Hands-On With Five Mini-ITX Cases

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[citation][nom]twinclouds[/nom]Why? I thought NewEgg have them all the time. Right now, it is $54+$10 shipping but sometimes you can get a better price or shipping charge.[/citation]

They aren't always like that. Apex frequently overestimates quantities to suppliers. Also, I'm not talking about the US. They have a US depot that they ship from to the rest of North America. Here's an example.

[citation][nom]twinclouds[/nom]They are not really scratching resistant but I don't feel they are worse than others. The only complaint I have is that they only have ventilation holes on one side. It will be much better if they have the holes on two side as the Rosewill clone, which does not have as good build quality, though.[/citation]

Ventilation is a common problem. I tried a few builds with the Zotac s775 boards with the NVIDIA 9300 chipset and the power supply gets noticeably hot (with only a Core 2 Duo). So much so, that the outside casing is as warm as I've seen on systems with PSU's with non-functioning fans. You could probably use it as a coffee warming pad. I've used the MW100 (uSFF mini-ITX) a couple of times before (literally only twice because the supplier couldn't get any more) and it's pretty nice to look at, but a pain to build, as are most this size. The MW107 has a nice look in photos, but I've never seen one first hand because Apex wouldn't ship any to Canada. I like that the LED's are unified behind a single plastic lens. Alas, both of these models only have 60W external power supplies, and only support 1 hard drive, so they aren't as good as the Antec models, unless you're building an Atom (ick!) or Fusion system. I do actually like the esthetics of the Apex units over the Antecs though.
 
You just described Tom's business! That's why I said want to see it 😉

BTW, AMD's Zacate IGP is pretty much identical to a HD5450 and it would work for sure. Can't wait for Llano where the IGP is supposed to be close to HD56xx. That will definitely make ITX gaming interesting if true.

Just in case anybody missed it: CYA!!
 


Remember: monkey see should not monkey do. :non:

Yes the E-350 is a pretty decent little APU, but it still doesn't have the balls that an Athlon II has - that's where Llano steps in. In games that are restricted by the CPU, you'll see better performance in the Athlon II with the lower end onboard video. The 5450 isn't that much faster than a Radeon HD 4290, because the 5450 is the GPU that matches up to the 4290 in Hybrid CrossFire. I was hoping to see if the Fusion APU's support Hybrid CrossFire. It appears not though, which is a shame, since the 6450 OEM part would probably be a good match. However, the E-series APU's only have a PCI-e X4 connection. I wonder if that makes a big difference with that speed of card....I remember reading that dual X16 didn't have much of an improvement over dual X8 PCI-e slots in CrossFire, unless you were getting into extremely high resolutions. Even then, it wasn't really warranted for the price of the motherboard. I guess the only advantage an 890FX board has is 3rd or 4th PCI-e slots. How effective is that though, when you can get a dual-GPU card with faster internal links? I've always favoured value for the money over frivolously spending on the best option available - that's why the Fusion stuff interests me more than what Intel has to offer. They have nothing that is even close. AMD is succeeding in marketing a better platform over what Intel ever did. Viiv and Centrino are dead, and Sandy Bridge is a big, if not wholly expected disappointment from Intel. x86 just doesn't work for graphics. If Intel was smart, they would buy up all the shares in Imagination Technologies, thereby becoming the patent holder of the technologies. Then they could actually get better graphics tech built into their CPU's. Not only that, but they would stand to make a huge amount of money by licensing out their tech to other companies. Intel would also have a tighter leash on Apple too. Intel seems to be repeating the history of the Pentium 4/D days though: don't innovate, just increase CPU speeds. What Intel is producing now is just boring.
 
[citation][nom]retirepresident[/nom]Call me stupid but who in the right mind is going to put a monster video card in a Itx case maybe low power HD 5450 20watt or HD 5570 40watts.[/citation]

First off, when you already have a 4250 onboard, I doubt you would put a 5450 in it. Sure, you get Hybrid Crossfire support, but no respectable gamer would choose that card. It just doesn't provide enough juice. For Joe Blow that wants a slight speed boost, maybe, but honestly, I don't see anybody buying these cards unless they have an Intel system, and even then, the system cost over an equivalent AMD goes up because you don't exactly need one of those cards if you buy a mobo with an 880G chipset mITX board (I have yet to see any 890GX boards in mITX yet - let me know if you know of any). Second, with the Llano's coming later this year, any card less than a 5600 becomes irrelevant, and somewhat of a waste of money. Now, if you were talking about Intel systems, I'd say go with NVIDIA. They are the strange bedfellows now. With NVIDIA not able to offer chipsets for Intel now after a 3-year history of defective chipsets and graphics for notebooks, and Intel totally flubbing their own chipsets and releasing the disappointing graphics on Sandy Bridge, and both issuing public spats over each others platform architecture, they're made for each other. Meanwhile, AMD has been able to function in relative solidarity without either.

