Theoretical mITX Build

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
A

adumbbird13

Honorable
Jan 3, 2014
153
0
10,760
To start off, this question is mostly theoretical.

I plan on rebuilding my computer when I go away for school (And build my old one cheaper for my brother), and I want to go mITX.
The computer will be running some fairly heavy fluid and thermal simulations, nothing for a super computer but still needing some serious power.
I have a rough idea of what I want in my head, but I want to see some input from the experts

Budget is $2500

Parts not needed: Processor (LGA 1155), RAM, SSDs, H100i

CHALLENGE: an mITX case that supports two SSDs AND an h100i.

GOOOO
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960
There's not a huge selection of options for ITX cases if you want to sneak in a H100i. You basically have four options.

1. Corsair 250D. Fits H100i and an optical drive. Slightly awkward shape and layout means it's a little motherboard dependant, and not super desk-friendly.

2. Bitfenix (three cases, all basically the same). Will take a H100i but not at the same time as an optical drive without modding. Great space/airflow/storage/colour options, reasonably good value too. Not significantly narrower than the 250D though, and can be a bit wobbly.

3. Alternative cases. Stuff like the NCase M1 may fit the bill, but they might not be as easy to get a hold of as the more mainstream cases, or as cost effective - the M1 is at least $200.

4. Look at mATX options. If you want a tower-style PC, then there are a load of mATX towers in which you can fit a H100i, which are not really any bigger in volume than a 250D or Prodigy, and often of more useful dimensions.
Something like a 350D is very popular, but is basically full ATX sized, and the Fractal Design Arc Mini is fairly compact and well featured.



As for the build, the stuff Onus mentioned is pretty important, CFD software can be pretty picky about hardware. Autodesk for example recommend an 8core Xeon, 16Gb of RAM, and a Quadro 4000 (though you can guarantee it'll run on significantly less firepower).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

adumbbird13

Honorable
Jan 3, 2014
153
0
10,760


I plan on keeping my current overclocked processor
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Onus

Onus

Titan
Jan 27, 2006
37,037
12
89,965
Ok, so a really small case (like mine) isn't going to work...
Rammy's suggestions are likely the most apt.
I also have a Fractal Designs Define Mini, and it is NOT a lightweight case, since it has sound-deadening material in it. I'm not sure it will fit a 240mm radiator either. You may need to consider a single-fan liquid cooler, and/or backing off your OC some if temperature is a concern.
We'll need to know about any games, because that will determine whether you need a particularly powerful graphics card (and PSU).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

adumbbird13

Honorable
Jan 3, 2014
153
0
10,760


If anything I want fullly modular. In terms of games, it'll probably consist of BF4/BF Hardline, Watch_Dogs, and Team Fortress 2 (Which isn't anything huge). However, I was also considering selling my old GPUs and buying a quadro for the productivity..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960

Yeah sorry, that's a slip on my part. I know it's got the same basic layout to the Arc Mini so I figured it'd take one, but a lot of the vented sections are closed up for obvious reasons. Edited my OP accordingly.

@ Graphics. Neither Nvidia nor AMD make a card which is terribly suitable for gaming and workstation tasks, with the semi-exception of the Titan/TitanBlack/Titan Z, so you will usually have some sort of compromise. If you want to play games (at all) you'll almost undoubtedly end up with a gaming card because they are likely to be the best all-rounder, and are priced more aggressively as they are aimed at retail rather than business. Depending on your needs though, they can be pretty effective at many tasks, especially on a price/performance scale.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

adumbbird13

Honorable
Jan 3, 2014
153
0
10,760


Hmmm. The Titan (Black?) looks pretty appetizing for a "best of both worlds" compromise
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960
It hugely depends on the task you intend to run on it, in theory it's a high end Geforce card (roughly a GTX780Ti) with double the memory and several other benefits like the double precision boost, but all of that is irrelevant if the software can't take advantage of it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
A

adumbbird13

Honorable
Jan 3, 2014
153
0
10,760


A lot of programs I'm looking at benefit from the 6GB of VRAM + the GK110, so thats that. It would also help with 4K editing, which is quite snappy on my current 2x4GB setup
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom