Micro ATX vs. ATX... Go!

[tmaill1]

Okay, so I'm setting up a new build and I'm trying to decide if I want to go the micro ATX route or stick to the more traditional ATX form factor. I have two different builds already set up. Both of them are pretty similar except for the case and motherboard. All of the components that are the same are as follows:

MSI GTX 660ti OC Power Edition x2
Corsair HX750 Modular 80 Plus Gold
G. Skill Ripjaws X 16gb (4x4) DDR3 1866
Kingston Hyper X 3K 120gb SSD
Thermaltake WATER 2.0 Pro Dual 120mm Fans with 120mm Rad
Intel I5-3570K

Now here comes my quandary:

ATX form factor will be a Coolermaster HAF 932 with an MSI Z77A-GD65 mobo
mATX form factor will be an NZXT Vulcan with an Asus Maximus V Gene ROG mobo

Personally, I'm kinda leaning towards the mATX just to be different and because cooling shouldn't be too big of an issue with the watercooler. I've seen some people say that you can't fit a watercooler in the Vulcan series cases and then I've found about 100 pics on Google of people with it done and the MSI 660ti's run relatively cool.

I'm open to suggestions and minor changes, but I think this is a pretty solid build no matter which form factor I go with; but all the help I can get the better.

Thanks

 

[TheBigTroll]

what is your budget for your system? what parts do you not need. where do you live. are you going to overclock or do SLI in the future


id build something much differently.

 

[tmaill1]

what is your budget for your system? what parts do you not need. where do you live. are you going to overclock or do SLI in the future


id build something much differently.

I've got about a $1600 budget. I don't need a HDD or a DVD Burner. I live in the US. Yes, I am going to overclock, but not to extreme proportions. And the setup that I posted is SLI. Two MSI GTX 660ti's.

 

[g-unit1111]

I've got about a $1600 budget. I don't need a HDD or a DVD Burner. I live in the US. Yes, I am going to overclock, but not to extreme proportions. And the setup that I posted is SLI. Two MSI GTX 660ti's.

Why not get a single 680 instead of two 660TIs? SLI is usually a last resort for most gamers unless you've got money to blow on the latest and greatest.

 

[tmaill1]

Why not get a single 680 instead of two 660TIs? SLI is usually a last resort for most gamers unless you've got money to blow on the latest and greatest.

The 660ti seems to scale really well in SLI. Better than any of the other Kepler cards.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=971&Itemid=72

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-ti-benchmark-review,3279-10.html

Both of these reviews back up that claim as well. One 680 will run me about $500. 2 660ti's will cost about $600. In almost every benchmark, a pair of 660ti's is anywhere between 15-25 fps faster than a single 680. I'm not in a major budget crunch, so I can justify the extra $100 to myself.

 

[Patflute]

Micro ATX if you plan to NEVER add more than one graphics card or other expansion cards. I have a mATX board in an ATX case

Also I would suggest just getting one of the beast 4gb 670s.

Also you only need 8gb RAM and 1866mhz is overkill. Just get 1600. You won't feel a difference even with 1333.

Get a 650w if you're going with one card.

 

[g-unit1111]

Micro ATX if you plan to NEVER add more than one graphics card or other expansion cards. I have a mATX board in an ATX case

Also I would suggest just getting one of the beast 4gb 670s.

Also you only need 8gb RAM and 1866mhz is overkill. Just get 1600. You won't feel a difference even with 1333.

Get a 650w if you're going with one card.

I definitely agree with all this.

I just bought a $50 EVGA P67 mATX motherboard for my HTPC and it's SLI rated. Although I'd never recommend that for a modern gaming rig. :lol:

 

[tmaill1]

Micro ATX if you plan to NEVER add more than one graphics card or other expansion cards. I have a mATX board in an ATX case

Also I would suggest just getting one of the beast 4gb 670s.

Also you only need 8gb RAM and 1866mhz is overkill. Just get 1600. You won't feel a difference even with 1333.

Get a 650w if you're going with one card.

The ASUS Maximus V Gene board allows for SLI, and I don't plan on adding any other cards later down the road either. And thanks for the suggestion about the RAM. I've been wrestling with that component too.

 

[TheBigTroll]

so what if the gene allows for SLI? it means cards are squished together for more heat

now answer my question

 

[tmaill1]

so what if the gene allows for SLI? it means cards are squished together for more heat

now answer my question

I did.

And if the cards are squished together causing more heat, then your recommendation should be to go for the ATX solution. If not, then make one.

 

[Patflute]

His budget is 1600. He's talking at a 680 and dual sli 660tis so his budget for the graphics card is like 500-600.

 

[g-unit1111]

I did.

And if the cards are squished together causing more heat, then your recommendation should be to go for the ATX solution. If not, then make one.

If you're going to build a full desktop build it's way better to go with a full ATX or XL-ATX board than it is an mATX board. mATX should really only used in HTPCs and things of that nature.

 

[TheBigTroll]

ok then. here you go. a single card is more than enough performance for your build

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gbqq

heres a video comparing 660ti sli vs 680. its not really worth it. id rather get a 670 instead of the 680 as well since they perform so close (identically given the factory oc on the power edition 670 i chose)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJI8f81a9IA&feature=g-u-u

 

[tmaill1]

If you're going to build a full desktop build it's way better to go with a full ATX or XL-ATX board than it is an mATX board. mATX should really only used in HTPCs and things of that nature.

Thanks.

The only thing I've been trying to find a concrete answer on is why? Am I really going to take that much a performance hit having the GPUs 1/2 inch closer to each other? Is the heat that big of an issue? I don't care about noise. I usually play with headphones anyway.

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks.

The only thing I've been trying to find a concrete answer on is why? Am I really going to take that much a performance hit having the GPUs 1/2 inch closer to each other? Is the heat that big of an issue? I don't care about noise. I usually play with headphones anyway.

Performance won't matter but the heat definitely will. Read this - it explains better than I can: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cooling-airflow-heatsink,3053.html