATX? I will be buying Ryzen 2700 + b450 or x470 and thinking about if I should go for ITX or mATX format. Having smaller computer would be nice, although I would like to keep 2 fan video card + ATX PSU. 

[Jurrunio]

Price. ITX is a classic example of paying more for less.

 

Resistant to failure. Let's say the onboard LAN port dies after warranty. With mATX mobo you can simply add a cheap PCIe LAN card and call that fixed. With mITX, you are out of luck.

 

Capability to use PCIe expansion cards for new stuff. same as above

[Theguywhobea]

Yeah, I'd say the expansion slot issue is the main detractor from ITX

[jj9987]

ITX cases do not support large GPUs in some cases (mostly long and/or tall ones).

ITX cases have worse airflow, depending on the case. This may result in more noise due to fans having to do more work to keep components cool.

Any kind of expansion options - SATA ports, RAM slots, PCI Express slots.

Some ITX cases might not fit ATX PSU, you will need to find SFX then (and these are some what harder to find).

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

10 minutes ago, Deivan8 said:

What, in your opinion, are the biggest drawbacks of ITX format compared to mATX? I will be buying Ryzen 2700 + b450 or x470 and thinking about if I should go for ITX or mATX format. Having smaller computer would be nice, although I would like to keep 2 fan video card + ATX PSU. 

ITX is pretty hard to work with. It requires much more planning. You'll get bitten in the ass on things like PSUs with non-modular cables. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

The biggest drawback going with an mITX board is simply you get less expansion capabilities. While people claim you're paying more for less, I see it as I'm using more my board and getting my money's worth.

 

Regarding the case situation, it depends on the case you get obviously. I've had the BitFenix Prodigy and Corsair 250D. Both were fine cases if you're packing high performance components or need more room to work with. I currently use a Silverstone FTZ-01, and it holds its own well.

 

But really, you should plan your system for what you are going to be using and are really sure you'll be using. I don't think it's worthwhile to buy a board capable of multi-GPU just because you want the capability to do it but you're not committed to the idea, for example.

[Deivan8]

4 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

The biggest drawback going with an mITX board is simply you get less expansion capabilities. While people claim you're paying more for less, I see it as I'm using more my board and getting my money's worth.

 

Regarding the case situation, it depends on the case you get obviously. I've had the BitFenix Prodigy and Corsair 250D. Both were fine cases if you're packing high performance components or need more room to work with. I currently use a Silverstone FTZ-01, and it holds its own well.

 

But really, you should plan your system for what you are going to be using and are really sure you'll be using. I don't think it's worthwhile to buy a board capable of multi-GPU just because you want the capability to do it but you're not committed to the idea, for example.

Currently my biggest dilema is If I want to keep ATX PSU, is it really worth it to go ITX? Basically, biggest space savings with cases happens with getting SF power supply. With ATX PSU, differences between mATX and ITX are minor. I currently have Thermaltake Core V21 and thinking going for Thermaltake Core V1 or Fractal Design Define Mini C Tempered Glass mATX (maybe ITX Fractal Design Define Nano S ITX Case but I am a bit worried about GPU clearance.  I want to make my pc as portable as possible as I will be studying next year in a different city. I can't find spending that much on SF power supply, especially then I already have M12II 620w Seasonic PSU. Selling it for less and getting new one would be just wasting money.

 

4 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

Price. ITX is a classic example of paying more for less.

 

Resistant to failure. Let's say the onboard LAN port dies after warranty. With mATX mobo you can simply add a cheap PCIe LAN card and call that fixed. With mITX, you are out of luck.

 

Capability to use PCIe expansion cards for new stuff. same as above

What other PCIe expansion cards could be used? 

[Jurrunio]

5 hours ago, Deivan8 said:

What other PCIe expansion cards could be used? 

M.2 Storage (with NVMe support) cards,

SATA ports cards,

Wifi and Bluetooth cards (some come with both function in one card),

Audio cards,

TV tuner cards (yes, watching TV programmes with a PC is a thing),

Radio capture card,

USB 3.0 cards (type A and Type C connectors available),

U.2 cards,

mSATA cards (for using some laptop storage drives),

mPCIe cards (for using laptop WiFi and BT cards),

MXM cards (some removable laptop graphics cards use MXM, so you can you one in a PC for fun I guess), 

Some processors for certain workloads, like Red Rocket for R3D workflow.

 

/yeah, a lot of stuff most people dont end up using even though they can

[dizmo]

With AMD it's been poor board choice. None of the ITX boards currently out are particularly good. That might change with the launch of the 400 series chipset though, we'll have to wait and see. Other than that you just lose the ability to add additional add in cards. Only you can really tell us if that's a drawback for you or not, as it'll very much come down to your use case.

 

Personally I love ITX boards, especially ones that have a couple m.2 slots. Removes any need for the additional cabling.

18 hours ago, Deivan8 said:

Currently my biggest dilema is If I want to keep ATX PSU, is it really worth it to go ITX? Basically, biggest space savings with cases happens with getting SF power supply. With ATX PSU, differences between mATX and ITX are minor. I currently have Thermaltake Core V21 and thinking going for Thermaltake Core V1 or Fractal Design Define Mini C Tempered Glass mATX (maybe ITX Fractal Design Define Nano S ITX Case but I am a bit worried about GPU clearance.  I want to make my pc as portable as possible as I will be studying next year in a different city. I can't find spending that much on SF power supply, especially then I already have M12II 620w Seasonic PSU. Selling it for less and getting new one would be just wasting money.

