Blogs Is the Age of Massive PCs at an End?

I think technology has advanced far enough that you can cram it in to small cases. No longer do you need a whole bundle of HDs to get 2TB of capacity without spending silly money - a single drive will do the job perfectly fine.

I went for my FT03 as it has a very small footprint (admittedly it's reasonably tall), but still fits a full GTX 580 (or two!) and mATX board with all the trimmings. Far better choice than full ATX, the only features I've lost are multiple PCIe slots that wouldn't have been used anyway.

 

For me the answer is no .

 

Nah - I actually prefer bigger cases. They are easier to build with and are easier to mod with (a mon avis).

 

Bigger the better baby.

The more normal folk who move to tiny cases, the cooler great big f***ing cases will be for us real men!

 

I got a Corsair 800D and I think its way too big. I am going to buy a smaller case soon.

 

Well I think that downsizing is the way to go. I've own Thermaltake Tsunami, and Antec Three Hundred and think that they are too big.

With the TT Tsunami, I did use all PCI, AGP slots and all the front slots. I even moded a LED switch onto the unused floppy slot.

With the Antec 300: 2 HDD (more space than all 5 HDD on my TT), one media burner, One PCI-card, aftermarket CPU cooler. full 5 gb ram, thats it. The entire system runs cool under 40C OC with the optional fan bays provided on the case.

If possible, I would like a case, where the entire side wall is one huge fan, say 25-40 cm square case, and that is the only case fan. One thing big cases offer is ease during building process. There are tons of space so you can't really go wrong with the cabling. Smaller case, tighter cables, poor airflow.

On another note, maybe bit-tech should consider a SFF build in the affordable, enthusiast, etc monthly builds?

 

I don't care about size at all really. The only issue I have with PC gaming is having to spend about £400-700 on a single component (graphics card), to be able to crank games on a big screen.

 

No I don't believe it the end because when I become a pilot I will afford to build a lot more for my family! Also if it were dying out it be because the masses don't know about how to make a computer or even that you can make one there no real advertising for us....most people only know dell apple and hp exist some people know about building....... Also I am gonna build a lot of big computer I like them I love my ft02 I wouldn't get anyother case its great not a single piece of dust in the case its cools my i7 and gtx 590 msi mobo 16gb ram accept my ssd....other wise its my favorite case but soon I am gonna switch a brands to corsair for my family because other wise I keep my ft 02 for a long time and this case was made a couple year ago i think cant remember how old it is it the problem is bad its not so easy to do great wiring and the metal they use for the case is to much compared to the corsair case I saw Linus unbox which is awesome carbide series 500r the metal is way thinner and it aint flimsy or anything it more customize able and it would match my awesome corsair speakers!

 

Obsessed with size huh? Are trying to compensate for something?!

haha lol j/k man, sure big has its advantages, and I don't have anything against that.

But small is where its at for me. Fitting your system (whatever it is used for) into a small space adds an extra level of challenge to modding which I love.

SFF modding is cool as, expecially retro-modding of older computers where you can only fit ITX board.

Here's a shameless plug for the LOSIAS forums

Anyone who likes SFF computing should stop by!

 

For all of you that think your ATX cases are too big but don't want to go mITX or mATX - look no further than the Lian Li A05FN. I have one and I am loving it!

 

This. Love my hulking monolith.

 

im genuinely wondering if i can build 2 micro-itx systems in a xigmatek elysium with a bit of modding, i dont know why but ireally want to

 

If I wanted a miniature game platform I would buy a console. Actually I wouldn't because I hate consoles. My PC consists of Cosmos full tower case, triple 120 thermochill radiator, 500mm XSPC water reservoir tube. The water parts sit a meter away by the window so the radiator expels heated air outside in summer resulting in much lower temps than a standard water setup. It's not easy to move such a system but I don't need to move it. I don't play LAN.

Although there are some good uATX mobos out there, I want a full motherboard with full connectivity. I dont want some cut-down crippled system (if I wanted that I'd have a console).

Oh and I have laughed at somewhat stupid friends who bought small computer cases then said "I'm not sure if this or that graphics card will fit in my case?"

I told them to wise up and buy a full tower case. One friend is somewhat retarded and never takes advice unless it's from noobs on forums, the other wised up very quickly and has a Cosmos full tower like me. I wouldnt mind a new case now because there are things that could be improved on the cosmos RC1 but I am without motherboard or cpu at the moment so it doesn't matter.

I was going to buy 1155 mobo and i5 2500k but maybe I will wait now and see how much x79 will cost?

 

Full Tower Cheesecake!!!
It would be awesome to try fit a mITX build alongside a Xbox and PS3 all in one massive modded case.
Might look into that if I get time...

 

There will always be a market for large PC's and small PC's. There are a few reasons why I think smaller PCs are getting a lot more attention these days.

First: People think small PC's always equates to smaller power draw but they leave them on all the time, saving now power if they don't turn it off. Second: They need it to fit in a smaller area, such as a childs room, apartments or use as a Media Center PC. Three: Holiday sales, they are being sold for cheap (probably over stock from lack of sales earlier in the year) and make a some what inexpensive gift for those who have asked for a new computer this holiday season.

