Anyone done one recently? I’m looking for high horsepower in a mini ITX or micro ATX form factor. Uses would be Lightroom, photoshop and AutoCAD, plus everyday stuff. Looking for a starting point - recommendations on motherboard, processor, case, I can take it from there. Smaller size is important as I live in an RV. I don’t think I’m looking for a laptop right now.

For comparison, I’m also thinking of an HP Z2 Mini G3 loaded out - Xeon processor, 32GB ram, etc.

Some good info at this site: https://techbuyersguru.com/int...small-form-factor-pc

I build custom computers for a living (among other IT duties).
I build both desktop and servers.
I use quite a few mini-itx boards.
Concerns are expansion space and cooling.
In the small form factor servers cooling is the most challenge but add more strategic fans.
There is only room/slot for one card which is a RAID adapter in most cases.
For desktops all depends on the case.
I recently build one with I7-7700K that was water cooled.
Adding a full powered graphics card is the biggest challenge.
Look at all that goes in and shop for a case that fits it.
Also get a modular power supply as you only need the cables necessary and not stuff your box with cables.
For Motherboards I use Gigabyte or Asus, for servers I use ASRock.
Intel SSD's and Intel CPU's of course.
Cooling solutions will vary.
Silverstone makes some good cases, power supplies for desktop units but there are a lot of good ones.
The servers are mostly similar to NAS units with hot swap backplanes.
YMMV good luck.

Day_late, looks like a good and recent article. I’ll study it this evening thanks!

Smschulz, thanks for the info. I may want to consider micro ATX as its slightly bigger and more expansion. I don’t think I need gaming-horsepower graphics, just cad and photo editing processor horsepower. But both would need good cooling.

I posted the following in this thread:

"I just built an i5 (7600k) system using a Corsair 250D case (mini ITX), Corsair PSU and Corsair water-cooling. Picked the Gigabyte Z270N mobo. Case and cooler are really nice, and are designed to work together. I got a rebate so it was a bit more than air cooled but not much. Samsung 850 EVO HD, 8gb G.Skill ram. I think it was around $550-600 for everything. Including a K63 keyboard and nice Corsair M65 mouse. Using no video card and it pushes my 65" TV fine for general web surfing and what not. Fits a full size card if I need more."

For the most part PC pricing is linear in that you pay more for better performance. But experience helps you find values! You need to determine your budget, and then it is much easier to decide where to put the money based on the performance demands. I used PCPartPicker to help, and the advice of a friend who stays on top of things. I like Corsair products and just happened to really like several of their items for this particular build. I used to build systems for others but it had been about five years prior to this. We're lucky enough to have a MicroCenter here so I went in there for a few hours and got some ideas and picked up some stuff as well.

*Originally I went with an ASRock Motherboard but it was definitely inferior and the wifi radio antenna was a real bitch to install.

Also, be careful on fan sizes. Make sure you understand how much space you really have. CPU fans can interfere with RAM slots for example. Also the fan could be too tall for the case. The flavor of the day is these super tall coolers or water, but after two air cooled options I decided to spend slightly more on water cooling. It was a breeze to install. Is completely silent and has been amazing so far.

Bigeinkcmo,

I recall seeing that thread now, but thanks for the re-post! Good info and good starting places. Gotta look for a microcenter. When I lived in Denver, no problem. Or maybe I’ll take a pilgrimage to frys.

In my personal main desktop I originally used the same Gigabyte Z270N mini-itx board too.
However, I was driving a very large 38" ultra-wide 3840 x 1600.

PS, nothing wrong with the quality of ASRock boards but Gigabyte. MSI and Asus have a better selection geared towards gaming, business, etc. ASRock has a much deep selection of Xeon Server Boards as does Super Micro.

The HDMI and the display port specifications would not maximize resolution/frame rate.
So I replaced with the Z270 Gaming Model that had the proper Display Port specifications.

This is not a problem when you use with a graphics card but being space limited because of the 120MM dual water-cooling AIO unit I opted for the built in graphics of the Gen 7 I-7700K processor.

On cases I like the "boxy" type cases for servers and for desktop units ones that "slimmer" and for appliance units like firewalls or video servers a mini unit with external power supply.

Keep in mind the case can limit you so you might look there first.

However, also keep in mind that these cases use different format of power supplies and if using a graphics card then you will need more power and they can get quite pricey (so can the ones for ATX but the selection is greater).
Using a M2 SSD can save a bunch of space and wires too.


YMMV

Supermicro.... now that takes me back a ways! One of my first builds was with one of their boards many moons ago. I’m an aging hobbyist now and am probably not likely to do another build after this one. But who knows....

So for Photoshop and CAD, Xeon or i7? I don’t think I’m likely to edit video.

quote:

So for Photoshop and CAD, Xeon or i7? I don’t think I’m likely to edit video

Processing Power > both pretty similar
Memory > Xeon can use ECC and support more RAM.
Threads > I7 should be about the same as an E3 Xeon but Xeon E5 CPU's take a different board, much more expensive and require more cooling.

I'd say start with a Gen 7 or Gen 8 CPU, NVMe SSD and leave open the option to add a Graphics card if need be.
Graphics are built in to the CPU and are quite good ~ extreme rendering in AutoCAD, Photoshop and gaming might use a more powerful Graphics card especially for 3D (don't forget the upgraded power supply).

I will say my most recent experience in DIY-ing failed, due to not having the ability to swap in known-good products for debugging incoming 'new' products.

As best I can figure, I got two bad 'new' MBs repackaged. Each failed with different symptoms, and it was a pain to diagnose.

