Xigmatek's Eris Mini-ITX Case Can Fit Full-Size GPU

[N.Broekhuijsen]

Xigmatek's new Mini-ITX case might not be able to house a lot of storage, but it can hold decently powerful hardware.

Xigmatek's Eris Mini-ITX Case Can Fit Full-Size GPU : Read more

 

[dovah-chan]

I-its not like there isn't any other ITX cases that can house full size graphics cards and ATX PSUs. Well, there are a few like the: Corsair Obsidian 250D, Thermaltake Core V1, Cooler Master Elite 130, Fractal Design Node 304, Silverstone SST-SG08B, Lian Li PC-Q08B, and just a few others. So you know, not very common features to have in an ITX sized system.

 

[lpedraja2002]

I would like to see more tower varieties instead of all the box shaped mini-itx cases out there.

 

[James Mason]

I would like to see more tower varieties instead of all the box shaped mini-itx cases out there.

Well, it kind of defeats the purpose of being small and compact if you get too crazy. The only interesting one I can think of might be a hexagon shaped case designed to stack with other hexagon shaped ones.

But I've got a couple of CMElite 130s and I do have to say this new case from Xigmatek doesn't seem to offer any different features really anyways, and the price will likely be slightly higher.

 

[dovah-chan]

Probably the most odd case ever made is the Lian Li PC-CK101. Also with all these ITX edition cards coming out why do so many ITX cases support full length cards? Also a pretty decent rectangular styled ITX tower is the Lian Li PC-Q19B. (Yes Lian Li knows their stuff when it comes to small form factors) Although one of the best ITX towers I've ever seen is Falcon Northwest's Tiki. While you're not able to purchase the case standalone, it's still a very sexy chassis for such a small form factor.

 

[madmax032]

I would like to see more tower varieties instead of all the box shaped mini-itx cases out there.

I really would too! So much so that last year, I built this case/computer from scratch: http://www.overclock.net/t/1396409/the-post-facto-razorback-build-thread#post_20092301
You can scroll to the bottom to see the final result.

 

[Ning3n]

This goes out to lpedraja2002 and madmax032 (since the quote function is apparently broken in the latest version of Chrome).....

Dovah-chan listed a number of m-Itx tower cases that allow for a sizable amount of storage space.

madmax032... You were attempting to shoehorn a GTX480 into a 1U server chassis, and power said 480 with a 1U server PSU. A PSU that isn't designed *IN THE LEAST* to power a GPU sucking down as much power as a 480.

The failure in your posted system build, ultimately, was you.

You put the GPU in an area that wouldn't provide adequate airflow for cooling. You built the system around a 1U server PSU.

And another thing.... No matter how many air exhausts you cut into a 1U server chassis.... 3x80/92/100mm fans will NOT provide enough airflow to cool ANYthing in that tight of a case with a GTX480 facing bass-ackwards

 

[Ning3n]

This goes out to lpedraja2002 and madmax032 (since the quote function is apparently broken in the latest version of Chrome).....

Dovah-chan listed a number of m-Itx tower cases that allow for a sizable amount of storage space.

madmax032... You were attempting to shoehorn a GTX480 into a 1U server chassis, and power said 480 with a 1U server PSU. A PSU that isn't designed *IN THE LEAST* to power a GPU sucking down as much power as a 480.

The failure in your posted system build, ultimately, was you.

You put the GPU in an area that wouldn't provide adequate airflow for cooling. You built the system around a 1U server PSU.

And another thing.... No matter how many air exhausts you cut into a 1U server chassis.... 3x80/92/100mm fans will NOT provide enough airflow to cool ANYthing in that tight of a case with a GTX480 facing bass-ackwards

 

[dovah-chan]

I think it's very handy and plus it works! To achieve a working PC without having the 480 crash from the heat (or severely throttle) inside of such a tight chassis is a wonderful feat on its own remark.

 

[madmax032]

This goes out to lpedraja2002 and madmax032 (since the quote function is apparently broken in the latest version of Chrome).....

Dovah-chan listed a number of m-Itx tower cases that allow for a sizable amount of storage space.

madmax032... You were attempting to shoehorn a GTX480 into a 1U server chassis, and power said 480 with a 1U server PSU. A PSU that isn't designed *IN THE LEAST* to power a GPU sucking down as much power as a 480.

The failure in your posted system build, ultimately, was you.

You put the GPU in an area that wouldn't provide adequate airflow for cooling. You built the system around a 1U server PSU.

And another thing.... No matter how many air exhausts you cut into a 1U server chassis.... 3x80/92/100mm fans will NOT provide enough airflow to cool ANYthing in that tight of a case with a GTX480 facing bass-ackwards

I have been running this setup for 1 year now with no stability problems on the GTX 480. When gaming, the gpu fan never ramps to max (aka shop vac mode) and I do not have any graphics glitches/crashes or anything else.

The air coming out of the top of the case is darn hot though, I will admit that. By the time the air rushes in past the 480, cpu, ram, and power supply, it picks up alot of heat. I actually clocked the absolute maximum load wattage (at the wall, via kill-a-watt) at a smidgen over 550W, which factoring for 70% efficiency means the system draws about 385 watts max (3.3, 5, 12v combined). On that note, a GTX 480 can draw 300watts at 12V which translates to a 25 amp load on the 12v rail. The server supply has a ~40 amp 12v rail and is not overtaxed.

So all in all, I would not consider the system a resounding success since the cooling fans are louder than I would like but it works, I like it, and it makes a great lan box since it has such a small footprint on a table and it is light. The whole thing was a proof of concept to see how many watts of performance I could pack into a tiny internal volume while keeping it cool enough to be stable. To be fair, it is actually 1.3U wide since I abandoned the 1U case mod idea and went from scratch.