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MiniITX Gaining Ground as Gaming Form Factor
Just as I was contemplating how to build a small gaming rig in a MicroATX case (Silverstone SG10), I came across an article about MSI's new gaming motherboard and MiniITX video card.
http://www.msi.com/news-media/news/1631.html
For a lot of people, the size of desktop computers is what turns them away from gaming on them and turns them toward consoles. My friend is one of those people, but if he sees the combo above and how a case comparable in size to the consoles can put out more than twice the graphics performance, he might be more inclined to play on the PC.
Anyone else have thoughts or know of other viable gaming system setups on small form factors?
Comments
SFF Gaming has been viable for a long time - you just have to accept that you aren't going to get top-tier performance or huge over clocks. Even the link you put from MSI - your getting a GTX760 (a nice card), but there's probably no getting a R9 290X in there...
That's not to say you can't game very nicely on a 760 - you can. It's just a lot of people look and see that you can't put the top tier in there and then cry about not being able to MAX MAX 250FPS on their 1080p TV, when the 760 is more than enough to make sure you get 60FPS with every reasonable setting cranked to MAX (although maybe not every single setting).
It's all in what you are willing to trade off. I love SFF PCs, especially for throwing in on a TV for big screen gaming. I hate building them, because they are very hard to work on (I have 10 thumbs on banana hands I guess), but I like them when they are all done. I don't mind that you can't cram a massive video card or huge heat sink in there - 98 times out of 100 the person using the computer doesn't care and it's more than fast enough for them as it is, and in those last 2 cases it's people who want performance for the sake of bragging rights (the 250FPS MAX MAX crowd), not because they actually require it for anything.
I agree, except the Silverstone SG9 and 10 look like they can fit any graphics card and fit some pretty big CPU coolers. You might be limited with those cases on water-cooling, but I have seen a few threads around the internet of people who did add water cooling inside their cases.
I do expect the MiniITX form factor to catch up to desktop systems in casual gamer configurations, but not in extreme performance situations. For myself, I am satisfied with having a single high-end graphics card and air-cooled CPU with aftermarket cooling. I don't get into extreme overclocking, so maybe MiniITX will be viable for me when it comes time to replace my system in a few years. I will have to wait and see how much more performance they can fit in there, first.
1 small thing (haha)
Just because you can physically fit it in there doesn't mean it's a good idea Smashing a heat sink with push-pull fans with the exit fan directly above, with no clearance (such as the pictures in this review-- well, you blocked 40%+ of the fan area with structural supports for the other fans + top (non-working) side of the heat sink.
The power supply vents have next to no clearance from the sides of the case (once the sides are re-installed), and no air circulation from underneath the video card that I can see because the video card goes clear from the front to back of the enclosure and there's no room for air to get around it. Sure, there's fans, but there's a lot of restrictions on the air flow all around in that case.
Will it work? Yeah - probably. Will it have trouble with heat? Yeah - probably. Definitely if you wanted to try to overclock.
So, SFF - I love them, and you can do a lot with them. Just don't try to claim you can do everything with them you can with a full sized desktop though, because you really can't. It's like trying to say you can race with a Toyota Corolla - it's a nice small car and it does very well for what it does, and sure you can supe it up and make it fast, but you aren't going to be taking out Vipers or Ferraris.
What SFF parts? I'm not talking about high-end maximum overclocking. The parts in the first post can put out some good graphics quality on their default air cooling. Finding a small enough aftermarket CPU cooler should be doable on a MiniITX build. On MicroATX, though, the only thing you give up is PCI slots and space inside the case. For a gaming PC, a SSD can fit almost anywhere, and fans shouldn't be an issue unless you are overclocking. If you are overclocking a lot (enough to need liquid cooling) a full tower build is the only way to go, of course.