That's what got me thinking about an ITX build. I kept watching various YTs such as Optimum Tech. He's got some serious computing power in a tiny case, much smaller then what I have to be sure.
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My PC build review, or how did I not screw this up
- Thread starter maflynn
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That's what got me thinking about an ITX build. I kept watching various YTs such as Optimum Tech. He's got some serious computing power in a tiny case, much smaller then what I have to be sure.
I signed up at Newegg, B&H and MicroCenter for 5900X and 5950X parts. I'm watching Amazon as well. Dell has AlienWare systems but I'd rather build my own. I noticed that a number of sellers (scalpers I assume) are selling 5900X chips for about $300 over MSRP. I'm not buying from non-authorized sellers as I've heard of people scammed out of their $$$.
Maybe a crisply built ITX form factor is great to show off on your desktop, but I like having easy access to the components, and as a result I build ATX form factors and shove the case is under my desk. Now I may rethink that as we are moving around our offices.
We re-renovated the basement and my wife moved down there, as both of us are on the phone (zoom) all day long. So she left the office and I'm to move to the other side, and maybe my clunky case will end up on the desk.
Pics after the move.
I prefer a tower so that I have more desk space and any noise is muted.
Not just to show it off. The reasons I opted for ITX are simple.
- Challenge of building in such a small form factor - I was looking to do something different.
- I don't really have any need or requirement for components that would work better in an ATX case.
- I find using an ITX case on my desk works better then a floor unit, partly because of dust infiltration, leg room, and easier access to the ports and innards.
- Easier to move the case, especially with my TU-150 as it has a nice built in handle.
ATX builds have advantages to be sure, but for me, I found little need to access the case once I have everything up and running - I hope I didn't just jinx myself
No question desks space can and is impacted but since I had used an egpu, the tu-150 isn't really that much wider (its taller).
As for noise - I do hear the GPU fans when I play games, but everything else, the computer is silent, so for me I'm happy. Even the games I play that GPU isn't that loud, I have its fan curve to keep the noise low, even while gaming since what i play hasn't pushed its temps too high. I think i see about 60c, when it reaches the 70s, the fans will ramp up
I'm not trying to say ITX builds are for everyone or they're superior, but rather for my wants (and to some degree needs), it fits the bill better then an ATX case
My very first build was a Core 2 Quad Q6600 in a silent Antec P180 case. Loaded up with HDDs, that was one very heavy tower.
I hated maintenance on that so much that my builds got progressively smaller until my desktop now fits on the palm of my hand. I also decided to take a more modular approach. NAS (with easily accessible front HDD bays) for bulk storage and low power Mini-ITX/NUC for clients.
Only thing the NUC won't handle is gaming. All other tasks, they're more than fast enough for our usage (web, office and now RDP). With HW accelerated encoding, it even handles Plex Media Server duties just fine. Certainly much better than the Q6600.
You might as well try Best Buy too.
Occasionally they have good deals that are unmatched by other online-only retailers yet you can do an in-store pickup.
I purchased a pair of Razer Blackshark V2 gaming headphones for $80 a couple of months ago ($100 MSRP).
A few days ago I found a specific Logitech Harmony TV universal remote at MSRP whereas Amazon/Newegg were sold out or had third-party merchants selling at 3x-4x the regular price.
Razer has a NUC that is for gaming. I haven't really looked into it too much, but being Razer I suspect it will be crazy expensive.
I was referring to the more traditional NUCs that are even smaller than the Mac Mini. That Razer with NUC compute element is bigger than some of my Mini-ITX builds.
Mind, Intel has released gaming oriented NUCs (Hades Canyon, Ghost Canyon). They're considerably larger than the normal 4" x 4" NUCs though.
I do plan on getting Ryzen-based NUC alternatives for PSX emulation. Intel graphics may be faster now but their graphics drivers are still pretty bad.
I upgraded and passed my PC off to my daughter for her gaming/streaming which has caused me to want to build a new system. If I do I'll wait until things become reasonable again.
Always a good excuse to do another build.
I would be happy to do another build if I could get the parts that I want. It appears that a lot of parts are going to China for crypto-mining today.
I'm moving my trading system to my workout area so that I can watch the markets while I workout. So rearranging the hardware in the basement. I have a Late 2015 iMac coming I think - I worked out a deal but the other person is taking his time arranging the deal. I'll use my 2015 MacBook Pro as the Mac on the table for now. I found another used system that is easy to Hack and that's also an option.
I'm pretty happy I didn't wait any longer. My local MicroCenter seems to have decent inventory of components. They now have some Intel motherboards and processors in stock, though they seem to run out fairly regularly. AMD seems less popular using my unscientific highly flawed personal observation of the ease of getting AMD motherboards and processors. I miss some of what Intel provides, like USB-C, but overall, my system runs quiet which was the major must have in my build. A cool processor doesn't need aggressive fans, and as such the 3700x was a good choice.
GPUs are still really hard to find - given my gaming style, and what I play, I'm very happy with my RTX 2060 Super and I have little desire to spend any money on upgrading that component.