Is small form factor PC a meme?

They can be pretty cool looking and relatively cheap too, but are definitely not a good deal if all you need and/or care about is raw performance and stability under heavy load.

Attached: cool er master.png (512x384, 119K)

Yes and no. Silence is really important for me and you can't achieve absolute silence in those tiny cases (assuming high end overclocked hardware). There's bigger ITX cases of course but then you realize it might as well take a mATX board and that's where it falls apart.

I like efficient use of space, I've been switching ATX and ITX back to back for years now because I've yet to find a perfect ITX case. You think you found the right one but there's always some minor fuckup that ruins the experience, that usually leads me back to ATX again.
Things like having to worry about PSU size, CPU fan clearance, if the GPU is 2mm too tall really limits the choice of parts most of the time, and that's on top with having to deal with higher than average temps.

It is. I would go for SFF in my HTPC if it wouldn't be so fucking expensive. The ASUS Mini-ITX board almost costs as much as my Crosshair VII. Instead I used the mATX one. mATX is the best option for budget SFF builds.

Them old Compaq's were built like tanks. They tend to be lousy for upgrades, because they use non-standard internal connectors, and have puny PSUs. If you don't game, or do lots of video editing, they are perfect. You can always get cheap used models, because offices are always upgrading. SFF will allow you to fit a low profile graphics card for some improvement over the board GPU. USFF are more like laptops, and even more cramped.

Attached: Compaq.jpg (1140x960, 97K)

For exclusive stationary setups, yes. For carrying it to a LAN party now and then or a very limited living space, no.

You can fit a lot more stuff in a Mini Tower. Many of them will also fit a full size ATX board.

we use it in our office, they're pretty good for saving space

I have a mini atx board in a full case. So roomy mhmmmm

business compaq and hp have good cases that swivel out

but good luck using it for anything but its intended purpose, everything inside is non-standard

what even is this irony

is there a SFF case without ugly as fuck front usb connectors and whatnot?

i like the phanteks evolv shift, gonna do a build in it next. thermals can be a bit shit with it, but i think the looks balances that out.

why would I need 10 pcs in my house?

your back will thank you
>I'm gonna buy a huge case with a huge PSU and then I'm gonna upgrade it over the next few years!
>5 years pass
>nothing changed
>cycle repeats
lmao

if you need 10 computers in your house then you want a rackmount and thin clients to VMs.

Do you live in a shit hole Japanese apartment that's 250 sq. Ft. Or less? Then small form factor is for you. Otherwise you're wasting money to get less.price premiums for
>Motherboard
>Cooler beyond stock that isn't shit (performance is OK at best, you're paying for the size)
>Certain video card types
>Extremely limited on storage options
>Then you have to consider thermals:noise ratio. How fast are you willing to run your fans?
>SFX power supply
>All the really cool cases are $150 and up for a tiny box
Or you can just not be a fag and buy mATX. Smaller footprint, still more PCIe slots than mITX, cases like the Corsair Carbide 88r is small, light, and cheap.

What I don't understand is why they don't support ATX psu's.

All these retards ITT miss the most important part: finding a decent case for your build

Take the Silverstone SG13. Fits most normal (not xboxhueg) GPUs, perfect for an AIO CPU cooler so no need to worry about air cooler clearance, and can fit an ATX PSU (obviously the smaller the better but it gives you versatility). The biggest issues are extreme overclocking and cable management

ATX is dinosaur shit. If you have some need for lots of cooling (which today is not an issue) or tons of HDDs then go for a big case. Other than that, there's no big downsides

An SG13 is like 50 bucks and is more versatile than almost anything else

it is a meme, but at least its a good one

I asked why would you do this to yourself
She looked at me and this is what she said

Attached: 1541300611523.jpg (256x256, 22K)

Because they're huge

Attached: sfx_vs_atx.jpg (600x400, 30K)

Thin 120mm AIO cooler. Which isn't enough for overclocking modern chips.

SFF is a meme why would you want a tiny box with limited space that sounds like a hair dryer

But for what purpose? Small for the sake of small is stupid. You have worse thermals as well as worse noise due to the cramped space. Your video card selection is shit due to length so I hope you enjoy sub par under locked ITX models of cards, or only buying mid range shit forever.

All of these problems being fixed by going mATX.

overclocking is the biggest meme going, unless you have some ancient CPU like a 2500k there's no point. your GPU is far more important

or.. you know.. get a laptop

I doubt an AIO would work in that case with and ATX psu because the hoses won't bend enough.

Exactly! I was just listing the stupid shit about mITX. I legitimately do not see the point of the form factor. At least with mATX you pay less than you would for the full ATX variant of the same board.
Which mITX still severely limits unless you get a fuck huge ITX case. At that point why did you bother?