The problem was that it'd been long enough since I'd done this that all my spares were not compatible with the new interfaces. Known-good CPUs? Check, but none that fit that MB. Known-good MB? Check, but none that fit that CPU. Ditto on RAM. Plus my spare power supplies didn't have enough of the right cabling.

Sent it all back for refund and had a buddy who builds these for a living whip me up something to my exact spec. He had spares and, interestingly, at least one of the SSDs he bought for my build came in DOA.

Long way of saying, hopefully you have access to debugging supplies for the chosen tech.

Just to add clarity on my comment about an ASRock MB. I went with one of their cheaper models and you literally had to attach the wifi antenna with these really pita connections that were easy to bump and fall off. I returned it on the principle of not wanting to be pissed off and angry down the road.

So I decided to take advantage of a MB/CPU combo pricing MicroCenter offers and that's when I went with the more pricey Z270N. The Z270N had the wifi adapter pre-wired and connected to the board. Not trying to cast a bad light on ASRock. Btw, I believe you get a $30 discount if you buy both together, which makes them much more price competitve with Newegg and such.

Funny, last time I was really into gaming and hobbyist stuff DFI (LANParty series) was one of the big guys and I don't hear much mentioned of them now.

Are you talking about a console sized box like this? or are you looking for something a little larger?

I used this one for my niece's build and it has plenty of room for a full size gpu.

quote:

Originally posted by IndyRob:
Are you talking about a console sized box like this? or are you looking for something a little larger?

On my personal desktop I used one like this except the ML07.
It has room for a full sized Graphics card but I opted to use that space with a dual 120mm AIO water cooler.
I also put in the 650w SFX Silverstone power supply.
Great case but the slot DVDR from Silverstone does not work well.
Next time I would nix that and use an external USB DVDRW when needed.

I have finished my sons CPU with him. It was a fairly straight forward build. Years ago, i did a itx/mini Atx (cant remember completely) for my sister inlaw as she went into college. She used it up till her senior year, and sold it to a kid entering as a freshman. It was the only time i went to small form factors.

At the time i was doing a fair amount of stiching for 200 + image panoramic pictures. I was running a first gen SLI rig. That tought me the joys of larger more free flowing cases.

This brings me to my thread. It all started when my wifes role changed and she would be able to work from home 2-3 days a week. She wanted a work station with more real estate. I was able to order her a dockeing station, (2) 24 inch curved monitors. We pairded that with a new mechanical keyboard.



After my son saw the set up, he decided he wanted a new cpu with dual monitors. He spent his own money to build the cpu on the in the other thread.




He really likes his cpu. He uses it quite a bit for games and videos. He did end up picking up a Mechanical keyboard to go with it. I fell in love with his monitors and case. I have been lap top or cell phone only since 2010. I am sick of lap tops and cell phone screens. I just hate them. Helping him build his cpu I decided to let a few guns go and build mine.

I briefly looked at smaller cases, I figured though with gaming, photos, videos, and just general use I would want a decent sized case. I would want air flow volume at low speed as i could get.

I looked for about 3 weeks at just cases. I settled on 2. nzxt 440 NZXT 440, and nzxt 700i NZXT 700i, I ordered both. My biggest problem is that they pull air from the side of the case, forcing the air to make a 90 degree turn. This kind of move can reduce the airflow by as much as 50%. It also introduced 2 sets of mesh grills, increasing background noise/whisle. I looked hard at Phanteks enthoo Phanteks Enthoo line also. While they don't have the issue of pulling air from the side, they were out of stock when I ordered the 700i. Fast forward, I was chatting with my wife telling her what i do not like about these other cases. She replied, well you keep comparing it to Albert's case ( my son) get that.

So I ordered that also. His is a coolmaster: MasterCase 5 Mid-Tower Computer Case with FreeForm Modular System, Dual Handle Design and Window Side Panel

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/pr...02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It pulls air from the front, top, bottom then exiting out the back. The bays are removable, 2.5 ssd slots, great cable routing, and plenty of open free space for larger crap.

It arrives today.

I also ordered two samsung 32" monitors. They are curved, but not 4k or even 144hrtz. Standard 60 Hrtz monitors. This will give me plenty of realestate. I picked up both of these and the mounts for half of what a 30" gaming monitor is going for. Here is one of the 32's, I am waiting on the second mount to put up the other.



I am not how sure you are on a smaller case, regardless of its size, if you plan on doing a fair bit of photo editing like i used to. Real estate is key. I used to run 3 color match monitors. one for PS/Lightroom one for stiching tool/original photo and the final work one for the in progress photo. It made work flow a fair bit quicker and smoother. I can see how that would help in video editing also.

For general stuff I will put email and normal browser junk on the right screen, and work, game, video off the left .

DSGrouse, those are nice builds! I really like the dual curved monitors and the arms.

I am kind of set on a smaller form factor. As I mentioned, I live in an RV, so space is limited.

Thanks all for the info! I'll keep you posted, although I'm not "pulling the trigger" yet, still in major research mode.

Do you have a flat panel tv? Get a good lap top, do a dual monitor via laptop and tv

This is the case I have and I really like it. It's well designed and feels like a quality case for $90. I think this review is pretty accurate. At least gives you some things to think about anyway.

I do like that little case.

I’m building an absolutely tiny SFF PC in a few months, using this case: (warning - it’s $300)

(Not my images, pulled from the web)

While I love building my own stuff, you will be hard pressed to build anything near as small or powerful as the upcoming Intel Hades Canyon Extreme NUC. It's badass according to people who deal with badass PC stuff everyday. Should be out very soon since it was being shown at CES in Vegas. Price doesn't seem that bad for the power you get in the size you get.