RICHARDSWINBURNE/ VIEWFROMTAIWAN
OPINION
I
n Issue202,AntonyLeathergushedoverthenovelty
ofteeny-tinymini-ITXsystems,whichisfineif
that’swhatyouwant,butforme,bigcasesare
simplybetter.Fewpeopleremembermini-ITXcasesyears
aftertheirrelease,yetyoumightrememberbigATXcases,
suchastheSilverStoneTJ07,ChieftecDragon,CoolerMaster
Stackerandevena personalfavouritethatI willforever
regretthrowingout– theYYCube.
I currentlyowna Corsair900D,whichsitssomewhere
betweenlargeandhugeintoday’ssizerange.Itusesless
deskspacethaneventhesmallestmini-
ITXcase,becauseithastositonthefloor.
Andwhileit’sonthefloor,it’ssotallit
doesdoubledutyasmyarmrest.Such
convenience!ThankstotheCPUfans
exhaustingouttheroofvent,it’sboth
comfortableandwarming,althoughit
doesalsoexhausthotairdirectlyonto
myrightarmwhilegaming.
Bigcasesarebuiltliketanks,andthis
onehaslastedyears.Ifyouknockyourchairintoit,this
hulkofa casejustshrugsitoff.Afewscratchesdon’tmatter
really– theyjustaddcharacter!
ShouldI betheunfortunatevictimofa burglary,it’sso
heavy,noonewilleverbeabletostealit,whereasa tiny,
attractivemini-ITXsystemcouldbethrownunderthearm
andneverseenagain.EvenifI dowanttomoveit,I could
drillsomeholesinthecase,slapsomewheelsonitand
rollitaround.I’mthankfulthatmytinyflatdoesn’thave
stairsthough.
Obviousgagsaside,thebestbenefitofbigcasesisthat you
canputanyhardwareintothem.Ifyouseea greatdeal on
anupgradeatanytime,youcangetitandnotworry about
whetherornotitwillfitinyourPC.
YoucanusetheextraPCI-EslotsonanATXboard for a
soundcardand10Gnetworkcardwithouthavingto buy
a premiummotherboard.I haveanOptaneSSDthat sits
ina 4xPCI-Eslottoo.Allthisgearcanbemigratedto the
nextupgrade,withouthavingtoworryaboutwhether a
motherboardmanufacturerwilldecidetokeepa feature
initsnextrangeofmini-ITXofferings.
Similarly,I don’tneeda degreeinfluid
dynamicstocoolmyhardwareproperly- I canjustwhacksixfansinthecase.
Admittedly,the900Disn’tgreatatcooling
outofthebox,andit’seasytoseewhy
Corsairlaunchedan‘airflow’version,but
anotherbenefitofitssizeisthatI’vebeen
easilyabletotweakitscoolingdesign
withoutmucheffort.
The900Disalsooldbytoday’sstandards,anditssupport
fora dozen3.5inharddrivesisnolongernecessary,butthat’s
justgivenmeanotherlayerofmoddingpotential.Inthepast
year,I threwawayallthecagesandthere’snowsomuch
space,I couldfitanadditionalmini-ITXsysteminsidethis
case,aswellastheATXsystem.
Whilethechallengeofbuildinga mini-ITXPCisenamoring,
I sayembracebignessforversatility.You’llkeepgoingbackto
it withmoreideas.There’snoneedtoconstrainyouroptions
whenyouhavespaceforallthegearyoumightneed.
I LIKE BIG BOX AND
I CANNOT LIE
Richard Swinburne would rather have a mammoth ATX
case over a diddy mini-ITX one any dayRichard has worked in tech for over a decade,asa UKjournalist,onAsus’ROGteamandnowasanindustryanalystbasedinTaiwan @ricswi
If you see a great deal on
an upgrade at any time, you
can get it and not worry
about whether or not it will
fit in your PC