Your money, your choice, do what you want. Just know you're over paying and/or makojg compromises at every turn when building mITX.

The worst part is AMD fags won't even be held accountable when it turns out false. They will be free to go!

I have 6HDDs. Most of these SFF cases can't even fit one full 3.5" drive

the fuck does amd have to do with this shit?

You seriously have amd derangement syndrome.

That's one sexy case. Who makes it?

Wrong thread bub, here it is:

My mistake.

sounds like you want a proper NAS.
And if you don't need the engineered guarantees of a NAS, one USB 3/Thunderbolt HDD enclosure would do you fine.

Why would I pay like $500 for a 6-slot enclosure that's basically a NAS or $800 for a NAS when I could just get a normal ATX-case and keep everything all in one location with fewer cables and less spread overall? Maybe volume could be lower but now I have a PC case I have to put somewhere and then a NAS or enclosure to stash. It's a mistake.

I move around a lot, so having a case that's easy to carry makes life a lot easier. Full ATX is a meme that kills your back and is completely unnecessary. As long as full-sized parts fit in, the smaller the better.

The Ncase M1 is the only good looking mITX case, why does it have to be so expensive? Can't they release a steel version for half the price?

>kills your back
Are all of you morbidly obese/literal skeletons?

I'm skelly and can handle a Carbide 600C just fine

It's a Dan Cases A4-SFX

Lian Li is the manufactuerer so that comes with a price. Also I don't think steel would make it that much cheaper. The Cerberus is steel mATX that went through a similar process and it's still $250+

Cerberus is an even smaller production made in America. And it's much bigger. In terms of material the Ncase would be a $50 + extender case if it were made by any mainstream manufacturer

also I own one and it's breddy gud. Sometimes it's nice to just own nice things because you can.

Yes but it’s a good one

but no ones makin em

Raijintek did make their own sff but it's an even worse meme with tempered glass everywhere

because if you have 6 hard drives you'll soon have 7.
>6-slot enclosure
no, you'd have a single one-slot enclosure. They're cheap.
it's not as if you're using all six disks at the same time--if you were you would be using a NAS, hardware RAID, or ZFS instead.
>$800 for a NAS
It's a small computer with a lot of disk slots. One can be had for $200 if you install FreeNAS and/or handle the management yourself.

Lian Li isn't mainstream? Also if you really want the Cougar QBX is a clone of it but also much bigger than it should be.

I also like the Raijintek Metis which is like an upside down mirrored Ncase but not bloated like the QBX.

Attached: Raijintek Metis.jpg (4032x3024, 1.17M)

Heavy bitches like a fully loaded Fractal Define R5 aren't a problem to carry even as a manlet skeleton.
The problem is that they're awkward to carry and if you can't fashion a strap harness then you may as well change your name to Jose and carry the bitch.

There's no reason to buy a larger case if you don't need all the features that extra space gives you, and you don't need to do shit like make a strap harness to carry it like a dignified tool-using man

lian li isn't mainstream and that's how they like it.
if they wanted to be mainstream they wouldn't release cases on limited production runs like some kind of traveling art exhibit.

More cases need to come with handles. Probably my favorite Corsair case

Attached: photo-4-4.jpg (800x600, 192K)

Grab the bottom or literally put it in the box it came with, retard. I still don't understand how the fuck these cases break your back. If they did nobody would ever go to a gym.

t. R6 owner

I don't see how that makes them not mainstream. Lian Li has been around forever. I still have my PC-V1000 from 2006. It was like the case to get if you wanted a Mac Pro clone.

>build a pc with this case because it looks nice and is cheap because it just got discontinued
>a few years pass
>the case is relisted on Corsair's site with a literal 20x multiplier on the price in comparison to what I paid

itx/sff cases that cost more than 100 usd is a meme and should be avoided

I find anything smaller than mATX is stupid. You end up paying more for a system that is now thermally challenged and upgrade-limited.

Yeah I still have mine brand new. Was an impluse buy beacuse it was only $55. I keep forgetting I need to sell it. I just have no need for it.

>$55
I paid 20€

They are awesome for LAN parties and if want to cutdown on real-world desktop space.

>don't put your PC and HDDs in an atx case
>build a second PC and put your HDDs in an atx case
What the actual fuck. I don't need my storage to be on a network and I want to make the most of my space, not build a second PC that serves 0 purpose

Yes unless you actually dont have space and live in a 200sq apartment

Ultra small form factors are a meme because you pay more for less and kill your components. Mid size(matx) could theoretically not be a meme but all the offerings are shit. If you want the best you have to buy ATX which wastes a ton of space to cater to watercoolingfags.