[citation][nom]rwpritchett[/nom]My first thought would be a LAN gamer.[/citation]

Gamers are better suited to a micro-ATX system. At least then, you can use a full-ATX power supply and two video cards. Very few mITX cases offer the first option, and none offer the second. I like mITX, but it just isn't a good fit for gamers. People looking for a highly-integrated system in a SFF case that might have trade-offs in performance, power (PSU), and air-flow are well suited to mITX. Gamers, OTOH, want the exact opposite: a system without compromise of performance, with good air-flow in a modular chassis to allow for easy upgrades, and with enough wattage to power all of those power-hungry components. They are two different solutions for two completely different markets.

 
In terms of elegance and function, this one scores highest on my list. It's ability to accommodate most internal accessories makes it a better all-rounder. Although the Lian-Li is bigger, this one's looks are well deserving of a place on the plasma stand.
 
Isn't there some way of getting an estimate on how much deck height there was for CPU coolers in these things? Maybe just state a "U4" cooler could work or not . . .
 
is it possble to include something like Chembro ES34069 or review cases for a custom build NAS using ITX mother boards, AMD Fusion, Atom, and some low profile Intel/AMD desktop Processors. The reason i suggest the Chenbro, is bacause it can hold 4x 3.5" HDD plus an additional 2.5" SSD/HDD so we can maximize HDD utilization and making the OS Lighting fast. possibly not just a NAS but a media centre.
 
the author of this post should've looked at these:

Silverstone SG 07
DFI P55 itx board
INtel's core i series of the LGA 1156 package
ANY DDR3 dual channel ram kits
since the case supports the 5970's length - i think we're more than covered with it

HDD can be SSD or notebook sata drives
and ofcourse a slim DVD/Bluray drive
 
I won't replace my 2009 Mac mini in the foreseeable future, but that Lian-Li case is pretty sweet if you wanted to build a gaming capable HTPC.
 
Low Carbon PC will sell the bare case. They come with a power supply too. I bought one myself for a DIY project. Simply contact them and request a bare case and it will ship the same day.
 
[citation][nom]damvcoool[/nom]is it possble to include something like Chembro ES34069 or review cases for a custom build NAS using ITX mother boards, AMD Fusion, Atom, and some low profile Intel/AMD desktop Processors. The reason i suggest the Chenbro, is bacause it can hold 4x 3.5" HDD plus an additional 2.5" SSD/HDD so we can maximize HDD utilization and making the OS Lighting fast. possibly not just a NAS but a media centre.[/citation]

You mean the 169. I use that case for building Atom-based storage servers with SuperMicro Atom boards. I wish there were Opteron 4100 boards in mITX though.
 


Exactly, a SG05 with the 450w psu, a core i5, and a GTX 460 would make for a very respectable Lan gaming rig that would be easy to carry to wherever your next lan party might be.
 
I found a cheap, well built mini-itx Rosewill RC-CIX-01 black steel case ($49 at Newegg) for my recent build (see: http://technocatsblog.blogspot.com/) It includes a 150W supply and fairly quiet 80mm fan. It has the mini-itx GA-H55N-USB3 motherboard paired with a Clarkdale i3 CPU with integrated GPU core. Because I don't plan to do any gaming the 150W P.S. is more than adequate, and I use the single PCI-E slot for a AverTV Duet tuner card.
 
Sorry, I typed the link wrong in the post above for the mini-itx Rosewill RC-CIX-01 black steel case ($49 at Newegg). It should be http://technocatsblog.blogspot.com/
 
[citation][nom]sharro[/nom]I've been buying Shuttles for the last 10 years and I feel sad for not seeing any model included in this review.They are reliable little boxes 🙂All the best,Sharro[/citation]Shuttle makes separate cases?
 
What kinds of CPUs would you guys use for systems like that? Would a full i3 or i5 CPU be ok in general? Or is it best to stick with something like AMD Fusion or Intel Atom?
 
I wish someone besides Alienware would release a slim mini-ITX case that could fit a full-height graphics card (using a PCIe Riser card)
 
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