Mini vs micro mobo

[Bsrz]

Ello all, been saving up a bit working a few extra days here and there and got a little birthday money today, was thinking of building a mini or micro pc.

Currently have my PCS built 600t full tower pc but was wanting I go a little smaller to fit on my desk.

What's the main difference between mini and micro, is one better than the other and how do they
Compare to my current full size atx board? It seems as if mini is a lot more popular than micro judging by the cases?


Sorry for spelling sent from phone, Thanks!

 

[GeorgeHillier]

Did you mean the difference between m-atx (micro atx) and m-itx (mini itx)?

If so you can get a much smaller case for a m-itx board, whereas the m-atx board will be relatively large in comparison.

It also depends what graphics card you want to put with it. You need a m-itx card to put it in a m-itx case, as the cases are pretty small. Whereas an m-atx case can usually take the majority of graphics cards.

I would personally go m-itx or stay full size, since most m-atx cases are still pretty big. However, depending what size case you get can change the cost by a lot. Very small m-itx cases are more difficult to build inside of, plus you must think about every component and whether it will fit, especially the following:
-CPU cooler
-GPU
-HDDs/SSDs (they typically only have room for a couple)
-PSU (some m-itx cases require smaller power supplies, always best to check first)

One last thing, most m-atx boards have one or maybe two PCI-e slots, whereas m-itx boards only have 1 full PCI-e slot (google m-itx vs m-atx to get a comparison in sizing and layout), so keep that in mind!

 

[Bsrz]

Did you mean the difference between m-atx (micro atx) and m-itx (mini itx)?

If so you can get a much smaller case for a m-itx board, whereas the m-atx board will be relatively large in comparison.

It also depends what graphics card you want to put with it. You need a m-itx card to put it in a m-itx case, as the cases are pretty small. Whereas an m-atx case can usually take the majority of graphics cards.

I would personally go m-itx or stay full size, since most m-atx cases are still pretty big. However, depending what size case you get can change the cost by a lot. Very small m-itx cases are more difficult to build inside of, plus you must think about every component and whether it will fit, especially the following:
-CPU cooler
-GPU
-HDDs/SSDs (they typically only have room for a couple)
-PSU (some m-itx cases require smaller power supplies, always best to check first)

One last thing, most m-atx boards have one or maybe two PCI-e slots, whereas m-itx boards only have 1 full PCI-e slot (google m-itx vs m-atx to get a comparison in sizing and layout), so keep that in mind!

yep I ment m-atx (micro atx) and m-itx (mini itx)?

thinking of going for micro atx since an extra expansion slot and 4 memory slots and its smaller than atx so will fit on my desk much better than my 600t build.

But then mini is so small and I could still fit all my components bar the mobo into a mini itx rig :L hard decision.

Found a beautiful case that is available in both mini itx and micro atx as well as full size atx tho so the case is no problem.

 

[GeorgeHillier]

yep I ment m-atx (micro atx) and m-itx (mini itx)?

thinking of going for micro atx since an extra expansion slot and 4 memory slots and its smaller than atx so will fit on my desk much better than my 600t build.

But then mini is so small and I could still fit all my components bar the mobo into a mini itx rig :L hard decision.

Found a beautiful case that is available in both mini itx and micro atx as well as full size atx tho so the case is no problem.

Your sig looks like you have two 780s? If that's the case only the m-atx can do that, but i think it's really hard to find m-atx boards with two PCI-e slots.

Also, a couple brands that do good small form factor cases are silverstone and bitfenix. Although they can be a bit pricey, especially silverstone.

 

[Bsrz]

Your sig looks like you have two 780s? If that's the case only the m-atx can do that, but i think it's really hard to find m-atx boards with two PCI-e slots.

Also, a couple brands that do good small form factor cases are silverstone and bitfenix. Although they can be a bit pricey, especially silverstone.

getting a 980 ti for the new build next month. thanks will look into them, getting swayed to mini now as the size is just awesome.

 

[GeorgeHillier]

getting a 980 ti for the new build next month. thanks will look into them, getting swayed to mini now as the size is just awesome.

Make sure you check the dimensions of the graphics card against the case to make sure it fits.

The silverstone "SG13" case is pretty cheap (£40) and linustechtips managed to get a titan X in there! The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjDJNwAANwA along with a review of the case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ptbpKpObzs

It's very compact if that's what you're looking for and doesn't break the bank, although not very roomy to build in and only has a single fan mount, so I would recommend getting a water cooler to go with it