Itx

[theholylancer]

Ok so guys, here is what i got

currently I have a i7-920, 5870, and a huge haf 932 w corsair HX1000W...

so the other day, when i was moveing out of where i was living (thanks to my co-op deal i have to do at school... where 4 months of school is followed by a 4 month work term) I was lugging this 50 pound piece through snow into the car, and it fit, just barely...

so now I'm thinking of downsizing...

and therefore brings me to this, is there a way, where I can reuse the 920, the 5870 and the ddr3 ram in a itx or matx fashion, i'm willing to be flexible here on everything but the gfx, that one stays.

so I was wondering, can this be done? do i need to shell out money for a 1156 system with a 17-720 or w/e there because that is where itx lies? and how is the psu / space for a 12 inch long gfx in a itx case? if not itx, how about mini-atx or w/e it's called. will this thing overhead like a bitch with the gfx and a quad core + HT non oced i7 in? also, I will need at least 1 drive for a 1tb wd black, if not more, so anything that sports a 2.5 laptop drive cage is out...

I mean this is a hypothetical build, I can still lug this beast through for a term or two i think, but it would be great if i can down size while reuse as much as possible.


o and what got me thinking is this piece here:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3706

the dfi thing seems really nice, and while i loose the prospect of a 5870 in CF, i would wager the cost of a second 5870 is going to be similar as if I did the whole transplant and would most likely save me some back hurting and space and more needed than a overpowered show-off upgrade.


o and it doesn't have to be that board of course, it just got me thinking as hey it had pcie x16 in itx and it had most of the things i needed, granted the vrm situation seems to be a issue when you OC, but hey I can live with a stock speed i7.

 

[raybob95]

Well, find a micro-ATX Case of your likings (that is long enough for a huge 5870) and then this micro-ATX 1366 Motherboard.

That board you posted uses the 1156 Socket, which is for the i3's, i5's, and i7-8xx's. The i7-9xx uses the 1366 platform.

 

[theholylancer]

yeah and i'm flexible on the socket thing (will buy a new proc obviously) but what i want is itx sized case / psu that can support a itx mobo (of either vintage) and the 5870

micro-atx is a fall back that i sorta is simply glazing over as imo it does not off that much of a reduction over standard atx and maybe with a case shrink i can have the same effect...

 

[LePhuronn]

If you want to go the Mini ITX route you're seriously limiting your system power.

DFI are releasing a P55 Mini ITX board so you can put in a 1156 Core i3/5/7 with 2 sticks of RAM and use your 5870 in the gen 2 PCI-E 16 slot. But, the only two cases that this will work with are either the Silverstone Sugo 05, but the bundled 300W PSU will not power your card, or the Lian Li PC-Q07B which can fit some standard ATX components, like a full ATX PSU, but doesn't have 2 expansion slots for a double-thick graphics card.

In all honesty, unless you really don't have the space in your new place for the full HAF 932 how often are you going to actually move it? Seems to be a waste of cash just because it was a pain to move once.

Why don't you just get an Antec 300 or Lian Li A05NB - much smaller case but with plenty of space inside for good airflow to keep that kit cool.

 

[BadTrip]

Anand has a review on that DFI board

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3706

 

[theholylancer]

err i move every 4 months to either my university to study, or to somewhere else to co-op and get work experience.... the hassle is not to PUT it some where, is to move the giant nuke sized computer around in a honda accord (a sedan)


so you guys saying there is no itx sized case that can hold a 5870 and have a psu that can handle the thing and a quad core w HT neltheams?

 

[LePhuronn]

so you guys saying there is no itx sized case that can hold a 5870 and have a psu that can handle the thing and a quad core w HT neltheams?

Afraid so. Those two cases I suggested earlier sum it up - you can fit the card into a case but can't power it, or you can power the card but not fit it.

err i move every 4 months to either my university to study, or to somewhere else to co-op and get work experience.... the hassle is not to PUT it some where, is to move the giant nuke sized computer around in a honda accord (a sedan)

Blimey! How small's your Accord? I got 3 super towers in the back of my dad's car lol in any case, just changing the case sounds like the easiest thing for you - Antec 300 will house your parts no problem and still keep things cool, and as a mini tower it'll be easier to manage than the HAF.

 

[theholylancer]

well in addition to the case with all the parts i have a 24.5 inch 1920*1200 screen,2 weeks worth of clothes and winter clothes, a laptop, beddding, and yeah......... the microwave is already gone, so is the light and a few other items....

 

[Pro Llama]

You could go to a micro-atx board with a micro-atx case. It would make it a little easier to fit into your car, but depending on how small of a case you want you could have issues with the card fitting or overheating. With that being said I have built a gaming computer using this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144113
It was very tight fitting everything in and I didn’t have an extra long gpu. I only slightly overclocked that cpu and had no issues with heat. All you need to do is find a case that will fit your card and power supply. If you can only find a case that will fit your card then you could get a 750w corsair which will be enough to power your system with some to spare. I know there are a lot of ugly cases out there and everyone has different tastes so I’m not going to post a case. I will say that the case that I posted above with not fit your gpu or power supply. Find a case that you like and post it if you would like feedback on it.

There is one thing that is left out. How large of a heat sink do you have if it is to large you may have to change it.

 

[theholylancer]

TRUE on the i7, Scythe Setsugen on the 5870.....

 

[LePhuronn]

A TRUE should fit in a Antec 300 and this piece of inspiration

http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/systems-2009/lian-li/a05-xien16/033.htm

shows the Lia Li A05 is no problem at all

 

[theholylancer]

so as it stands, I can reuse the 920, as long as i forsake the itx and go with micro, and go for a mobo with 3 ddr3 slots and i should be golden?

BTW does the A05 allow the 5870? it is after all 11.1 inches...

 

[raybob95]

Damn, just get a friend to help you move it!

 

[Pro Llama]

so as it stands, I can reuse the 920, as long as i forsake the itx and go with micro, and go for a mobo with 3 ddr3 slots and i should be golden?

BTW does the A05 allow the 5870? it is after all 11.1 inches...

So far I have not been able to find if it will fit an 11” card, but things are looking good:

The idea for creating PC-A05, is to save user's space, and no need to use poor performance hardware, PC-A05 can fit standard ATX motherboard, power supply and powerful long graphics card.

( http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=142&cl_index=1&sc_index=38&ss_index=97&g=f )

From what it looks like you can keep your full atx board and your gpu may fit. It looks like if the gpu doesn’t fit then you may be able to shave down the cage for the hard drive or for the cd drives depending on where it is placed on the motherboard. If you do get this case could you please let us know if the gpu fit fine or if you had to make it fit?

 

[theholylancer]

Well with CES, there was this new case that is unreleased (AFAIK) that fits ITX and 5870!

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/ces_2010_silverstones_sugo_sg07_miniitx_case_fits_5970

But alas, I don't think I wana be the Ginnie pig for these, I would want someone to report back with thermal performance and if it affects throttling on the GPU / CPU

not to mention now I have a 3 slot cooler on that 5870, possibly extending 4 slot design or back to 2 depending on what fan I use and how I use them so....