Yes, but that doesn't mean it isn't cool to do just for kicks. The only benefit is having a game console sized full desktop PC, but that in and of itself is pretty neat if you're a hobbyist. There's no good reason to do it, but there's no good reason to mod new cars, either.

NAS

Attached: {AD3FC0AE-D5EB-4DA3-80E1-6A7CD3406E3D}.png (1479x888, 379K)

If you want silence then just use less fans.

>2u rackmount
Because I really want a matx or atx size case cut down the middle. They're huge and because they're made for mounting in a server rack they're big and unwieldly. You can't even set it sideways without jerryrigging it.

>he doesn't have a server rack in his house
lol

>Don't overclock me or my son again

They're great. They take up very little space. ATX cases are very space inefficient.

My friend has one, and I must say, the thing looks incredibly slick. At first, I didn't even know it was his PC. Questioned if he bought a new speaker or something. He has it tucked right in one of his shelves. Very cool. Personally though, as much as I like the aesthetic, I like having a big case with LED fans and shit, and being able to look at what I built.

Attached: calm man.jpg (570x533, 29K)

Zero point. HTPC used to be an argument, but things like a Roku are adequate enough for an entertainment system with plex support, and most people have consoles anyway.

you know I gotta ask, what made you wanna live this kinda life?

I fell for the SFF meme once. I paid about the same price as I would have for regular ATX components for mITX. It was an absolute bitch to work on and there was absolutely no way to keep it both cool and quiet with a 200W+ GPU and ~100W CPU. When I put together a Ryzen build in 2017 I went with regular ATX components and I have absolutely no regrets. I might consider mATX in the future but mITX is absolutely a meme.

Cooling/noise depends more on the case, fans, heatsinks, and how you set it all up then anything specific to the form factor itself. It's entirely possible to build a cool, quiet, and powerful mini-ITX system with the right selection of parts.

when using high end parts, yes then it's just a throttling spaceheater screaming at you when even using a browser

if you put in medium end parts, with reasonable power draw, then it's an acceptable use case

sooo basically the "arguments" against small PCs is
>"y-y-you don't really need it!"
good to know.

No, you are not going to remove 300+W of heat from a mITX case without either frying components or producing a lot of noise, unless your "mITX" case is actually the size of a regular ATX or mATX case, in which case there was no point to any of it.

>Are these a meme

It is typically more expensive for less hardware and I/O, tiny cases are a bitch to work in, you are limited in your hardware choices both by physical size and by heat output, and if you actually want it to be quiet you have to limit yourself to low or mid tier hardware, and for most people there is absolutely no benefit beyond having a fun project to work on, until you decide it was stupid and move all your shit back.

I currently have a R6 so it's pretty big, but I'd love to get a SFF build. Maybe when summer ends I will try to go Zen 2 but my GPU won't fit, so I need to either get one with a open side so I can fit my GPU or just go ITX.

>There are numerous serious detriments in exchange for what amounts to aesthetics and ease of moving the computer
>"y-y-you don't really need it!"
Just admit you paid extra for your battlestation to look cool.

>tfw the cheapest z370 motherboard I could find was a M-ITX one so I went with a small form factor build because my autism would not allow me to install it into an ATX or M-ATX case

Attached: dfpp.jpg (238x192, 8K)

There is zero reason to make an SFF machine unless you live in a tinyass environment. Your selection of parts is limited, everything costs more, its harder to upgrade, and it picks up dust like crazy. The case picks up so much heat from the 2700x that it becomes too hot to touch after running for a while. They're also a pain to cleanly assemble.
I really can't recommend it to anyone thinking about it. If you really want to build a small machine, get a reasonably sized small case, not one of these goddamn shoeboxes.

However, I am a masochist so it works out nicely.

Attached: IMG_20181226_222223.jpg (1456x1941, 729K)

You have the ghost s1?.
People are full of themselves on this board.
It's not always about what you "Need", it's what you find appealing to the eye most of the time.
The mainstream cases people use these days could be picked apart over a short conversation, why can't people just live life to the fullest instead of asking dumb questions like OP?.

Attached: 1517794116856.jpg (320x320, 14K)

everything is a meme

go back to your chinkpad

Yeah, ghost s1. Aside from my rant I really like the case a lot, it looks very nice, and as far as shoebox cases go its probably the easiest one to build in.
However, looking at it objectively, its really kind of a poor decision. I just kinda fell in love with SFF computers when I saw a ncase m1 posted on here a while back.

Here is a sideview without panels- the ghost lets you remove the bottom plate which made plugging in psu cables etc very easy.

Attached: IMG_20181214_025043.jpg (1656x1242, 792K)

How about some M1 pics?

Attached: 2CBJnv8.jpg (2048x1536, 1.19M)

Attached: lu2mu2ney5711.jpg (3940x3024, 846K)