compact desktop components standard?

[raverx3m]

since I'm upgrading most of my pc I was thinking its time to do away with full size desktop case

I remember there used to be those square boxes but they kinda died out. once the micro pc start popping out everywhere

I'm thinking to upgrade everything with smaller components to take up less space but still have a fully featured compact desktop.

kinda like switching from full size DSLR to mirrorless camera..

the problem is. standards changing quicker than I can finish the build...

I wanted to get advice on which standard is better to use for the future upgradeability.

I'm not looking to decrease my desktop into a hard drive sized pc but if I can cut the size in half and still retain all the features like ability to upgrade individual parts (graphics cars sound card memory etc)

and have space for multiple internal drives( 4 at the moment)

 

[raverx3m]

I like the idea of the briefcase desktop but didn't find any that are sold. all the ones I see are DIY projects from just plain one briefcase.

 

[PP Mguire]

You can get a moderately good sized but still small mATX setup and retain what you want. Take a look at the Bitfenix cases for mITX and mATX and let me know what you like with a budget and we can work our some parts.

 

[raverx3m]

which format has more options and more potential tho?
my main concern is buying all the parts and 3-5 years later finding out that there are no parts available for that because theres a new format now kinda like the box PC. where it only lasted few years before people lost interest in it.

 

[PP Mguire]

I'm guessing what you're referring to would be the shuttle computers, but they're still very much in. The deal with that is they usually use non-standard sized motherboards (although most are going mITX now) which can't be replaced or use a proprietary PSU connector style.

mITX is the small form factor standard now, like mATX and ATX (and above) have been the standard. THe only hiccups you'll have are figuring out how big you want your case and the fact that you're still limited in upgrades to any particular platform like any other motherboard standard size. I'm guessing you mean, you don't want to buy a case and 5-10 years down the road mITX won't be around anymore. It will be. You just have to decide on if you want an mITX board or an mATX board. mITX is limited to 2 RAM slots and a single PCI-E slot so not much to expand on when you do finally get your platform purchased. If you want a little more breathing room you might want mATX.

They even have a small form factor PSU size standard now called SFX.

 

[raverx3m]

I like M-itx. seems like a good size.

I just want to shrink all the components into smaller case and have similar power and upgrading options as a desktop tower I have now.


I'm not a big fan of accumulating bulky sht after navy. we had to pack and unpack every few months and I like the idea of compact everything lol.

 

[PP Mguire]

Well the next step is providing a budget so we can get started on parts, and whether or not this setup will revolve around gaming.

 

[raverx3m]

some gaming but not anywhere close to hardcore
im thinking around 1500 plus whatever the monitors gonna cost

heres what im thinking
the only non integrated component i would be using is video card. possibly wireless card
and switching to ssd system drive with one 3.5 storage drive + external 5.25 backup drive

im thinking all the peripherals i can get in external such as cdrom/sound card/DAC etc.
plus i definitely need dual monitors
im planning to make it clean minimalistic setup so i can just store all the other stuff in the closet if i need it i plug it in

does any of the ATX standards use laptop components like ram and wireless cards?
i assume there will be more options since they are shared with laptops

as far as specific components:
nvidia graphics
intel processor
and i think 2 sticks of ram might be enough depending on how big they are.(i think 10gigs of ram should be enough)


what i need the most is multitasking speed having many things open like pandora, i-spy, pdf reader plus sometimes like 30 tabs in the explorer and other documents.

 

[PP Mguire]

You waited 2 years and it's a really really bad time to be buying parts right now.

 

[Dgeneration]

I have an ITX motherboard and use the Fractal Design Node 202 case. It's about the size of the original Xbox One and my Asus 1080 GTX STRIX video card fits in it perfectly. I think it'll house up to a 12 inch long video card. It does keep everything cool so long as you utilize the dual 120mm fan space under the graphics card with static pressure fans, however the downside is that you're limited on CPU coolers choice due to height restrictions. I use the Cyrorig C7 to cool an 8700 i7.

However there are many ITX cases out there, most are a bit larger to house whatever cooler you want but at least will be smaller than your typical ATX or mATX case.