There are lots of small cases that use ATX power supplies. Though, honestly, I'd look into replacing that unit anyway; it's not the greatest PSU.

You will always get less than what you sell something for. What's the bigger waste, getting nothing for it and having it sit on a shelf, or recouping at least some of the value? I'd say it's the former.

 

You're looking at pretty big ITX cases. If you're getting something that size, I'd just go with microATX.

[Deivan8]

On 21/03/2018 at 5:25 PM, dizmo said:

With AMD it's been poor board choice. None of the ITX boards currently out are particularly good. That might change with the launch of the 400 series chipset though, we'll have to wait and see. Other than that you just lose the ability to add additional add in cards. Only you can really tell us if that's a drawback for you or not, as it'll very much come down to your use case.

 

Personally I love ITX boards, especially ones that have a couple m.2 slots. Removes any need for the additional cabling.

There are lots of small cases that use ATX power supplies. Though, honestly, I'd look into replacing that unit anyway; it's not the greatest PSU.

You will always get less than what you sell something for. What's the bigger waste, getting nothing for it and having it sit on a shelf, or recouping at least some of the value? I'd say it's the former.

 

You're looking at pretty big ITX cases. If you're getting something that size, I'd just go with microATX.

I don't see myself using any of those cards anytime soon. If you're saying M12-620 is not good, what would you consider decent? Platinum/gold something like RMx?  It's still a good PSU, a bit weaker than Corsair's CX but definitely more than enough for majority of users. Especially that even with ryzen 2700x + gtx 1080 and both heavily OC I wouldn't draw that much power to stress the PSU.

As for Cases, I made best cases list, most of them focusing on ATX PSUs (some exceptions). If Fractal Design Nano was a bit more smaller than that, I would go for it. Sadly, it's similar to Mini C TG, just shorter ~7cm in one dimension. Which would you pick if you would insist on staying with ATX PSU?

[KarathKasun]

mATX wins in price, expansion, voltage regulation (more room for a beefier VRM), standard ATX power supply selection.

 

ITX wins on... size.

[maartendc]

I love my mini ITX system personally, I don't want a big honking PC case in my office/living room. I use the Silverstone Sugo 13, which is pretty darn small, but I managed to get a full size GTX 980Ti in there.

 

Yeah, the motherboards are usually about 20-30$ more expensive than mATX. And usually you get only 2 instead of 4 RAM slots and less PCI slots.

 

If you don't care about the size of your PC, best stick with micro ATX to save some money and make your life easier. If you want to build your PC as compact as possible (mine fits in a standard backpack!) then ITX is the way to go.

[minibois]

I would say the advantage of mATX is still often having 4 DIMM slots for memory.

[Deivan8]

1 hour ago, maartendc said:

I love my mini ITX system personally, I don't want a big honking PC case in my office/living room. I use the Silverstone Sugo 13, which is pretty darn small, but I managed to get a full size GTX 980Ti in there.

 

Yeah, the motherboards are usually about 20-30$ more expensive than mATX. And usually you get only 2 instead of 4 RAM slots and less PCI slots.

 

If you don't care about the size of your PC, best stick with micro ATX to save some money and make your life easier. If you want to build your PC as compact as possible (mine fits in a standard backpack!) then ITX is the way to go.

Ehh, my PSU is a bit too long by 1-2cm for that case. How is it for you? Share a pic and specs. Would be nice to see it.

[maartendc]

3 hours ago, Deivan8 said:

Ehh, my PSU is a bit too long by 1-2cm for that case. How is it for you? Share a pic and specs. Would be nice to see it.

Yeah I am using a SFX PSU, which is also usually more expensive than a ATX PSU. Although the case supports standard size ATX PSU's if I am not mistaken. Good quality SFX PSU's for 450Watt are about $90 compared to maybe $50 for standard ATX (gold rated, modular).

 

Don't have a pic, but these are my specs:

 

- Motherboard: MSI h110i pro

- CPU: i5 6600

- CPU Cooler: be Quiet Shadow rock LP

- Memory: 2x8GB DDR4

- GPU: EVGA GTX 980TI SC

- Front intake fan: Noctua 140mm

- PSU: Silverstone ST45SF-G Gold rated fully modular 450W

- SSD: Samsung 840 Evo SATA.

 

It is tight, but everything fits quite comfortably actually. The front 140mm fan is temp controlled by the CPU temp, so under load it can ramp up and airflow is actually quite good. GPU has a side vent to draw cold air from, runs very cool (around 70C OC'd and on standard Fan curve).

 

Only issue with these small cases is cable management. You might want to opt for an M.2 SSD like some people suggest instead of a 2.5" SSD (saves 2 cables: power cable and Sata cable). That, combined with a fully modular PSU helps a lot with cable clutter.

 

(I don't recommend my PSU btw, it is pretty loud under load. I have heard good things of the Be quiet or Corsair SFX PSU's)