Best Motherboard
Ryzen Mini-ITX X370 Gaming ITX/ac
We love efficiency, and that often means cramming as much power into the smallest package possible. ASRock went all out and developed two innovative new Mini-ITX boards, one for Intel’s X299 chipset and one for AMD’s X370. Both platforms pack a wallop, but the Ryzen ITX will likely end up in far more frag boxes due to the easily-accessible low price point of the Ryzen processors.
Ryzen 5 and 7 processors, along with AMD’s pending APU lineup, will find a nice home on the diminutive boards. The Mini-ITX/ac boards can handle up to DDR4-3200 memory inside the two DIMM slots, and the eight-phase VRM provides enough power for overclocking adventures.
Density is key, so the M.2 slot is a welcome addition. For more mundane storage tasks, the board also offers four SATA ports. Intel put its stamp on the board, too, with its GbE and 802.11ac Wi-Fi controllers. The board comes with a $150-$160 price tag, and with two HDMI outputs for APUs, paired with the dual LAN options and beefier VRMs, it takes a slight lead over its Biostar Racing X370GTN rival, which is the only other Ryzen-powered Mini-ITX on the market.
Smallest GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini
This award is a no-brainer.
By shrinking one of the most powerful GPUs currently on the market today down to just 8.3 inches, Zotac has not only created the world’s smallest GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, it has also delivered a level of graphics performance previously unavailable to anyone building an HTPC, LAN box, or other small form factor PC.
As an added bonus, Zotac’s GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini also comes in an “ArcticStorm” version, featuring a full cover water block that’s compatible with an open-loop water cooling system with standard G1/4 type fittings. It’s true what they say, we suppose: Great things really do come in small packages.
