Hello all,
It's time for me to upgrade, and I am just having a hard time making up my mind on what form factor and case to use. I have always used either full towers or at the minimum, a midi atx case, however I never use them to their full potential. I only have 2 hard drives (possibly 3 soon) and the only expansions I fill are the graphics slots.
I have recently begun moving around a lot during the week for work, I live in 2 different locations that are around 150 miles apart so currently, I leave my PC at one location as it is a bit of a ballache to keep lugging it around. I will also be attending the odd lan, and moving my PC to friends and families places for gaming / editing etc.
I am currently using an Antec 300, which will be sold with my current rig to build the new one. The 300 has been good, but cable management is poor, and its not the easiest to move around (but by no means the most difficult either I realise).
I am fixed on an i5-2500k, 8GB of 1600+ ddr3 ram and a 120GB SSD. I will keep my current PowerColor 6870 and probably add another pretty soon which means I will need a CFX capable motherboard.
What I am not sure on is whether to go with an mATX case and mobo, or midi-atx case and ATX mobo......
The motherboard would be either an Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z Z68 mATX or some form of Z68 ATX board from gigabyte / Asus / ASRock / MSI.
The cases I have been looking at are the NZXT Vulcan mATX, Fractal Design Arc Mini and Define Mini mATX cases, or the midi alternatives of the CM Storm Scout or BitFenix Survivor.
mATX upsides:
Ultimate portability compared with midi atx
Vulcan has a decent handle for easily moving my PC between locations.
Saves a lot of space which would be beneficial to me.
mATX Downsides:
Restricts the possibilities of a lot of HDD's / extra expansion cards (just in case I ever needed / wanted any)
Not as good cooling (but definitely not bad either)
Motherboard choice is restricted and more expensive
CPU cooler choice is highly restricted
The quiet cases sacrifice the handle for portability (The Vulcan is noisey apparently).
ATX Upsides:
No restrictions on CPU cooler / upgrades / expansions
Cheaper motherboard + wider range of choice
Best airflow and cooling
ATX Downsides:
Bigger and less portable
The best ATX case with a handle (Storm Scout) has severe graphics card restrictions. My 6870 will fit, but future cards probably wouldn't.
So what would you do in my situation? Portability would be most important as I will be moving its location at least twice a week, and I wouldn't want to do that with my current rig.
A quiet case would be nice, I have had a noisey case for a while and would like a quiet one, but not at the sacrifice of portability! I have no experience of mATX cases so wouldn't know how easy they are to carry with no handle.
I will be adding a second 6870 soon, so the case needs to be big enough to house two, and preferably long enough for future upgrades. The power connectors on my 6870 are on the back of the card not the top, which also adds a few centimeters!
My favourite mATX is the vulcan purely due to portability, and I can fit the 2500k with a fairly decent CPU cooler, as well as two full length gcards, however it is quite noisey! I love the Fractal cases, as they are cool and very quiet, but the handle is too tempting.
I like the scout, but the restriction on graphics card length is a massive letdown, as I am a little unsure on the looks of the bitfenix, as well as the handle looking a little flimsy - would anyone be able to put my mind at rest as to whether it can take the weight?
Finally I would prefer a x8/x8 CFX board, unless anyone can advise on the performance loss by going x16/x4.
I hope this all makes sense, I am open to other suggestions, but please give your advise on what you would do to help me make up my mind!
Cheers,
Stu.
It's time for me to upgrade, and I am just having a hard time making up my mind on what form factor and case to use. I have always used either full towers or at the minimum, a midi atx case, however I never use them to their full potential. I only have 2 hard drives (possibly 3 soon) and the only expansions I fill are the graphics slots.
I have recently begun moving around a lot during the week for work, I live in 2 different locations that are around 150 miles apart so currently, I leave my PC at one location as it is a bit of a ballache to keep lugging it around. I will also be attending the odd lan, and moving my PC to friends and families places for gaming / editing etc.
I am currently using an Antec 300, which will be sold with my current rig to build the new one. The 300 has been good, but cable management is poor, and its not the easiest to move around (but by no means the most difficult either I realise).
I am fixed on an i5-2500k, 8GB of 1600+ ddr3 ram and a 120GB SSD. I will keep my current PowerColor 6870 and probably add another pretty soon which means I will need a CFX capable motherboard.
What I am not sure on is whether to go with an mATX case and mobo, or midi-atx case and ATX mobo......
The motherboard would be either an Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z Z68 mATX or some form of Z68 ATX board from gigabyte / Asus / ASRock / MSI.
The cases I have been looking at are the NZXT Vulcan mATX, Fractal Design Arc Mini and Define Mini mATX cases, or the midi alternatives of the CM Storm Scout or BitFenix Survivor.
mATX upsides:
Ultimate portability compared with midi atx
Vulcan has a decent handle for easily moving my PC between locations.
Saves a lot of space which would be beneficial to me.
mATX Downsides:
Restricts the possibilities of a lot of HDD's / extra expansion cards (just in case I ever needed / wanted any)
Not as good cooling (but definitely not bad either)
Motherboard choice is restricted and more expensive
CPU cooler choice is highly restricted
The quiet cases sacrifice the handle for portability (The Vulcan is noisey apparently).
ATX Upsides:
No restrictions on CPU cooler / upgrades / expansions
Cheaper motherboard + wider range of choice
Best airflow and cooling
ATX Downsides:
Bigger and less portable
The best ATX case with a handle (Storm Scout) has severe graphics card restrictions. My 6870 will fit, but future cards probably wouldn't.
So what would you do in my situation? Portability would be most important as I will be moving its location at least twice a week, and I wouldn't want to do that with my current rig.
A quiet case would be nice, I have had a noisey case for a while and would like a quiet one, but not at the sacrifice of portability! I have no experience of mATX cases so wouldn't know how easy they are to carry with no handle.
I will be adding a second 6870 soon, so the case needs to be big enough to house two, and preferably long enough for future upgrades. The power connectors on my 6870 are on the back of the card not the top, which also adds a few centimeters!
My favourite mATX is the vulcan purely due to portability, and I can fit the 2500k with a fairly decent CPU cooler, as well as two full length gcards, however it is quite noisey! I love the Fractal cases, as they are cool and very quiet, but the handle is too tempting.
I like the scout, but the restriction on graphics card length is a massive letdown, as I am a little unsure on the looks of the bitfenix, as well as the handle looking a little flimsy - would anyone be able to put my mind at rest as to whether it can take the weight?
Finally I would prefer a x8/x8 CFX board, unless anyone can advise on the performance loss by going x16/x4.
I hope this all makes sense, I am open to other suggestions, but please give your advise on what you would do to help me make up my mind!
Cheers,
Stu.