These are the only reasons why I think they are selling well, but to say that all PC's are going smaller is a incorrect assessment of the buyers needs/opportunities of sales vs the PC standard of mid to full towers. We saw rise to these with great fan fair in like 2007 and 2009 (and now 2011) then these sales dropped off, now they are peaking again but what happened between those years? Sales for PC's went up on average from HP, Dell and etc, with the standard sizes of mid tower to full tower cases. This concludes me to think, there are reasons to have one, but not because the market demands them over all.

 

I used to think having a big case was better and although when it came to upgrading there was always plenty of room to work, but I also found all that extra air space inside was just that, air space and that meant wasted space.

So I switched to a smaller form factor and have never looked back. There have been the odd occasion when I have had to consider the dimensions of a graphics card but that has usually only been because its a newer model and the manufacturers have not got around to creating a smaller form factor for it. Wait 6 months and I end up with the same card, smaller size and usually one that ends up cheaper, runs cooler, quieter and draws less power than the original.

I personally have no need to have a PC that requires or uses an excessive amount of power to run or that has any need to have it's own raid array or multiple drives. I much prefer the networked approach with remote storage, NAS or similar options that don't limit me to having to rebuild raid arrays.

With de-centralised storage, upgrading is easier and if one machine dies or needs upgrading then only that machine is affected, all my data is kept separate from the OS so it doesn't matter whether it's a PC, MAC or Linux box.

The use of a small form factor case or even HTPC box for me also fits in better with the room it is in rather than some huge behemoth that dominates it. For me the PC at least should fit the room not have to have a room built to house the PC.

 

The "age" of massive PCs? Certainly seeming like it. Massive PCs themselves aren't done for, of course. Bar enthusiasts with space consuming watercooling setups or a personal preference for the space to move around and work there's just no need for anything larger than a mATX-sized PC.

Me? Couldn't live without a hulking behemoth for my gaming rig, so easy to work with and tidy up and all of the 120mm fans keep it nice and quiet but ever since building a mITX HTPC I've been convinced that for most other applications I don't need the size.

 

i have always built small PC's........... until my latest:

———————————
2001 –
Athlon Thunderbird 1200Mhz
AMD 760 DDR chipset
Geforce 3
512MB of PC2100
40GB HD
17″ CRT monitor
———————————
2002 –
Athlon Thoroughbred 1733MHz (run at 2000MHz)
Nvidia nForce2 chipset
Geforce 4 Ti4200
512MB of PC3200 (run at 200MHz)
40GB HD
17″ CRT monitor
———————————
2003 –
Athlon 64 2000MHz
Nvidia nForce4 chipset (shuttle case)
Nvidia 6600GT
1024MB of PC3200
160GB HD
20″ Dell widescreen TFT
———————————
2004 –
Athlon 64 X2 2000MHz
Nvidia 6150 chipset (Silverstone Sugo 01e case)
Nvidia 7900GT (similar to the PS3 RSX)
1024MB of PC3200
250GB HD
20″ Dell widescreen TFT
———————————
2006 – (PLAYSTATION 3 ERA)
Intel C2D 2400MHz
Intel P965 chipset (Silverstone Lascala LC16 case)
Nvidia 7950 512MB passive
2048MB of PC6400
320GB HD + 320GB data
24″ Dell widescreen TFT
———————————
2008 –
Intel C2Q 2660MHz
Intel G33 chipset (Silverstone Sugo 03 case)
Nvidia 9800GX2
4096MB of PC6400
500GB HD + 1TB data
24″ Dell widescreen TFT
———————————
2010 –
AMD X6 3200MHz (runs at 3600MHz + turbo)
AMD 890FX chipset (Silverstone FT02 case)
AMD 5870 2GB VaporX
8192MB of PC 12800
128GB SSD + 2x 2TB data
3x 24″ Dell widescreen TFT
———————————
i’m a sucker for SIlverstone cases!

I think my next will use the Fortress 03 mATX case.

 

Funny this just popped up after I just went from a HAF932 case to a NZXT Vulcan with the same amount of power and cooling temps.
Still all watercooled but its a LOT smaller and im loving the extra space at the moment.

 

It is for the time being for me, not buying new hdd's until the prices normalise again.
I like having the available option of going sli if I ever fancied it & really like good quality audio so 1 expansion slot doesn't cut it for me really if I wanted an all in 1 system, as a bare minimal for an all round PC I think I'd have to go for micro-ATX so I could have good gpu, sound & maybe a tv tuner or sata controller.

If I chose to do a pure htpc I think I'd use the 1 slot on mini-ITX for a good sound card but wouldn't go with mini-ITX for an all round system, I know you could put a good gpu in & 8GB & core i7 etc but if I wanted that type of rig I'd stay with at least micro-ATX so it's a better all rounder which has a bit of wiggle room for upgrades.

But I love having a super easy maintanence rig plus you can still go massive while keeping the desk space minimal, just go tall & keep the bulk of weight at the bottom (hdd's, psu) & it really changes the idea of a massive rig or does for me at least.

I've been wanting to do a tiny ultra low power rig for some time though for stuff like this & watching media, it's nice having an all in 1 case where you can do anything you want on it but have also thought of making a dual rig, 1 a high capacity very low power draw htpc & the other a pure gaming power rig to keep the juice usage low for typical computer use or the more power hungry side just when I want to game or design etc which is a minimal amount of my computer usage time.

So final verdict to the article from me is big rigs & small rigs have their use & I intend to use both but will stay with my big all rounder rig for the time being .